“I saw it with my own eyes and caught them red-handed. How could it be fake?” Wang Tianxiao said.

"Then how did you manage to catch him red-handed?" Wang Tianren asked. "Logically speaking, we should all be sleeping at this hour. How did you happen to be able to run to the edge of the cliff to look at the chimney?"

“This…” Wang Tianxiao naturally couldn’t say that he was there to catch the thief red-handed, so he said calmly, “Your sister-in-law’s kang (heated brick bed) wasn’t very hot last night, so I went to check this morning to see if the chimney was covered by snow.”

"I see."

Wang Tianren nodded and then asked, "So how did you see my wife filling in your chimney?"

"What, you still don't believe me?" Wang Tianxiao looked coldly at Wang Tianren. He knew his younger brother too well. His specialty was psychological warfare, and he could often turn red into green and black into white without anyone noticing.

If they continue talking like this, it will only put him at a disadvantage.

He decided to act decisively and quickly.

“It’s simple. Look at your wife’s hands. There are still bits of stuffing on them. We can also measure the footprints. Even though the snow is falling heavily, the footprints won’t be covered up so quickly.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaofeng immediately wiped her hands on her clothes a few times.

She wiped her hands subconsciously, but this action precisely proved her inner tension. If it really had nothing to do with her, why would she wipe her hands?

“Then we…” she tried to argue.

"Enough, third son's wife. In front of everyone, I'll only ask you once: did you fill in the second son's chimney or not?" Old Mrs. Zhang Meifeng, who had been silently watching the conversation, suddenly asked.

“I…” Yu Xiaofeng hesitated for a moment.

“If you say you didn’t, then we’ll measure the footprints. If you did, then admit it immediately. Don’t think that just because I’m an old woman, my eyesight is failing and I’ve become stupid. Do you really think that no one knows what you’ve done?”

The old lady's words instantly changed the course of events.

Wang Tianren glanced at his mother in surprise, then stopped speaking. Seeing his wife's submissive demeanor, he knew the matter was essentially over.

"You woman, how could you do such a thing?" He wanted to give his wife a good scolding, but he didn't dare, because he couldn't afford to offend his father-in-law's entire family.

"What do you mean, 'what do I mean'? We agreed to move, why are you still not leaving? My daughter Hua'er is old enough to understand, she can't possibly sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed) with us. The second child should move out first, look at the neighbors, isn't everyone doing the same thing?"

“Third sister-in-law, you’re not doing this right,” Wang Tianyi finally spoke up after watching the spectacle for a while. “We know it’s inconvenient for Hua’er to live with you, but this cave dwelling still belongs to Second Brother’s family. Even if we’re separating the family, it won’t be a quick thing.”

“Yes, Third Sister-in-law, you need to give Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law some time,” Sun Xiaolan chimed in.

“You all have nice words to say, but that’s because your children are still young. I can’t help it. As a mother, I should think more about my own children. Is that wrong? Aren’t they all descendants of your Wang family?”

"That's true," Wang Tianyi sighed.

"Second brother, why don't you consider that Third sister-in-law was forced into this situation, and..."

"We were forced to fill in our chimney?"

Wang Tianxiao was so angry at these guys that his heart ached. "You all pretend to be good people, then why don't you give up your homes to Lao San's family?"

"Well, aren't you the second oldest?"

"..."

Wang Tianxiao didn't want to be led by Wang Tianyi any longer. He looked coldly at the third son and his wife, "Since you've admitted it, then it's simple. Just expose it to me right now. If you don't expose it before dark, we'll stay in your cave tonight, and you'll have to figure out your own way."

"You think you can just move into my cave dwelling whenever you want?" Wang Tianren retorted firmly.

Wang Tianxiao sneered, tucked the kitchen knife from the cutting board into his waistband, and stared with eyes as wide as copper bells. "You can try. If things have come to this, we can just part ways."

"You bastard, second brother!"

Zhang Meifeng slapped the railing and held out her hand to Wang Tianxiao: "Give me the knife."

Wang Tianxiao turned his head away.

"Give it to me."

Wang Tianxiao remained motionless.

"What's wrong, second son? You're not listening to your mother anymore?" Zhang Meifeng's voice sounded tired.

Wang Tianxiao wasn't heartless towards his mother, but he was fed up with this kind of coercion. Why should he back down? What were the consequences of backing down in his previous life? It only made them more demanding.

"Mother, don't get involved in this matter. Whoever did it should take responsibility. Anyone who tries to test me today, I'm not afraid of bloodshed!"

His eyes widened in anger as he spoke, leaving his brothers and Zhang Meifeng speechless with astonishment.

"Second brother..."

Wang Tianxiao interrupted his mother, staring coldly at Wang Tianren and Yu Xiaofeng, "I'll give you half a day to clear my chimney, or else..." He slammed the kitchen knife into the back of a chair next to him, and the old, rotten wooden back of the chair broke with a crash.

"None of us will have an easy time!"

Everyone was stunned.

They had never seen Wang Tianxiao like this before.

For a moment, the cave dwelling was extremely quiet.

After a long silence, Zhang Meifeng sighed, "Third son, you two go and clean the chimney. I can't interfere with your affairs anymore. The children are grown up, and their mother is getting old. You should both go back home."

"Hmph! You good-for-nothing coward." Yu Xiaofeng kicked Wang Tianren in the shin, opened the door and ran out. Just as Wang Tianren was about to follow, the old lady called him back.

"Third brother, wait a moment."

"Mother, is there anything else?"

Zhang Meifeng stared into her third son's eyes and said calmly, "I know all the things your wife has done. Do you think you don't know? If a man can't control his wife and lets her do whatever she wants, sooner or later small mistakes will lead to big trouble. Harmony in the family brings prosperity, but you need to understand what harmony means. Think about it, son."

Wang Tianren lowered his head, looking at his toes, and remained silent.

"Go ahead and stab him. You're really something. How could you do something so heartless? I think the Yu family's upbringing is really problematic. They shouldn't have married this hanged man into the family in the first place."

"Then I'll go." Wang Tianren went out.

Looking at his third brother's retreating figure, Wang Tianxiao felt sorry for his mother. The old lady was unaware that Wang Tianren was just as ruthless as his wife, and that he would be the culprit who would harm his mother in the future.

And the mother, in the end, died inexplicably in Wang Tianren's home.

When his mother passed away, Wang Tianxiao was out of town. When he rushed back, his mother had already been dead for two days. He said she hadn't been able to catch her breath.

He didn't suspect anything at first, but later he overheard some information and began to wonder what the truth was about his mother's death.

Hemiplegia does not cause suffocation, and the mother has no obvious problems with her lungs or heart.