Seeing Liu Guangqi and Yan Jiecheng in this state, both families could only worry silently, but there was nothing they could do.

The entire burden of supporting the Yan family fell on Yan Jiefang's shoulders, because he was now the only one in the family who could earn money.

Yan Jiefang, the cripple, could only leave early and return late every day, trying his best to earn some money. Even Yan Bugui would go out every day with his crutches to collect garbage. Every penny they could earn was a penny earned, otherwise their families would suffer.

Only Aunt Yan and Yan Jiecheng remained at home. Aunt Yan hadn't taken her cancer medication for several months. Coupled with her recent headaches and the incident where she fainted, Aunt Yan felt that her cancer cells had spread.

The third aunt had considered going to the hospital for a checkup and perhaps continuing her medication, but given the Yan family's current financial situation, she could only keep everything bottled up inside. This had left her feeling depressed and melancholy lately.

The third aunt didn't know her situation; everyone else did, but no one said anything. Speaking out would only cause more trouble and wouldn't solve the problem. It was better to pretend they knew nothing.

The Yan family was united again, and everyone was thinking about making more money. Even if it wasn't for Auntie's medical treatment, they had to work hard to earn money, otherwise they would all be starving.

Even the two younger children know that their mother's condition is not optimistic. Every day they go to many places to collect garbage, hoping to keep going.

The situation in the Liu family is somewhat similar. Now, Liu Haizhong and his son are both in bed, and all the pressure is on Gu Chunyan.

The Liu family father and son need to eat, drink, and take medicine every day. On average, it costs at least two or three yuan a day. The Liu family has no income at all, and the pressure of life is making Gu Chunyan feel like she can hardly breathe.

Even if Gu Chunyan worked herself to the bone, she couldn't earn more than two or three yuan a day. More importantly, neither Liu Guangqi nor Liu Haizhong's condition had improved much.

Liu Guangqi can only move his hands and feet or his head at most; he can't even sit up on his own. Liu Haizhong's injury isn't as serious, but he still can't get out of bed and needs to be fed. After all, Liu Guangqi and Yan Jiecheng really went all out last time.

Gu Chunyan truly didn't know how to go on living like this. Given the situation of the father and son, if she didn't stay home to take care of them, they would even have trouble getting food. If she stayed home to take care of them, she and the father and son would all go hungry.

In order to survive, Gu Chunyan had no choice but to ignore the life or death of the father and son. She let Liu Haizhong and his son keep crying out in bed. Liu Haizhong was slightly better, and he could still get out of bed to defecate by gritting his teeth, but Liu Guangqi could only defecate on himself.

At this moment, Liu Guangqi was filled with immense regret. If he had known he would encounter a pack of wolves while stealing prey, he shouldn't have done it. If only he hadn't done it, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state.

Liu Guangqi could only blame his bad luck for going up the mountain at this particular time.

Just as Liu Guangqi was complaining about his fate, Liu Haizhong was already blaming his good-for-nothing son.

"Liu Guangqi, how old are you? You're still pooping in bed. If it weren't for you and Yan Jiecheng, would I still be lying in bed right now?"

"You ruined my life and now you've made yourself into this mess. When are you ever going to mature? If you keep going like this, I'm afraid you won't even be able to support yourself for the rest of your life."

“Look at Sha Zhu, and then look at Wei Hua. Even Xu Damao, that cripple, is much better off than you are now. Although Xu Damao doesn’t have children, he’s at least the deputy head of the propaganda department now.”

"Leaving aside others, look at your two younger brothers. Although they weren't very promising before, they're doing quite well now. I know they're capable of such success, and I really shouldn't have favored you in the first place."

It would have been better if these things hadn't been mentioned, because bringing them up made Liu Guangqi feel resentful. If Liu Haizhong hadn't had such a volatile temper, how could he have caused Qin Huairu to go into premature labor?

Thinking about it filled Liu Guangqi with resentment. If Qin Huairu hadn't gone into premature labor, he might already be living a happy life. If he had just persevered for another six months, he could have successfully obtained his graduation certificate.

If I had graduated from vocational school, my grades would definitely not be worse than Zhang Chu's.

"How dare you talk to me like that? If it weren't for your volatile temper, how could our family have ended up like this? If you hadn't beaten Qin Huairu into premature birth, how could I be in jail? I only needed to hold on for another six months to graduate from vocational school, but because of you, my future is ruined."

"Do you know how much money and effort I put into getting into vocational school? You've ruined my whole life. I don't know where you get the nerve to blame me."

Upon hearing Liu Guangqi's words, Liu Haizhong disagreed. In Liu Haizhong's view, it was entirely Liu Guangqi's fault. If Liu Guangqi hadn't been hitting Qin Huairu, why would he have joined in?

"How dare you, you beast, blame me? If you hadn't beaten Qin Huairu and her son, why would I have joined in? You only got a year in prison, but I got a year and a half. I'm already being lenient by not bothering you, and you still dare to bring up my old grievances."

Liu Guangqi completely disagreed with what Liu Haizhong said.

"Let's not talk about Qin Huairu, then let's talk about Guangtian and Guangfu. You've beaten those two quite a few times, did I ask you to go and beat them up?"

"No wonder they don't acknowledge you. I wouldn't accept a father like that either. There are fathers like that who are even worse than you."

Hearing Liu Guangqi's words enraged Liu Haizhong. Despite his physical limitations, he furiously crawled over. Reaching Liu Guangqi's side, he unleashed a torrent of abuse, causing Liu Guangqi to scream for help from the bed. But no one cared about their family's affairs; Liu Guangqi's screams, even until his throat was hoarse, were of no use.

Fortunately, Liu Haizhong wasn't feeling well and didn't have much strength. But Liu Guangqi's injuries were far from minor, as many parts of his body hadn't fully healed. Being hit by Liu Haizhong like that only compounded his injuries.

Liu Haizhong only stopped when Liu Guangqi fainted. Having a history of beating his son, Liu Haizhong didn't care about Liu Guangqi's condition at all. Even though Liu Guangqi had many bleeding spots on his body, he didn't pay any attention to it.

It wasn't until Gu Chunyan returned that she noticed something was wrong with her son. Liu Guangqi had a lot of blood on him, and his face was slightly distorted.

"What happened to Guangqi? Why is he covered in wounds?"

"Why do you care about this beast? If I had known he was this kind of person, I should have treated Guangtian and Guangfu better back then. If I had given all the good things to Guangtian and Guangfu, I would be living a much more carefree life."

Just as Liu Haizhong was about to say something, a loud slap landed directly on his face.

"You've already driven away two of your three sons, and now you've knocked this one unconscious. Don't you know that Guangqi is seriously injured?"

"He's lying in bed unable to move, and you knocked him unconscious. Did you want to kill him? Haven't you learned your lesson before? When are you going to change your temper? Do you think you're living too well now?"

“Look at our family, and then look at other families. They eat meat every few days, but we can barely afford rice. If you keep going like this, you’ll starve to death.”

"If something happens to Guangqi, what will you do then? He might have recovered in a few months, but now that you've hit him, who knows when he'll recover. You'll just have to take care of him at home by yourself!"

Only then did Liu Haizhong realize the seriousness of the problem. It was impossible to get Liu Haizhong to back down; he could only struggle to the other end and turn his head to the side.

Given the Liu family's financial situation, even if Liu Guangqi fainted, he could only stay at home to recover. Going to the hospital would be virtually impossible.

Even though the other people in the courtyard knew about the Liu family's affairs, they didn't take them seriously; they just treated it as a joke.

It's human nature to mind one's own business. No one even suggested taking Liu Guangqi to the hospital. Only after waking up did Liu Guangqi realize how his two younger brothers felt.

At this point, Liu Guangqi finally understood why his two younger brothers had severed their father-son relationship with Liu Hai. Liu Guangqi himself also considered severing ties with Liu Hai, but because he hadn't fully recovered, he didn't immediately leave the Liu family.

But her heart was already filled with resentment towards Liu Haizhong. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she looked at him, devoid of any remaining affection. Even her feelings for Gu Chunyan had faded considerably.