"Really? It seems I'm not very authoritative as the village chief?" Xu Fulin heard that Qin Yu had returned and was blocked by Qin's mother at the village entrance, so he rushed over without saying a word.

As he expected, Qin Yu was completely helpless in the face of his mother, letting her vent her anger as she pleased; he used to try to avoid her.

This time, with Xia Lan around, he protected her and didn't even try to hide anymore.

"Village...Village Chief." When Qin's mother saw Xu Fulin, her previous arrogance was immediately dampened, and she froze.

“I personally divided the family property for you back then. I remember you said that Qin Yu should handle his own affairs from now on, and he shouldn’t have to worry about family matters, right?” Xu Fulin glanced coldly at Qin’s mother, seeing that she remained silent.

Xu Fulin glanced at Qin's mother indifferently. Only when Qin Yu saw Xu Fulin coming over did he release Xia Lan.

Xia Lan immediately checked the scratches on Qin Yu's body. Looking at those bloody lines, they looked like flesh had been scraped off...

"Are you alright?" Qin Yu looked at Xia Lan, whose eyes were red with anger.

Xia Lan shook her head. "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Xia Lan raised her head and tidied her hair. A clear bloodstain on the back of her hand caught Qin Yu's eye. Qin Yu's face darkened, and he grabbed Xia Lan's hand.

Seeing the deep gash on his arm, blood stung Qin Yu's eyes. "You're injured."

"Compared to you, what am I!" Xia Lan said coldly. Qin Yu's body, hands, and neck were covered with bloody scratches from Qin's mother, making him look much worse than her.

"You told me back then that after the family split up, you would be you and I would be me!" Qin Yu's face darkened as he walked up to his mother.

"I can tolerate you hitting me and scolding me, but why did you hurt her?"

Qin Yu's eyes grew increasingly fierce as he stared at his mother, as if he were about to snap her neck at any moment.

Qin's mother had never seen Qin Yu like this before, and she was so frightened that she stood there stunned.

"I can't do any housework, so let Qin Ming do the chores around the house. From now on, my responsibility to you will only be to give you five yuan a year for your old age," Qin Yu said coldly to his mother.

His eyes were filled with an unyielding frost...

After saying that, he took Xia Lan's hand and left.

"How dare you talk to me like that? I'm your mother!" Qin's mother snapped out of her daze and screamed through gritted teeth at Qin Yu's retreating figure.

"Everyone knows you're my mother. If you weren't my mother, do you think I would have let you go?" Qin Yu stopped and said coldly without turning his head after hearing his mother's words.

"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous! He's forgotten his mother now that he has a wife! Village chief, are you just going to watch him treat me like this? I'm going to sue him for being unfilial!" Qin's mother turned around and cried to Xu Fulin.

"Give me a break! You dare to accuse Qin Yu of being unfilial? How many people in the village are more filial than Qin Yu? You have such a good son and you're still not satisfied, always behaving badly towards others."

Aunt Liu, having heard the commotion, came over and confronted Qin's mother without any politeness.

"What business is it of yours, Liu's family?!" Qin's mother got angry as soon as she saw Aunt Liu.

"I just can't stand it anymore! What's wrong with you? How can you treat your own son like this? Before, you were making a fuss about separating Shitou from his family, and now that Shitou hasn't had a few days of peace, you're yelling at him and forcing him to come home and do chores. How can you treat someone like this? What do you take Shitou for? You're deliberately trying to mistreat him!"

Aunt Liu said dismissively.

"When you separated Qin Yu from his family, you didn't even give him a bowl before kicking him out. Is that how you treat your son who was separated from his family? Should I ask your father, Qin Yu, if this is how he treats his son who was separated from his family?"

Xu Fulin glanced at Qin's mother, whose face turned pale at the mention of Qin's father.

"You're the kind of person who doesn't behave like this." Xu Fulin snorted, clearly siding with Qin Yu.

"Qin family, you really went too far! Shitou is such a good child..."

"Some people just don't know what's good for them. Before, when Shi Tou was at home, she was always afraid he would eat an extra bite of her food, so she made him do everything. Now that Shi Tou refuses to do anything, it all falls on her shoulders. She finally realizes how good Shi Tou is!"

"That's true. Before, she would chat with us all day while eating sunflower seeds. Shi Tou did all the housework. She even complained about Shi Tou's eating habits and didn't want to feed him. Now that she knows Shi Tou is doing well, he ignores her."

"That's why! This person is just a jerk..."

"What did you say!" Qin's mother glared fiercely at the women, but the women were not afraid of her.

"What? You dare to do this and then you won't let us talk about it? What are you putting on airs in front of us? We won't tolerate you!"

"You want to fight me? Come on! If I'm afraid of you, I'll change my surname to yours!"