Ma Tiannian made a move to grab Su Yun'er, but was grabbed by the village head.

"Ma Tiannian, don't cause me any trouble!" The village head was very authoritative in the village, and Ma Tiannian didn't dare to do anything reckless in front of him.

The village head knew Ma Tiannian's character perfectly well; he was a complete scoundrel who made trouble out of nothing.

"The kids just said that it was your lazybones who started this whole thing..."

The village head's admonishing voice gradually faded away.

Su Yun'er carried the sapling home. The little grass at home was anxiously waiting. When it saw Su Yun'er and the other two return, it rushed over to ask.

Little Tree didn't want to cry in front of his younger sister, so he turned his head away and secretly wiped his eyes.

Little Grass had already heard about Little Tree and Little Lazy Horse's situation, and asked her brother worriedly, "Brother, are you in pain?"

Little Grass's bright eyes were filled with worry.

Little Tree sniffed: "Who can hurt me? Tch, you underestimate me."

Grandma Chen went to the kitchen to cook, and Su Yun'er wanted to have a private chat with Xiao Shu, so she sent Xiao Cao away.

"Little Grass, go and help Grandma."

Only Xiaoshu and Su Yun'er remained in the room.

"Xiaoshu, do you know why Ma Xiaolan is causing you trouble today? Do you have any past conflicts with him?" Su Yun'er asked.

She wanted to understand the relationship and story between her son and his friend, to analyze and figure out what went wrong that led to their fight today.

The little tree is still young and has no idea what caused the current situation. It simply told Su Yun'er what had happened between it and Ma Xiaolan.

"So, when you told him that your mother also beat and scolded you, he started to play with you often. But when you brought him something delicious, he scolded you instead? He even called you a spineless coward?"

Su Yun'er roughly figured out what was going on.

Ma Xiaolan's own family was unhappy, and at first he felt that Chen Xiaoshu was in the same boat as him; but later Chen Xiaoshu went from being a child who was not loved by his mother to being a child who was loved by his mother, while he was still enduring his father's beatings and scoldings. So Ma Xiaolan felt envious and jealous, and then hatred arose from it. And for some reason, it all exploded today.

"Mom, Ma Xiaolan hit me! I'm never playing with him again!"

Chen Xiaoshu touched his cheek where he had been hit.

Su Yun'er raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment: "Whatever you want. But remember, in the future, if you can't solve something yourself, you should try to find an adult to help you as soon as possible, instead of trying to do it by yourself, understand?"

The little tree nodded emphatically: "The little tree remembers!"

Although Ma Xiaolan's background is pitiful, it doesn't mean everyone should tolerate him because of his pitiful situation. After all, it wasn't them who made him so pitiful.

Just because he has a pitiful background, he can beat other people's children. Aren't the children who are being beaten also pitiful?

Because of Xiaoshu's bad luck today, Su Yun'er specially made him a bowl of egg drop soup.

The little tree was overjoyed, hugging the bowl so tightly it wanted to bury its head in it.

The Chen family may have stopped pursuing the matter, but that doesn't mean Ma Tiannian will stop pursuing it either.

After being reprimanded by the village head, Ma Tiannian returned home with a dark face, his anger simmering with nowhere to vent. He grabbed Ma Xiaolan, took off his shoe sole, and was about to hit her!

But Lin Moniang suddenly rushed over, shielded Ma Xiaolan in her arms, and used her back to catch the shoe sole.

"You two are trying to rebel!"

"You can't hit the child anymore. Lazybones is already in a lot of pain; his eyes still hurt!"

"He deserved it. He got hurt by such a little brat. What's the point of him being alive? He's a disgrace, a real disgrace to me! Let me tell you, don't you dare ask me for money for medical treatment. I don't have any money, and you're not allowed to use any of the money in your house for medical treatment!"

Upon hearing these heartless words, Lin Moniang felt a surge of inexplicable anger, which made her push Ma Tiannian away: "You are not allowed to hit my son again!"

Ma Tiannian was stunned, as was Ma Xiaolan, who had never seen Lin Moniang speak to him so loudly before.

Facing Lin Moniang's fierce gaze, Ma Tiannian couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

He swallowed hard, then added in a bluffing tone, "I... I won't stoop to your level. Humph, I'll let you off the hook today."

After he finished speaking, under Lin Moniang's fierce gaze, he moved step by step to the door and ran away.

Only after Ma Tiannian's figure disappeared outside the courtyard gate did Lin Moniang finally relax, and her body went limp. Ma Xiaolan quickly helped Lin Moniang sit down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Mother, have some water." Ma Xiaolan poured a glass of water for Lin Moniang.

Lin Moniang weakly accepted the cup, held it with both hands, and gulped it all down.

Her weakness wasn't due to poor health, but rather because she had exhausted all her energy during the fierce battle with Ma Tiannian, and was still somewhat frightened.

Ma Xiaolan squatted down beside Lin Moniang's legs, watching Lin Moniang cautiously.

Ma Xiaolan hadn't said a word since the beginning. He knew in his heart that this was his fault. Seeing Lin Moniang being blamed by the villagers because of him, he didn't feel any pleasure after venting his anger, but only more sadness.

"Lazybones, even if you don't say it, I know what you're thinking. You're my child, how could I not understand you?" Lin Moniang stroked Ma Xiaolan's cheek, her fingers still able to feel the dust on Ma Xiaolan's cheek and in his hair. "Isn't it a good thing that Xiaoshu is loved by his mother now? You know how hard it was for us, your father, to beat us. Didn't you say you hoped there would never be parents like your father in this world again? How could you do such a thing today?"

As Lin Moniang spoke, tears streamed down her face again: "It's all my fault for not teaching you well. You've suffered so much and haven't learned anything good."

"Mother, it's not your fault, it's my fault." Ma Xiaolan's eyes filled with tears. "Mother, but I don't know what to do, Mother, how much longer do we have to live like this!"

Lin Moniang didn't know how to answer.

"What should I do?" Lin Moniang herself didn't know what to do, so how could she know how to tell the child?

***

After Ma Tiannian was scolded away by Lin Moniang, he didn't return for several days. Although he was gone, Lin Moniang and Ma Xiaolan didn't relax at all.

She was constantly worried that he would suddenly burst in and become violent towards her and her daughter.

But Ma Tiannian eventually returned one day.