Back then, there weren't many people in the village, and his family was the only one without children, so he brought his children with him when he went to visit his family.
He observed that although they weren't particularly good to Zhou Cheng, they didn't leave the child without clothes or food, so they just let things slide.
Later, they had another child, and by then Zhou Cheng had grown up.
Later, Zhou Cheng went to work in the city, got married, had children, and lived a pretty good life.
In the eyes of everyone in the village, Zhou Cheng was a filial son. He never came back empty-handed. Why was Ma Zhou Shi so ungrateful?
Zhou Cheng: "Enough! Now I know the truth. From today onwards, I have nothing to do with your family!"
Ma Zhou said, "You can't do this! I raised you! So what if you're not my biological child? Don't people say that the debt of giving birth is not as great as the debt of raising? Zhou Cheng, put your hand on your heart, what's wrong with me asking you for more money?"
Zhou Cheng: "I'm not going to argue with you. Right now, in front of everyone, I'm severing our mother-son relationship!"
The crowd clapped and cheered; they found the scene incredibly satisfying.
Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Ma Zhou pointed at her youngest son on the ground and said, "You've beaten someone up like this, and you think you can just leave? I'm telling you, no way!"
Zhou Cheng showed no remorse for hitting his younger brother. "Then go ahead and sue me if you want! I'm willing to accept any punishment!"
The old patriarch said, "Zhou Cheng! You haven't done anything wrong, so what wrong have you done?" He looked at the people beside him, "None of you saw what happened today, so it's the same no matter who asks!"
"It's the old clan chief!"
"Chief, we'll listen to you!"
One by one, people spoke up to vouch for Zhou Cheng, partly out of pity for him, and partly out of respect for the old clan leader.
"You've really gone too far!" Old Ma shouted.
The old clan chief said, "Now it's the will of the people. Don't you know what you've done?"
Zhou Wen coughed and woke up, still a little confused to see a large group of people surrounding him.
Then he saw his older brother, and he was so frightened that he kept trembling.
"Stop hitting me!"
Seeing that her son was awake, Grandma Ma quickly went to his side.
"Wen! What happened to you? Are you alright?!"
Zhou Wen's memory was still stuck before he fell into a coma, when his older brother beat him to death, punch after punch, as if he wanted to kill him.
My whole body aches terribly; I've never been beaten like this before in my life.
The old clan chief said, "It seems your youngest son is alright. You all brought this upon yourselves. If you're not satisfied, then go ahead and sue! This old man will fight you to the bitter end!"
"Grandpa Clan Chief!" Zhou Cheng called out.
The old patriarch said, "Xiao Cheng, live your life well! Don't think too much about the past!"
Zhou Cheng: "Is there really no news from my parents at all?"
The old clan chief shook his head. "In those days, everyone's livelihood was uncertain. It was almost a matter of cannibalism. Few people survived!"
Zhou Cheng understood what the clan chief meant; if biological parents could abandon their child, they must have encountered some difficulties.
Based on the timeline, they would be around sixty years old now, so the chances of them meeting again in this lifetime are very slim.
"Yes, Chieftain, I understand!"
The crowd automatically parted to make way for them as they boarded the vehicle.
The car drove away quickly, and the incident was over.
Old Wang took out the water bottle. "Don't drink too much, drink slowly!"
Zhou Cheng gratefully accepted the kettle. He didn't even have the strength to twist the lid open, so Su Lan helped him. The moment his mouth touched the water, he wished he could drink it all down.
He listened to the driver and drank it little by little, not too quickly.
Hu Youli said to Zhou Cheng, "Luckily someone came to warn us, otherwise how would you have gotten away, brother!"
Zhou Cheng slumped back in his chair. "I don't have the strength to walk anymore. They locked the door and made me kneel there, begging me to admit my mistakes! At first, I thought it would be over after kneeling for a few hours, but—"
Su Lan punched his chest with her hand, "How could you be so stupid? Didn't you know how to run away?"
Zhou Cheng smiled bitterly, "I was being stubborn back then, and I wanted to see just how far they could go. It ended up like this. But it's all good for me now. They're not my parents, and they did such a thing. So from today onwards, I'm cutting ties with them. I'll never talk to them again!"
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