“Master, look how well it’s sealed off outside. There must be something good hidden inside. If it weren’t so well sealed off, the Jiang family would have discovered it long ago.”
After thinking about it, Mr. Ma felt that Mrs. Ma's words made sense.
Their ancestors must have been smarter than the Jiang family. If they weren't, the Jiang family would have already monopolized everything, leaving nothing for the Ma family.
The black ball looks unremarkable, but who would have thought there's something good inside!
"Okay, you go and tidy up the house first."
With a casual wave of his hand, Mr. Ma gestured for Mrs. Ma to do other things. Mrs. Ma hesitated for a moment before speaking tactfully.
"Hey, what about that brat Ma Mei? Should we go...?"
Mentioning Ma Mei, Ma's mother felt an intense urge to tear Ma Mei apart and drink her blood. But the truth was, no matter how convincing she appeared on the surface, her inner feelings had changed.
It hurts, it really hurts.
"No need. Once we get what's inside and our family is well-off, we won't need to look for her. People will bring Ma Mei over on their own."
Mr. Ma scoffed; he didn't believe a girl like Ma Mei could accomplish anything significant.
Who knows? Before they could even retrieve the contents of the black ball, Ma Mei, unable to survive any longer, returned on her own.
Seeing that Mr. Ma had misunderstood her meaning, and opened his mouth to speak, Mrs. Ma said nothing.
"Well then, thank you for your hard work, I'll go tidy up the house."
Despite the pain, Ma's mother limped away, entered the room, and peered through the hole in the door at Ma Facai and Ma's father in the yard.
Ma's mother was incredibly clear-headed; she seemed to understand something, yet she lacked the courage to change it.
Thinking back, why were she sent to the Ma family by her parents? Ma's mother also realized that she seemed to have forgotten, and it seemed that she did not want to recall the past.
After looking at the situation inside, Ma's mother resignedly began to tidy up.
Everything in the room was destroyed, but some things piled together still seemed usable. The old but intact bed sheet was slashed into several pieces by an axe, but it could still be slept on if you straightened it out.
Looking at the bed sheet, Ma's mother thought of the woodshed where Ma Mei slept; Ma Mei's bed sheet looked like a tattered piece of clothing they no longer wanted.
The more she tried not to recall the memories, the more vivid they became, clearer and clearer they were than Ma's mother could ignore.
There were some scattered grains of rice on the ground. The mother horse initially didn't want to bother with them, but then she thought about it and realized she wouldn't get any food and would be beaten.
Subconsciously, Ma's mother squatted down and began to pick up the grains, one by one falling into her palm. Ma's mother couldn't understand, or perhaps she understood but didn't want to admit, why she subconsciously felt that she was going to be hit.
The dazzling light gradually turned into the colors of dusk. In the yard, Mr. Ma, who had been busy from noon until night, also wore deeper marks on the black ball.
The worn-out areas showed Ma's father that the black ball's exterior was made of iron.
If it's iron, then it proves there must be something good inside. That's what Ma Mu said. Good things are always well hidden.
"Honey, son, come and eat! You need to be full to have the strength to bring out the treasure."
Mr. Ma, who hadn't intended to eat and was planning to continue grinding, stopped what he was doing upon hearing Mrs. Ma's words, put the iron ball in his pocket, and then went to eat.
Ma Facai followed behind, his eyes gleaming with a strange light. He looked at his hands again and decided that he needed to think things through carefully.
"Mom, where are my pig's trotters?"
His good mood vanished when he saw the white porridge on the table disappear. All Ma Facai knew was that the pig's trotters he wanted were gone, even though they had been promised to him.
His hand is injured; you just need to repair it. Not buying him pig's trotters is like not wanting his hand to heal; not wanting his hand to heal is like not wanting him to become a genius.
The fear of him becoming a genius grew stronger with each thought, and Ma Facai kicked the dining table that his mother had painstakingly propped up.
If it weren't for Ma's quick thinking and hands, their family's only pot of congee would have been gone.
The rickety, makeshift dining table couldn't withstand Ma Facai's kick at all; it collapsed instantly, kicking up clouds of dust.
Mr. Ma was exhausted after a long day. He reached out his hand, only to find the table gone. Showing no mercy to the culprit, he slapped him hard across the face.
“Ma Facai, what are you doing? All you ever think about is pig trotters. Look at yourself, you’re almost as fat as a pig. And look at the house, that good-for-nothing has taken even a piece of cloth. Where are you going to get the money to buy you pig trotters?”
There are good things inside the black ball; I'm about to become rich.
With money, he can remarry and have more sons. If having one son, Ma Facai, is a genius, then having more sons proves he has even more genius sons.
When Ma Facai had more than one son and more than one genius, his importance in his father's heart gradually diminished.
Adding to their anger, Ma Facai was about to ruin their only meal, and Ma's father, unable to contain his rage, directly attacked Ma Facai.
Ma's mother was so startled she almost dropped the pot, but somehow, the person in front of her, Ma Facai, had been replaced by Ma Mei.
Thinking of Ma Mei, Ma Mei's desire to stop her father instantly weakened.
"Father, how dare you hit me?"
The most unbelievable thing is Ma Facai. Even before his genius was discovered, his parents treated him like their life's treasure.
They had everything they wanted, and when they didn't want Ma Mei as their sister, Ma's parents didn't hesitate for a second; they simply made Ma Mei a tool for them to make money.
He complained that the homework was too difficult, so his parents sent Ma Mei to school so that she could do his homework.
To put it bluntly, he was the local tyrant of the family; even his parents treated him with deference. This was the first time his father had hit him, and it took Ma Facai a long time to react.
“So what if I hit you? Ma Facai, you better look at yourself clearly. I’m the pillar of this family. I haven’t even had a pig’s trotter yet. What are you doing, you good-for-nothing, making such a fuss?”
Watching Ma Facai being scolded by his father, Ma's mother felt a mixture of pity and a dark feeling, as if this was how it was supposed to be, that Ma's father was always this kind of person.
"You bastard, what are you spacing out for? Bring me the food."
Startled by the shout, Ma's mother immediately handed a pot of congee to Ma's father without hesitation.
"Honey, I'm sorry to trouble you. This is all we have left. Don't worry, I'll find some work to do tomorrow morning and buy you some food."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma's eyes widened.
"You bitch, what do you mean? Are you saying I can't afford to support you and you need to go work?"
Ma's mother inwardly cried out in alarm. How could she have forgotten that Ma's father was a man of extremely high self-esteem, who acted arrogantly despite lacking ability?
“Honey, all the things in the house have been taken by that good-for-nothing sister. You have to work so hard every day to look after the baby. How can you not afford to support me? Once the baby is born, you can support ten or a hundred of me without any problem. I’ll go out and find some work to tide me over for the next couple of days.”
Hearing his mother's ingratiating words, Ma's sensitive pride finally calmed down.
"Alright!"
He drank one bowl after another, never thinking of leaving any for his wife or for Ma Facai.
Ma's mother was alright; she felt her mind was becoming clearer, as if a fog had been obscuring her vision, but now the fog had cleared, and her mind was lucid.
Deceiving yourself will eventually lead to remembering the truth, and that memory will be more painful than before you deceived yourself.
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