Chapter 47 Kindness Must Have an Edge
In the east yard, the laughter brought by that small victory was like a wisp of warm smoke that lingered for a long time.
Feng Lan cleaned up the mess quickly, rinsing the basin and bucket that had served so well. The nauseating stench in the air was finally diluted somewhat by the fresh well water. Her daughters gathered around her, chattering as they reminisced about the scene. The old woman's appearance, in particular, had become their greatest amusement tonight, and their resentment towards the wall had dissipated considerably.
Chen Kangbo didn't laugh. He simply silently re-locked the gate and re-checked the foundation of the new wall, as if to keep all potential dangers out. After doing all this, he walked under the light and looked at his wife and daughters. The lines on his face, which had always been as hard as stone, softened considerably.
"Okay, stop laughing." Feng Lan clapped her hands and gathered her daughters around her. "This isn't over yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, suppressed cries and curses came from the other side of the wall, mixed with the angry scolding of Chen Kangzhong and Chen Kangshu. Obviously, the farce in the West Courtyard had just begun.
"Mom, are we really just going to leave it alone?" Daya asked hesitantly. Although she hated the old lady, they were blood relatives after all, and seeing her in such a state of distress, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.
Feng Lan patted her head, her eyes calm. "It's not that we don't care, it's that they don't give us the chance to care. Remember, Daya, kindness must have an edge. To be kind to jackals is to be cruel to yourself."
The daughters seemed to understand the meaning of her words, but Chen Kangbo heard it clearly. He walked over to Feng Lan and said in a deep voice, "I'll go."
Feng Lan held him back: "If you go, they'll only get more excited. They need to be made to lose face on their own."
As soon as she finished speaking, the door to the west courtyard creaked open. Chen Kangzhong and Chen Kangshu lifted the door panel, which was still dripping with sewage, and threw the smelly, crying old woman at the door of the east courtyard like a bag of garbage.
"Brother! Sister-in-law!" Chen Kangzhong stretched his neck and shouted from a distance, fearing that he would be contaminated by the smell. "You are the ones who made Mom sick. She also fell off the wall of your house! You guys take care of this person!"
"That's right! You are rich now, and you can eat and drink well. You can't just sit there and ignore your own mother, right? If this gets out, will your reputation be ruined?" Chen Kangshu also chimed in.
They had a good plan. If Feng Lan's family took care of the person thrown over, they would have a reason to harass them later; if they didn't, it would just confirm their crime of being unfilial. Then they could go to the village to make a scene, cry to the clan, and finally ruin their reputation.
Under the cover of night, many villagers who were awakened had not yet dispersed, and they all stretched their necks to watch the excitement from a distance.
Feng Lan sneered and ignored the two clowns. She walked to the door and looked down at the old woman who was lying on the ground, still groaning. Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone.
"Mom, what are you talking about? Do you think our pig bowl isn't soft enough and you want to lie down somewhere else?"
"You...you damn it..." the old lady cursed weakly.
"God damn it?" Feng Lan squatted down and looked her in the eye, a hint of sarcasm on her lips. "No matter how damned I am, I can't climb over the wall in the middle of the night to steal my own son's things. You are still as skilled as ever, old man. It's just that your eyesight is not good. You mistook the pig feed bowl for a rice jar."
"Puchi..." Someone in the crowd watching the excitement from a distance couldn't help but laugh.
The old lady of the Chen family's face turned purple, and she was filled with shame and anger.
Feng Lan stood up and turned her gaze toward Old Man Chen, who was huddled behind a door with only half his head sticking out. "Dad, you're the head of the family. Tell me, what should we do about this? Should we take Mom back home, lock the door, and teach her a lesson about 'look no more, touch no more'? Or should we just let her lie there outside our door, a spectacle for the whole village? We don't mind having an extra guard at the door, but the smell... I'm afraid it'll drive the rats away."
These words, each one piercing the heart, stripped Old Man Chen of his remaining dignity. He knew he had lost face today. If he continued to make trouble, it would only get worse.
He glared at Chen Kangzhong and Chen Kangshu fiercely, squeezing out a few words from between his teeth: "Third Brother! Why don't you help your mother back home? Don't you think it's embarrassing enough?"
Uncle Chen Kang came over reluctantly with a look of reluctance, trying to pull the old lady away, but was forced to step back repeatedly by the overwhelming stench.
Finally, the west courtyard door opened again. Qian and Liu, who had been missing the entire time, pinched their noses and dragged the old woman back to the west courtyard with disgust on their faces, dragging her like a dead dog. The broken door slammed shut, completely closing the Chen family's reputation in Pingjiang Village.
The East Courtyard finally returned to peace.
Chen Kangbo looked at his wife, his eyes gleaming with a light he had never seen before. He realized that since the separation, this usually docile and patient woman had become a completely different person. She had become decisive, intelligent, and sharp-tongued, yet she always managed to hold her ground just right, leaving him feeling relieved while also being unable to find any evidence against her.
"Lan'er." He walked over and held her hand, which was still cool from the well water. A thousand words finally came down to one sentence: "It's great to have you here."
Feng Lanhui shook his hand and smiled, but the smile in her eyes was quickly replaced by a hint of worry.
Late in the night, the children asleep, the couple sat beneath the lamp, speechless, the atmosphere heavy. Neither the day's triumph nor the night's farce could mask the harsh reality.
"The crops in the fields..." Chen Kangbo finally spoke, his voice hoarse.
The thought of the fifteen mu of rice paddies destroyed was like a knife piercing his heart. They were the lifeblood of his family of seven and their only hope for a new life.
Feng Lan remained silent, her mind racing. The ruined rice paddies, the Chen family's provocation, and... this time of year.
A fragment that she had buried deep in her memory emerged without warning.
It was a similar time of year in my previous life. After the autumn harvest, the weather turned erratic. For months, not a drop of rain fell. The village creek dried up, and the well water level dwindled daily. At first, no one took it seriously, believing it was just a typical autumn drought. But no one could have imagined it would last two full years.
In the first year, they could barely get by, relying on the family's surplus food and meager government aid. But by the second year, the land was truly barren, with starving people everywhere. Tragedy, with people even eating their own children for a few bites of food, was a common occurrence around Pingjiang Village.
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