Chapter 173 Ingratitude
Survival was difficult during the war years. Many people died early in order to protect the village. Although Xie Daorong survived, he lost his fertility in a battle because he lay prone in the snow for a long time.
It was regrettable not being able to have his own children, but compared to those clansmen who lost their lives, Xie Daorong felt he was already lucky enough.
As for his parents, he was not their only son; they had two other sons. Even if he couldn't have children, his parents would only be sad for a while. Once they accepted the fact, life would naturally continue as usual.
As Xie Daorong had predicted, after his parents' initial grief subsided, they gradually accepted the fact that he was infertile.
However, they did not give up on finding a spouse for Xie Daorong, because although he could no longer have children, his sexual function was still intact.
The couple's idea was simple: find him a wife and have one of his brother's children adopted by them, so that Xie Daorong would have a complete family of his own.
Now that their son is successful, even if he can't have children, there are plenty of people willing to marry their daughters to him.
They didn't plan to find their son an outstanding match, but rather targeted families with ordinary or even poor circumstances, intending to choose someone from among them who was gentle and efficient.
Xie Daorong never expected his parents to have such a thought, and he vehemently opposed it, refusing to agree no matter what.
In the end, his parents compromised, but they also required him to adopt one of his brother's children so that he could take care of him in his old age and see him off when he died.
His brothers, sisters-in-law, and other family members were all very enthusiastic about this matter because he was the most capable and highest earner in their family. Their family's current good life was all thanks to him supporting them.
But he was still very young at the time and didn't know how to raise children. In addition, he was one of the main forces fighting against the invading enemy, and he couldn't even guarantee how long he would live.
In order to provide his child with a healthy environment to grow up in, Xie Daorong did not immediately adopt any of his nephews or nieces.
He thought that if he could live until the war ended, he would consider adopting one of his brother's children, rather than taking one of his brother's babies under his own name now.
Since they hadn't separated their households, he always gave all the money, grain, cloth, and other goods he earned to his parents without keeping a single penny for himself.
His parents certainly wouldn't keep all these things for themselves; instead, they would use them to subsidize everyone in the family, ensuring that everyone was well-fed, clothed, and lived a relatively comfortable life.
Perhaps because everyone had benefited from him, the adoption was temporarily put on hold because he disagreed, and his family did not bring it up frequently, forcing him to make a decision immediately.
After living in peace for more than ten years, Xie Daorong was seriously injured in another battle while protecting his people. He not only got another scar on his face, but also became lame in one leg.
Not even thirty years old, yet he had already lost his ability to fight and work, which was undoubtedly a tragedy for Xie Daorong and his family.
After a period of depression, Xie Daorong rallied again. Years of fighting against refugees, bandits, and remnants of the army had unknowingly tempered his character.
Without needing anyone to persuade him, he quickly accepted the fact on his own.
He told himself that although he could no longer fight alongside his people or help with heavy physical labor at home, he was not entirely useless.
At least his hands are still intact, so he can start from scratch and find a new way to make a living.
However, he was able to come up with a positive outlook. When his family heard that he wanted to learn a trade and support his family with his own hands, they all disapproved of his whimsical idea.
Easy-to-learn skills don't make money, while profitable skills require learners to first go through a ten-year apprenticeship period.
Xie Daorong is almost thirty years old. Even if he can settle down and learn a craft for ten years, can his brothers, sisters-in-law, and nephews really support him for ten years for nothing?
Xie Daorong had used all the money and supplies he had earned at great personal risk to support them for over ten years without reservation. They didn't think there was anything wrong with it, after all, they were all family, and they felt perfectly at ease accepting what Xie Daorong gave them.
But now that a similar situation has befallen them, requiring them to do the same for Xie Daorong, they immediately refuse.
Let alone adopting a child to care for Xie Daorong in his old age and see him off in death, they couldn't even accept working together to support Xie Daorong for ten years.
Xie Daorong's parents, who naturally assumed that his other children and grandchildren would lend a helping hand when Xie Daorong was in trouble, never dreamed that their other children and grandchildren would not even last six months before they began to despise Xie Daorong, who had made great contributions to the family.
The elderly couple wept every day, heartbroken by the heartlessness of their other children and grandchildren, and worried about Xie Daorong's later years.
Xie Daorong was also heartbroken by the attitude of his brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces. He wanted to move out and find an empty house in the village to live in, but his parents were determined to make the rest of the family make up for Xie Daorong's selfless contributions over the years.
As a result, the family was in constant chaos and bickering every day, and Xie Daorong's parents suffered greatly from disappointment, anger, and worry.
The two elders had suffered a lot throughout their lives, and with their advanced age and poor health, they were also worried about Xie Daorong and angry at their other children and grandchildren for being heartless. Within a few years, they passed away one after another, leaving behind their guilt and concern for Xie Daorong.
During this period, Xie Daorong proposed to establish his own household more than once, but his parents just couldn't swallow their pride and stubbornly refused to separate Xie Daorong from his family.
It wasn't until his deathbed that his father finally relented and, with Xie Daoheng and others as witnesses, divided the family property among his brothers.
The old man tricked his other children and grandchildren, leaving behind a will on his deathbed that bequeathed 70% of the family's property, including the house they now live in, to Xie Daorong.
As for their other children and grandchildren, they only received 30% of the remaining family property.
Xie Daorong thus became a thorn in the side of his brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, but with Xie Daoheng and the clan elders around, what was rightfully his could not be taken away by others.
The old man's other children and grandchildren, filled with resentment, moved out of Xie Daorong's house amidst smashing, shoving, and cursing. Because they resented the old man's unfair division of the family property, they didn't even help him with the funeral arrangements.
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