The storms hidden beneath the surface remain unknown to most.
Huangjiakou.
Because of Jin's return, even though it was just a tiny drop of rain, it caused quite a stir when it fell on the Huang family.
The family happily set up a table, drank a few cups, and even their son, who was in Jiangjiazhuang, was called back.
After finishing their meal, everyone except Huang Xiaosan had to sneak back in the dark.
"Mother, please let us stay one night," Huang Lao Er said with a bitter look on his face. "There's no place like home, it's always more comfortable at home."
I hadn't realized it before, but after I went out, I found out that there were almost no people in the surrounding villages who were as willing to spend money on food as my mother.
My mother gave my maternal grandmother a lot of gifts, and she would send her any good things she had, so she shouldn't have been lacking in anything.
But in terms of food, it's nowhere near as good as what we eat at home.
There was only one meat dish every day, which was a special treat for my nephew, and it didn't taste very good. There were no pastries or tea at all.
At night, the blanket is so hard it feels like you could hit someone with it.
It's not like we don't have new bedding, yet they're all piled up at the bottom of a trunk, supposedly to be used after Jiang Chao gets married.
Is someone keeping watch over Qingfeng Temple?
“Yes,” Jiang Chao explained, “the clan chief was even more nervous than Auntie, and had people keeping an eye on things the whole time, but they didn’t find anything.”
"In that case, you can stay if you want, but there are no rooms available, so don't complain about the cramped conditions."
She planned to move the three people into one room.
Upon hearing this, Old Huang's eyes lit up. "Alright, I don't mind!"
Then, he glanced at his wife furtively, feeling a pang of regret.
He urged them to build the house quickly, saying he would go and urge them to do so tomorrow.
“It’s good that you’re back to live here,” Jiang Nuan said, talking about what happened during the day. “This year, the whole village is planting rice together, and everyone will be working in the fields starting tomorrow.”
"The whole village planting rice seedlings together?" Huang Xiaosan frowned. "Why did this suddenly happen?"
He was extremely unwilling!
They have little land but plenty of able-bodied men, so they can work for just a few days and also help out at their maternal relatives' homes.
But if the whole village does it together, it will take at least ten days without a break.
"Have you lost your mind?" Huang Lao Er said unhappily. "Why do we have to work together for no reason? Even when our family was going through tough times a few years ago, this wasn't the case. Now that we've finally gotten better, we have to work for others!"
Just when things were finally getting a little easier, this happened again. Is he crazy?
“We’ll have to bear with the elders’ insistence for a few more days,” Jiang Nuan sighed. “This won’t last long; it won’t last more than a few days.”
"I don't care," Huang Lao Er snorted, "I'm not willing anyway."
"What good will it do if you don't want to?" Old Huang scolded. "Stop messing around, listen to your mother."
He was unwilling to give up.
When his father passed away, his younger brothers were too weak to continue, so he took on most of the heavy work by himself. He was also slow, always finishing half a month later than others.
I haven't seen anyone pity them!
“Your elder brother is right,” Jiang Nuan reprimanded in a deep voice, “This was proposed by your grandfather’s generation. As a junior, no matter how unwilling you are, you should give them some face.”
If these people weren't elders, Jiang Nuan would have dared to start cursing them outright.
Her initial intention was good, but she did something foolish, and the whole thing has gotten so bad that she's even tempted to move out.
The reason we're not buying property now is not only because we haven't found the right one, but also because we want our son to learn more. As a result, even though we've hired some mentors, our son is stuck with farm work.
"I know," Huang Lao Er said with a sneer. "I'll go, but don't expect me to put in any effort."
"Fool!" Jiang Nuan couldn't help but scold, "If you don't work hard, will the whole village see you cheating and shirking your duties? Don't you care about your reputation?"
“Exactly,” Jiang Chao said speechlessly, “even if you don’t want to, you should at least pretend.”
Otherwise, what good is it besides venting your anger?
Others don't care if you feel wronged or not; they only see that you're not good at your job.
“I,” Huang Lao Er said, feeling wronged, “Mother, I feel really upset.”
Old Huang empathized, “Who wouldn’t feel heartbroken? In the first two years after Dad passed away, we were weak and would pull our shoulders until they bled just from plowing the fields, and no one helped us.”
"Where is your uncle?" Jin asked疑惑地, "Didn't he help either?"
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
After a long silence, Huang Xiaosan murmured, "There are always more people who add flowers to brocade than those who offer charcoal in the snow."
“Our family has never had a good relationship with the old house,” Xie said without any reservations, revealing everything. “My uncles think that my husband and his brothers are not up to par and are always angry with them for not striving. They want them to suffer more and improve themselves.”
He chuckled and said, "What do you mean by suffering and making progress? They're just afraid our family will be a burden to them. I've never seen them make Brother Dashan pull the plow when he was fourteen or fifteen."
“Sister-in-law,” Wang tugged at her sleeve, “you should talk less.”
After saying that, he glanced guiltily at Jiang Nuan.
The sisters-in-law often complained about the old house in private, but they didn't dare let their mother-in-law know.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan lowered her eyes, her pupils gradually darkening. "Since we've come to this topic, let's just get to the point."
She had always known about the conflict between her son and daughter-in-law and the old house, but she had always put it off.
At first, I felt troubled and didn't know how to handle it, but later I thought my son and daughter-in-law would figure it out themselves.
"You resent the elders at the old house!"
His voice was calm and resolute, leaving no room for doubt.
“Mother,” Huang Xiaosan asked earnestly, “shouldn’t we?”
“Mistress, it’s a favor if someone helps you, it’s your right not to,” Jiang Nuan sighed softly. “You need to know that, apart from your own parents, no one is obligated to help others.”
“But,” Huang Xiaosan pursed his lips, “they are elders who are his own flesh and blood.”
“That’s the same,” Jiang Nuan sighed. “Even biological parents can have their share of problems with their children, so how can we expect things from the elders in the other family?”
To be honest, she felt sorry for her sons' plight, having to shoulder the burden of a family at such a young age, but she didn't resent the old house, even though they were very ruthless to the eldest brothers.
“Aunt is right,” Jiang Chao agreed wholeheartedly. “Relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself. You can resent others for kicking you when you’re down, but you can’t blame them for ignoring you.”
Even if this approach is too callous.
"Mother," Huang Lao Er said unwillingly, "Are you telling us to pretend nothing happened?"
“Of course not,” Jiang Nuan shook her head. “You can remember it, but there’s no need to worry about it too much.”
These ambiguous words made Huang Lao Er frown. "What do you mean?"
"When you are weak, you expect others to help you and hope that someone can pull you out of your predicament. But it is a very foolish thing to place your hopes on others. You can never predict whether the person who just reached out will let go in the next moment."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
"You should be thankful that they never gave you any hope from beginning to end, letting you know that you can only rely on yourselves, and that you have to grit your teeth and persevere."
Back then, she would sit by the door with her legs drawn up, watching enviously as one person after another was adopted, hoping that she could be taken away with them too.
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