“Exactly,” Jiang Chao said, tossing his hair and shrugging his shoulders, “What’s there to be cowardly about? At worst, we can just come back and farm.”
He truly had no burden at all.
He always felt that with such a smart aunt, he couldn't be too bad off himself.
Even if he were truly as his father said—good for nothing and unable to eat anything—he could still go home and farm.
Old Jiang's family only has one son. Whether he wants it or not, all that land belongs to him, and no one can take it away.
Such a bachelor's idea is really in line with Jiang Chao's identity. Fortunately, no one in the Jiang family knew about it, otherwise the wooden stick behind the door would have already torn him to pieces.
“Oh right,” Huang Lao Er realized, “What’s there to be afraid of? Even if I can’t learn it, I won’t starve. Mother shouldn’t think I’m stupid, right?”
By the end, his voice was weak, and he turned to look at Jiang Nuan with anxious eyes.
Seeing her second son like this, Jiang Nuan realized how much her and her daughter-in-law's harsh parenting had affected him.
Is the second son really stupid?
He was certainly not as smart as others, but he wasn't stupid either; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make any major mistakes while working as a traveling peddler for so many years.
Even when it came to memorizing the martial arts techniques, he wasn't much behind others.
With a soft sigh, Jiang Nuan spoke gently, "Don't worry, no one will look down on you. Besides, you're just a little duller than your brothers. Your mother is so smart, how could you be so stupid?"
"Is that so?" Huang Lao Er subconsciously looked at Huang Xiao San.
After hearing everyone say it so much, he himself also felt that his mistress was the smartest of the three brothers.
"Uh..." Huang Xiaosan was stunned for a moment, then nodded subconsciously, "That should be it."
Upon hearing this, Huang Lao Er looked at Huang Lao Da excitedly, "Big Brother?"
“That’s right,” Old Huang said with a hint of helplessness, “You’re not stupid.”
But he added in his mind that he wasn't as smart as me.
Jiang Chao nodded in agreement.
"So," Jiang Nuan forced a standard smile, "do you agree to this?"
“I agree,” Huang Xiaosan said without hesitation. “Mother can make arrangements at any time.”
"I also want to learn more," Huang Laoda said with a shy smile. "My mother is so amazing, I, as her son, can't let her down too much."
“I have no objection either,” Huang Lao Er paused, then gritted his teeth and said, “At worst, I’ll get beaten up.”
Anyway, he's incredibly thick-skinned and not afraid of getting beaten up.
"And you?" Jiang Nuan turned her gaze to Jiang Chao.
"I'm just like them."
“Alright, then this matter is approved,” Jiang Nuan said with a smile, then turned serious. “Since you are willing, you should do your best to learn. As long as you give it your all, even if you don’t achieve anything remarkable, I won’t blame you.”
"But if I find out that you bunch of lazy brats are slacking off and not ambitious enough, don't blame me for making you eat bamboo shoots with meat."
"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Huang Lao Er felt embarrassed and muttered to himself, "It's not right to get meat for making a mistake."
That relieved him of the last bit of pressure.
Upon hearing this, the remaining three people's expressions instantly turned strange.
Even though they didn't understand the meaning, the three of them knew it wasn't that simple.
What an idiot!
The three glanced at Huang Lao Er and then turned their heads away simultaneously.
A thought flashed through my mind: I shouldn't have said those things against my conscience just now to save face for this guy.
They felt that Huang Lao Er's intelligence was truly worrisome!
Jiang Nuan's lips twitched slightly.
The second son's IQ is fine, but his EQ is really not that great.
Teachers are in for a headache when they encounter students like this.
She waved her hand and said to the four of them, "If there's nothing else, you can leave now. I'm going to talk to Huihui and Jiaojiao for a while. As for Yingying, I'll have a proper talk with her when she comes back from the capital."
Now that things are settled with the son, we also need to consider the daughter-in-law's situation.
Although they are well-behaved and sensible and don't care about these things, it is precisely because of this that she, as their mother-in-law, should cherish them even more.
“Okay,” Huang the eldest readily agreed, “Perfect timing, the four of us brothers also need to have a chat.”
What happened today really affected Boss Huang.
He suddenly realized that he was not a good older brother and that he had not cared enough about his brothers.
He was unaware of either the second son's inferiority complex or the third son's resentment.
Despite being the eldest brother, he was incredibly petty, always focusing on his own trivial matters.
No wonder, the three younger brothers call him eldest brother, but each of them has more ideas than him and never asks for his opinion when making decisions.
If I had an older brother like that, I probably wouldn't be able to respect him either.
Thinking of this, Boss Huang became dejected.
He suddenly realized that he was even worse than the second son, whom he had always looked down upon.
Jiang Nuan had no idea that her unexpected action had nipped the seeds of her son's split in the bud.
"Chatting is fine, but remember to take good care of Daya and Erya. They are too young and need someone to look after them."
"Don't worry, Mother, we will."
After saying that, the four brothers left.
Although today's events were minor, they evoked many feelings in the four of them. Boss Huang's suggestion was just right, and the three of them exchanged glances and all agreed.
Often, just the right thing can lead to completely opposite results.
Although Jiang Nuan didn't feel it deeply, the Huang brothers knew that there was actually a considerable rift between them.
The eldest brother, Huang, was dissatisfied with his three younger brothers, thinking that the second brother was stupid, the third brother disrespected him, and the fourth brother was too unruly.
Huang Lao Er also had opinions about the other three, feeling that the eldest brother was too selfish, the third brother looked down on others, and the fourth brother was not sensible enough.
Huang Xiaosan is the same.
"Second brother, third brother," Huang said, gently patting Er Ya to lull her daughter to sleep, "I want to apologize to you today. I was wrong in the past. I was too narrow-minded and didn't care enough about you. I didn't have the magnanimity of an elder brother."
“You can’t say that, I was wrong too,” Huang Lao Er admitted, his face flushed. “I’ve always been dissatisfied with you two, thinking you were unkind. Actually, I wasn’t kind myself.”
“I was wrong too,” Huang Xiaosan said seriously. “I was too arrogant before, relying on my little bit of cleverness, and looked down on the two of you. It was my fault.”
Huang Xiaosan felt that he was a bastard.
He thinks he's smart and looks down on his two older brothers, but he has no right to do so.
When their father passed away and their mother was bedridden, their two older brothers, who were already grown up, supported the entire family and kept the eight of them alive.
He went to the county town to work as an apprentice for a while, and felt that he had seen the world, but he forgot about the contributions of his two older brothers.
How is this any different from an ungrateful wretch?
If it weren't for what happened today, he probably would never have realized how much of a jerk he was.
“Since we’re both at fault,” Boss Huang suggested, “let’s just call it even!”
"Um!"
"Um!"
After saying that, the three of them looked at each other and smiled, revealing a relieved expression.
"I'm so jealous," Jiang Chao said enviously, looking at the three of them with a regretful sigh. "Why didn't my mother give me a brother!"
Even with their own grievances, they supported each other through it all, which is truly enviable.
Unlike him, who is the only son in his family and has to fight alone.
"Aren't we?" Old Huang laughed and punched Jiang Chao. "My mother treats you like her own son, so how could we not treat you like our own brother?"
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