Chapter 120 A hopeless case
Xu Laosi and his wife were cursing and spitting as they went on, until Feng Lianhua caught a glimpse of a dark figure standing at the door. She screamed in terror and nearly lost her mind.
Upon realizing it was her son, Feng Lianhua ignored Xu Laosi's complaints, quickly put on her shoes, went to the door, and inquired about Xu Huaining's well-being as he remained motionless:
"Are you tired or hungry? Sit down for a while, and Mom will go to the kitchen to cook for you. I'll make you two egg pancakes, which are your favorite."
Xu Huaining took a deep breath, looked at his mother who only reached his chest, and asked with difficulty, "Mother, this morning you went to my aunt's house and beat her until she was bleeding from the head and unconscious?"
Feng Lianhua's breath hitched, and she hurriedly explained, "No, no, it wasn't us who hit your aunt, it was Ma Dahua, it was Ma Dahua who did it!"
Xu Huaining gave a self-deprecating laugh. In the dim light, his eyes were filled with disappointment and hatred: "Is there a difference? Is it her or you who makes a difference?"
In the end, it was a low growl that came out from his throat.
Feng Lianhua's face turned pale, and she couldn't help but take a step back: "Huai, Huaining, this, this isn't our fault. It's all Ma Dahua's fault for being too impulsive and pushing your aunt down and hitting her against the wall, which is why things turned out like this."
Feeling no responsibility, she couldn't help but berate Xu Cuilian:
“Your sister-in-law is too heartless. She cuts ties with us over such a trivial matter. What good life can a woman have without her own family? If she is tormented to death by her husband’s family one day, we will never stand up for her.”
Like Ma Dahua, Feng Lianhua believed that Xu Xiaocui was able to marry into the Zhang family and live a good life entirely because her maternal family had many brothers and nephews, which prevented the Zhang family from mistreating her.
Over the years, Xu Cuilian has benefited greatly from her maternal family, so it is only right that she provides financial and material assistance to them.
Now that Xu Cuilian has quit, she is heartless and ungrateful. She will have no face to face the Xu family elders after she dies.
"Backing you up? Ha~"
Xu Huaining was amused by her biological mother's words, and the resentment in her eyes was like a flood bursting through a dam: "Haven't you all been supporting our aunt all these years?"
Did you lend a hand to your aunt when she was heavily pregnant and taking care of her bedridden parents-in-law? Or did you take care of your aunt during her postpartum period after the birth of Da Kui and his two brothers? Or did you help your aunt when her husband worked hard from dawn till dusk slaughtering and selling pigs?
When I was little, I stayed at my aunt's house for a while. She treated me like her own child. I was so young and called her "Mom," and when she found out, you specially went to bring me back, afraid I wouldn't be close to you.
At this point, Xu Huaining's gaze towards Feng Lianhua revealed a hint of hatred: "I truly hate the injustice of God, that I was born into your womb, with parents who are utterly hopeless!"
He had the chance to live in a spacious and clean brick house like Xu Jinnian, and to become an apprentice of a retired scholar who had passed away from officialdom. But everything was ruined by this short-sighted woman in front of him!
Feng Lianhua stared incredulously at her son, whom she had cherished and raised, wondering if she had misheard: "Huai... Huaining, what are you saying?"
Xu Laosi, who was behind her, stood up in a rage, rushed barefoot to Xu Huaining, pointed at his nose and cursed, "What did you say? Say it again, you bastard!"
What does it mean to be unfair to God to have such hopeless parents?
Over the years, they have worked hard to provide him with food, clothing, and education. They always saved the best food for him and never took a bite for themselves. And now it's their fault?
Looking at the fingers that seemed to want to stab into his eyes, Xu Huaining's face flashed with self-mockery, and the raging anger deep in his heart was firmly suppressed.
He ignored Xu Laosi and turned to walk step by step toward his room.
"Stop right there! You stop right there and we'll get to the bottom of this tonight!"
Xu Laosi rushed forward to stop Xu Huaining, and by the light streaming in through the gate, he stared intently at his son, whom he had doted on since childhood:
"You look down on us and this family, don't you? You lived in Xu Cuilian's house for more than half a year when you were a child, which completely nurtured your heart, didn't it?"
"I knew Xu Cuilian was no good. She's corrupted my perfectly good son, giving her the audacity to despise her own mother!"
Xu Huaining found it utterly absurd, his face showing deep exhaustion: "Father can think whatever he wants. Now that my aunt has severed ties with us, my future is over."
After saying that, he didn't even glance at the astonished Xu Laosi, walked past him back to his room, and slammed the door shut.
Xu Laosi stood there blankly, completely bewildered.
Feng Lianhua panicked and rushed forward to grab his sleeve tightly: "What does Huaining mean? What do you mean his future is over?"
Xu Laosi had no idea, and scratched his head in frustration: "If you want to know, just ask him!"
Feng Lianhua, however, dared not, and grabbed his sleeve, refusing to let go:
“Did we make a mistake? Shouldn’t we have let Xu Laosan and his wife support Huaining’s schooling? If it weren’t for their trouble, we might have already made up with Xu Cuilian today.”
Xu Laosi's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty as he glared at the tightly closed door opposite him: "Just for such a trivial matter, this bastard has distanced himself from us. Listen to what he just said—is that something a son should say?"
Feng Lianhua felt more sorry for her son than for herself, and tears streamed down her face: "He is our only son who can stand up for us. He was just angry and said those words without thinking. Why are you arguing with your son?"
The couple had four sons after their marriage, but the first three died before they were three months old due to various reasons. Only their youngest son, Xu Huaining, survived.
After being persuaded by Feng Lianhua, Xu Laosi's anger subsided slightly, and he frowned in thought:
"He used to envy that cursed lone star for having such a good teacher. Not only was his talent far superior to his teacher's, but he also came from a prestigious family in Jinling. His knowledge and connections were something that ordinary teachers couldn't even dream of. Could it be that he wants to become a disciple of this teacher?"
As Xu Laosi spoke, he became more and more convinced that his guess was correct. Combining this with the behavior of his biological son when Xu Jinnian returned to the village to pay respects to the ancestors last time, he finally remembered that every year when Xu Jinnian returned to the village, his son would try his best to befriend him.
Having figured this out, Xu Laosi's expression kept changing.
Feng Lianhua was still crying: "What do you mean by a cursed star or a literary star descended to earth? We should just let that little beast live under our noses and not give him a chance to rise up. Back then, the one who studied under a famous teacher might have been Huaining!"
Xu Laosi's face darkened: "Shut up!"
He never regretted bribing that half-baked Taoist priest to give his newborn son the fate of being a cursed loner.
If the third son and his wife hadn't given up on their biological son, why would they have willingly become his slaves?
The problem was that the second son interfered, adopting the little brat into his own family, allowing the brat to grow up well and even get lucky enough to become a disciple of a famous teacher.
Thinking about it carefully, isn't it just that the little brat is blocking his own son's way?
Xu Laosi was so angry he wanted to grit his teeth. He deeply regretted his past leniency and failure to completely sever Xu Jinnian's lifeline, which made his own son a mere foil and a laughingstock for the villagers.
Sheng An, fast asleep, was unaware that he had inadvertently guessed the scheme of Xu Lao Si and his wife from back then. He finally woke up in the middle of the night, ravenously hungry.
She pushed the large stove against her back, her voice slightly hoarse: "Xu Jinnian, I'm hungry, go and cook."
Xu Jinnian tightened his arms around her and kissed her ear: "What does An'an want to eat?"
Sheng An was starving and wasn't picky at all: "Anything is fine, just don't make meat."
It's too late to eat meat now; it's hard to digest. It's better to eat something vegetarian.
Without hesitation, Xu Jinnian lit the candle by the bedside and began to dress and put on her shoes.
Sheng An couldn't sleep, so she got up too.
The first floor was completely dark and there was no sound; clearly, the three elderly people had already gone to sleep.
The two tiptoed into the kitchen and saw that the pot lid on the stove was tightly closed, so they guessed that their elders had left them food.
Sure enough, when the lid was opened, a wisp of steam rose up. Inside the pot was a small steamer with eight still-warm buns, and at the bottom of the pot was a soup of pickled mustard greens and shredded pork.
The couple didn't mind at all. They added more firewood to the stove, heated up the soup and buns, and then sat down in the kitchen to eat.
Sheng An ate three steamed buns and drank most of a bowl of pickled vegetable and shredded pork soup; the rest went into Xu Jinnian's stomach.
After eating and drinking his fill, Sheng An patted his slightly bulging belly and looked at the dark night outside, having no intention of going out to digest his food.
Seeing that she didn't want to go for a walk, Xu Jinnian didn't force her. He washed the pots and pans and then sat down to chat with her.
The night wind was chilly, blowing in through the crack in the door. Sheng An felt a little cold, so she moved her small stool and leaned against the man's warm embrace, sighing, "These leisurely and peaceful days are so comfortable!"
If conditions allowed, she might actually lie down, sunbathe and sleep every day, living a life of unbridled comfort.
Looking at his wife's longing expression, Xu Jinnian lowered his head and pressed his cheek against hers, pulling her into his arms: "Tomorrow will be a nice day too, shall we go hiking and soak up the sun?"
Sheng An was taken aback: "Are there mountains nearby? I won't go to any that are too far away; the journey there could be half-dead."
Xu Jinnian chuckled and kissed her cheek: "The nearest mountain is quite a distance away, we'll ride there on horseback."
Sheng An became interested: "Whose horse is it? Should we borrow it from the teacher's house?"
Xu Jinnian nodded: "The Master and his wife have returned to Jinling, and they didn't take that precious horse with them."
Master Jiang was very generous to Xu Jinnian; he could ride his precious horse whenever he wanted, as long as the horse didn't get tired.
Sheng An readily agreed: "Okay, you can teach me how to ride a horse while you're at it. I'm going to Jinling after the New Year, and I'll see if I can buy a good horse while I'm there."
The family only had a donkey that could pull goods and carry people, but it was much slower than a horse, so she still wanted to get a good horse.
She wasn't greedy at all; she didn't even need to travel a thousand miles a day, just five hundred.
Horses like these aren't cheap either; they cost at least two or three hundred taels, and you still have to be lucky to buy one.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com