Xie Liushan had long noticed the tension between his elder brother and sister-in-law, and when he saw the two of them together, he couldn't help but stare at them.
"What are you looking at?" Xu Tongling glanced at him suspiciously, then continued folding paper ingots in her hands.
“Something’s not right. There must be something wrong with my eldest and second brothers. You keep an eye on the ledgers while I go take a look.”
Seeing his elder brother hunched over and heading out, Xie Liushan quickly shoved the pen in his hand into his wife's hand, stood up, and followed him out.
Xu Tongling looked at the pen in her hand, wanting to stop him, but she was not as quick as Xie Liushan to leave.
Xie Ming, who was nearby, raised his half-closed eyes to watch the two figures disappear into the distance. He thought to himself that once he had settled things with the two families, the next thing would be his sons and daughters.
In the countryside, the death of a person is a great loss, and all the traditional customs must be followed. A whole day was spent welcoming guests, kneeling and burning paper money, and offering sacrifices... enough to keep Xie Ming's family busy.
It wasn't until dusk, and as the villagers gradually left, that the Xie family finally had a chance to sit down.
Xie Liudi had been busy all day, thought all day, and most importantly, had been scolded by his wife all day. He also knew that the matter could not be easily resolved.
The three brothers gathered the children from both families together in the courtyard.
"Father, what's wrong?"
Dali, the eldest brother, was quite responsible. He led his younger siblings to sit down and then asked them questions.
Xie Ming stared at his nephew and said, "Your second aunt has left. It must have cost a lot of money. Your third uncle gave me a figure of 3 taels of silver."
Previously, Xie Liushan's heart was still with his deceased younger sister, but now, facing so many descendants, he began to resent his younger sister.
“This money should be paid. We brothers are not very capable, and in the end, it is Mother who suffers.”
The speaker was Xie Ming's only married son, Si Li.
“What kind of suffering has your mother endured? Has she been beaten, scolded, or starved? You all feel sorry for your mother, but she doesn’t treat you like her own children at all. Let me tell you this, your mother has squandered all the money in the house. Now, I can’t even come up with three coins, let alone three taels.”
Xie Ming spoke in a flat, emotionless tone, just like a heartbroken old farmer.
"What?"
The children's eyes widened in horror.
“I told you that we don’t have a single penny at home. Today’s expenses were covered by your eldest uncle and third uncle.”
Xie Ming looked up at his eldest son with tearful, lifeless eyes, looking truly pitiful.
With a "bang," Qili, Daya, and Erya pushed over the stools and rushed into the house. Sili and his wife, as the eldest sons of the family, dared not lose their composure in front of their elders, and anxiously watched their younger siblings inside.
After a long while, the three of them came out of the house looking bewildered.
"Father...!"
The head maid looked around at Bai Su in a daze, and after a while, she burst into tears and threw herself into Xie Ming's arms.
She's already 14; she'll probably be getting engaged next year.
Over the years, she has given all the money she has earned to her mother. If the family loses even a single penny, her future as the eldest daughter will be bleak.
"Father..."
Several other children rushed over, and the remaining children in the room also started crying!
At this moment, eight-year-old Qili trembled and knelt down in front of his father and uncles.
"It's my uncle and cousin! Dad! It's all my fault! It's all my fault."
After he finished speaking, he began to kowtow repeatedly.
"What happened?"
Xie Liudi and Xie Liushan were completely baffled.
"I didn't know Mother was sending back the family's money, Mother... Waaah..."
Through Qili's sobbing narration, those present learned what had happened.
It turns out that his mother had been using Qili as a "runner" all these years, making some food for him to deliver to Pianshan Village every now and then.
Eight-year-old Qili was not very clear about the early conflicts, nor did he know that there was something fishy hidden in the food.
He just foolishly helped his mother deliver the things back to his uncle's house.
After hearing his words, Xie Liushan grabbed a large broom from the side and started hitting him.
"I'll beat you to death, you heartless wretch! Your older brothers and sisters work so hard to earn money. Over the years, they've been so considerate of you because you're the youngest, but they never expected you to turn out to be just like your mother, a traitor who eats his own flesh and blood."
"Uncle, I was wrong, I was really wrong."
Qi Li knew that he had committed a serious crime by not reporting the incident, but he dared not resist and let Xie Liushan beat him, while he kept kowtowing.
"You must know exactly what kind of relationship our family has with them, yet you're still eagerly offering them benefits. Have you no conscience? You did that and didn't even let a word out!"
Xie Liushan stopped sweeping, threw down the broom, and stood there shakily, questioning him.
“Uncle, I was really wrong. I didn’t know about those things before. Later, when I found out, I refused to send her away and wanted to tell Father, but Mother said that if the family found out, she would be divorced, and I didn’t want to…”
Qili cried her heart out and clung to Xie Liudi's leg, sobbing uncontrollably.
There were stepmothers in the village, and he didn't want his own mother to be divorced, so he didn't dare to talk about those things.
"You fool! Do you think your father is that kind of person? Don't you ever think about how your mother is like a stepmother! You're afraid of getting into trouble, so you just cower like a turtle, dragging the whole family down with you..."
Xie Liudi jumped up and down, cursing loudly.
"Third Uncle, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I'm the one who ruined my father, I'm the one who ruined my older brother and sister, I...I..."
Qili stood up blankly, his eyes filled with a death wish, and rammed his head against the stone trough at the corner of the courtyard.
Xie Ming took two steps forward and grabbed the man by the back of his collar.
"You're so useless. Instead of thinking about getting the money back or how to make amends, you're just thinking about killing yourself."
No one expected Qili to make such a move, and they were all so frightened that their legs went weak.
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