Zhou Shixun has gotten used to Sheng An Ning being around him, saying a few nice words from time to time, which makes him blush.
When the meat was almost done, the third uncle brought Xiao Zhu over, and the branch secretary Zhou Jiawang also came with several uncles and elders.
Zhou Mancang no longer pretended to be dead. He came out tremblingly to greet a few people. Zhu Guihua also came out of the house, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying.
Several people went to sit on the kang in Zhu Guihua's room. Zhou Shixun also went in with them and started talking about the weather and the harvest.
Sheng An Ning also wanted to listen to what these people were talking about and see what was going on.
But there are rules here: when guests come to the house, women are not allowed to sit at the table and must eat in the kitchen.
After the food and dumplings were served, Sheng Anning followed Zhu Guihua, Niu Chunying and others to sit on the kang in the kitchen and start eating. The children were arranged to eat at a small table on the floor.
Niu Chunying felt sorry for Xiaozhu's young age, so she held him in her arms and sat beside him, feeding him meat and dumplings.
Zhu Guihua had no appetite in front of the table full of meat and dumplings. Seeing Chen Qiaolan wolfing down her food, she couldn't help but scold him, "Look at how useless you are. Did your family not give you anything to eat or drink? Where's the third child?"
Chen Qiaolan didn't have time to swallow the dumplings in her mouth and sobbed, "How should I know?"
Zhu Guihua's face became even gloomier. The family business was about to be divided, but the other two sons were not around. If a fight broke out, there would be no one to support them.
Sheng An Ning was in a good mood. The sparrows were fresh and tender, the hares were salty and fragrant, the pheasants were lean but not dry, and even the dumplings were so greasy that your mouth would ooze out after a bite.
The most important thing is that I am even happier to see Zhou Shixun clean up such a top-notch restaurant.
The atmosphere at the men's table was quite good. Zhou Jiawang sipped his drink and asked Zhou Shixun about his job: "Are you going to stay in Longbei City in the future?"
Zhou Shixun shook his head: "Not sure yet. If the unit moves to the experimental base, we will follow."
Zhou Jiawang listened to the radio more often, so he knew more. "The experiment you did was about missiles, right? The kind that can hit the Japanese?"
Zhou Shixun avoided the topic: "Uncle Jiawang, I'm sorry to bother you by calling you here when I'm so busy."
Zhou Jiawang waved his hands: "It's no trouble, no trouble. This is not a bother for us. Look at the food. It's better than what we ate during the Chinese New Year."
Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, he thought about the purpose of coming here and asked Zhou Shixun: "Changsuo, have you really decided to split up? Can you tell me why?"
Zhou Shixun nodded: "When I left for military service, my family let me go on the condition that I send all my allowances back home and we can split the family property after we get married."
Zhou Jiawang and several elders present knew about this matter. The quota originally belonged to Zhou Changyun, but since Zhou Changyun could not go, Zhou Shixun had to take over. This became a well-known fact in the village.
Zhou Mancang frowned and said, "I'm afraid you'll spend money recklessly outside. Besides, we're all family. If you make a scene outside, people will laugh at you."
Zhou Jiawang had some doubts: "Changsuo, you will live in the city in the future and won't come back often. This is no different from splitting up the family. What's in this house? You can't take the house with you."
Zhou Shixun was well prepared. He took out an envelope from his pocket and showed it to Zhou Jiawang: "After the separation, I will no longer be involved in family affairs. I will send five dollars a month for retirement."
Zhou Mancang's face turned dark after hearing this, but he endured it and didn't get angry.
Zhou Jiawang took the agreement and read it slowly. He didn't expect that Zhou Shixun actually wrote so many clauses. The general meaning was that the family would not pay a penny except for five dollars for pension.
Even if Zhou Mancang and Zhu Guihua grew old, got sick or died, he wouldn't care.
He really didn't expect Zhou Shixun to be so ruthless. This was not a separation of the family, but a severance of relations.
After hesitating for a while, he looked at Zhou Shixun and said, "Changsuo, do you really want to do this? No matter what, they are your parents. Whether they are partial or selfish, it is not easy for them to raise you. As the saying goes, they raised you when you were young, so you should take care of them when they are old."
Zhou Shixun was very firm: "I have made up my mind, Uncle Jiawang, please read the above content to everyone. If everyone thinks I have gone too far, I can explain it."
Zhou Jiawang hesitated for a moment and saw that Zhou Mancang had a bad face. If he knew the above content, he would probably be furious. Such a promising son had to sever ties with his family in the end.
Who can bear it?
But Zhou Shixun was determined, so he had no choice but to read it out loud.
Except for the third great uncle, the other uncles' faces were filled with shock. Zhou Mancang's face turned from black to red, and then to dark purple. His anger had made him lose his mind.
He picked up the glass on the table and threw it at Zhou Shixun: "You are so good, Zhou Shixun, now that you are capable and competent, you want to cut off ties with your family. You are really an ungrateful person."
Zhou Shixun did not dodge or evade. The wine glass hit his forehead, leaving a bloody cut, and blood gushed out.
He didn't even bother to wipe it off, letting the warm liquid flow down, but his eyes were fixed on Zhou Mancang: "Whether you agree or not, I will do this in the future. Today I just want Third Uncle and all the uncles to be witnesses."
Zhou Mancang no longer cared. Since the relationship had been torn apart, there was nothing to hide: "What are you witnessing? Witness that I have raised an ungrateful person for so many years?"
Third Uncle couldn't bear to watch this anymore, so he took out the handkerchief he used to wipe Xiao Zhu's nose from his pocket, covered Zhou Shixun's forehead with it, and glared at Zhou Mancang: "Mancang, the weather didn't get cold overnight, and people's hearts didn't get cold overnight. Everyone is watching how you treat Changsuo. Look at what Changsuo has done for this family. You should learn to be content."
Zhou Mancang was not convinced: "What have we done to him? We gave birth to him and raised him, so he should take care of us in our old age."
Zhou Shixun used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his forehead, his expression still calm and composed: "When I was seven years old, you deliberately threw me into the mountains because I ate too much and wasted the family's food. If I hadn't been lucky, I would have been eaten by wolves."
"There was also the time when I fell off a cliff and was rescued by Aunt Wang Ying. That was when the famine had just started. You deliberately tricked me into picking up sheep dung at the edge of the cliff, and then pushed me down."
Zhou Jiawang and several other uncles looked at Zhou Shixun in shock: "Changsuo, you can't talk nonsense."
Zhou Mancang was shocked and angry: "You are talking nonsense. Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. How could we do something worse than an animal?"
Zhou Shixun stared into Zhou Mancang's eyes: "Because I heard everything you said."
Third Uncle sighed, "Mancang, I was also collecting firewood on the mountain the day you pushed Changsuo away. It was me who told Changsuo that the family was in such a difficult situation that my parents were so cruel that they didn't want their child anymore."
Zhou Mancang's lips couldn't help but tremble: "Third Uncle..."
Zhou Jiawang suddenly felt very suffocated. Is this guy still a human being? He slapped his hand on the table and said, "Changsuo, we will be your witnesses. From now on, you don't have to worry about the life and death of Zhou Mancang and Zhu Guihua, and you don't have to pay the five dollars!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
