The Chen family was exceptionally quiet tonight. They ate in silence, and no one went to call the second son and his wife.
After everyone went back to their rooms, Old Chen got angry. "You usually scold and beat this and that, but why are you so silent in the hospital this time? The second son is fighting alone, why don't you help him?"
Old Lady Xia stood by the bed, packing up the washed clothes. "Are you considered a man?"
Old Chen glared at me and cursed, "What do I mean? How am I not a man? How can I have four children with you if I'm not a man?"
Old Lady Xia: "That's all you can do. Whenever something happens at home, you let me take the lead and you hide behind me like a coward. Is that what you call a man?"
"I think you're not as good as the boss. At least he knows how to protect his wife. You pay a little money every month, but you look up at the sky. As soon as the meal is finished, you push the bowl away, put your hands behind your back and go out to smoke. Besides paying that little money and shaking a few times when giving birth, what use are you?"
"I'm the one who takes care of everything at home, inside and out. When I'm arguing with the men or fighting with the women, you hide in the background and say, 'Stop arguing, stop fighting, can't we just talk it out?' What else do you do besides that?"
"When I fought for what was rightfully ours, you were trying to smooth things over. When you used me as a pawn, you were still trying to smooth things over. I fought for the benefits, and you still wanted me to apologize. You've been the good guy. I'm the evil old woman, and you're the reasonable old man. And now you're blaming me? Your face is thicker than a city wall."
"If you care so much about your second brother, why don't you do it yourself? What kind of man are you if you ask me to do it?"
Old Lady Xia glanced down at him and said disdainfully, "You have no guts."
Old Chen had lived for most of his life, and no one had ever pointed at his nose and scolded him like that. For a moment, he forgot about the slaps that Old Lady Xia had given him before. Anger filled his head, and he stood up and pushed Old Lady Xia.
He pushed Old Lady Xia!
The old lady Xia is no longer the one who would swallow her anger. In fact, she is also a little confused. She has been married to this old man for so many years, and he has never hit her.
So, when he pushed her, Old Mrs. Xia also got angry.
Old Chen was still angry when he was stunned by several consecutive slaps, followed by a series of questioning from Old Lady Xia.
"You dare to fight me?"
"The most worthless men would fight with the women in their family."
"Why, did I hit a sore spot? You're just a cowardly man."
"You're just like the men in Uncle Ma's family in our compound. You're all cowards who beat women."
"You dare to hit me, you dare to hit me, I will fight you today."
There was too much noise in the house. Chen Xiangbei, the naughty kid, originally wanted to go out to play with his friends, but when he heard the noise, he immediately opened the door. He was really afraid that his father would beat his mother. It was too unmanly for his father, a grown man, to argue with his mother.
But what caught his eye was his mother riding on his father, hitting him left and right, and his father dodging everywhere. If he accidentally touched his mother, she would hit him even harder.
"I didn't hit you, I didn't hit you." Old Chen was beaten so badly that he didn't dare to open his eyes, for fear that the old woman would hit him in the eyes. If he really went blind, it would be the end of him, so he didn't see Chen Xiangbei standing at the door in a daze.
Old Lady Xia: "You haven't hit me yet? Then what did you mean by pushing me? Oh, tell me. What exactly did you mean? I've worked so hard at home to take care of you all these years, and I did something wrong, right? You actually pushed me, you pushed me!"
Chen Xiangbei came back to his senses, but he didn't know what to do. His mother was like an angry dinosaur now, and anyone who went over would be beaten.
But even when he watched his father being beaten until he begged for mercy, he couldn't do it, so he closed his eyes and shouted, "Mom, don't hit my face, my dad still has to go to work tomorrow."
Old Mrs. Xia regained some of her senses and stopped hitting him in the face. Instead, she started hitting him in other places.
When Old Chen heard Chen Xiangbei's voice, he had no strength to resist. He would never have any authority in the family again. He lay limply on the ground and let Old Lady Xia beat him however she wanted.
He seemed not dead, but also seemed to be dead.
He forgot that he had been beaten in front of his eldest brother's father-in-law at their house. So, his prestige and face among his family members were gone.
He stopped resisting, so Old Lady Xia stopped fighting. In a fight, you have to strike first to gain the upper hand. Old Chen had just pushed him, so she had to beat him down immediately. If she hadn't taken the initiative, who knew if Old Chen would slap her in the face next.
Today, Mrs. Xia is very nice.
"What are you doing standing here so late at night? Have you showered?" Old Mrs. Xia looked at her youngest son. "You're dressed so neatly. Are you going out to play with your friends again?"
Chen Xiangbei was most unhappy about what Old Lady Xia said about his friends. What was wrong with his friends? They were so nice. They would take him with them wherever they went and share their food with him. They were truly good brothers who shared happiness and hardships.
He wanted to refute and express his dissatisfaction, but seeing his father lying on the ground like a puddle of mud, he didn't dare to say it out loud even if he was stupid enough, otherwise it would not only be his father lying on the ground like a puddle of mud tonight, but he would also be there.
"No, I won't go out, hehe." Under the gaze of Old Lady Xia, he returned to his room aggrievedly, preparing to sneak out later.
In the middle of the night, Chen Xiangnan said he was tired and had already fallen asleep. Chen Lingling slept with Chen Xianghong, fearing that she would hear bad words and have a trauma in her heart. But Dong Chunmiao tossed and turned, because she had just heard Chen Xiangnan tell her that they were divorced.
To be honest, she didn't want to get divorced, especially since she had just realized that her family, who she had thought were very kind to her, weren't actually that kind. If she divorced, not only would she not be able to find a better man than Chen Xiangnan, but she might also be forced by her family to marry her off to a worse man in exchange for a high bride price.
She felt very uneasy, not only resenting her own family, but also Chen Lingling.
If Chen Lingling hadn't been such a useless thing who couldn't even do her job, she wouldn't have gone over to scold her, and ended up slipping and miscarrying her son.
If she were still pregnant now, Chen Xiangnan would definitely pay for her parents' medical expenses for the sake of their son. She wouldn't have to listen to her mother and hook up with Dai Wei, nor would she be caught by his wife, nor would she alert the police, and she wouldn't be cuckolded by Chen Xiangnan.
Ultimately, Dong Chunmiao believed it was all the fault of Chen Lingling, the money-loser. She hated Chen Lingling more than her own family.
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