Liu Xiuqin cried and scolded from the side, "How could you do this to your brother! You've ruined our whole family! Have you lost your heart?!"
The door creaked open.
Du Jianshan yawned, frowning as he looked at the two people at the door who were acting like madmen: "What's all the noise about? It's the middle of the night, can't a person get any sleep? I drank too much and have a terrible headache, I just lay down for a little while..."
"Stop pretending! Keep pretending, you son of a bitch!" Li Guodong was trembling with anger, his finger almost poking Du Jianshan's nose: "Stop pretending with me!"
"Was it you who put Fuqiang in Liu Chunhua's bed? Was it you who instigated that bitch to turn around and bite the hand that feeds her?"
Liu Xiuqin rushed over, tears streaming down her face, and demanded, "Jianshan! How could you be so heartless! Fuqiang is your own brother!"
Du Jianshan seemed to understand at first, and a shocked expression appeared on his face: "What? Fuqiang slept with Liu Hongmei? And everyone caught them in the act?"
He gasped, then spread his hands, his expression utterly innocent: "Heaven and earth bear witness! I was so drunk I was completely disoriented. All I remember is Uncle Li telling me to drink with Fuqiang. After that, I don't remember anything. I just went back to my room and fell asleep!"
"I just woke up after you guys kicked the door down! What does this have to do with me?"
Enraged, Li Guodong yelled, "Stop your fucking nonsense! Now! Right now! Come with me!"
"Go? Where to?" Du Jianshan asked leisurely, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.
"Go to Liu Chunhua's place!" Li Guodong roared.
"Before everyone's gone, you take the blame! Just say... say you've got your eye on Liu Chunhua, got drunk, and went into the wrong house! You did it! You volunteered to marry into her family! Hurry! There's still time!"
Upon hearing this, Du Jianshan sneered, "What does that have to do with me? I've signed up to go to the countryside!"
Liu Xiuqin persisted, "Jianshan, my good son! I beg you! Please help your brother this once!"
"Your younger brother is still young and doesn't understand things. He can't marry into that widow's family!"
"You took the blame for her, Mom... Mom will make it up to you later! Mom will send you money and food coupons!"
"Ha!" Du Jianshan scoffed, interrupting Liu Xiuqin's utterly hypocritical "promise."
The bewilderment and innocence on his face vanished instantly, leaving only cold mockery and years of pent-up anger.
"Compensate me?" Du Jianshan's voice suddenly rose, carrying a tearing sharpness.
"Liu Xiuqin! What are you going to do to compensate me? With the heart and soul you've favored all these years?"
He stepped forward, his eyes like poisoned knives, stabbing fiercely into Liu Xiuqin's face:
"I used to carry a tattered cloth bag to school, mended and patched over and over again! What does your son, Li Fuqiang, carry? A brand new faux leather schoolbag! It even has five-pointed stars on it!"
"In winter, I wore your altered cotton-padded coat, which was so worn out that the cotton had all clumped together. My hands and feet were covered in chilblains from the cold!"
"And what about Li Fuqiang? He has a cotton-padded jacket and trousers made of new cotton and new cloth, and warm cotton shoes!"
"You said my family was poor and told me to be frugal, and I accepted that! I ate cornbread and pickled vegetables, and ate dried sweet potatoes! But what about you?"
"Behind my back, you've been secretly cooking special meals for your precious son! Boiled eggs! Minced meat stir-fried with pickled vegetables! Don't think I don't know! I can smell it! How many times has it happened?"
"The money my father earned with his life all went to feed this old dog and his son! It fattened up those two ungrateful wretches!"
With each sentence Du Jianshan spoke, he took a step forward, and Liu Xiuqin and Li Guodong involuntarily took a step back.
His words were like heavy hammer blows, smashing away their hypocritical masks and revealing their disgusting scheming and favoritism.
"Are you even fit to be a mother? Liu Xiuqin! Do you even deserve to be one?"
"Besides giving birth to me, have you ever given me a breath of warmth? Have you ever given me a decent piece of clothing?"
"Have you ever given me even the slightest bit of the fairness that comes with being your 'own son'?"
Liu Xiuqin turned pale from the scolding, her lips trembling. She put on her usual "sob story" again: "Jianshan, it's not easy for your mother either! I'm a woman, raising this family all by myself. They're all my flesh and blood!"
"Bullshit!" Du Jianshan interrupted sharply, his spittle almost landing on her face.
"Palm and back of the hand? You, Li Fuqiang, are the palm of my hand, and I'm the sole of your foot!"
"It's still that rotten piece of flesh with a corn, the kind I wish I could just rip out!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
