Chapter Fifteen: What are you and your mother arguing about in the kitchen?
In the courtyard, the night breeze grew cooler, causing the leaves of the old locust tree to rustle softly, like a silent sigh.
Song Xingzhi listened quietly, his expression unchanged, but his eyes seemed to have become deeper, like two bottomless ancient wells.
After she finished speaking, he slowly opened his mouth, his voice still deep, yet carrying a strange penetrating power: "And then?"
"ah?"
Zhang Chunxue was stunned. She had prepared a lot of self-deprecation and countless possible reactions from Song Xingzhi, such as disappointment, disdain, or simply turning away. But she never expected him to ask such a question.
Then what?
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word after that.
Yes, and then what? She made herself sound so pathetic, shouldn't he just walk away?
Looking at her bewildered expression, Song Xingzhi's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible tenderness, which he quickly concealed.
He sighed softly, as if in lamentation, yet also as if offering solace.
"It's getting late, you should go back and rest." His voice softened a bit. "The children should be asleep too, it's chilly at night, don't let them get cold."
He gave Zhang Chunxue another long look.
The complex look in his eyes made Zhang Chunxue's heart flutter, as if he wanted to see right through her.
Then, he turned around, took long strides, and walked into the night without looking back.
Zhang Chunxue stared blankly in the direction he disappeared, while her little granddaughter in her arms smacked her lips and seemed to move uncomfortably.
For some reason, she felt a sense of emptiness and indescribable sadness in her heart.
She held the child, turned around and slowly walked into the yard, her steps somewhat heavy.
Just as she reached the door of the main room, before she could even push it open, she heard Zhong Xiaoxiao arguing, her voice trembling with tears, coming from the kitchen.
"Second brother! How could you do this! That was porridge for sister-in-law!" Zhong Xiaoxiao's voice was both angry and anxious, with obvious sobs.
Zhang Chunxue's brows immediately furrowed.
Immediately afterwards, Zhong Chengren's nonchalant voice rang out: "What's all the fuss about? There's still some burnt rice left in the pot. Besides, she's sick, how much can she eat? I've worked all day, can't I go hungry?"
His tone was self-righteous and he showed no remorse whatsoever.
"But that was specially saved by Mom for my sister-in-law! How could you... how could you eat it all!" Zhong Xiaoxiao was so angry that she couldn't even finish her sentence. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice trembled.
Zhang Chunxue's face was ashen as she quickly walked inside, carrying the child.
In the kitchen, under the dim light, Zhong Chengren was holding a large, chipped, coarse porcelain bowl. The bottom of the bowl was scraped clean, and a few grains of white rice were still stuck to the corner of his mouth.
Zhong Xiaoxiao, with red eyes, glared at him angrily, her little shoulders trembling, clearly having cried.
After listening for a while, Zhang Chunxue felt a surge of anger, but she forced a kind smile and said to Zhong Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, come here, take Yuanyuan over and comfort her so she doesn't catch a cold."
Although Zhong Xiaoxiao didn't understand why her mother could still laugh at this time, she obediently sniffed and carefully took the swaddled Zhong Yuanyuan from Zhang Chunxue's arms, gently patting her back.
The moment Zhong Xiaoxiao took the child, the smile on Zhang Chunxue's face vanished, replaced by an icy chill!
She turned around abruptly, her gaze sweeping across the stove with lightning speed.
The fire tongs, black and shiny, lay quietly by the stove.
Zhang Chunxue darted forward and grabbed the heavy fire tongs!
"Ah!" Zhong Chengren was about to say something more, but before he could react, he felt a piercing pain in his buttocks as the fire tongs lashed him hard!
"Ouch—!" he screamed, and the empty bowl in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and shattered into pieces.
"You beast!" Zhang Chunxue's voice trembled slightly with anger, but the fire tongs in her hand did not stop for a moment, and rained down on her. "Your wife is so sick that she can't get out of bed, and you don't bring her tea or water, you don't ask how she is, and you even dare to steal the rice porridge that is meant to nourish her body?"
The fire tongs struck him, making a dull "thud" sound that sent chills down his spine.
"Mom! Mom! Stop hitting me! I was wrong! I was wrong! Ouch!" Zhong Chengren screamed as he was beaten, clutching his head and running around the small kitchen, but he couldn't escape Zhang Chunxue's wrath.
"How could I have given birth to such a heartless wretch!" Zhang Chunxue chased after him, each slap whistling through the air. "Didn't you hear a word Secretary Song said to you in your room just now? Huh? You just let it go in one ear and out the other!"
Her chest heaved violently; she was clearly furious.
"Your wife gave birth to children for the Zhong family, almost losing her life in the process! And you, when she's sick, you can't even spare her a bowl of porridge!"
The fire tongs landed repeatedly on Zhong Chengren's back, legs, and even lashed his arms a few times.
Zhang Chunxue was really putting in a lot of effort, using all her strength with each plier, as if she wanted to vent all the disappointment and anger she had accumulated over the years.
They beat Zhong Chengren until he cried out for his parents, begging for mercy: "Mom! I won't do it again! I won't do it again! Please forgive me!"
Zhang Chunxue stopped, panting heavily, with fine beads of sweat already forming on her forehead.
She pointed to the corner, her voice still icy and chilling: "Go kneel in the corner! Don't get up unless I tell you to!"
Zhong Xiaoxiao, holding Zhong Yuanyuan, watched in stunned silence.
This was the first time in her life she had ever seen her mother so angry, and the first time she had ever seen her mother hit her brother so hard.
In her memory, her mother had always been gentle. Even if her brothers made a big mistake, her mother would at most scold them or pat their bottoms a few times. Never before had her mother picked up a weapon and started beating them so mercilessly.
Is this still her mother?
Zhong Chengren looked miserable, his whole body convulsing with pain, but he dared not argue anymore. He shuffled to the corner of the wall, knelt down with a thud, head down, not daring to breathe.
Zhang Chunxue was still furious. Pointing at him, she said, "You're not allowed to eat anything tomorrow! You need to reflect on your actions! You can only get up when you've figured things out!"
She took the somewhat drowsy Zhong Yuanyuan from Zhong Xiaoxiao's arms, patted her gently, and spoke in a much softer tone, though still with a hint of weariness: "Xiaoxiao, it's getting late, you should go back to your room and sleep too, you don't need to worry about things here."
"Oh...oh, okay." Zhong Xiaoxiao was still a little dazed. She nodded blankly, glanced at her second brother kneeling in the corner with some lingering fear, and quickly walked out of the kitchen.
Zhang Chunxue gave Zhong Chengren another cold look, then turned and went back to her east room.
With a "bang," the door to the east room slammed shut.
Inside the kitchen, only Zhong Chengren remained, kneeling alone on the cold ground, the air still filled with the aroma of rice porridge and a faint smell of blood.
He didn't know how long he had been kneeling, but when he could no longer hear any noise from the east and west rooms, he dared to carefully raise his head, grimacing as he got up from the ground.
"Ouch... Mom really hit hard!" He rubbed his burning buttocks and back, muttering curses as he shuffled towards his room. "When has Mom ever hit me like this before? Did she take the wrong medicine today...?"
Just as he reached his own door, before he could even push it open, the door to the room next door, belonging to the older brother Zhong Chengfa and Li Hongjuan, creaked open.
Zhong Chengfa, wearing only a thin shirt, peeked out sleepily and asked with a frown, "Second brother, what are you and your mother shouting about in the kitchen in the middle of the night? You're smashing bowls and yelling, keeping everyone awake."
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