After a moment of silence, the old lady sighed softly and clapped her hands gently.
"I don't mean anything by saying this. We've been through everything in our lives. Coming here just in time for our eldest son's wife's situation, it's exactly what we wanted."
Now, we have no regrets. Whatever we do, we don't force ourselves; we do it all willingly and happily. You, don't always worry about us. To be honest, we're old and young, and we're just a burden to you."
"Oh dear, Mom, what are you saying? Are you still treating me like an outsider?"
"Nonsense! Mom doesn't treat you like an outsider."
"That's settled then, isn't it only right for us to be family?"
Besides, since you all came, I'm the one who's been so idle lately. I don't even feel like cooking, and I still have a place to eat. The others can even help me with chores. I'm the one who benefits the most, okay?
"You, you,"
It was obvious he was just teasing her, and the old lady couldn't say anything more.
"It's my third brother's good fortune to marry you!"
He simply nodded, without any modesty.
"Right, right? I think so too!"
The old lady was thoroughly amused by his shameless antics, and her earlier sadness finally dissipated.
"You, you!"
When she talked about this with Qin Qinghuai that evening, she sighed with emotion.
"Mom is such a great person. She raised the three of you under such difficult conditions and made you all so well. Do you think she suffered a lot back then?"
And those two children, if they survive, you'll have two older sisters.
"From as far back as I can remember, the old man forbade us from talking back to Mom. Even when he was at home, he would always stay with Mom no matter what he was doing. He often said, 'Your mom is the most important person to me. Without her, I wouldn't exist. I've been wronged by her all my life. If any of you dare to upset her, you can get out of the house.'"
When I was young and naive, sometimes when I heard him say these things, I even wondered if the old man had committed some kind of misconduct, otherwise why would he say sorry?
Back then, I was playing with crickets with my older brothers, and I even had Qin Yi secretly follow the old man for a while. In the end, we didn't find anything, and that kid Qin Yi got caught by the old man and almost got a beating.
Simply suppressing a laugh,
"You really are your father's good son!"
"Yes, that's right,"
Qin Qinghuai himself laughed.
"I was young then and didn't think much. I just thought he was wronging my mother, so my first reaction was naturally that it was about his conduct with women. I just wanted to get revenge for my mother. I never imagined it would be so long ago and that the pain would be so deep!"
"You... know absolutely nothing?"
"It's been so many years, and the old lady has kept it a secret quite well."
"Yes, to be honest, it was our carelessness. They really are only home a few days a year. But something that hurt her so much couldn't have been forgotten. There would always be clues, but none of us noticed a single one."
Haha, don't you think we're pretty unfilial?
Some things, you just can't figure them out, but then suddenly you do, and you feel like you understand a lot of things.
When I was a child, I was not in good health, unlike them who always went out to play. I actually heard the two old people sigh a few times, saying that their lives were miserable and that they wished they were still alive.
I didn't know that back then. Besides, other families were either poor or constantly having conflicts. I thought my family was the best. My parents were loving, and my brothers were friendly. Although I was in poor health, I didn't have any other worries.
I remember the first time I asked her, "Who are you talking about?" The old lady immediately started wiping away tears, and the old man just laughed it off and said that they missed their parents.
I was young then, and although I found it strange, I didn't think about it in any other way. Later, when I heard it again, I would quietly avoid it. I didn't want anyone to see me cry, so I assumed that adults felt the same way and didn't want children to see them cry.
"Tell me, if I had asked more questions back then, would I have known the truth much sooner?"
"Do you think they could keep this a secret for so many years? You've never even met those two older sisters. At this point, do you think they would still tell you? Is there any need for them to?"
Aside from letting you know, it doesn't actually affect anything. Those two older sisters are the source of their pain, but what about you? You've never even met them. All your talk about missing them and having feelings for them is based on your own heartache for your parents.
Even if you feel sorry for them, you feel sorry for their suffering parents. Back then, your older brother was still young and moved around a lot. After so many years, he probably doesn't remember it well.
Not to mention the two younger ones.
A man in his thirties, for the first time, came to understand a side of his parents that was previously unknown to others.
"Yes, they are parents, so they keep all their pain inside. When it gets really tough, they comfort each other, but they refuse to let us feel any of their pain..."
For so many years, I always thought that the old lady was a whirlwind and rough person. Over the years, whether it was her family or us, she was indeed rarely delicate. Her heart was always with the army and her work. For her, home was just a guesthouse, a place to sleep.
To be honest, we didn't spend as much time with her as we did with our comrades. That might be one of the reasons why I insisted on joining the army back then.
"It was our fault!"
The next day, the old lady discovered something strange. Her youngest son, who had been so busy all summer that he was sometimes nowhere to be seen for days, started hovering around her from the moment he got up in the morning. He cooked, cleared the table, did laundry, and tended the vegetable garden. No matter what she was doing, he was almost always by her side.
At noon, the old lady couldn't take it anymore.
"Third brother, what exactly do you want? Get to the point, don't just loiter around here, you're making me all confused."
"Look at you, old lady. Your son is on leave and comes to take care of you, so why are you still so impatient?"
"real?"
The old lady knew perfectly well that her daughter-in-law must have told him, otherwise her third son wouldn't be like that. But this matter had nothing to do with her son, so even if she had told him, it would only have added to his troubles.
"What's the point of talking about what's real or fake? You really don't trust your son enough. Forget it, you don't have any work to do now. I'll go back and cook. When the kids get home from school, you don't need to cook anymore. You can all come and eat."
They just happened to be coming back in their car and brought some things back with them. I won't take any more for you; you can all go and eat.
Without washing his hands, he turned around, left the yard, and went back to his own home.
"Why?"
The old lady was now even more certain that her son must have found out and was upset, which was why he was acting this way. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt; this child was too soft-hearted!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
