"Shut up! What kind of father are you? How can you talk to your son like that!" Old Mrs. Chen glared at him angrily.
Ever since her last trip to town to ask Chen Zhancai for money to buy grain, Old Mrs. Chen had given up on her son, believing him to be a heartless and ungrateful wretch.
She regretted not treating them equally, which hurt the feelings of her eldest and second children.
After returning to Nanshan Village, she tried to get close to the eldest and second eldest sons, saying nice things and hoping to reconcile.
But leaves don't turn yellow in a day, and people's hearts don't grow cold overnight.
Seeing her feigned kindness and ingratiation, the first and second wives didn't even give her a second glance.
They didn't even give her a sip of water, let alone give her money.
Old Mrs. Chen was so angry that she gritted her teeth, wishing she could turn back time and drown these two unfilial ingrates in the chamber pot as soon as they were born.
She felt comforted when she thought that Chen Zhancai, despite having no other means of livelihood, had given her the few copper coins he had.
Seeing that Old Man Chen had such a big misunderstanding about his beloved son, she had no choice but to patiently guide him.
"Old man, we can't blame Zhancai for this. He's just having a run of bad luck right now, so he might be speaking without thinking."
However, considering that he gave us all the money he had, he's a thousand times, ten thousand times better than those two ungrateful wretches.
Therefore, no matter how difficult or painful it is for us parents, we must be more understanding of our sons and give them more time to grow.
If he becomes successful, I believe he won't abandon us, the old couple.
"Come on, he's a complete liar. You'd be the only one to believe his lies." Old Chen frowned and gave a disgruntled snort. "Look at him now, all plump and healthy. He doesn't look like someone who starves every day. He clearly doesn't want to support us old folks and treats us like a useless burden."
He stingily gave us a few coins, leaving us to eat meager rations at home, while he lived a life of luxury in town. Everyone in the village knew this, except you.
"Nonsense! You believe all that gossip? Those peasants are just jealous of Zhancai, a scholar, and they're envious that our family is superior, so they deliberately badmouth our son." Old Mrs. Chen tried her best to defend herself, but in truth, she wasn't sure herself.
"Alright, believe it or not, it's up to you. If you don't believe it, just pretend I didn't say anything."
Old Chen was so angry at her stubbornness that he wanted to curse her, but he didn't dare to.
He was like a turtle trapped in a stove, feeling both stifled and furious, knowing that saying anything more would be like casting pearls before swine.
Just as I got up to go out, I heard footsteps coming from the yard.
Looking up, I saw Chen Zhancai push open the door and walk in.
Grandma Chen was a little surprised and quickly got up to greet her, "Son, why are you back? Quickly sit down and rest."
After saying that, he said to Old Man Chen, "Go quickly and get some water for your son."
"It's not hot, why do you need water?" Old Man Chen was furious when he saw Chen Zhancai, and sat down on the edge of the kang with his head down.
Seeing this, Old Mrs. Chen glared at him and said, "You old fool, just do what I tell you to do, why are you talking so much nonsense!"
"I'm not missing any arms or legs, I'll pour my own water," Old Man Chen said, unusually assertive.
Just as Old Mrs. Chen was about to get angry, Chen Zhancai waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, Mother, sit down quickly, I'm not thirsty right now."
"You old geezer, you think you can get away with this now?" Old Mrs. Chen cursed at Old Mr. Chen through gritted teeth, then smiled and asked Chen Zhancai, "Son, why are you back?"
"Mother, I came back this time specifically to see you and Father."
Before Chen Zhancai could finish speaking, Old Man Chen chimed in, "What do we have to see? Don't worry, we're not starving yet!"
"Dad, what are you saying?" Chen Zhancai realized that Old Man Chen was still angry about what happened last time.
In the past, he would have gotten up and left without hesitation; who would care whether the old couple lived or died?
But the situation is different now. To control the eldest son's family, someone needs to add fuel to the fire.
As long as the eldest son's family tears up the severance papers and reconciles with the old house, the elderly couple will finally have a place to settle down.
At that time, the eldest son and the old couple would depend on each other for survival.
He moved to a big house, where the sugar mill brought in a fortune every day. He didn't have to do anything or think about anything.
After eating and playing, when you're tired, you can cuddle with your beautiful wife.
Isn't this life wonderful!
He cleared his throat and started spouting nonsense.
"Don't think too badly of me. When you came to town to look for me the other day, I was really short of money."
You have no idea how much pain and sorrow I felt when I handed you the few coins I had in my pocket.
I was afraid you would worry if you saw me with tears streaming down my face, so I left without looking back.
But I didn't go far. Instead, I hid not far away and watched you, afraid that you might faint from hunger or misunderstand me and do something rash.
Only when I saw you buy some rice bran and drag your weary steps home did my anxiety finally subside.
Watching your retreating figures, I impulsively slapped myself twice, berating myself for my incompetence.
A scholar of such high caliber couldn't even support his parents; he was utterly useless.
I secretly vowed to earn money to support my family and my parents.
From then on, I left early and returned late, braving wind and rain to set up a stall on the street, writing letters for people.
Hard work pays off. I've earned over two hundred coins these past few days. Worried that my parents would be starving, I couldn't wait to send the money back to them.
After Chen Zhancai finished speaking, he stuffed the two hundred coins he had prepared in advance into Old Lady Chen's hand.
Old Mrs. Chen was so moved by his insincere and deceitful words that she almost cried.
"Good son, I knew I hadn't raised you in vain. You are my most filial child."
Old Man Chen glanced at Chen Zhancai with a mixture of disbelief and skepticism, unable to figure out what he was up to.
Is it really as he said, or is there another hidden story?
Thinking to himself, he couldn't help but ask, "Zhancai, stop talking nonsense and tell me why you're back to the point?"
Chen Zhancai was displeased upon hearing this, and said with a dark face, "Dad, I don't blame my mother for always scolding you. You really don't know how to speak properly. This is my home. Can't I come back?"
Old Mrs. Chen also glared fiercely at Old Mr. Chen.
"You, you, you were just saying I was clueless and couldn't see things clearly, how about that now?"
As she spoke, she weighed the copper coins in her hand.
"See that? This is what a filial son should look like. Everyone else is utter bullshit."
Stop having your head filled with pointless thoughts all day long.
Actually, you're the one who can't grasp the important things, can't distinguish the trivial matters, and keeps talking about every little thing.
"Thank goodness I'm here to run this household, otherwise, with your silly, good-for-nothing attitude, you'd be sold off and still have to count the money for them!"
"Who's stupid? You'll get your comeuppance someday!" Old Chen muttered under his breath, clearly dissatisfied...
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