Seeing his mother throwing a tantrum, Xiao Yi frowned and spoke.
“Mother, I have already given you eight acres of land as a filial offering. You said that the land should be given to my eldest brother and fourth brother so that they can take care of you in your old age. I am just a cripple. I have given you everything I could. There is nothing else I can do for you!”
Besides, your elder brother and his two nephews, Qingsong and Qingbai, have already fetched water, so you weren't thirsty.
Xie Yushu found this water; I can't make that decision! Besides, we need to survive too!
Xiao Yi's words seemed to have stepped on the old lady's tail, and she shrieked.
"So what if she called? Once she's in this house, she's surnamed Xiao, and this water belongs to the Xiao family. I can give it to whomever I want!"
As soon as Old Madam Xiao finished speaking, Xie Yujiao regained her confidence, got up and rushed into the house. Even Haitang, who was standing in front of the door to block her way, tripped and fell. Xie Yushu rushed over, grabbed her and slapped her across the face. She then ordered Haitang to take her younger brother into the house.
Xie Yujiao was unwilling to accept this insult, so she jumped up and started scratching Xie Yushu's face with her claws outstretched. If it were the Xie Yushu of the past, with Xie Yujiao's crazy behavior, she might have really been disfigured by her scratches. But now, Xie Yushu dodged to the side and kicked her in the back of the knee.
Xie Yujiao happened to kneel on a rock and burst into tears!
Grandma Xiao wanted to come over and help, but Xiao Yi held her tightly and she couldn't move an inch. She could only angrily curse him.
Xie Yushu picked at her ear, crossed her arms, and stood in front of the door, looking like she would kill anyone who dared to come closer.
Only after Old Mrs. Xiao had finished scolding and Xie Yujiao had quieted down did she speak.
"I know you all have some water at home, and you're only here today trying to take advantage of us, thinking you can get water for free. Let me tell you, I won't shortchange you what I'm entitled to, but if you try to take what I'm not entitled to, you'd better think twice."
If you think you can bully me, I'll play along, as long as you're not afraid of getting hurt!
Xiao Yi has difficulty walking and can't go into the mountains, but the fourth brother isn't lame, is he? If he wants water, he should go find it himself. You said it yourself, he's a respectable scholar, with arms and legs, asking his lame second brother for water—aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Xiao immediately bristled.
"You, just say what you want, why are you dragging Lao Si into this? Who cares about your worthless water! Kicking you out is giving you face, you can't even spare a sip of water. If Lao Si becomes successful in the future, don't even think about getting a piece of his mind. Get out!"
Seeing that she couldn't gain any advantage and fearing that making a scene would damage her fourth son's reputation, Old Mrs. Xiao stormed off! Xie Yujiao hurriedly chased after her!
Xie Yushu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that she had some reservations. If Old Madam Xiao really didn't care about anything, then she would have a headache. After all, she was Xiao Yi's mother, and she was someone who had been raised by her more than ten years of education on serving the people. She really couldn't lay a hand on an ignorant old woman!
Seeing that the troublemakers had left, Xie Yushu called the two children out to continue eating. Seeing that the two children were still frightened, Xie Yushu said...
"You two kids, stay away from your grandma and your fourth aunt in the future, so you don't get taken advantage of."
Both children nodded obediently.
"We understand. Grandma and Fourth Aunt are unreasonable and bully us. We don't like them!"
"If you don't like it, you don't like it, but don't say it in front of outsiders, okay?"
“I know, if the people in the clan hear this, they will say we are disrespecting our elders and they will beat us.”
"Haitang and Jinyu are so smart! Okay, let's eat!"
"Uh-huh!"
Seeing that her two children were so intelligent and sensible, Xie Yushu felt more at ease. No matter where you go, filial piety, respect for teachers, and care for the elderly and children are the right principles.
Especially here, there is ideological constraint, strong clan and seniority concepts, and a rigid hierarchy of ruler and subject, father and son, with elders having absolute dominance over younger generations.
The people here don't care about blind filial piety; in fact, to consolidate their own prestige, they would love for their children to be blindly filial.
This is why, even though Old Mrs. Xiao's insults were so harsh, Xie Yushu didn't directly confront Old Mrs. Xiao, but instead suppressed Xie Yujiao.
Because she is Xie Yujiao's sister-in-law, it's the same as Xie Yujiao bullying her in the past because she was her cousin. She can't talk back to her elders, but she can teach the younger generation a lesson. No matter how powerful Old Madam Xiao is, her precious darling is younger than them, so she's not worried about being taken advantage of.
She knew there would be many unreasonable things here that she couldn't stand, but she wasn't foolish enough to challenge the entire society's perceptions on her own; she was afraid of being burned alive!
After the meal, Xiao Yi was about to take Xiao Jinyu back to her room when Xie Yushu stopped him.
"You two wait a minute!"
"What's up?"
"Isn't it stuffy to keep him indoors in this heat? The sun has already set, it's so much cooler outside!"
"There are a lot of mosquitoes outside," Xiao Yi said in a deep voice.
"You're a grown man, why are you afraid of mosquitoes!"
"Of course I'm not afraid!" Xiao Yi retorted.
"oh!"
"Father, I'm not afraid!" Xiao Jinyu said belatedly.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi led Xiao Jinyu back to the dining table.
After a long pause, he spoke.
"It's unfair to you to marry into this family at this time; I'm the one who's dragging you down!"
Xiao Yi wanted to tell her to leave, but he swallowed the words back.
That's how things are these days. Even if she goes back to her parents' home, things won't be much better. Besides, he can't let her go. His legs can't bear heavy loads, and walking is already difficult enough, let alone crossing mountains and valleys to find water!
If he hadn't been injured, crossing a mountain would have been a piece of cake. But now, even walking on flat ground feels like climbing a mountain. If we let her go, what will happen to the two children?
Thinking of this, Xiao Yi helplessly lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Xie Yushu spoke up herself.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
