The weather is getting warmer and the temperature is rising.
Before the busy farming season, Chen Yunyun made some clothes for the children to wear in spring and summer.
She could certainly afford the best fabric, but in the countryside, it's best not to be too conspicuous.
The dolls were all very happy with the two symbolic patches on their new clothes.
It gets light early now, and everyone in the team goes to work in the fields at 6:30 every day.
The school also gave the children a holiday so they could go home and help with chores.
That day, Xu Xiaogang from Liu Xiulan's family returned home carrying a tattered bag, looking disheveled.
Liu Xiulan has been recovering from her injuries for two months and is now feeling better.
She happened to see Xu Xiaogang rush in like a firecracker.
Why are you running so fast? Is school on holiday?
Xu Xiaogang ignored his grandmother's words, rushed into the main room, ran to the bed, and started sobbing.
"That brat has no manners at all!" Liu Xiulan cursed.
Hearing her mother-in-law's voice, Kong Guihua, six months pregnant, went out of the room.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Liu Xiulan said irritably, "Xiao Gang doesn't even greet people when he sees them, and he doesn't even help his father when he's working in the fields."
"He's taller than an ox, and the first thing he does when he gets back is lie in bed and sleep. Lazybones!"
Kong Guihua didn't know what to say, since he wasn't her son.
Liu Xiulan became angrier the more she thought about it, and the eldest son took two yuan from her to pay Xiaogang's tuition.
This child really doesn't help with any chores around the house?
"Go, wake him up. I'm an old lady and I haven't even gone to sleep yet, how can he sleep?"
Kong Guihua carefully supported her belly and walked to the door of the main room, just in time to hear soft sobbing.
Is she crying?
"Mother, come here quickly."
Liu Xiulan put down her work and kept talking, "I can't even hire anyone. If they don't listen, I beat them."
As they approached the house, Kong Guihua pointed inside, signaling the old lady to listen carefully.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiulan's expression turned serious. She pushed open the door and went in, asking, "Xiaogang, what's wrong?"
She said something was wrong with the child.
The ten-year-old boy on the bed didn't say anything, stubbornly pulling the blanket up.
"Tell your family what's wrong, you're a grown man," Kong Guihua said softly, standing by the bedside.
Liu Xiulan had little patience and simply yanked the blanket off, yelling, "Get down here! Look at the mess you're making!"
The old lady was only gentle and kind to Xiao Fubao; she was generally quite strict with the other children.
Sometimes, when he gets angry, even Xu Zhijin and Xu Zhiyin get beaten up.
Xiao Gang was annoyed, but he still didn't dare to disobey the old lady.
He stood up, head down, fists clenched at his sides.
"Oh dear, why is there a red patch on your neck?" Kong Guihua noticed with her sharp eyes that there was a large red patch on Xu Xiaogang's neck, as if he had been injured.
Liu Xiulan was extremely protective of her own. She tore open Xiaogang's clothes and saw that his neck and back were covered in red marks.
The old woman shouted sternly, "Who hit you?"
Xu Xiaogang replied sullenly, "I don't know."
"have no idea?"
"You don't even know who hit you?"
"They blindfolded me from behind, and I couldn't see..."
As he spoke, Xu Xiaogang burst into tears.
He wasn't in pain, but he felt incredibly aggrieved. If he found out who hit him, he would definitely get revenge!
When Liu Xiulan saw that her eldest grandson looked exactly like Lin Li, she felt a dull ache in her chest.
"Just like your mother, you're a fool."
"What's the use if you don't even know who hit you?"
Xu Xiaogang gritted his teeth, "They ambushed me! I don't need to look, I know who hit me."
"Who is it? Tell us! We're going to their house to demand an explanation!" Liu Xiulan raised her voice, as if she really thought her family was easy to bully.
Xu Xiaogang fell silent.
"Speak!"
Xu Xiaogang kept his mouth tightly shut, his tears dried on his cheeks, making his face look dirty. "Grandma, don't worry about it! I can handle it myself."
Liu Xiulan almost laughed in anger, "You think you can handle it? Don't be a fool like your mother!"
"Grandma, I won't tell, I just won't tell!"
It's too embarrassing to say it out loud!
Xu Xiaogang got angry, lay back down on the bed, and wrapped himself up tightly.
No matter how Liu Xiulan called or tried to get him to come down, he absolutely refused, let alone say his name.
The old lady was so angry she broke out in a sweat. She stayed with him and scolded him for a while before leaving.
When the eldest son's family returned from work in the evening, the old lady gave them a cold shoulder.
"Mother, who upset you?" Xu Zhiyin asked, seeing his mother's ashen face and realizing he hadn't done anything wrong recently.
The old woman seemed to have found an outlet for her anger, and she started cursing in the yard.
They're basically just calling Lin Li stupid, and saying her son is stupid too.
They say things like, "I'm so tired and I work so hard, but my children and grandchildren are unfilial."
Xu Zhijin is the eldest brother; when he scolds Xu's wife and children, he is essentially scolding Xu himself.
He was getting impatient. How many times had his mother made a scene like this? Every time she scolded him in front of his younger brother and sister-in-law. How could he save face?
"Mom, what does that mean?"
Kong Guihua then recounted what had happened that afternoon.
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhijin stood up and rushed to his room.
They lifted Xu Xiaogang off the bed and carried him directly to the yard.
He pulled a stick from the woodpile and started hitting Xu Xiaogang, yelling, "Serves you right for being disobedient! Serves you right for being unfilial!"
"Did you waste all the knowledge you've gained?"
"If you make your grandma so angry, I shouldn't have given birth to you."
Xu Zhijin was furious and blurted out all sorts of things.
He may not really want to discipline his son; a large part of the reason is that he wants to hit the child to vent his anger on his mother.
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