Li sighed, never expecting her mother-in-law to be so considerate, to care about them, and to speak so frankly with them.
The old woman wasn't as bad as she thought.
"Let's talk about it later. Let's get through the New Year first, and make sure Dazhu's injury heals properly. Husband, are we really going to let the Pan family off the hook?"
She was indignant. Why should she not have to pay a single penny for injuring someone? Even if her son, Dazhu, started the trouble first, it was still unreasonable.
"What can we do if we don't let them get away with it? This is too shameful, I'm too embarrassed to even confront them. We'll talk about it after Dazhuzi recovers, there's absolutely no way we'll cause trouble for their family during the New Year."
"I want Sanzhuzi to find a few people..."
Li stopped speaking, but Zhao Dashu understood what she meant.
"I hadn't even thought about it before, but now that Mother gave me three taels of silver..."
"Old woman, it seems you didn't understand what I said. From now on, we'll live for ourselves. Let them live however they want, and make as much noise as they want. I can't control them and I don't want to."
I'll manage the household finances from now on. I know you can't be strict with the children, but a doting mother often spoils her son.
"Our three sons have become like this; we need to seriously reflect on what we did wrong. I've thought about this a lot on the way here. We really can't continue to favor them and do everything according to their whims."
"What do you mean? You're really not going to take care of them anymore? You're not letting me manage the money?"
"Yes, as long as your son asks, you won't refuse to give him money, especially Sanzhuzi. I said I won't interfere, and that means I won't. They're all grown up now, and each of them has their own destiny. How they want to live in the future is up to them."
Li didn't expect Zhao Dashu to be serious. She thought he was just in a bad mood. Wasn't he the same before, always saying he didn't care, but when it came down to it, he was more concerned than she was?
"What did your mother say to you?"
"She didn't say anything. Old woman, look at the third son's two children, and then look at the eldest son's children. Which family's children are like ours?"
Li fell silent; their child was indeed a handful.
"How can I not care about my own child? I'll teach the child slowly when he/she is still young and doesn't understand."
“Can they be taught? Do you think they can be taught? Haven’t we tried hard enough? Old woman, their foundation is already ruined, they can’t be taught, let’s give up.”
Li wanted to cry, but thought it wouldn't be good to cry today, the 30th of the month.
"I'm going to get busy. You can rest by yourself."
If he won't give me the money, so be it. I'll ask him for it again in a few days. What kind of man cares about that?
She decided to just assume he was going crazy these past few days.
Zhao Dashu led Zhao Laoda to the main room of his house. Zhao Dawen squinted comfortably and said, "Third brother, when it comes to being well-fed, none of us three brothers can compare to you."
Zhao Dayong fell silent, staring coldly at Zhao Dawen. So what was he doing here? Was he here to mock him?
Zhao Dawen could tell that his younger brother was unhappy, so he coughed twice and took a sip of water to ease the awkwardness.
Before, his family would only care about his mood, but now the tables have turned.
"Third brother, to be honest, I plan to send the eldest son to study in the prefectural city after the New Year."
Zhao Dashu had guessed it would be this; he had been inquiring about tuition fees in the prefectural city, just like last time.
"Oh, isn't his wife about to give birth? Can he feel at ease going to the prefectural city at this time?"
“Men shouldn’t only think about romance and love; the eldest brother isn’t that kind of person.”
Zhao Dashu glanced at his elder brother. "Bad bamboo can hardly produce good shoots," he thought. "His son is probably no better than him."
"Did your son agree?"
"I haven't told him about this yet, but I'm sure he won't refuse."
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