Shou Chengzu listened to the villagers’ gossip, his face turning red and then pale, feeling resentful towards his own mother. Shou Yaosong and Old Lady Shou were also shocked; they had truly not expected Shou Jizu to attempt suicide. Their hearts ached for a mont, after all, he was their own flesh and blood.
But as soon as Shou Jizu was rescued by Tian Xinhua, both of them flew into a rage. Old Lady Shou cursed loudly, "I bore you and raised you with such hardship, and you just use death to frighten ? If you’ve got guts, go ahead and let see you do it!"
"Enough, you two have gone too far. He’s your own son, don’t be so biased. I saw last night’s at with my own eyes; a bowl so full that the at was poking out. How is that not enough for you both? Don’t be too greedy!"
Shou Yaowu was trembling with anger. His biological parents pushing their own son to death over a bowl of at; if this farce were to spread, Huangkeng Village would be labeled as a backward village again, which infuriated him.
"Yaowu, it’s really not the at; it’s truly sweet potatoes, I am not lying to you," Shou Yaosong insisted anxiously.
Now Shou Yaowu and the other villagers started to doubt as well. If Old Lady Shou had said so, they would not believe it, but now Shou Yaosong was repeating it over and over, and they started to believe him sowhat, their suspicious gazes shifting between Shou Jizu and Tian Manlan.
Shou Jizu had co back to his senses. Seeing the villagers’ looks, he held Tian Manlan, who was still crying in his arms, even tighter, fearing that his wife’s thin face would reveal the truth. His eyes turning red again, he cried out, "Daddy, it really is at, how could I possibly deceive you with sweet potatoes? You can’t wrong and Man Lan’s good intentions!"
Now everyone was confused, everyone insisting they were right. Shou Jizu’s behavior didn’t seem like an act; what was really going on here?
Tian Manlan, held in Shou Jizu’s embrace, was overwheld with sha and dared not look up anymore. Others didn’t make a big deal of it; everyone in the village knew that Shou Jizu’s wife was sensitive and once she began crying, she wouldn’t stop for half an hour.
Tian Qinghua, who had been hunting in the mountains, and the others had long since returned and were coolly watching everything from afar. Seeing the stalemate, Shou Jianguo had a brainwave and sneaked into Shou Chengzu’s house. He knew Old Lady Shou well enough that she wouldn’t have thrown away last night’s bones; she must have kept them to stew.
Indeed, in the kitchen’s unfinished sweet potato porridge, Jianguo found chicken bones. He used chopsticks to pick out the bones into a bowl and ran out to the courtyard shouting, "If my Daddy and Mama sent over sweet potatoes, where did these bones co from?"
Shou Chengzu’s face changed drastically; he never expected Jianguo to actually find and produce these bones. He was now trapped and couldn’t refute it. One mistake led to another, and at this mont, Shou Chengzu was full of regret. He should have returned earlier to stop his Mama.
"They did send bones over last night. There were sweet potatoes at the bottom, bones in the middle, and only two pieces of at on top. It’s true," Old Lady Shou beca anxious, hurriedly explaining last night’s bowl of at.
However, no one was willing to believe her anymore, not even Shou Yaowu. Annoyed to respond further, he fiercely scolded Shou Yaosong and Shou Chengzu, declaring if he sees Old Lady Shou finding fault with Shou Jizu’s house again, they should not bla him for being impolite.
The villagers dispersed, having watched an emotional drama, they continued discussing eagerly, still looking at Shou Yaosong and his wife and Shou Chengzu with scorn, occasionally breaking into a few snickers.
After everyone had left, Shou Jizu imdiately reverted to his usual rogue-like deanor, smiling cheekily at Shou Chengzu, saying:
"Big brother, how was the taste of the at I brought over? That was a lot of at; hope Li Guo, that kid, didn’t eat it all by himself, tsk tsk, he really can eat a bit too much! No wonder he’s stouter than Tai Country who’s two years older than him!"
Shou Chengzu looked at Shou Jizu ominously, "Second brother, if you have a problem with , just say it. Why act all sneaky? You’re really making , your elder brother, feel coldhearted."
"Hey, co on, big brother, you’re being unfair to . I don’t have any issues with you. See, I even brought you at. Don’t be ungrateful. Man Lan, aren’t you going to cook? Your man is starving to death. Damn it, I worked half the day without even having a sip of water!"
Shou Jizu couldn’t be bothered with more chit-chat. Flashing Shou Chengzu an extrely provocative smile, he took Tian Manlan back into the room. Shou Sizu had already been pulled back into the room by his wife, leaving just the Shou Yaosong couple and Shou Chengzu’s couple in the large courtyard.
"Are you not going inside? Do you enjoy embarrassing yourself out here?" Shou Chengzu cursed at his wife and was the first to enter the house, with Shou Yaosong and his wife quickly following behind.
Once inside, Shou Jizu guzzled three large glasses of water before letting out a comfortable sigh. Lying on the rattan chair with his legs crossed and humming a tune, he didn’t look like a decent person at all.
Tian Sisi watched her little uncle amusingly. She began to understand why in her past life, Tian Manlan was so devoted to Shou Jizu – although he was not capable of providing for the family, he had a great quality of fully backing up his wife; a quality many n failed to live up to.
According to incomplete statistics from her past life, many divorced couples split because the husband couldn’t manage the conflict between his wife and mother properly, even exacerbating the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law tensions, leading the marriage to demise.
"Xinhua, you weren’t being fair just now. Your little uncle here nearly lost his life," Shou Jizu rembered the earlier incident and wanted to settle the score.
"If I didn’t do that, how could little uncle’s performance appear so convincing?"
"True, but next ti sothing like this happens, Xinhua, you have to act quicker. Your little uncle can’t take the fright," Shou Jizu bizarrely hoped for a next ti.
Cooking in the kitchen, Tian Manlan overheard their conversation. She realized they were just acting and was infuriated. She ran to Shou Jizu and pulled his ear, "Are you out of your mind? Playing dead? You want to scare to death? Is that it?"
Tian Manlan suddenly didn’t have any of her usual ekness and instead displayed the boldness of a lioness.
"How could I? I just wanted to scare off those from the other side so that old lady would stop bothering you."
His few words easily coaxed a laugh out of Tian Manlan, who then hurried back to continue cooking. Tian Sisi shook her head; Tian Manlan was completely smitten by Shou Jizu.
He Chengsi and the others had so gains from the mountain in the morning - a wild chicken and a hare. Tian Manlan originally planned to cook the chicken for lunch but was stopped by Tian Sisi. With lunchti being too rushed and their need to return ho afterward, they decided to save the at for dinner instead.
Shou Jizu was beaming and urged Tian Sisi and the others to stay a few more days. Although these little ones liked to boss him around, they did bring at to the house every day. Weighing his options, Shou Jizu didn’t mind being managed by Tian Sisi and her friends anymore. (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to vote for it or cast a monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users please visit m.qidian to read.)
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