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      As the saying goes, plans never keep up with changes. From his past life to this life, love and marriage were never what Ling Jingxuan truly pursued. However, when fate destined for you arrives, no matter how much you try to avoid it, you can't escape. Soon, Ling Jingxuan would truly come to realize this cruel fact and experience the brutality of ancient feudal society.

 

      The wild fruits needed for one hundred jars of fruit jam were not a small amount. In addition to that, he planned to make one hundred barrels of grape wine. He wasn't sure how many wild grapes there were in the mountains, so if there weren't enough, he would have to find other wild fruits to make jam. This would require spending more time in the mountains. After finishing their meal, Ling Jingxuan instructed his two "buns" a few words and then went to Yuehua Mountain with Ling Jingpeng, each carrying a large bamboo basket on their backs.

 

      However, he overlooked the fact that they had long become accustomed to being bullied. Even if he temporarily intimidated the offenders, it was in their nature and habit not to let it go, especially now that he seemed to have struck gold. To them, that meant avenging the insults they had endured all these years.

 

      "Mum, you don't know. Ling Jingxuan's weirdo family has bought so many good things. Even at high noon, they're still cooking meat to eat. Dad doesn't have such good luck. I see Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law are always running to his place recently. Could it be that they secretly gave him money? Otherwise, how can he, a person whom everyone treats like a monster, feed two half-grown bastards? Where does he get the money to buy food and meat?"

 

      Although the Old Ling family was considered wealthy in Ling Village, with dozens of acres of land and no taxes to pay, the old house was located in the middle of the village, with over a dozen brick houses with large tiles. It was needless to say how impressive it looked. Ling Jingpeng's mother and sister both felt aggrieved, and their hearts were filled with anger. They rushed to the main room where the Old Madam was, taking advantage of Ling Chenglong and his wife being busy in the fields.

 

      "What's the matter? I didn't give you meat at home, did you feel wronged?" The old lady leaning on the couch with slightly squinted eyes glanced at her lazily, which contained a warning that cannot be misunderstood. The old Ling's family is not yet poor envying of others eating meat.

 

　　"No mother, how could I be that kind of person? Me?"

 

　　Hearing this, Ling Jiang blushed immediately and hurriedly defend herself. Ling Xiaoying, who was standing with her, had also inherited her ability to stir up trouble. Seeing the old lady's complexion, she quietly grabbed her mother. She went up and squatted at the old lady's feet and said bluntly, "Really, I also heard that Erbo and Jingxuan have to pull a cart of fat, tender, and fresh fish to the market at the entrance of the village to sell every day. Ling... Jing Brother Xuan’s money must be money from selling fish, it’s earned by Er Bo and Jing Peng, and we don’t have a separate family, so it should all be handed over to you. Granny, how can you give it to an evildoer who was kicked out of the family?”

 

　　She couldn't believe it anymore, Nai came to the door in person, that bitch Ling Jingxuan dared to threaten to report to the police? If he was capable, he would drag Nai to the county government to beat him up.

 

　　"Is this really the case?"

 

　　Hearing this, a woman in pink next to the old lady, who looked at most 20 years old, and a pretty good-looking woman exaggeratedly asked. She is the old lady's youngest daughter Ling Chenghua, who is the same age as Ling Jingxuan, and is the elder of the two girls. She has been doted on since she was a child. The only thing that didn't go well was her marriage. Back then, her marriage contract was all set to a wealthy family in the town. She was about to get married in the next year, but Ling Jingxuan's incident broke out. When it came out, her fiancé's family felt that although she was a scholar's daughter, her upbringing seemed to be insufficient and she was not worthy of them, so they sent someone to forcibly rescind the engagement before long. Because of this, the old lady went to the city to make a fuss. Eventually, the contract still ended without a problem.

 

 

　　It is a very serious matter for a woman to be divorced. In the next two years, even if she bears the name of a scholar's daughter, no one dares to come to propose marriage. In the past few years, people have proposed marriage one after another, but she either looks down on the other party's family background or don't like their looks. The old lady is used to her, so now she is an old girl in her twenties, and she’s still alone.

 

　　All along, she felt that it was Ling Jingxuan who harmed her, and hated him in her heart. In these years, Ling Jingxuan and his sons were bullied wherever they went. Of course, her credit is indispensable. How could she look at Ling Jingxuan who caused her to become like this? She can’t let him have a good time?

 

　　It has to be said that the old Ling's family is really not good at educating their children. A village girl, who is a daughter of a scholar, thinks she is a princess. How much will she be prouder if she was born in the emperor's family?

 

　　"Really, sister-in-law, if you don't believe me, go out and ask. Many people in our village know about it!" Ling Xiaoying didn't like this sister-in-law who liked to bully them since she was a child. But, at this time, she answered faster than anyone else, with no purpose.

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      "Grandma, you can't let this slide. Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law have gone too far. It was one thing when Second Sister-in-law used her dowry to buy that bastard three acres of land. After all, it was her dowry, and we had no say in that. But over the years, you've been helping them out on account of their mother-son relationship. But now, they're taking advantage of your kindness. How could they see your kind heart as foolishness? If you don't do something about it, you can be taken as biased.”

 

　　After getting an affirmative answer, Ling Chenghua savagely pushed Ling Jiang away, and took the old lady's arm and said a long series of crackling words. The originally indifferent old lady slowly frowned as her slightly narrowed eyes suddenly opened. Her protruding cheekbones are showing her meanness.

 

　　"It's unreasonable! The second child is getting more and more desperate. Take me to that bitch's residence. I want to see how much the second child subsidizes him."

 

　　Daughters and daughters-in-law are different after all. When the old lady opened her mouth, her face became more harsh and stern. Ling Chenghua was secretly happy. She took the initiative to help her stand up. The four of them claimed to be reasonable and went to Ling Jingxuan's house angrily for 'Justice'.

 

　　Of course, it is impossible for Ling Jingxuan to know these things. In order to save time, the two brothers went directly from the bushes of their home backyard to Yuehua Mountain. They went to the forest where they picked wild grapes that day. The body of the female wolf had disappeared, only a pile of bones and blood were left on the ground. It was probably eaten by other wild animals. Ling Jingxuan didn't think much about it. The two brothers put down the bamboo baskets and quickly picked wild grapes.

 

 

　　"Brother, where are you going?" At this season, most of the fruits are ripe. They quickly picked up it and put in the bamboo baskets. The moment Ling Jingpeng raised his head, he saw Ling Jingxuan walking deeper into the forest with a sharp sickle. He couldn't help but have a little doubt on his face, and followed without even thinking.

 

　　"I want to see if there are other fruits nearby. You can pick them first. I'll be back soon."

 

　　Ling Jingxuan turned his head and gave him a reassuring look. His movement of waving the sickle did not stop at all. Many fruits can be made into jam, but when it comes to taste, there are few fruits that can reach the level of sweet and sour grapes. In the long run, he must find as many fruits as possible to make jam or other foods. Before winter comes, need to work hard in order to build a house.

 

　　"Then be careful, don't go too deep, there are many wild beasts on the mountain. It will be bad if you encounter something fierce." Upon hearing it, Ling Jingpeng stopped and did not forget to give a few words of reminder although he knew it better than anyone else that his eldest brother is capable and there is no need for him to worry about it.

 

 

　　This time Ling Jingxuan didn't reply to him again, but just waved his hand with his back to him, expressing that he heard it. The sweaty Ling Jingpeng also turned back when he saw this and continued to pick grapes swiftly.

 

        God knows that like Ling Wen he was also so shocked he heard that the jar of jam was sold for a tael of silver. It was followed by the overwhelming admiration for his eldest brother and the uncontrollable excitement of making money. Regardless of whether the money was earned by his eldest brother or himself, he was very excited. After all, it belongs to their brothers.

 

　　On the other side at Ling Jingxuan's house, after the brothers went out, the two buns shyly carried the clothes they bought for Yan Shengrui into his room. However, Yan Shengrui seemed to be sleeping. and the two buns couldn't help exhaling exaggeratedly. In the gap of the clothes, the cute little buns squatted in front of Yan Shengrui and looked at his sleeping face curiously.

 

      Their eyebrows frowned from time to time, their small mouth pouted and then shrunk for a while. The changes of the expressions on their little face so rich and lovely.

 

      "Brother, do you think he is really our father?" With a bold move, the little boy reached out and poked his father's face. He turned to his brother and asked eagerly, deep down, he still longed for this father.

 

      "Why are you curious about that? Anyway, once he recovers from his injuries, he will leave. Xiao Wu, didn't we agree that we wouldn't want him as our father?"

 

      As his skinny and small body stiffened, Ling Wen walked over with a dissatisfied expression, a mix of resentment, longing, and entanglement reflected in his black and bright eyes. He understood his little brother's thoughts very well. However, over the years, their grandmother often mentioned that if it weren't for this man, they wouldn't have fallen to this state. So since he understood things, he held infinite resentment towards this so-called father, though he also felt the same yearning deep inside. Of course, he would never admit to it.

 

      "But... but even Tie Wazi has two fathers. I also want to have two fathers so that people won't call us motherless and fatherless bastards anymore."

 

      As the little boy spoke, he lowered his head in grievance, tears glistening in his eyes. He just couldn't understand why when their father had come back, yet their Daddy and uncle still wanted to drive him away.

 

      Ling Wen's heart ached as he embraced his little brother's shoulder and said tearfully, "Xiao Wu, don't say these things in front of our Daddy, or else he will be very sad."

 

      "I know, I'm only complaining to you, brother. Can't we really have father?"

 

      Burying his face in his brother's neck, the little boy nodded dejectedly, gazing at him with tearful eyes filled with longing. Ling Wen felt a pang of pain, unable to argue further. Lowering his eyes, he stammered, "Well... it's not that we can't. I secretly asked Uncle Xiaoshi, and he said that if our father is willing, he can stay. Uncle Xiaoshi also told me not to interfere with our father's decision. For the past five years, our father has been in a daze, all thanks to this man. Now that our father has finally regained his clarity, if we, as his sons, defy his wishes, it will surely hurt him. Although I don't fully understand what Uncle Xiaoshi meant, I think he's right. As long as our father is willing to stay, I'm willing to forget everything from the past and accept him. Xiao Wu, I've only told you about this, remember not to tell anyone else, okay?"

 

      "Okay, but brother, you often scold father. Why is that?"

 

      The obedient little boy nodded innocently, blinking his eyes and innocently voicing his curiosity. Ling Wen's body tensed, remembering how he would often scold his father, his face blushing. He turned around and walked out hastily, "I... that's because I'm afraid our father would spend money recklessly. It's not easy for us to earn that money. Besides, he's not good at managing money, so I have to be careful. Yeah, that's it..."

 

      "Oh, I see!"

 

      With a look of sudden enlightenment, Ling Wu nodded and followed his brother happily. The two brothers quickly disappeared into the room, not knowing that Yan Shengrui hadn't actually fallen asleep. He had merely closed his eyes to rest. When they entered the room and talked, he heard every word clearly. In his private thoughts, he did want to spend more time with his children, talk to them, chat about family matters. However, he didn't know how to interact with them, so he decided to pretend to be asleep and see what they were up to. He didn't expect to hear their conversation about him in such detail. When he heard about how he had been foolishly doting on the man for the past five years, a strange dull pain arose in his heart. No wonder the man treated him like that. If it were him, he might slap himself too. The more he knew about the man, the more uncomfortable he felt. He wanted to do everything in his power to make up for it, but he couldn't quite figure out what was missing. Eventually, he attributed it to his memory loss and forgetfulness.

 

      Opening his eyes and propping himself up, he took the new clothes Ling Wen had casually placed aside. Although the quality seemed really poor, Yan Shengrui tightly held onto them. His clear tiger eyes shed the pain from before, and he blossomed with unprecedented determination. "Ling Jue Xuan, I have made up my mind about you and our two sons."

 

      Regardless of whether he would recover his memories in the future or if he truly possessed an illustrious identity, he would never forget today's decision. He vowed to give them a happy and fulfilled future!