"Brother, do you think I'm playing well?"

 

　　In the backyard, two brothers, Ling Wen and Ling Wu, practice calligraphy on a homemade sand table with a tree branch. They are exactly the same, even the drive to do things seriously is the same. Although they do different things, their attitudes are the same.

 

　　"Well, very good, come and have a drink of tea. See how hot you are."

 

　　Raising his head, Ling Wen quickly poured a cup of herbal tea and handed it to him. Both the teapot and the cup were just bought in town today. Although he was distressed when he bought it, it feels really good to actually use it now.

 

　　"Bang!"

 

　　"Ling Jingxuan, you bastard, open the door! Open the door quickly!"

 

　　Ling Wu who took the tea hadn't had time to drink it when suddenly there was a violent knock on the door outside, accompanied by a woman's insults and abuse. The little bun shook his hand and subconsciously leaned towards his brother with his mouth pursed. Ling Wen was also used to it so stretched out his thin and short arms to hug his brother while trying to stand upright with his thin body in order to build up courage for himself and his younger brother.

 

　　"Is that fierce woman earlier?"

 

　　Hearing the woman's voice, Ling Wu couldn't help sobbing a little. Since he was young, he still knew that the woman was from his grandparents' family and their elders.

 

　　"Don't be afraid, I'll go and have a look."

 

　　Patting his younger brother on the back, Ling Wen made a gesture to go out. Ling Wu quickly grabbed him. "Brother, don't go. They are so fierce, let's wait for Daddy to come back?"

 

　　He was afraid that his brother would be beaten again. Although those people were their elders, he knew that they didn't like them.

 

　　"I'll just look through the door. Dad and uncle should be back soon."

 

　　Turning his head and trying to put on a conciliatory smile, Ling Wen insisted that Ling Wu could only go out with him. The shouting and scolding outside the door never stopped, the two brothers looked through the crack of the door. There were several murderous people outside. The woman was followed by many spectators not far behind them. The two brothers did not dare to open the door easily. Yan Chengrui, who was lying in the room, naturally heard the commotion outside. Thinking that Ling Jingxuan was not at home, it was inevitable that the two children were at a disadvantage. He didn't care about the injuries on his body. He struggled to get up from the straw pile. Before he could stand still, an overwhelming dizziness swept over him, forcing him to sit back again.

 

　　"What are you doing here? Mother, why are you here too?" The commotion outside the door lasted for a while. Seeing that the wooden door was about to be kicked down abruptly, Ling Wang's voice suddenly sounded.

 

　　The two brothers hugging each other was happy. They both approached the door to check the situation outside.

 

　　Not only Ling Wang came, but also Ling Chenglong. It was a coincidence that the tea they brought out today was gone, so Ling Chenglong sent his wife back to get some. But when Ling Wang went back, she happened to run into Ling Jinghan who ran out with his sickly body, and learned from him that his grandmother, sister-in-law, and others had come here to find fault. Ling Wang couldn't care less the tea. After sending Ling Jinghan home who might faint at any time, he went to the field to call Ling Chenglong, and the couple rushed over from the field in a hurry.

 

　　Seeing those onlookers and Ling Jiang who was kicking the door vigorously from a distance, Ling Chenglong and his wife couldn't help but turn blue. When they approached and saw the old lady, they were trembling with anger. They are still elders, how exactly did his Jingxuan provoke them? Why do they always push each other so hard, wishing they could kill him?

 

　　But due to filial piety, the couple did not dare to get angry at the old lady but stood in front of her in a respectful manner.

 

　　Ling Chenghua, Ling Jiang's family, and Ling Xiaoying, with gloating smiles on their faces one after another turned around and saw Ling Chenglong and his wife. The old lady looked at the couple as if she had been poisoned. She didn't have the slightest bit of motherly kindness or maternal love. She seems to treat them as enemies.

 

　　"What's the matter? I can't come anymore? If I don't come again, you, a couple who eat inside and out, will have to move the entire Ling family here?"

 

　　As soon as the old lady opened her mouth, she was even more spiteful. Ling Chenglong and his wife turned pale in an instant, and their trembling pale lips showed their forbearance. He took two steps forward and stood respectfully in front of the old lady with a smile, "Mother, look at what you said, how can I do such a thing."

 

　　Among the old lady's three sons, Ling Chenglong was undoubtedly the most honest, unscheming, and filial. Unfortunately, he was not favored by the old lady.

 

　　"You can't do it, but some people might." As she spoke, the old lady's venomous gaze swept towards Ling Wangshi behind him, insinuating something.

 

　　"Lao Ge,” Ling Wangshi suddenly burst into tears, looking helplessly at Ling Chenglong. Her patience was gradually wearing thin.

 

　　"Mother, she wouldn't...?"

 

　　Seeing this, Ling Chenglong's calloused hands couldn't help but tighten. After a while, he forced himself to step forward to defend himself to the old lady. However, the old lady didn't give him a chance to finish. She glared fiercely with sharp eyes and raised her voice sharply, "What can't she do? If she hadn't taken care of you, could we have separated from your second uncle? Has she not secretly supported those illegitimate children all these years? And now, she dares to openly take care of you and Jingpeng, catching fish to sell for money and send it over. Don't you have your mother and the old Ling family in your eyes?"

 

　　Thinking of past events, the old lady was even angrier. In Ling family, besides the head of the family, the old master, she was undoubtedly the one controlling all the family's wealth. Which son, daughter-in-law, or grandchildren would dare not listen to her? But that incident had become a thorn in her heart. To buy land for those bastards who were expelled from the family, the usually obedient couple had united to resist her. No matter how she oppressed them over the years, the hatred in her heart had not diminished in the slightest.

 

　　Every word and sentence from the old lady was poking at the sore spot of Ling Chenglong's couple. Their already pale faces turned even colder. They felt like they were falling into an ice cave. They had been working like cattle for the family all these years. Wasn't that enough to compensate for their past defiance? They just wanted to find a way out for their son, was that wrong?

 

　　"Bang!"

 

　　"Mother, my dear mother, please stop! I admit that I was unfilial. Can I apologize to you by kowtowing? I beg you, mother, please go back."

 

　　A tall man knelt down with a loud crash in front of everyone. Ling Chenglong's filial piety could be called foolishly excessive. The villagers couldn't help pointing and whispering, and some older women even looked at the old lady with envy and jealousy. If their sons could be so filial, not to mention supporting a grandson who damaged the family's reputation, they would even welcome back those father and son with open arms.

 

　　The worst fear when one grows old is undoubtedly having ungrateful and unfilial children. No matter how good one's reputation is, it cannot replace the importance of a filial child.

 

　　"Go back? How can it be that easy? Today, if you don't take back everything you've helped that bastard family with, I won't go anywhere."

 

　　Unfortunately, the villagers were moved by Ling Chenglong's filial piety, but the old lady's heart was as hard as iron. She remained unmoved and, with the support of the three women standing by her side, showed nothing but contempt and intolerance towards family members.

 

　　"Mother, I admit that recently, Brother Long and Jingpeng have helped Jingxuan sell fish, but those fish were all caught by Jingxuan himself. We were just helping with the sales. How can you say we are freeloaders? Have Gege and I done any less for the family? Even if Jingxuan is at fault, he is still your own grandson. How can you call him a bastard? What does that make us?"

 

　　Ling Chenglong, who had been kowtowing, finally gave in completely. He collapsed on the ground, and Ling Wangshi, seeing this, couldn't bear it anymore. She helped him up, and retorted, tears streaming down her face. She had had enough. Since she married into the Ling family, the old lady had never treated her kindly. When they wanted to drive her eldest son away, she endured it silently because, after all, it was Jingxuan's fault. But now, at this moment, she couldn't bear it anymore. Even if she was driven out of the family, so what? Jingxuan was making a living by himself, and he would come back to them when he realized how difficult it was.

 

　　"You... I'll beat you, an unfilial and disobedient thing!" The usually self-centered old lady had never been scolded by her son and daughter-in-law like this before. She was furious and rushed forward to fight them.

 

　　"Mother, my wife didn't mean it. Please calm down."

 

　　"Second sister-in-law, look at you making mother so angry. Why don't you kneel down and apologize to mother?"

 

　　"Don't be angry, grandma, isn't the second aunt eager to protect the calf? Brother Jingxuan is also her eldest son."

 

　　On the surface, Ling Chenghua and the three of them tried to persuade the old lady to dissuade them, but in fact, what they said was more heartbreaking than the other. It was obvious that they were fueling jealousy, and the old lady was so angry that she broke free and pulled his daughter-in-law. She rushed forward and even slapped Ling Wang's mouth several times. The sharp nails left several bright bloodstains on her face.

 

　　"That's enough! Since mother can't tolerate us so much, then I'll go back and ask dad to let us separate from the family!" Seeing the wound on his wife's face, Ling Chenglong roared violently, and was finally alive. Forced to reverse, the former filial son gradually collapsed.

 

　　"How dare you!" The old lady was startled, and then quickly widened her eyes again, wishing to see two blood holes in his body. She never dreamed that this most honest son would dare to propose in front of so many people to live alone.

 

　　"I am just protecting my wife." Holding the aggrieved and crying wife distressedly, Ling Chenglong lowered his eyes and said embarrassingly. If he could, he would not be willing to be a disobedient person. He is also half a scholar. If his wife and his son's family were forced to die, even if he was beaten to death, he would not dare to have the idea of ​​living separately.

 

　　"You, you, you….” The old lady pointed at him with trembling fingers. She was out of breath. She couldn’t speak for a long time.

 

　　Seeing that the situation was getting more and more out of hand, Ling Chenghua's eyes sank, and there was a hint of viciousness lurking in it. Pretendingly, she stepped forward to support her mother. "Second brother, why are you still messing around with mother? Look at mother. You are so angry. If something bad happened to mother, won't you be the one who regrets it? Our family has quarrel. What can't be solved? Apologize to mother, I believe mother will not really blame you. "

 

　　Seeing her expression of seriousness, filial piety, and virtuousness, many people praised her as worthy of being a scholar's daughter. But she was more knowledgeable than ordinary village girls.

 

　　"That's right, second brother and second sister-in-law, you can't messed up. Filial piety is greater than heaven. The parents are still alive, how can you propose to separate the family?"

 

　　The main farm work and housework in the family these years has been basically done by Ling Chenglong and his wife. When she heard that he was going to separate the family, Ling Jiang was decisive and anxious. The eldest sister-in-law is the mother-in-law's niece. The unlucky one will be her.