Chapter 204

“Tired? What tired? Women cooking three meals a day, isn’t that just playing around! What’s there to be tired about! My third sister, at her age, which woman doesn’t do housework at home? Only your precious one can’t do it!”

“Look at the kind of life your family is living? Not even a single chicken, getting worse day by day, and still not working. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nephew, we came here because you invited us. Now the younger nephew wants to take my third sister to enjoy life, you better not stop us. If you’re unwilling to give up the house, I won’t either!”

Uncle Huang and Second Uncle Huang were even more combative than before.

Pointing fingers at Fan Qian’s forehead while cursing, their spittle almost splashed onto his face.

Fan Qian felt like he was stuck in a mud pit, finding it too difficult to get out.

He looked at his own mother, signaling with his eyes for her to handle his two uncles.

Fan’s mother shrank back.

Her elder brothers had come all this way hoping to get some benefit. Hearing the younger son promise to sell the house and give them half of the money, they would never leave empty-handed!

She looked at Fan Jin, who was standing quietly to the side, with eyes full of dissatisfaction.

It was all his fault, making promises of money out of nowhere! Now look, he’s put his elder brother in an impossible situation.

She didn’t dare confront her elder brothers, but she could certainly deal with her own son.

She looked at the second son and hoarsely ordered, “Give your two uncles some money!”

Anyway, the second son had money now. If it wasn’t given to her maternal family, it would be given to Yan Qiuxing’s daughters. At least giving it to her elder brothers would keep it within the family, not benefiting outsiders.

Fan Jin looked at his own mother with his dark eyes and spoke sincerely, “Mother, I earnestly want you to come live with us. Let me fulfill my filial duty.”

Fan’s mother held her breath.

“With your farmland and forest, even after the flood, we won’t have to worry. As long as we work hard, there will be no problem getting enough to eat,” Fan Jin added.

Fan’s mother only heard the part about working hard. Isn’t there always hard work at the second son’s house? If she went, she’d have to work?

Thinking about how most of the household chores were done by the second son and his wife in the past, she realized they had decided to use her old bones as well!

Then she suspiciously thought, maybe the second son and his wife had been eyeing her all along?

Not just for her share of the farmland, but also for her ability to work!

Sun Jinhua focused on the farmland and forest.

No wonder everything went so smoothly.

She grabbed her mother-in-law and abandoned the idea of having her mother-in-law live at the second son’s house, directly saying, “Mother’s not going. You can go back!”

Fan Jin looked at his mother.

Fan’s mother nodded without hesitation.

Fan Jin stood silently for a moment, then turned and walked away with large strides.

Outside, the moon was bright, and the stars were few, casting a clear light over the world.

Shuiqing stood on a high slope looking down, and from a distance, she saw a tall, lean figure walking towards her.

The once straight and upright figure now seemed somewhat despondent and desolate.

Fan Jin looked up and saw the person on the high ground, bathed in moonlight, as if she was covered in a layer of soft, luminous white light.

The disappointment in his heart faded. He quickened his steps and came to her side, asking gently, “Why are you standing here? There are so many mosquitoes.”

Shuiqing waved away the buzzing mosquitoes swirling around her and smiled, “It’s alright. This afternoon, your elder brother brought the uncles over, and I heard Uncle Ding and Wen Hua say they had invited you over. I was worried you’d be taken advantage of, so I came to get you.”

The corners of Fan Jin’s mouth lifted, despite himself.

He quietly reached out, took her hand, and walked towards home. “I’m fine. I know my elder brother’s nature, so I was prepared when we divided the family.”

He had no objections to providing for their mother, but it couldn’t be that his elder brother would hold all the family property while he fulfilled the filial duties.

He couldn’t let his elder brother take all the benefits.

Shuiqing glanced at the person beside her, sensing the countless grievances in his heart, and asked, “Did your uncles make you mad?”

At this moment, she suddenly felt that having servants and house staff was very beneficial.

At least when dealing with these shameless relatives who only wanted money, they could be thrown out without hesitation—more effective than anything else.

Fan Jin shook his head and said softly, “I never care about outsiders. I just, just…”

Shuiqing quietly waited. If he was willing to talk, she was willing to listen. If he didn’t want to talk, that was fine too.

Fan Jin lowered his eyelids and opened his mouth with difficulty, “It’s just that Mother knew it was Brother who invited the uncles, just to drive her away. After hearing that the forest and farmland would be mine, she quickly sided with Brother.”

When there are benefits, she only wants to give them to Brother. When there are losses, she pushes them onto him.

From childhood to adulthood, it has always been this way.

In the end, everything the unfavored one does is wrong.

But he had changed too. In the past, even knowing Mother would side with Brother, he couldn’t help but hope she would choose him. Today, he even set a trap for her…

Shuiqing turned her hand over and patted his palm.

Parents’ favoritism is often inexplicable.

However, “We just need to do our best.”

Feeling that this was too formal and not suitable for the currently oppressive and desolate atmosphere, she quickly added, “The world is full of wonders, let’s be lovely people!”

Fan Jin didn’t expect her to come up with such a playful remark.

But upon thinking it over, he found it very fitting for his current mood.

Yes, he couldn’t change his past, but he could be a fair and good father.

And Shuiqing was also a good mother. Their children wouldn’t be treated the way he had been.

He looked at the person under the moonlight, his brows and eyes filled with a smile. “Yes, we should all be lovely people.”

“Let’s go back quickly. The whole family is waiting for you to start dinner.”

“Why didn’t they start eating?”

“It’s hot, and the food is too hot. We’re waiting for it to cool down to eat.”

…

That night, Shanshui Village was exceptionally lively.

Everyone, old and young, men and women, all came out with their rice bowls.

They gathered outside Fan Qian’s courtyard to watch the commotion.

Uncle Huang and Second Uncle Huang cursed from inside the house to the yard.

Even Fan’s mother and Sun Jinhua were being cursed.

The yellow teeth spitting out saliva everywhere, Wang Guifen stood far away, still frowning and stepping back.

Her sister-in-law, Zhao Lan, leaned closer and whispered, “Do you think you can still eat dinner?”

With all that saliva sprayed around, she wouldn’t be able to eat for three days!

On her other side, Aunt Zhang stared straight at the quarrel in the yard, expressing her disdain, “With this kind of cursing, you’re still thinking about eating?

It’s not about whether you can eat, it’s about whether there’s food to eat!”

With Fan’s wife’s brothers’ fighting power, two against three was an overwhelming victory. There’s no time to cook!

Zhao Lan thought the same.

Fortunately, they weren’t the ones being cursed, nor were the relatives theirs. Holding their bowls, they ate happily while watching the drama.

In the end, no one knew what Fan’s mother said or promised, but Uncle Huang and Second Uncle Huang finally stopped cursing.

Then, under the moonlight, they saw Sun Jinhua grabbing the few ducks they had left.

The crowd outside the yard then dispersed.

Wang Guifen and Zhao Lan returned to the house, retelling the cause of the Fan family’s quarrel as a joke.

They saw their father-in-law’s serious expression, deep in thought.