In fact, not even a word was spoken about the uproar over the division of the family a month ago that had shocked the entire Hongxing Commune.

And Su Xiangwan?

She went about her work as usual.

When the old house called, she came for meals, and when the old lady politely asked if she wanted more flour, she casually took half a box with her.

Her life was easy and comfortable, as though nothing had changed.

After three days, the old lady couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Oldest son, I’m truly happy you’re back. I’m so happy that I’m walking without stumbling these days.” Old Lady Song said when the family came home for dinner that night.

But as she spoke, her smile faded, and her face turned sour again. “Bring back the flashlight, the radio, and your hand-held tractor. Laosan learned to drive the tractor with Song Jianguo, but that guy sucked up to the leaders and snatched the tractor-driving position. He got the eight yuan monthly subsidy too. Let Laosan drive your tractor. Let Song Jianguo see that our Laosan is no less than him. Our Song family is still the richest, most well-off family in the village.”

Song Qingshan didn’t say a word.

Seeing that he wasn’t eager to comply and didn’t want to give her the things, Old Lady Song immediately said, “Then don’t come home for meals anymore. Don’t try to show me filial piety either. I don’t need it.”

Song Qingshan replied, “Those things haven’t been clearly assigned yet, they don’t belong to me right now.”

“Then don’t come back for meals. When they’re clearly assigned to you and you can bring them back, we’ll talk. For now, we’re two separate families. Go to your house for meals,” the old lady waved her hand and said.

Of course, it was a shame for the eldest son to be sent away.

After all, in every family, the eldest son is the one who takes care of the parents.

In most families, the younger brothers rely on the eldest to support them.

Back in the old days in Qinzhou, the children used to call the eldest “Big Uncle or Eldest Uncle,” not “Uncle,” but “Big Uncle,” because he was the one who had to carry the whole family.

So, for the eldest to be sent away, it was a blow to Song Qingshan’s face.

As long as he still cared about face, he had to bring the family back together.

To do that, fine, he had to first bring the tractor back.

Su Xiangwan quietly applauded herself in her heart.

Thank goodness she had been decisive and split the family early.

Had she been a bit muddled, with this man coming back, there would be no family division left.

She thought Song Qingshan wasn’t the type to be overly filial, but now it seemed he couldn’t escape the trap of blind filial piety.

“Mom, I really didn’t want to divide the family. If we do, people will laugh at me for being an unfilial eldest son,” Song Qingshan said.

Old Lady Song didn’t care. “If you’re truly filial, bring the tractor back. Otherwise, we’ll still be two separate households. I said we’re splitting the family, so don’t beg me here.”

With a cold refusal, she made it clear that she wanted to see what he could do about it.

And so, Song Qingshan, pushed by his mother, had no choice but to stand up.

However, as he turned around, he went straight to the donkey pen, untied the two donkeys, tidied up their reins and headstalls, and led them away.

“Big Brother, what are you doing? Why are you taking the donkeys?” Song Laosan was shocked, realizing that these two donkeys were strong workers.

Recently, the commune had been considering incorporating them, offering a subsidy of three hundred yuan per donkey.

Song Qingshan didn’t give a good face to Song Laosan, unlike the way he had treated Old Lady Song “Since the family’s been divided, this donkey belongs to Xiangwan, so I’m taking it back to my place.”

“Big Brother, the family’s been divided, but the donkey belongs to our old house. You can’t take it away.” Song Laosan was eager to stop him and even wanted to approach.

But Song Qingshan suddenly stopped, raising his hand.

It wasn’t clear whether he intended to strike someone or to slap the donkey, but Song Laosan seemed very intimidated by his eldest brother and instinctively stepped back.

“Xiangwan, take your donkey. Let’s go.” Song Qingshan said firmly and confidently as he stood in the yard.

The old lady was still lying on the bed and hadn’t had time to get down.

By the time she hurried to the gate, her son had already led the donkey far away.

It was at that moment that Old Lady Song realized her son had just played a subtle game of compliance, pretending to follow orders while actually defying her.

She screamed, “Song Qingshan, you wait for me! Since the family’s been divided, you won’t get a penny of the money you sent back. Fine, I’ll buy a tractor for Laosan!”

The two donkeys, worth six hundred yuan, had just been taken away like that.

Once the fifteenth of August passed, it was time to pick the pears.

The old lady, who had once vowed never to acknowledge her eldest son again, called Song Qingshan back to help her pick pears.

The pear tree was tall and straight, requiring a ladder to reach the fruit.

There were many children watching, drooling.

Song Qingshan had borrowed a ladder from the village, set it up, and started picking pears.

In no time, the entire tree was emptied, and all the pears were in the basket.

“There’s still one under the leaves over there, take another look, keep looking,” the old lady said.

Song Qingshan moved the leaves aside. “Mom, it’s all done, I’ve picked everything.”

“Isn’t there a mark on the top? Are the characters still there?” the old lady suddenly asked.

Song Qingshan pursed his lips. “What characters? Trees don’t have characters. Mom, you’re really something. There’s nothing there, nothing at all.”

But in fact, the crooked and worn characters of “Song Tingxiu” were etched into the bark.

When they were first carved, it was when Su Xiangwan had just married into the family.

She was a naive girl, knew few characters, and this was probably the most complicated word she could write.

Over time, as the pear tree grew taller and the bark cracked, those marks became permanent, and could only be removed by peeling the bark.

These characters were written by her when she first came to the family, and had remained ever since.

Song Qingshan lowered his head, carrying a basket of pears, and saw the old lady smiling with a knowing look. “Come down, let’s go home and eat pears.”

He handed a pear to Jin Gui and Song Fu, who were standing nearby, then grabbed at least five or six more pears and, lifting his shirt, said, “Go, take them home to your mom.”

The old lady thought to herself, “Is my son stupid? His wife carved the name of her brother on the tree, and now the scars have grown with the tree, yet he’s still giving her pears?”

But she still smiled and said, “Goudan, Ludan, take the pears home and give them to your mom.”

Of course, as they reminisced, the old lady leaned on her son’s arm and had to tell him how difficult it was to raise him, how she had endured so much hardship through the years, especially during the difficult years of 1958 and 1964, how she managed to survive with the whole family.

When she reached an emotional point, she couldn’t help but cry for her eldest son.

Indeed, life hadn’t been easy for the old lady.

Song Tingxiu and Song Qingshan were twins, born in 1941.

When Su Xiangwan gave blood to her younger brother Zhi Zhi, the whole village was moved, except for the old lady, who wasn’t surprised.

After all, she had lived through it herself.

Song Qingshan and Song Tingxiu were both raised on her blood.

Since the old lady was reminiscing, Song Qingshan couldn’t help but comfort her: “Don’t worry about anything else, just remember this: come hungry, go full. I will take care of you until you’re old.”

“With your wife like that, how can she take care of me until I’m old?” the old lady didn’t believe him.

Her eyes reddened as she said, “Don’t even mention the third son’s wife—she’s always sick, and as for your second son, because of your wife’s troubles, no one dares to arrange a match for him. You only have one daughter-in-law. I’m afraid that when I die, no one will bury me.”

“Wife is wife, I am I. You raised me and Tingxiu with your blood. If you’re sick, I’ll bring you soup and medicine. If you really pass away, don’t worry, I’ll carry the coffin to the grave myself,” Song Qingshan reassured her.

Filial piety is shown in actions, not words, and the old lady knew Song Qingshan was truly filial.

However, in this world, it’s not that a filial son always receives his parents’ love. In fact, parents’ love and their feelings of guilt are two different things.

So the old lady had to say one more thing: “You brothers are fine, but you need to make sure the third one is fine too. That’s what makes the whole family good, do you understand?”

She could never forget the guilt she felt for her weaker third son.

Goudan was tough and didn’t say much, and he wasn’t as clever as Ludan, so he grabbed the pears and ran off.

But Ludan, who was much shrewder, quickly slipped away to the old house and hid under the eight-immortal table, which had a picture of the leader on it, in the hall.

You know what they say—if someone is overly eager to please, they must be up to no good.

Children always overhear things, and hearing their grandmother talk to their father with such longing, they wondered if they would end up having their mother criticized in the end.

Sure enough, a while later, Song Qingshan and the old lady came in.

After looking around and seeing no one, the old lady began to cry.

The conversation wasn’t anything new—Su Xiangwan had traded a Longines watch for the address of Song Tingxiu’s unit, how she couldn’t leave the commune when she was pregnant, and how, had she not been pregnant, she would have left long ago.

Ludan grew angrier as he listened, wanting to hear what his father had to say.

Unexpectedly, the old lady suddenly said, “Alright, Qingshan, you should divorce. Take the three children and come back. Let Xiangwan find someone else. You can’t handle her, but don’t worry. I’ll help you find someone good. Let’s be honest. A three-legged donkey is hard to find, but a two-legged one who only has you in her heart is not hard to find.”

Gou Dan gently tapped his forehead and thought to himself, “If this father dares to agree, I’ll jump out, hit him with a stick, and then turn around and leave.”

“Mom, do you know that the second child is being transferred from the army?” Song Qingshan suddenly asked.

The old lady looked confused. “I didn’t know. The second child has been doing well in the army. Why would he want to leave?”

Song Qingshan said, “Now all units are closing, and personnel are being reassigned. The army is undergoing a major cleansing, a big overhaul. Anyone with even a slight flaw in character or improper conduct must be discharged. The letter you wrote to Tingxiu, accusing Xiang Wan, probably got seen by the leaders, so now the army wants him to transfer.”

The old lady was stunned. “For such a small matter, they want to transfer a company-level officer?”

Song Qingshan patted his mother’s shoulder. “So, don’t bring this up again. If you keep shouting about the family’s embarrassing matters, Tingxiu might not even be able to secure a job. After all, there are so few positions, and who would want to take in someone from a family with bad discipline?”

“Then, if he transfers, what kind of job will he have?” The old lady was horrified.

Song Qingshan replied, “Given his reputation in Qingshui County, he’ll probably end up as a doorman at some factory.”

As he spoke, he picked out the biggest pears from the basket, tucked the Longines watch into his coat, and turned to leave.