"Mom, after all, my second brother is also wrong in this matter. It's not good to make a fuss like this, right?" Yang Meizhen disagreed.
Yang Jianguo was unhappy after hearing it. "What did I do wrong? Wasn’t I good to her? Even if I made mistakes, that doesn’t give her the right to cheat with another man!"
"Even if Jianguo made mistakes, what did little Yang Qing do to deserve this?" Grandma Yang still defended her youngest son, even though he was a scoundrel.
Grandma Yang wouldn’t listen to reason. She was determined to vent her anger, especially with Yang Jianguo egging her on and Li Guizhen encouraging her. She took Yang Jianguo to Huang Xiufen’s family home. She didn’t do much, just stood outside their house, crying and shouting, listing everything from how Huang Xiufen had manipulated Yang Jianguo to scheme against his siblings, to dividing the family, mistreating the child, stealing money, and running off with another man.
The commotion drew many villagers, and the more people gathered, the louder Grandma Yang cried. At first, Huang Xiufen’s family tried to calm her down, but eventually, they shut their doors and refused to come out. Grandma Yang’s outburst completely ruined the Huang family’s reputation in the village.
Yang Jianguo’s family had fallen apart. Yang Qing was taken in by Grandma Yang, and Yang Jianguo ended up eating with the family again as if they had never separated. A month passed like this, and Yang Jiabo’s illness had mostly recovered. When he went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor told him to continue taking his medicine and return for another check-up in half a month. Yang Jiabo was frustrated, he was so tired of taking medicine every day that he felt like throwing up. When would he finally be able to stop?
Back at home, Li Guizhen went to cook, while Yang Jiabo sat in the yard counting ants. School was on break again, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the human-shaped fleeceflower root on the mountain. His illness wasn’t fully gone, so this break was a lost opportunity. In two years, the fleeceflower root would be discovered. He was still young, and chances to go up the mountain were rare.
"Jiajia, time to take your medicine," Li Guizhen called from the kitchen.
"Coming," he replied, running inside. The smell of oil no longer made him nauseous, but he still couldn’t eat anything greasy.
"Tomorrow, your aunt is making dumplings. I’ll take you with me."
"Should I really go? Aren’t they afraid of being infected?" Yang Jiabo wasn’t keen on going. After the last incident, he hadn’t seen Zhou Lingling, and while relatives had visited him in the hospital, they hadn’t interacted much.
"What’s there to fear? Just bring your own bowl and chopsticks," Li Guizhen said, unconcerned. They had been living with Jiajia every day and we're not infected.
"Alright then," Yang Jiabo relented, knowing that avoiding family gatherings was impossible.
For dinner, Li Guizhen specially steamed an egg for Yang Jiabo. When Grandma Yang saw this, she asked, "Why only for Jiajia? Why not make one for Yang Qing too?"
"Jiajia’s still recovering. Look how thin he’s gotten."
"There are only two kids in the house. It’s not like one more egg would break the bank," Grandma Yang said sternly.
"Mom, Second Brother’s family has already split off. Have he and his son paid any food expenses for the past month they’ve been eating here? Jianjun’s salary is all handed over to you," Li Guizhen retorted bluntly.
Li Guizhen had always felt that Grandma and Grandpa Yang favored Yang Jianguo, and she disliked the whole family. After finally managing to separate from them, she was furious that they were now back, living off them again. She had tolerated it for a month, but that was her limit.
Yang Jiabo saw that the situation was escalating into a family conflict, so he quietly slipped away with his little bowl. He hid in his room and peeked out through the window. Right now, Yang Qing was just a pitiful little boy, abandoned by his mother and ignored by his father. Yang Jiabo was actually willing to share his food with Yang Qing, but he was still sick. What he really disliked was his uncle. What was the point of a man like that even living?
"I’m the one running this household, and I’ll decide who gets to eat what. They’re eating from what we, the elders, provide. It’s not costing you, the sister-in-law, a single penny. What are you so upset about? So what if Jianjun handed over his salary? That’s for your family’s living expenses. Ever since Jiajia got sick, hasn’t he been eating well every day? The little money you handed over is barely enough to cover it."
"Jiajia’s just a little kid, how much can he possibly eat? Don’t drag him into this. Yang Jianguo is your son, but isn’t Yang Jianjun also your son? You’ve always favored Yang Jianguo. Look what that favoritism has produced! We need to split this family up. There’s no way we can keep living like this. Our whole family is being treated like outsiders."
The voices of Li Guizhen and Grandma Yang arguing reached Yang Jiabo’s ears. When Grandma Yang dragged him into the argument, he felt a pang of sadness.
Grandma Yang: "So what if I’m biased? It’s my stuff, and I can give it to whoever I want."
Li Guizhen: "Then don’t take advantage of our family. We want to split up."
"You have the nerve to talk about taking advantage? None of the labor protection supplies Jianjun got from work were used by this family, they all ended up at your parents’ place. Every time there’s something good in this house, you will take them to your family. All these years, I’ve never seen you bring anything back. You think you’re the only one with grievances? You’re no saint either. How dare you make a scene and nitpick over a child?"
"Am I really nitpicking over a child? Others are working themselves to the bone, while Yang Jianguo, a grown man, does nothing all day."
Yang Jiabo silently closed the window, not wanting to listen to the endless bickering anymore. Each of them had their own perspective, each believing the other was at fault and that they themselves were blameless. That’s why they clashed whenever they were together. He was just a child, and there was nothing he could do about adult matters.
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