Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Looking at the mess on the ground and then at the villagers watching the spectacle outside the gate, Wei Baoguo let out a desperate "clucking" sound.

He knew that this time he had truly plunged headlong into the gates of hell, with no way out.

"Did you hear me!"

Seeing that Li Cuihua had grasped the old man's weakness, Xiulan immediately added fuel to the fire, grabbing the water bucket by the waist and shouting, "Tomorrow morning, I'll be waiting for you at the credit union entrance! If I don't see the money, I'll go to the city with Li Cuihua and make a big fuss about it!"

"Yes! And us too!"

The villagers watching from outside, eager for chaos, chimed in: "Old man, hurry up and pay up, or your old bones will break in our Kaoshantun village!"

Wei Baoguo was trembling violently, and his vision was blurring in waves.

The dignity he had been proud of all his life, the "free nanny" he had painstakingly schemed for, all turned into a resounding slap in the face, brutally destroying his old face.

Just when he was about to collapse in the mud and water—

"Whoa—"

A long shout suddenly interrupted the noise in the courtyard.

The villagers who had gathered at the door to watch the commotion instinctively made way. A fully loaded oxcart stopped right outside Old Zhao's house.

On the cart were a peeling wooden crate, a roll of bedding, a washbasin, a thermos, a few old clothes, and a wooden bed that had been dismantled into pieces.

A man and a woman were standing next to the oxcart.

The man was in his forties, wearing a clean polyester shirt, and his features bore a resemblance to Wei Baoguo; the woman stood with her hands on her hips, sporting a trendy perm, and looked impatient.

When Wei Baoguo saw the two people clearly, he trembled all over. A glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in his previously darkened vision, and he even stopped in his tracks.

"Boss?"

Wei Baoguo, as if grasping at a straw, scrambled over and grabbed the oxcart's shaft, sobbing uncontrollably, "Why are you here? Eldest brother, you've come just in time! Please save Dad! These country bumpkins tricked me into marriage, and they're going to beat me to death!"

However, his eldest son not only didn't reach out to help him, but instead took two steps back in disgust, as if afraid that the mud on Wei Baoguo's body would get on his clothes.

The eldest daughter-in-law next to her rolled her eyes and started yelling in a shrill voice:

"Oh my, Dad, you've really blossomed like an old tree in bloom, experiencing a second spring! Your country wife is so considerate; we children wouldn't dare ruin your good fortune!"

The eldest daughter-in-law, while making sarcastic remarks, waved her hand at the oxcart driver: "Unload the cart! Hurry up and unload everything!"

The driver agreed and grabbed the tattered bedding, the old washbasin, and the chipped wooden box, throwing them all into the muddy, dilapidated yard with a "clatter".

Wei Baoguo stared at the bedding roll thrown into the mud, his mind went blank, and he asked, his lips trembling, "Boss... what are you doing? Why did you bring my things here?"

The eldest son coughed lightly, his face stern, and spoke in a cold, businesslike tone:

"Dad, now that you've gotten your marriage certificate and settled down in the countryside, you should stay in Kaoshantun and live a good life with your new mom. As for that small one-bedroom apartment in the city, I discussed it with my second and third sons. The third son is getting married and doesn't have anywhere to live, so we'll let him use your apartment as his wedding room. We changed the locks yesterday."

The eldest son paused, then took a thin envelope out of his pocket and threw it into the muddy water at Wei Baoguo's feet like he was giving alms to a beggar.

"There's ten yuan in this envelope. It's a small token of our filial piety from us children. We've already spoken to the neighborhood committee and told them that you've responded to the call to support rural development and settled in Kaoshantun. From now on, don't bother going back to the city unless it's absolutely necessary, lest your new wife be unhappy."

Wei Baoguo was struck dumb.

He stared blankly at the envelope in the mud, then at the pile of tattered bedding thrown into the mud, and the taut string in his mind finally snapped.

"That's my house..."

Wei Baoguo lunged forward like a madman, grabbing his eldest son's trouser leg tightly. Tears mixed with blood from his nose smeared his face as he looked up and roared hoarsely:

"I'm your own father! I've toiled like a slave in the factory for most of my life, and this is the only one-bedroom apartment I've ever been allocated! I've provided for your food and clothing, arranged jobs for you, what have I ever done to wrong you? Now I've been tricked into marriage by these country bumpkins, and they're trying to blackmail me, trying to beat me to death! You watched me fall into this fire without lifting a finger, and now you're taking advantage of my misfortune to destroy my home?! Are you even human?!"

Wei Baoguo cried his heart out, his withered fingers digging into his eldest son's trouser leg like eagle claws, his voice filled with the most desperate pleading.

"Dachun, take Dad back! Dad has given you all his retirement savings. Dad won't live in the house anymore. Can't Dad go back to sleep on the balcony or in the hallway? Don't leave me in this dumping ground for the dying!"

The eldest son frowned, kicked Wei Baoguo's hand away with a look of disgust, and patted the mud off his trouser leg with a pained expression.

"Dad, what kind of talk is that?"

The eldest son looked down at his father, who was rolling in the mud, his tone devoid of warmth, instead revealing a hypocritical air of grandeur.

"You were the one who complained that we weren't taking good care of you in the city, so you secretly took your household registration book to the countryside to get a marriage certificate with this Aunt Li. Now that you've settled down and started a family in the countryside, isn't it only right that you give the empty house in the city to your third son for his wedding? How does that make us take advantage of your misfortune?"

"That's right, Dad!"

The eldest daughter-in-law rolled her eyes and spat out a word of disdain: "You already have a family in the countryside, why are you still occupying this city house? Do you want to bring this country mother-in-law back to the city and squeeze in with us? You may be shameless, but we certainly are!"

The eldest daughter-in-law covered her nose in disgust and tugged at the man's sleeve, urging him on:

"Alright, alright, Da Chun, you won't get anywhere with him. Let's get out of here, this awful place stinks to death!"

After saying that, the two turned and walked toward the oxcart.

"Da Chun! Da Chun, don't go!"

Wei Baoguo panicked completely. Ignoring the mud and pain covering his body, he scrambled forward like a dying wild dog and clung tightly to his eldest son's leg once again.

The eldest son didn't dodge at all. He simply stopped, looked down at Wei Baoguo convulsing in the mud, and sighed helplessly.

"Dad, what are you doing? It looks terrible."

The eldest son earnestly advised, "You chose this path yourself, and you insisted on getting the marriage certificate yourself. Back then, you wanted to find a country woman to serve you for free, and you were afraid we would covet your pension, so you stole your household registration book and went to the countryside overnight. Did you think about us then? Now that you're not doing well, you want to come back to the city and disrupt our lives. That's not appropriate."

Wei Baoguo opened his mouth, letting out a desperate "hoarse" sound from his throat, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

The eldest son looked at him and, as if discussing matters at home as usual, continued smoothly: "Besides, I'm being promoted to deputy section chief at work next month, and the political review is most wary of any family scandals. The bride's family needs three major items for our third son's wedding, and we've been racking our brains to raise the money. Your house will be a lifesaver in our time of need. Please don't go back to the city and cause trouble. If you ruin my future and our third son's wedding, we'll be sleeping on the streets. For the sake of our family, please bear with this."

After saying that, the eldest son gently took half a step back and pulled his leg out of Wei Baoguo's weak hand.

He straightened his cuffs and left his last words: "Besides, you have a pension every month, you won't starve. Take care of yourself, and we won't come to see you again unless it's absolutely necessary."

The eldest son climbed onto the oxcart without looking back. The driver cracked his whip, and with a sharp "snap," the oxcart rolled over the muddy ground, turned around mercilessly, and sped away.

Wei Baoguo lay sprawled in the mud like a mangy dog ​​whose spine had been removed, watching helplessly as the oxcart that had taken away his last hope disappeared at the village entrance.