Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

"Dongxu's dad, tell me... does that pig's trotter really taste good?"

"I don't have the money to buy it."

Jia Laonian answered crisply and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"Can't you just swallow your pride and go to the He family to beg them for a bowl of rice for your son? Look how skinny he is, like a monkey!"

"I won't go; I can't bring myself to beg people."

"I must have been blind to marry such a good-for-nothing!"

Jia Zhangshi immediately started cursing at the top of her lungs, her voice so loud it made the wall tremble.

"Other people can eat meat every meal, but look at what we, mother and daughter, eat? Just plain cabbage and potatoes in watery broth, not a drop of oil in sight!"

Ultimately, you brought all of this upon yourself.

Jia Laonian! Are you really planning to give up on living a proper life?

If you're really determined not to live like this anymore, I'll take my son and go back to my hometown in the countryside right now!

Jia Laonian listened silently with his eyes down, without uttering a single word.

Back then, Jia Zhangshi took the initiative to marry into the Jia family.

Back then, he was a down-to-earth, hardworking, and conscientious young man.

He never dreamed that he would marry such a troublemaker who would disrupt the peace of his home.

She had been married for less than two years when her parents passed away one after the other.

This woman not only doesn't know how to restrain her temper, but she becomes more and more domineering and unreasonable every day.

He secretly speculated that his parents must have been angered and wronged by her, which led to their early passing.

Even though he had his doubts, he couldn't find any evidence to support his guess.

Want to divorce her? That's a pipe dream I wouldn't even dare to entertain.

Jia Zhangshi's brothers from her maternal family came directly to his door and gave him a thorough beating.

The year she became pregnant with her son, he foolishly hoped that things would gradually get better.

But instead of getting better, the hardships only intensified day by day.

This shrewish woman is like a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

However, she couldn't do any of the household chores properly or efficiently.

It's exactly like a Pixiu that only takes in and never gives out, only eating and never eating.

The household allowance he hands over each month is never enough to last until the end of the month; it's all gone.

This forced him to scrape together some of the money he earned from eating out to supplement his family's income.

When the child was born a boy, he was so happy he almost cried.

Little did he know that the real ordeal was only just beginning.

This woman kept saying that her son needed to be breastfed, and that she didn't have enough breast milk and needed to supplement her nutrition.

As a result, after her postpartum confinement period ended, she actually gained weight twice as much.

Now, life has worn him down, leaving him with no spirit and only numbness.

It's only been a few days since the Lunar New Year, and at least during the holiday, my family had a proper meal of meat.

Given their family's current situation, how could they possibly dream of eating meat every day?

What he found most unbearable was the woman's shameless behavior.

She couldn't stand seeing other families doing better than hers, and she couldn't stand seeing other families getting anything good.

Her son had also been led astray by her and had picked up a lot of bad habits.

No matter how anxious he was, he couldn't muster any strength and couldn't control himself at all.

Now, he is nothing more than an old ox pulling a broken cart for the Jia family.

When you're so exhausted you can't get up anymore, that's when you'll finally be done for.

His only hope in life was to see his son uphold the Jia family's reputation before he died.

In that way, the Jia family line wouldn't have ended in his hands.

The pork trotter soup in the pot has finally simmered until it is fragrant and the broth is thick, white, and glossy, making it very appealing.

He Daqing carefully ladled out a bowl and took it to the backyard for the old lady.

When he returned to the house, the father and son each picked up a small bowl of soup and slowly sipped it.

Chen Shuxiang wanted to push the soup in her own bowl towards them several times.

Both father and son insisted on refusing to accept it.

Having no other choice, she ate a pig's trotter and drank a large bowl of soup.

It wasn't that she was greedy or gluttonous; she was afraid of letting her unborn daughter go hungry.

After finishing the meal, He Yuzhu washed the dishes and chopsticks thoroughly.

He saw that his parents had gone into the inner room and were taking care of his younger sister.

She then said to them, "Father, Mother, I'm going back to my room to sleep."

"I had a crazy day out with people today, and I'm just too exhausted to keep going."

"Remember to add some coal to the stove," He Daqing reminded him carefully.

"Don't get cold at night, there's no kang (heated brick bed) in your room."

"understood."

"Go to sleep." Chen Shuxiang wanted to ask a few more questions.

Why did my son suddenly change his attitude today?

Instead of hanging out with Jia Dongxu anymore, she's become so close to Xu Damao, whom she usually doesn't get along with.

But I could see that my son looked dejected and listless.

She knew her son was truly exhausted, so she didn't ask any more questions. Ultimately, everything you've brought upon yourself is a result of your own actions.

He Yuzhu gently pushed open the door and stepped back into his small side room.

He first bent down, picked up the fire hook from the corner of the wall, and slowly poked the embers in the stove.

The ash that had accumulated at the bottom of the furnace was carefully cleaned up.

Then he reached into the empty furnace and carefully added a few pieces of brand-new black coal.

Seeing that the fire in the stove had become bright and strong again, he slowly took off his outer clothes and quietly slipped into bed.

Although he was lying flat on the kang (a heated brick bed), he was not sleepy at all.

He silently planned to take stock of the supplies stored in his space.

"First, gather all the cotton-padded clothes, cotton-padded trousers, and military overcoats together."

There were four bicycles in total, but the license plates were worn out and unrecognizable.

There are five Type 38 rifles, and all the matching ammunition boxes and clips are complete.

There are also four Mauser C96 pistols, with a total of two hundred rounds of ammunition.

Three watches, two pocket watches, two gold rings, and fifty-three silver dollars.

He had also accumulated quite a few military notes, and had five pairs of suede shoes.

The rest were just odds and ends, such as pens, cigarettes, and matches.

He picked up the watches and pocket watches and examined them closely for a long time.

I discovered that they were all foreign brands that I had never seen before.

Some are brand new, shiny and glossy, while others are old, worn, and dull.

He couldn't tell the difference between good and bad, superior and inferior, so he simply stopped thinking about it and put it aside.

Then, he took out a Mauser pistol from his storage space and gently fiddled with it in his hand.

But this thing was too heavy, and his hands were rather small.

If you really want to fire a gun, you have to hold it tightly with both hands, which is quite uncomfortable.

So he had no choice but to carefully put it back.

He then tried to pick up the Browning 1911 pistol.

Although it's possible to hold it with one hand, it's difficult to reach the trigger with your fingers.

Holding it in my hand, it still felt very stiff and awkward.

In the end, it could only be thrown back into the space.