EBE Chapter 129 You Spendthrift
Chapter 129 You Spendthrift
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiaochuan flew into a rage. He angrily retorted, "Shen Qianchuan, are you out of your mind? Whose side are you on? How dare you speak up for those two ingrates!"
He was so angry that he stopped calling his fourth brother and started calling him a pig-brain.
Shen Qianchuan wasn't as quick-witted as his younger brother, so he couldn't win the argument or the scolding. He simply said, "I was just saying that, why are you getting so worked up? Your language is really vulgar. We four brothers were born of the same father and mother, so we should stand together when things happen."
"To hell with carrying it together! You're just trying to persuade me to go again tomorrow. If you want to go, you go. I'm absolutely not going again!"
Mr. Shen's eyes widened in anger, and he kicked his youngest son. Because the boy was still ill, he was unsteady and almost fell over.
"You brat, you have to go tomorrow whether you like it or not. If you don't go, what if Manager Zhang sells our house and fields, and our whole family has to beg for food in town? You can afford to lose face, but I can't!"
He turned to his other three sons and said, “Listen up, all three of you. If he dares not to go tomorrow, you three have to drag him there.”
"Yeah, Dad, we got it."
The other three sons were also very aggrieved. After all, it was their mother who caused the trouble, but they, as the sons, had to pay the debt. At a young age, they deeply understood what it meant for children to have to pay for their mother's debts.
However, they also understood that if they all gave up and angered Manager Zhang, they would lose their houses and fields, and would have to continue paying off debts. At that point, they would be truly helpless.
"I'm not going tomorrow. If anyone tries to stop me, I'll fight them to the death..."
Shen Xiaochuan was so angry that he kept shouting and said some harsh words, but no one paid any attention to him.
The family had been arguing for so long that the food had gotten cold. Feeling guilty, Mrs. Sun hurriedly and cautiously told everyone to wash their hands and eat.
The family sat together, and the atmosphere was incredibly dull and lifeless.
The large round stone table, which used to be piled high with food, now only has a small basket of cornbread, just enough for one person.
Two plates of lush green vegetables, not a drop of oil to be seen, and a bowl of thin soup for each person, with just a few grains of rice at the bottom of the bowl.
Shen Xiaochuan was already seething with anger, and seeing such a poorly prepared meal, he couldn't help but start yelling again.
"Mom, we brothers have been working hard from morning till night, and this is what you give us to eat? Even pigs eat better than us!"
Sun was stunned for a moment, then said aggrievedly, "In order to pay back some of the money to Manager Zhang, we sold all our pigs and chickens, and even sold most of the remaining grain. With only this little bit left, we don't even know if we can make up for next year's harvest at this rate."
"Let's be patient a little longer. Starting tomorrow, Mother will go and dig up more wild vegetables, and we'll eat more vegetables and less rice. These hard times will pass quickly."
Shen Xiaochuan, used to being treated specially, looked at the thin soup in the bowl with extreme dissatisfaction. He picked it up and slammed it down in front of his mother, splashing most of the soup out.
"Mom, I won't drink this stuff. I work myself to the bone at the restaurant, and this is what they give me to drink? What if my health collapses? Please make me something thicker."
How could the Sun family dare to do that!
With many sons and grandsons, Mrs. Sun doted on her youngest son the most. Whenever there was something delicious to eat or drink, she would always give it to her youngest son. The porridge was always the thickest for her husband and youngest son.
Now the family has lost more than half of their food, and the whole family has to cut back on food and drink. In addition, she did something stupid that ruined all four of her sons. Her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and grandsons are furious with her, so she naturally dares not show favoritism anymore.
Therefore, finding rice in everyone's bowl is like finding a needle in a haystack.
"Xiao Chuan, the food's getting cold, hurry up and eat. Stop fooling around. Tomorrow, Mom will make something thicker for everyone..."
Zhao stayed in the house weaving all day without stopping for a moment. Even when her sisters-in-law and mother-in-law were arguing, she didn't come out to watch. She didn't even have time to fart. She ate the same food as everyone else.
She and her sister-in-law were suffering because of their mother-in-law. Before they could even say anything, her brother-in-law started picking and choosing, looking smug and wanting special treatment. He was dreaming!
So she picked up the bowl in front of her and slammed it down in front of her uncle.
"Here, this is for your third sister-in-law. You can have it. If you think yours is too watery, then let's switch!"
Shen Xiaochuan was too busy being angry to realize that his third sister-in-law was deliberately mocking him. He immediately pouted and said unhappily, "We're the same. Why would I trade with you? I would have finished drinking and gone to bed long ago."
Zhao scoffed coldly, her eyes filled with mockery, "So you do know that the soup in our bowls is the same, and everyone can drink it, so why can't you?"
"Whether you're a local tyrant or a prince, nobody's getting special treatment from now on. I advise my uncle to finish his drink and go back to his room to sleep, so he can have some sweet dreams!"
Hearing his third sister-in-law's sarcastic and mocking remarks, Shen Xiaochuan immediately flew into a rage.
"Third sister-in-law, there's nothing wrong with this. Why are you picking on me? If you want to drink, then drink. What's it to you?"
Zhao sneered and glared at him, "It's only because my second sister-in-law and I were implicated by your mother that we suffered this misfortune. My second sister-in-law and I can still earn some money by weaving and embroidering, while you can't even earn a single copper coin!"
Sun lowered her head and bent over, like a sick and listless quail, not daring to say a word.
Mr. Shen was still ill and exhausted. He couldn't stand the noise and immediately banged his chopsticks on his bowl in anger.
"Alright, stop arguing. Xiao Chuan, you're such a grown man, yet you still act like a child. You don't know how to be considerate of each other at all. What kind of person are you?"
"Hurry up and eat so you can go to school. I have to get up early tomorrow morning to go to town!"
After the reprimand, he broke the cornbread into pieces and soaked it in thin soup. He finished it with gusto, then got up and went back to his room to lie on his bed.
There's no other reason than that he's also starving!
The youngest son is right. Even pigs eat better than they do now. At least pigs can eat their fill, while they can only fill their stomachs!
In the courtyard, several sons and grandsons were wailing and complaining that the food was bad and they weren't getting enough to eat.
Living such a poor life, Sun felt even more resentful towards her eldest son and his wife.
Hearing the whole family, young and old, complaining about the food, her head was buzzing. She followed her husband's example, soaking the hard cornbread in a bowl, adding a few bland green vegetables, and hurriedly finished eating. Without washing the pot or the dishes, she went back to her room.
Seeing her husband sighing in bed, Sun couldn't help but start criticizing him again, blaming the eldest son and his wife for their bad behavior.
"We had such a good family, but the eldest son and his wife ruined it all. We were living a good life, with plenty to eat and drink, but those two ungrateful wretches insisted on separating the family property. If it weren't for their meddling, would our family be in this state now..."
Because of his wife's outrageous behavior, he not only lost all the family's money, but also owed the restaurant 600 taels of silver. He had to sell grain and livestock to pay off a small portion of the debt. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood, and his wife even tried to shift the blame onto his eldest son and his wife.
His anger surged, and he immediately began to curse.
"You good-for-nothing! How dare you blame your parents? If it weren't for your terrible idea, would our family have fallen into such a miserable state?"
You've ruined a perfectly good family, squandered it all. If it weren't for the fact that you're the mother of several sons, I would have beaten you to death!