Chapter 65: The Era's Beloved Scapegoat? It Doesn't Matter, My Father Will Intervene (2)

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With their living conditions improved, Old Man Qin began to care more about appearances. After all, his family was now among the top households in the village.

Liu Feng was waiting for Qin Ye to yield and apologize, but instead, Qin Ye took his daughters, grabbed a few things, and left the house empty-handed.

By then, dusk was falling.

At this hour, anyone working in the fields had already returned home.

As Qin Ye walked through the village, he greeted everyone with a smile.

“Hey, Ye, where are you taking your girls at this hour?”

Sighing, he replied, “Our kitchen is locked; my mother has the only key. I’ve just traveled a long way, exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, and there’s not even a drop of water for me at home. I can only take my kids to my mother-in-law’s place and hope for a cup of hot water.”

The villagers who heard this exchanged odd glances.

Ever since the eldest son started making money, Liu Feng had become increasingly arrogant, looking down on people as if she were walking above them. She never missed a chance to brag about her son’s achievements, and now, with New Year’s around the corner, she had even bought herself a piece of fine fabric to make a new shirt.

But this was how she treated her eldest—the very one who brought prosperity to the family—when he finally returned home?

Times had changed; these days, families splitting up their households were commonplace. No one wanted to share everything anymore, each feeling their own branch of the family was getting the short end of the stick.

For the Qin family, separation seemed inevitable, especially since Old Man Qin and Liu Feng had always shown blatant favoritism even before dividing the family.

Everyone could see it; surely the old couple couldn’t be blind to it? Besides, even if the eldest hadn’t brought in money, he only came home a few days each year. As parents, didn’t they worry at all about how their son was faring out in the world?

What’s more, the eldest had just lost his wife this year—the past year could not have been easy for him.

As Qin Ye continued on, he greeted everyone, repeating his story at each stop.

Soon, nearly every household in the village knew that Qin Ye had returned home after a long, dusty journey, only to be denied even a cup of hot water by his own parents.

Some speculated, “What kind of parents could be so heartless? Maybe there’s no one at home.”

No sooner had they thought it, than the fourth son, Qin Long, returned from town with his wife and children, arms laden with packages.

Their daughter was even dressed in new clothes, looking like the child of fortune from a festive painting. Hearing the commotion, Liu Feng hurried out to greet them with a bright face.

“Has Qin Long struck it rich?” someone wondered aloud.

“Rich, my foot! All his money comes from his parents, and their money comes from the eldest son. He’s living off his brother’s hard work.”

“Really? Didn’t the eldest have two girls? I saw them last time—so skinny, like bamboo poles, in ill-fitting hand-me-downs. The fourth son pampers his own daughter, but with money that isn’t even his. Doesn’t he think of buying something for his brother’s girls?”

“Everyone knows the Qin family favors sons over daughters more than any other household in the village. Qin Long only started caring about his daughter recently. Before that, he looked down on both his own girl and his brother’s daughters. As if he’d ever think to buy anything for them.”

The villagers whispered and pointed.

Qin Long acted as if he heard nothing, handing his gifts to his mother and glancing around the house. Not seeing anything of his brother’s, he asked, “Where’s Big Brother?”

His wife, Wu Min, chimed in, “Didn’t you write that you’d be home today? Why isn’t he here?”

Liu Feng snapped, “Don’t mention him! He thinks he’s too good for a peasant mother like me. Came home and didn’t even sit down before storming off with his daughters. Who knows where he went.”

“What? Mom, why didn’t you go after him?”

“Why should I? If he has the nerve to look down on his own mother, let him stay gone forever, I say! No matter how successful he is, I’m still his mother. He wouldn’t dare show me any attitude!”

Qin Long, exasperated, sought out Old Man Qin and his second brother, Qin Hu.

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Qin Hu’s family had just come back from the fields and had no idea what had happened. Old Man Qin sat in silence, smoking, ignoring Qin Long’s questions.

Qin Long was beside himself with worry. If his eldest brother fell out with the family and cut ties, did they really think their comfortable lives would continue? Useless, he thought—they couldn’t even take advantage when the opportunity was right in front of them.

He slumped into a chair in frustration while Wu Min, seizing the moment when Liu Feng was distracted, quickly hauled the best things into their own room. After washing her hands, she asked Liu Feng for the kitchen key and went to cook.

Qin Hu’s wife, Wang Xinghua, looked displeased. She had given the family three sons, and while her elder sister-in-law had been around, she enjoyed some sense of superiority. But now that her sister-in-law was gone, it was Wu Min, mother of a single daughter, who had become Liu Feng’s favorite.

As New Year drew near, Wang Xinghua and her sons worked the fields while the fourth son and his family went to town shopping, with money she’d seen Liu Feng give them herself. When she asked Liu Feng for money, Liu Feng claimed she had none.

The favoritism was beyond blatant.

While the Qin family went about their business, paying no mind to where Qin Ye had gone, Qin Ye arrived at the neighboring village.

His late wife, Liu Cai, was from Stone Village, not Brook Village. She had a younger brother and sister, and as the eldest, she bore much responsibility.

Her father had died young, leaving Liu Cai’s mother to support the family alone, and so they were desperately poor.

Their relatives, meanwhile, were always trying to claim what little their father had left, circling like vultures.

The Qin family wasn’t rich either, but they did have a number of grown sons. After meeting Qin Ye a few times, Liu Cai chose to marry him.

Though she missed her siblings, Liu Cai never stole from her husband’s family to send things back home. Liu Feng guarded against her daughters-in-law like they were thieves, terrified they’d sneak things back to their own families.

Liu Cai’s brother Liu An and sister Liu Hua would sometimes come help her, but Liu Feng treated them coldly, scowling at the mere sight of them, as if terrified they’d eat a single grain of her rice.

Gradually, the Liu siblings stopped coming to visit, and even when they did, they wouldn’t set foot inside the Qin house.

In the story, after Liu Cai’s death, Qin Ye also died far from home, with no one knowing his fate—just years of silence with no word at all.

It became clear to the family what had happened.

Qin Zhizhi and her sister became orphans. The Liu family tried time and again to take them in, but every attempt was blocked by Liu Feng and her sons—and even her two sons-in-law.

Eventually, Liu An and Liu Hua left to seek work far away, taking their mother with them after a few years. Before leaving, they tried once more to see their nieces, but never even caught a glimpse.

All in all, the Liu family were good people. Despite their poverty, Liu Lishi believed she wasn’t too old to work, and no matter how hard things were, she could earn enough to feed two little girls.

The Qin family, on the other hand, clung fiercely to their patriarchal values. Both daughters were married off for bride prices, which, in those days, amounted to dozens of yuan—a sum that made it little better than selling them.

How could the girls have ever expected a good life there?

But Old Man Qin wouldn’t allow the Liu family to take the sisters. He was a man who cared about appearances—wicked deeds could be hidden behind closed doors, but they couldn’t be exposed for all to see and risk public condemnation.

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With both grandparents still alive and so many relatives on the Qin side, how would it look if the girls were sent to their maternal grandmother? What would people say?

Thus, the Qin family treated Qin Zhizhi and her sister as less than human, yet wouldn’t let the Liu family take them.

Of course, Qin Ye was still alive for now, so the Qin family couldn’t do as they pleased just yet.

Liu Cai had died of exhaustion. All the household chores for a large family fell on her shoulders; the second brother’s wife never lifted a finger, complaining bitterly about even a day’s labor in the fields. She had given birth to three sons and acted accordingly entitled.

There had once been a younger sister-in-law who helped share the burden, but as soon as her daughter won Liu Feng’s favor, even that help vanished.

Every day before dawn, Liu Cai was up working—chores at home, in the fields, up the mountains. After feeding the people, she still had to feed the pigs.

The second brother’s three wild sons would vanish as soon as they woke, leaving only three little girls too young to be of any help.

The youngest sister-in-law, at first, would still come to help out of guilt, but that didn’t last long.

Liu Cai worked herself to the bone, never getting enough to eat. Although she cooked the meals, it was Liu Feng who portioned out the rations and never gave the girls more than the bare minimum.

When Jinli arrived, Liu Feng, for the first time, gave her a bit extra—just a little.

Qin Zhizhi, on the other hand, got nothing more.

The children were always hungry; Liu Cai, heart aching, would save from her own share so her daughter could eat. But there wasn’t much to spare—she did the most work, yet got less than the idle younger brother.

Year after year, Liu Cai’s body finally gave out.

Qin Zhizhi cried and begged her grandparents to pay for her mother’s treatment, but Liu Feng insisted Liu Cai was faking.

Liu Feng didn’t care, and neither did anyone else. Liu Cai fainted and never woke again.

By rights, Liu Cai shouldn’t have suffered so. Her husband sent money home every month, and even the smallest sum was more than anything the family could scrape together from the fields. Yet she and her daughters went hungry every day.

Before Jinli came, only the men of the house and Liu Feng herself benefited, with the second brother’s wife, mother of three sons, occasionally enjoying some small favor.

After Jinli’s arrival, the benefits shifted to Jinli’s branch of the family.

It was only natural that Liu Cai felt resentment. Why should the second brother’s family remain friendly with Jinli? Because Jinli’s presence hadn’t harmed their interests; their three sons were Liu Feng’s favorites, and the little extra that Jinli received was insignificant.

When they realized Jinli could bring them benefits, the entire family, for the sake of their own gain, was happy to treat her well.

As for Jinli’s two aunts, they had always been expected to yield to their brothers, and as adults, frequently stole things from their husbands’ homes to take back to their parents.

The reason Liu Feng was so wary of her daughters-in-law was precisely because her own daughters did exactly that.