Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Eldest Li Is Angry
As Eldest Li listened to his mother and wife’s account, he glanced at his nephew and niece-in-law sitting calmly to the side. He grew angrier with every word. ’What kind of mess is this? That damn good-for-nothing brother of mine can’t even keep his own wife and kids in line. What use is he!’
"Uncle, please don’t be angry. I’m not even angry anymore," Li Xiu said with a smile, gently trying to placate his uncle, whose face was growing darker by the second. ’I’ve lived two lives already. If I still let myself get worked up over them, I’m afraid Uncle Ge would climb out of his grave just to call me a fool!’
"So what are you thinking?" Eldest Li looked at the beaming Li Xiu, unable to figure him out. ’Is my hot-tempered nephew really just going to let this go? That’s not like him at all!’
"Thinking about what?" Li Xiu asked, a little baffled. ’What is there for me to think about? What am I supposed to be thinking?’
"About your parents. And your younger brother and sister." Seeing that Li Xiu genuinely wasn’t brushing him off, Eldest Li asked him in earnest.
"Oh, that," Li Xiu said with a smile of understanding. He spoke calmly, "Uncle, I’ve said it before. When it comes to my parents, all five sons will share the burden of caring for them in their old age. As for anything else, it has nothing to do with me. They can do whatever they please."
"Are you that angry? That disappointed? You don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore?"
Li Xiu looked at Eldest Li with amusement. "Uncle, they have parents to discipline them; they don’t need me. Besides, I have a wife, a child on the way, and a home of my own. Who am I to discipline anyone else?"
"Eldest Son, don’t you dare pressure my grandson!" Grandma Li’s anger hadn’t faded, and now hearing her son’s words, it flared right back up. "Everyone bears the consequences of their own actions! You only get one life, and no one can live it for you!"
Li Xiu patted his wife’s hand. Taking the hint, Zhou Lian sat down beside Grandma Li to soothe her, worried she might get so worked up she’d make herself sick.
Li Xiu was grateful for the support Eldest Li had shown him in both of his lives. Not wanting his uncle to harbor any resentment, he began to explain his reasoning, not just for his uncle’s sake, but for everyone present.
"Uncle, I know what you mean. ’Fathers and sons go to battle as one, and brothers hunt tigers side-by-side.’ I know family feuds aren’t supposed to last overnight. But my memories start when I was three, and in the twenty-one years since then, I have never known what it’s like for parents to cherish a child, nor have I seen younger siblings respect their eldest brother."
"For those three years I was in Grandma and Aunt Li’s care, I didn’t know the meaning of sorrow. Aunt Li was there for everything. But when I turned six, I started herding cattle for the production team, and my life changed. I didn’t understand what was happening."
"I was too young to understand back then, so I’d often lead the ox up the mountain and cry. Uncle Ge saw me once and asked, ’What are you crying for? You’re not some little girl, wiping your eyes over every little thing. It’s not very manly.’ So I asked him, ’Why does Mom only love my two younger brothers and not me?’"
"Uncle Ge gave me a piece of candy and asked if I liked to eat it. I said yes. But he told me that he didn’t, that he’d never liked sweets, even as a child. In that moment, I understood. When you love someone, you can’t bear to let them go. When you don’t love them, it’s easy to let go."
"I studied under him for more than a decade, and Uncle Ge taught me everything he knew. Before he passed away, he asked me, ’You work so hard you’ll run yourself into the ground. What are you trying to achieve?’ I told him, ’I’m not trying to achieve anything. I just don’t want to owe anyone a single thing.’"
"Uncle Ge passed away with a smile on his face. He said that in a life without any sons or daughters of his own, having taught me was enough. He could die without any regrets."
Eldest Li’s hand trembled as he lit a cigarette. ’Second Brother really mistook a pearl for a fish’s eye,’ he thought. ’He nearly destroyed the main pillar of the Li family. This nephew of mine is the most sentimental, but also the most ruthless. My brother’s family is finished.’
"Uncle, I will never forget the debt I owe my mother for giving me life, nor the debt I owe my father for raising me. I won’t let them be destitute in their old age. Li Xin is fifteen now. The shoes I wear are all made by my older female cousin, my second and third female cousins, and my third uncle’s eldest daughter. Even Sister Cui and Sister He have made shoes for me. But my own sister, Li Xin, has never sewn a single stitch for me. The year I turned sixteen, Uncle Ge passed away, and I ran a fever for over half a month. It was a ten-year-old Li Bao leading a seven-year-old Li Guo who woke up early and went to bed late, secretly covering my work for me. And what was my own blood brother doing at that time?"
"When the family property was divided, I left with practically nothing, but I didn’t say a word. At the time, everyone thought my father’s health was failing, and my mother was worried the younger children would be left with no prospects. I understood that. You only have your brothers and sisters in this life, not in the next, so as long as everyone could get by, I thought it was fine."
"Uncle, you should know that I had no other choice back then. I had to risk my life to make a living, even going against Uncle Ge’s dying wish that I never enter Daqing Mountain. But when I built my house, it was Aunt Li and my third aunt who helped tie the cornstalks for the walls. It was my eldest female cousin and my third uncle’s eldest daughter who led the six younger girls to bring water to the workers. Li Bao and Li Guo organized everything, inside and out. Even the building materials were guarded by you and Third Uncle! Uncle, back then, it was as if I had no father, no mother, no brother, and no sister."
"When I got married, even the ceremonial sweets were made by Aunt Li and my third aunt, who stayed up all night to prepare them. Uncle, you tell me, where have I ever wronged them? I’m not trying to settle scores; I just want to keep my distance. Is that not acceptable? My wife is pregnant, and they dared to attack her right in front of Grandma and Aunt Li! Honestly, if they were outsiders, I would have made sure their family never knew another day of peace!"
"As of today, everyone in that old house has completely exhausted the last shred of family feeling I had for them. When it comes to them, the best choice is to not care, not ask, not get close, and not associate. It’s the only way." Li Xiu stopped there. He had said enough; any more would be unseemly.
No one said a word. They didn’t know what to say. They had all witnessed things over the years, but they never imagined the reality was even more outrageous than what they had seen.
"Then let it be," Eldest Li said in a low voice, knocking the ash from his pipe. "Just focus on living a good life from now on. If you need anything, just ask. You still have me and your third uncle!" ’I won’t make things difficult for him,’ he thought. ’He’s done more than enough. Mom was right, everyone bears the consequences of their own actions.’
"Aunt Li, Li Hua’s father-in-law is sick. It’s quite serious," Li Xiu said, changing the subject now that Eldest Li had relented.
"How did he get sick?" Aunt Li asked in surprise.
"Exhaustion, on top of losing his grandson. The blow was too much for him. He’ll recover if he takes it slow; it’s not a huge problem," Li Xiu said quietly. ’This was exactly why I stopped Li Hua’s wedding from happening sooner. It would have been just like my past life otherwise. How could I let my cousin live in constant fear and anxiety again?’
Aunt Li patted her chest, saying with a shudder of relief, "Thank goodness you stopped them back then. Otherwise, life would have been very difficult for Li Hua."
"The Old Zhang’s Family had five sons and only that one daughter. Li Hua’s future sister-in-law married an only son herself and had three girls before finally having a boy. With that boy gone, it’s become Old Zhang’s greatest sorrow," Li Xiu said casually. ’In my last life, our family couldn’t intervene. Her in-laws were decent people, but the gossip made Li Hua’s life miserable.’
"Aunt Li, don’t worry," Zhou Lian said, seeing the woman’s furrowed brow. "He should be recovered by the end of the autumn harvest. Li Hua will be able to get married in grand style and live a stable life." ’Now that this crisis has been averted, Li Hua’s life will surely be a good one,’ she thought. ’Even in her past life, her husband treated her very well.’
Grandma Li watched Zhou Lian with a beaming smile. ’This granddaughter-in-law was an excellent choice,’ she thought. ’She’s capable and knows how to keep a situation calm. With her here as the eldest sister-in-law, the rest of my grandchildren will have someone to give them sound advice.’
