CHAPTER 103: CHAPTER 101: I DON’T DESERVE THIS ’NUMBER 1’ FROM YOU

——————

"Indeed. Mom, a small illness is easier to treat if caught early. How about I take you to the county town for a check-up tomorrow? It just so happens that our son-in-law got promoted and has moved into the county town. We could visit our eldest daughter’s place at noon, and get to know the way." Xie Tiesheng thought it over. He could no longer ignore his wife’s frequent clutching at her chest.

They say the body is the most honest thing; it only shows discomfort through occasional, involuntary movements. Such gestures more accurately indicate where someone is feeling unwell...

As the bedfellow of Zhou Xiuhua, Xie Tiesheng was all too familiar with her small gestures. These movements had become routine over the past two years, but in the last three months, they had become more pronounced and frequent.

Having worked hard for the family her entire life, Xie Tiesheng appreciated his old wife and was deeply concerned about her increasingly unstable condition. When Zhang Shanni hinted at this, he pushed aside his worries and coaxed his wife with kind words.

"Let’s go, I don’t need to see a doctor. Just to avoid wasting money frivolously. The main thing is, our son-in-law got promoted and took Da Niu and the kids to the county town. I wonder if they’re settled in yet? It coincidentally happened when San’er was getting married, so we didn’t have the time to help out... I don’t even know if our dear grandchildren were upset~~"

As soon as Zhou Xiuhua heard her husband mention their eldest daughter, her heart, which had been preoccupied with San’er’s wedding banquet, warmed at the thought of visiting her. Her husband’s mention reminded her of her daughter.

It just so happened that right after San’er’s banquet, they received news that their son-in-law was promoted due to his work capabilities and the whole family was moving to the county town... Zhou Xiuhua was overjoyed!

Of course, she was happy that her daughter would no longer have to suffer in front of her in-laws!

Her eldest daughter had married into the Fan Family, and both in-laws were biased. They claimed that since their youngest son didn’t have a formal job, they’d give him more subsidies... Not only did they subsidize him themselves, but they also forced their son-in-law to contribute ten yuan each month to support the younger brother-in-law!

As an adult, it was unheard of for parents to require a married eldest son to specifically set aside money to subsidize a younger brother.

The most ridiculous part was that their youngest son was perfectly healthy and capable, but was too insufferably lazy to make an appearance and even dared to get involved in gambling. Such a son should have been disciplined and educated properly, but they only spoiled him more and more, without any consideration for the eldest son’s feelings!

If it weren’t for San’er assuring them that Fan Dalang was a good man and promising that, at most within three years, he could get another promotion, allowing them to split the household and move out, she would have been most reluctant to let her daughter marry into that family.

A daughter’s happiness is priceless! After living with Fan Dalang for half a year, her daughter was determined that he was the one and has never changed her mind since.

Moreover, she could tell that Fan Dalang truly did care deeply for Da Niu. Otherwise, she really wouldn’t have wanted her daughter to marry into that family.

The daughter was young and naïve, but as someone who had the experience, she knew very well the position and influence a good mother-in-law held in a family.

Her daughter wasn’t foolish—she was indeed very attentive.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiuhua could only heave a silent sigh. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. No matter how convincing she was, her daughter was stubbornly set on marrying Fan Dalang. As a mother, how could she possibly be more stubborn than her daughter’s desires?

"Alright, we’ll go tomorrow. We’ll go and warm the house for Da Niu tomorrow." Xie Tiesheng agreed readily, looking extremely amenable, with a smile on his wrinkled face.

Immediately after the family of four had dinner, Xie Tiesheng left for the Xu Family in the midst of Zhou Xiuhua’s rolling eyes.

Zhang Shanni entertained Xiao Liu for fun, obediently staying at home with her mother-in-law, and Xie Tiesheng went alone.

At home, Zhang Shanni and mother-in-law were at ease, but when Xie Tiesheng arrived at the Xu Family and saw his eldest son wearing "heavy filial piety," he nearly couldn’t keep his composure.

In fact, Xie Tiesheng’s facial expression was already dark and ashen.

If Xie Tiesheng had any affection left for his daughter-in-law, it completely disappeared when he saw his eldest son donning "heavy filial piety" for his mother-in-law, blackening his face completely!

Embarrassed, to say the least!

At this moment, he was truly grateful that his wife hadn’t come; if she saw their eldest son being so thoughtless, it would probably make her furious!

Then, turning to see his grandsons wearing white mourning clothes, he held back several times, unable to ignore it; he snorted and called out the names of Da Niu, Xiao’er, and Xiao Wu, glaring fiercely at his eldest son and the shrinking Xu Family girl behind him.

Could he be honored that this bastard son had brought him "pride"?

Never would he have expected that the eldest son he had raised for decades would act as a "filial and wise grandchild" to outsiders while both his parents were still alive!

Seeing the Xu Family relatives and other respected elders from the same village, judged by their mocking gazes was enough to make him lose all face.

Thankfully, it was still early in the day; apart from the Xu Family’s closer relatives and the village’s elder cadres, no outsiders had arrived yet. Otherwise, Xie Tiesheng’s embarrassment would have been known all over the village!

"Tie Dan, what are you doing? Are you even going to disown your own father? Take off those clothes right now! Or do you really wish to bury your parents?!"

Xie Tiesheng glared angrily at his son and daughter-in-law in a low scold, then turned to his bewildered grandchildren and said hoarsely, "Da Niu, Xiao’er, Xiao Wu, take off those mourning clothes! Your Grandpa isn’t dead yet!"

"Grandpa!" Xiao Yi and Xiao’er were startled and quickly removed their mourning clothes when they understood what Grandpa was saying.

Xiao Wu was just a six-year-old girl who didn’t quite understand why Grandpa was angry and just stood behind her older brother, bewildered.

The two young boys, having never properly dealt with a funeral at home, didn’t understand the etiquette. They dressed as their mother told them to, simply following her in their attire. After all, when their grandmother passed away due to old age, their mother was heartbroken, and seeing their cousins dressed the same way, they hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

"Dad!" Xie Jingwei, too, was not lightly scared by his father’s words; he hurriedly took off his hemp mourning clothes and did not dare to look back at his wife.

At the same time, Xu Xiaofen weakly called out "Father-in-law..." from behind. Hearing the implicit and explicit scolding directed at her from her father-in-law, her dark round face turned red and white. Seeing that her husband and son completely ignored her and obediently took off their mourning attire, tears instantly brimmed in her eyes as she bit her teeth and whispered.

Men really couldn’t be relied upon. No matter how seriously they spoke in private, in the presence of their parents, they would unconsciously neglect her presence, making her feel sullied as if she brought shame upon their manhood...