Chapter 302

The Liu family's "runaway on the wedding night" incident in the rear courtyard, which could be called the biggest farce of the year in the siheyuan, sent shockwaves that have not yet subsided; instead, like a stone tossed into a dead pool, it sent ripples spreading outward, profoundly altering the family's internal ecology and becoming an evergreen topic among the neighbors.

The most obvious change occurred in Second Grandfather Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong, who used to walk with his hands behind his back, belly out like a general's, speaking in a booming voice, almost wishing to carve the two characters 'official prestige' on his forehead, seemed to have had his backbone pulled out overnight. After being carried back from the hospital (the doctor diagnosed him with excessive fire attacking the heart, requiring rest), he almost became a shadow in the rear courtyard, a snail shrinking into its shell.

He no longer enjoyed pointing out the state of affairs in the courtyard, no longer strolled with his hands behind his back monitoring each household's 'thought trends', and even the daily routine of walking around the courtyard to show his presence was canceled.

Most of the time he shut himself in his room, curtains drawn tight, either staring blankly at the empty walls or pulling the covers over his head to sleep.

Occasionally when he had to go out, for example to go to work, he walked with his head drooping, close to the wall, steps unsteady; when acquaintances greeted him, he merely muttered an indistinct 'uh-ah', eyes darting away, hurrying to avoid them, as if he had done something shameful.

His face, once always oily and full of self-satisfaction, now resembled a dried-out old orange peel, with deep wrinkles, swollen eye bags, and a dull, listless gaze, devoid of any vigor.

Those in the courtyard who once feared him, found him annoying, or tried to curry favor with him now look at him with a complex meaning—there is sympathy, there is mockery, but mostly it's a scrutiny of 'see if you can still manage'.

Such a gaze, like an invisible needle, prickled Liu Haizhong all over, making him only able to hide himself more and more. The authority and dignity he had painstakingly built over half his life collapsed completely in the face of his biological son's betrayal and the neighbors' whispers, becoming the biggest joke in the siheyuan.

In stark contrast to Liu Haizhong's lethargy, another undercurrent of emotion stirred within the Liu family—coming from the growing resentment in the hearts of the second son, Liu Guangtian, and the third son, Liu Guangfu.

These two half-grown boys, one sixteen and the other fourteen, still in school, at the sensitive and rebellious age. Previously, the eldest son, Liu Guangqi, was the insurmountable great mountain in the family, the ultimate version of 'someone else's child' in their parents' mouths.

When there was something good to eat, the eldest son got it first; when there were new clothes, he got to wear them first; the family's limited resources always leaned toward him. Even the father's hot temper seemed more tolerant toward the eldest son, while whatever fell on the two brothers was more often indiscriminate scolding and that heavy slap.

They had also felt envy and jealousy before, but under the parents' long-term indoctrination that 'your eldest son is the family's heir, and later the whole family will depend on him,' this sense of unfairness could only be suppressed in their hearts.

But now, that great mountain in their hearts not only failed to become the family's main support, but at the most critical moment dealt the family a fatal blow and even swept away almost all of the parents' savings!

That evening, the atmosphere inside the Liu household was oppressive. Er Da Ma boiled a pot of Bangzi noodle porridge so thick you could see your reflection, and she chopped the pickled vegetable strips much finer than usual—the family's finances, strained by Liu Haizhong's extravagant spending and Liu Guangqi's embezzlement, were stretched thin.

Liu Guangtian held his bowl, looking at the thin, watery porridge, then glanced at his father lying with his head covered on the kang in the inner room, and couldn't help but complain quietly to his brother Liu Guangfu: 'Huh, you only now know how hard it is? What were you doing all along? From childhood on, nothing good ever went to anyone but the eldest—eggs, meat, we'd be lucky to scrape up a bit of broth! Now it's fine: they've taken the money, brought their wives, and gone off to become sons-in-law living in luxury, leaving us to drink the northwest wind!'

Liu Guangfu, though younger, also seethed with anger, jabbing his chopsticks hard at the pickled vegetables in his bowl: 'Exactly! Dad used to beat us at the drop of a hat, saying we were good-for-nothing, not even worth a finger of the eldest son. Now look, his most promising eldest son is just a white-eyed wolf—he's emptied out the family!'

Liu Haizhong in the inner room wasn't actually asleep; his sons' lowered complaints pierced his ears like steel needles. He wanted to lose his temper, to shout and even strike out as he used to, but his body felt drained of strength, the energy that had always supported his overbearing domineering attitude had ebbed.

More importantly, their words, though harsh, acted like a mirror, revealing his past favoritism and foolishness.

He could not rebuttal, so he pulled the covers tighter over himself, pretending he hadn't heard anything, while inside he was churning with regret and a desolate feeling of being abandoned by the whole world.

Er Da Ma listened to her younger son's complaints, saw her husband motionless in the inner room, and could only silently shed tears. She knew the sons felt wronged, but what could she do? This family was on the verge of falling apart.

Liu Guangtian looked at his mother crying, his heart growing more vexed; he slammed his bowl onto the table, making a noticeable noise: 'Mom, what's the use of your crying? How are we going to live from now on? Can we even continue school?' He harbored a surge of feeling—resenting his eldest brother's heartlessness, resenting his father's injustice, and feeling panic about the vague future.

This resentment, like mold in a damp corner, silently sprouted and spread in the Liu family's dim rooms. Though temporarily suppressed, no one knows when or how it will erupt someday in the future.

The neighbors of the siheyuan naturally observed the changes in the Liu family.

Yi Zhonghai would occasionally stop by, offering Liu Haizhong two perfunctory words of comfort—'think it over' and 'when the kids grow up, you can't control them'—but deep in his eyes there was also a hint of awareness of his educational failure. 'Parents unkind, children unfilial!'

Yan Bu Gui was all the more relieved that he had not initially put all his 'treasure' on a single child; although his own children were not very promising, at least he had not been hit with this 'central blossoming'.

Jia Zhangshi's gossip never ceased; whenever she saw Er Da Ma with red, swollen eyes coming out to take out the trash, or saw Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu listlessly going to school, she would purse her lips and share her lofty opinions with those around her: "This is retribution! Heaven has eyes! Let Liu Haizhong have been smug before! Let him have doted on his eldest son to the heavens! Now it's fine—has the sky collapsed and fallen on himself? I think his second and third sons are no oil-saving lamps either; in the future they'll have their share of suffering!"

In the West Wing Courtyard, Li Ping'an remained unfazed by this. He taught his son Li Yaozong boxing and literacy, managed his small family, and occasionally, using his abilities and knowledge, quietly improved their life.

To him, the Liu family's tragicomedy in the rear courtyard was merely a part of the Siheyuan's myriad human conditions, an inevitable movement woven from the times and human nature. He only would shake his head slightly when he occasionally heard discussions about the Liu family drifting from the Central Courtyard or the Front Courtyard.

A family's collapse often begins with internal imbalance and injustice.