Chapter 303: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 303: For Most of Her Life, She Always Submitted and Endured

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Facing this old man shouting such absurd and ridiculous words, Wang Xiaohua did not refute anything; he just couldn't help but sneer, then returned to his room to continue studying.

Wang Xiaohua's attitude toward Wang Zhanggen could be described as both hatred and pity.

He hated that this old man understood nothing yet always bossily pointed fingers at his life, but he had long since awakened and would never listen to his orders, so he didn't care about his pointing fingers.

At the same time, he sympathized with this old man; as the head of the family, this man had spent his whole life in failure and depression, achieving nothing, which shaped his face-saving personality, making his life seem like a joke.

A man who had lived most of his life and ended up in such a pathetic state was indeed quite pitiful.

Additionally, he had a cerebral infarction and thyroid nodules; his body was visibly deteriorating day by day, and how long he could still live was unknown.

So Wang Xiaohua would not argue with him, but neither would he let him control his own life.

He studied so hard—wasn't it just to escape the bad environment this family brought?

Wang Zhanggen saw Wang Xiaohua completely ignore him, then hide back in his room after eating, and became increasingly depressed.

He sat on the sofa smoking, with a black face, full of pent-up anger but nowhere to vent it.

He sat there until past two in the morning before reluctantly going back to sleep.

Early the next morning, Li Xiulan got up to work; besides the usual chores of making breakfast, feeding chickens and pigs, watering the vegetable garden, and washing clothes, she also had to kill a chicken.

Because today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, they needed to kill a rooster to worship the gods.

Li Xiulan had just gotten up when she first filled half the big iron pot with water, used a bamboo winnowing fan to fan the fire, and lit firewood under the big iron pot; after the firewood burned steadily, she went to do other chores.

By the time she returned from watering the vegetable garden, the water in the big iron pot had already boiled.

She wanted to call Wang Zhanggen out to help her cut the chicken's neck, but Wang Zhanggen was fast asleep, rolled over, and said impatiently:

"Kill it yourself, don't bother me, I'm very sleepy."

Li Xiulan really wanted to beat him up, but thinking that her eldest son and second son would be back today, she didn't want to argue with this old man, so in the end she still endured it.

But killing a chicken alone was simply impossible.

Because killing a chicken required one hand to hold the chicken legs, one hand to hold the chicken wings, one hand to hold the chicken head, and one hand to hold a knife to cut the throat.

She only had two hands—how could she manage so many tasks?

Helpless, she had to go find Wang Xiaohua to help.

Wang Xiaohua had already gotten up and was reading English in the room.

Li Xiulan knocked on the door and told him, and he did not decline, immediately coming out of the room.

He went to help Li Xiulan hold the chicken, and Li Xiulan quickly bled the chicken.

"Xiao Hua, go back to your studies; Mom can handle the rest alone."

Wang Xiaohua frowned slightly:

"Why doesn't he come out to help?"

Li Xiulan smiled bitterly:

"Want your dad to help? Unless the sun rises in the west; he's never done any housework in his life, and now asking him to help—is that possible?"

Wang Xiaohua then asked:

"Mom, don't you think this is very unfair to you?"

Li Xiulan was stunned, then just laughed it off:

"What's fair or unfair? I've long been used to it; I've lived like this for most of my life—what more do I want?"

Hearing this, Wang Xiaohua couldn't help but feel a sourness in his nose.

Yes, his mother had spent most of her life always submitting and enduring; facing poverty and hardship, she had long been used to it, numb to it, and had resigned herself to fate.

He vaguely remembered that more than ten years ago, his mother had been very rebellious; when the Village Party Secretary deceived her about the cassava field, she went straight to the Village Committee Office to make a scene; later, when the highway construction demolition happened, she directly confronted the Village Committee to the end—no money, no demolition—and even if everyone in the world didn't understand her, she still persisted in being herself.

But now that life had entered its second half, the edges on her body had long been worn smooth by the years; all that remained was endurance and compromise, like a turtle with its back hunched, when something attacked her from outside, her first reaction was no longer to resist, but to shrink into her shell and endure.

"Mom, let me help you pluck the chicken feathers."

Wang Xiaohua voluntarily offered to help with the work.

Li Xiulan said:

"No, go back to your studies; studying is important; I'll do the feather-plucking myself."

Wang Xiaohua said:

"It's fine; I don't lack that little bit of time."

He hurriedly went to fetch a basin of hot water, took the bled rooster to scald the feathers, then rolled up his sleeves and began plucking the chicken feathers.

Wang Xiaohua worked very diligently.

Li Xiulan watched, and couldn't help but show a long-absent smile on her face.

Her smile, though covered with wrinkles, was nevertheless radiant and very beautiful.

With Wang Xiaohua's help, Li Xiulan soon finished killing the rooster.

The organs and chicken blood were taken to cook congee, as breakfast for this morning.

The rooster was kept whole, taken to blanch and set, and would later be taken to worship the gods.

After breakfast was ready, Wang Zhanggen finally got up leisurely.

When he ate breakfast, he still had a black face.

He was still sulking.

Wang Xiaohua and Li Xiulan both ignored him.

They had long since become accustomed to his behavior of sulking silently.

Just let him be; after a short while he'll calm down on his own.

Past ten in the morning, Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai returned.

They drove back in a used Volkswagen.

Although it was used, it had been washed before the return trip, and from the outside it looked just like a new car.

Seeing Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai drive back, the villagers couldn't help but cast envious glances.

The matter of the brothers running a company in Guangzhou had long spread throughout the whole Shanggou Village through Wang Zhanggen's boasting — not only the whole Shanggou Village, but many villagers in several nearby villages already knew of this matter.

Before, everyone still thought Wang Zhanggen was blowing hot air; now seeing Wang Zhanggen and Wang Erhai drive back, they realized that what Wang Zhanggen said before was probably all true.

This time the brothers returned without bringing anyone else.

After breaking up with Du Xiaojuan, Wang Dashan had remained single all along.

Wang Erhai and Zhang Xiaoyun had only recently established their relationship; Zhang Xiaoyun took the initiative to propose going home with him for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but was refused by Wang Erhai.

Wang Erhai felt that he and Zhang Xiaoyun were still in the stage of getting to know each other; bringing her home to meet his parents now would be rushing things.

With his elder brother's precedent as a warning, Wang Erhai had become extremely cautious in matters of the heart, not daring to rush for success.

He also had Wang Dashan help him keep it secret, not to tell their parents that he already had a girlfriend.

The Volkswagen pulled up to the door; Wang Zhanggen watched, and the sullen anger in his heart finally dissipated. He walked out cheerfully, circling the car several times.

As a rural old man, he didn't understand car brands and prices; as long as it looked like a brand-new four-wheeled small sedan, he felt it gave him tremendous face.

Even though this used Volkswagen was actually worth only seventy or eighty thousand yuan.

Li Xiulan, on the other hand, brought a rooster to worship the car, asking the immortals to bless her two sons with a smooth journey and peace and safety all the way.

Wang Zhanggen broke his usual habit of being a hands-off shopkeeper and actually took the initiative to offer to help set off firecrackers.

It was clear that his son buying a car made him truly proud, pleased, and proud.

But it would have been better if he hadn't helped; this one time he helped, a major incident occurred.