Rebirth Counterattack with Space

Chapter 73 -73 Dividing the Family (Part 2)

Chapter 73 -73 Dividing the Family (Part 2)

“I didn’t really want to say too much, considering all I wish for in my old age is a peaceful home. Everyone has their own fate. But now that things have escalated, and after all you’re my son, if I don’t give you some advice and you keep making trouble by listening to your mother, am I supposed to just watch as your family falls apart? Think about the village idiot at the west end.”

Xie Changgen actually looked down on his youngest son from the bottom of his heart—he was indecisive, brainless, stupidly filial, and couldn’t distinguish between outsiders and family. How could such a person be his son, Xie Changgen?

The village idiot at the west end didn’t originally go by that name, but what his real name was, no one remembered anymore. He was called the village idiot because he had partial parents who favored their youngest son to the extent that they had no regard for him, their most filial elder son.

In the end, he thought nothing of it and continued to treat his parents with respect, and he expected the same from his wife and children. Such a thing wouldn’t normally be considered unusual anywhere. When you stretch out your hand, not all fingers are the same length—parents being biased is something that happens everywhere.

But the tragedy of the village idiot lay in the fact that he was just too clueless.

Afterwards, when his parents were gone, they instructed the village idiot on their deathbed that he, being the eldest, should take good care of his younger brother—who by that time had already established his own family. The village idiot agreed. Truthfully, most normal people would respond in the same way under such circumstances. After all, these were the last words of their parents, right?

But nobody took it as seriously as the village idiot. From then on, he supported his younger brother and nephew’s family wholeheartedly, to the extent of neglecting his own.

His wife and son were dissatisfied, but the village idiot ignored them.

If it hadn’t been for what happened later, that might have been the end of it. After all, the wife of the village idiot had gotten used to it. Sometimes, people can endure things for a lifetime, and in the end, they console themselves by thinking that the person still has some good qualities and is not the worst out there.

Xie Changgen had seen plenty of such people. That’s why he initially disapproved of his second son’s wife, thinking she was that kind of person.

I digress.

The reason the village idiot’s nickname became widely known was because of an incident that happened later, which also led his wife and son to utterly despise him.

During those difficult years for the country, the area around Xie Village, which was near the mountains, was unsafe but vast. Even if people could only dig up wild vegetables, it was enough to survive. Nobody really starved to death.

The village idiot had a daughter, and when the children were little, the family—which depended solely on his wife—could barely make ends meet. With the added strain of the difficult period, life became even harder.

One year, his daughter was so hungry that she was on her last breath, and the village idiot—God knows where he went—finally managed to dig up a small basket of tiny sweet potatoes. As if blind to the dire state of his own daughter, he insisted on giving all the sweet potatoes to his younger brother’s family. Even as his wife and son knelt and begged him, he remained adamant that his nephew was starving and needed saving, refusing to leave even a single sweet potato behind.

That very night, the village idiot’s daughter took her last breath.

From then on, his wife and son never spoke to the village idiot again. They completely ignored everything about him, and even the occasional nagging that his wife used to express stopped abruptly.

With his wife behaving in this way, the village idiot was even happier to be free from any constraints.

When the time finally came that the village idiot could no longer work and lay sick in bed, his wife and son simply sent him off to his younger brother’s home and walked away without looking back.

His brother and nephew promptly sent him back. His wife and son then sent him away again, leaving words stating that the village idiot had never cared for his own family, instead giving everything to his brother’s family, even contributing the life of his daughter. Now that he was old, it was only right for his brother and nephew to take care of him.

It was like passing the buck, with neither family willing to take care of the village idiot.

In the end, the village stepped in to mediate, with each side claiming they were in the right and no one willing to give in and take care of the fool. The final solution was that both families chipped in to build him a thatched hut, allowing him to live alone. They would take turns delivering food and looking after him every day.

And so, the village idiot managed to survive another year. His death, they say, was particularly tragic; just skin and bones, he lay by the door, and it took days before his body was discovered, by which time it had started to decompose, with worms…

Even today, when people in the village talk about him, although there are those who sympathize, more often they mock him behind his back, still calling him the village idiot.

“Dad, no, it can’t be that serious?”

Xie Changgen felt as if he had been hit hard by his father tonight, the fog beginning to lift, yet he still hadn’t fully grasped the situation. These words stunned him into a chill, his pupils shrinking, as he recalled the cold look his wife gave him just before he left. That really did seem like a look of utter disillusionment. Thinking of what his wife had said and combining it with what his father had just told him, his hands and feet suddenly went cold.

His wife couldn’t possibly be that callous toward him, could she?

Xie Changgen couldn’t help but ponder.

But involuntarily, he found himself strangely convinced by his father’s words. His father didn’t seem to be simply trying to scare him; the example of the village idiot was there as a stark reality. It was true his mother favored his elder brother, but could she really mean him harm?

His eyes immediately sought his mother. Xie Changgen’s mother didn’t dare to meet his gaze and averted her eyes, muttering, “I was only thinking of this family.”

Xie Changgen’s younger uncle sneered, “You might as well say it’s for your eldest son and grandson. Don’t think I don’t know that aside from them, you can’t see anyone else.”

Xie Changgen shuddered violently, his face turning pale. It was true that his mother had always favored his brother since they were children, giving him the first pick of any good food while he often only got to watch.

It was because of his mother’s favoritism that he couldn’t help but be more obedient, feeling she might pay him more attention because of it. Over time, it had turned into a habit where whatever his mother said, he naturally listened and believed.

Upon reflecting more carefully, Xie Changgen re-evaluated every task his mother sent him to do, every word she spoke, and he felt increasingly as if he had fallen into an ice pit…

Tian Xiaoju, wiping her tears, didn’t notice her younger son’s unusual behavior.

Xie Changgen’s younger uncle did notice, and he became even more affable toward Xie Changgen. He had considered that his younger daughter-in-law was far more reliable than his elder daughter-in-law. She was the tender-hearted sort who, if treated kindly, would give you her all. He figured that, in the future, he would still need to rely on his younger son’s family.

“Do you think I treated your mother harshly in the past for no reason? She was simply a troublemaker, causing a ruckus if not disciplined. I was willing, for the sake of your pending marriages and in consideration of her old age, to leave her with some dignity. But she could only settle down for a few years before starting up again. In the future, you should be smarter and not believe everything she says, don’t be manipulated by her anymore,” he said.

Having made his point, and regardless of whether his younger son was heeding his words, Xie Changgen’s younger uncle felt he had done his utmost. In truth, speaking this much today was already at his limit. If his son couldn’t take it to heart, there was nothing more he could do.

He would have to continue drilling the point later. From now on, he planned to focus all his energy on his grandson, which meant he couldn’t allow this young couple to split up.

Feeling he had fulfilled his duty, Xie Changgen’s younger uncle thus directly stated his intention, “With things having reached this point, it’s difficult for everyone to live together peacefully, so let’s just split the family. After the separation, let the two brothers live their separate lives; it’s better than driving them to the point of becoming enemies and then trying to end things.”