At the same time, in the Liu Family's old house.
Old Liu carried a bowl of bitter tea water with a few floating tea leaves, sat on the doorstep, and gazed toward the east end of the village.
After a short while, two figures, one big and one small, ran over from that direction.
"Grandpa, all the straw from our fields has been stolen!" The boy hadn't reached close yet and was already shouting loudly, full of anger.
Old Liu squinted his eyes bitterly from the tea, suddenly widened them, "Stolen? Which unethical person stole it?"
"It was all taken by Da Lang and Second Lang from Liu Laosan's family; someone saw them moving it back and forth several times!" Liu Fei answered furiously.
Old Liu squinted his eyes again, oh, then it's fine.
The uncle and nephew stopped, panting at the door, looking up at Old Liu drinking bitter tea with an air of indifference.
Eight-year-old Liu Jinbao urged, "Grandpa, you promised me a new bed for this year."
Liu Fei also said: "Dad, do you know what they said? They said what's yours is their father's, and what's their father's is theirs, taking their own stuff is only right, it's infuriating. I'll go get our straw back, you're my dad too, it's only right for me to take my dad's things, isn't it!"
"Right, bring it back! I want a new bed too; the old straw is damp and almost gnawed away by mice." Liu Jinbao echoed.
The uncle and nephew rolled up their sleeves, ready to head into the village.
Old Liu hurriedly swallowed the mouthful of bitter tea and shouted, "You two, stop right there!"
The uncle and nephew didn't stop walking until Old Liu got angry and shouted again; only then did they turn around looking frustrated and aggrieved.
"Your mother's made dinner, come home to eat first." Old Liu gestured for them to return, got up, and headed back into the courtyard, seemingly not planning to pursue the matter.
"Dad!" Liu Fei couldn't hold back any longer and asked: "Did you leave it in the fields on purpose for them to steal?"
Initially, he only suspected it. All the family's rice was usually harvested and brought home to dry, fearing it would be stolen by those in the village with sticky fingers.
But Dad insisted on leaving an acre, saying they were busy with the wheat first and would collect it later without worry.
Now, it seems it was really left deliberately for Liu Laosan's family to take!
Looking at the old man who did not refute, he felt conflicted inside.
A surge of anger rose within Liu Fei, feeling both wronged and angry, he stomped a few steps to catch up behind Old Liu and lashed out!
"We don't have enough straw for our beds at home; the straw under Jinbao's bed is all gnawed away by mice. With winter approaching so soon, how can anyone sleep on those beds? If you don't feel bad, fine, but Jinbao is our eldest grandson, how can you, as a grandfather, not care about him a bit?"
Liu Fei's words came out fast like pellets, and without faltering, he could speak in such a torrent all at once that left you no chance to interject.
Old Liu endured, but couldn't hold it back anymore.
He suddenly turned around, raised the bitter tea bowl in his hand, ready to throw it at Liu Fei, "You brat, is this how you talk to your father? It's my land, I'll do as I please, are you needed to yap about it?!"
Liu Fei, fearless, puffed out his chest and questioned: "Dad, why are you so biased? What's so good about Liu Laosan?"
Old Liu's eyes instantly bulged, "What's good about him? There's nothing good about him; I wish I never had this bad son!"
Then he added: "And you, Liu Fei, you wretched, if you dare talk back to me once more, I'll beat you to death for being an unfilial child who defies his elders!"
With that, he raised the tea bowl intending to deal with Liu Fei, luckily the family members came over to separate them, and Liu Fei narrowly escaped a calamity.
Old Liu, angrily sat in the main room, while his wife Mrs. Zhang gestured to their youngest son to head inside quickly, avoiding defying his father, as she soothed Old Liu's back, sighed:
"I know your heart aches for the third, but this Liu Laosan, why did he have to provoke Lin Erbao of all people."
"Though thankfully it's Lin Erbao; never heard of them failing to pay debts resulting in deaths, usually just sent away to farms, or mines to work off debts. That scoundrel Liu Laosan has been like this for years, perhaps it's about time he suffers and changes his ways?"
Were it any other stepmother, she wouldn't dare say such words, afraid that the old man might think she's heartless, wanting to harm the children in the family.
But Mrs. Zhang has been in the Liu Family for sixteen years; aside from eldest Liu Bai, who was old enough to be independent on arrival, the remaining Liu Zhong and Liu Ji were all brought up by her single-handedly. The affection of raising them made her closer than biological ties.
If she truly didn't wish well for Liu Ji, she wouldn't have steeled her heart to let him learn a lesson.
The matter of the straw in the fields, Mrs. Zhang had long suspected, just playing dumb.
This cold weather about to descend, the third's family only had a newly arrived, clueless bride. If they weren't left with some straw, how could they endure this winter?
However, Mrs. Zhang was also very angry; Da Lang and Second Lang were taught by Liu Ji's father in such an unlikable way, not knowing how to greet people or even say thank you after receiving things.
For just this straw from the fields, before taking it, the two brothers didn't even think to inform their grandpa, always engaging in sneaky acts.
As if their grandpa could bear seeing them freeze to death?
Additionally, Qin Yao as the mother, even if the children are clueless, how can she, as an adult, be so unaware; it's been two days since Liu Laosan's incident, yet she hasn't visited even once.
"Could she be thinking, Liu Laosan dying elsewhere and never returning?" Mrs. Zhang accidentally voiced her inner thoughts.
Old Liu was taken aback, slowly looking towards his wife, "That can't be, right?"
Mrs. Zhang suddenly felt a chill down her spine, recalling the day she first met Qin Yao, appearing delicate, with timid eyes, seemingly not like one with such a hardened heart.
But then... she came from fleeing, a girl managing to walk from the Northwest to their Central Plains isn't something an ordinary woman could accomplish.
Having witnessed too many dangers, what if her heart became hardened?
It's over!
Old Liu and Mrs. Zhang exchanged a glance, a foreboding feeling settling.
The two daughters-in-law prepared the meal, inviting the grandparents over for dinner. These days, busy planting winter wheat consumed the men's energy, so the daughters-in-law purposely made the meal a bit more sumptuous.
Typically, it's porridge with bran buns, but today, on top of that, there was also a big bowl of egg and gourd soup.
Liu Bai's son Jinbao and Liu Zhong's five-year-old daughter Jinhua, holding their half bowl of egg soup, drank it with great relish, savoring the fragrance.
The rest of the family was also very happy, the toil temporarily forgotten.
Only Old Liu and Mrs. Zhang, gazing at the aromatic egg soup, were not at all hungry, instead, their minds filled with thoughts of Qin Yao, the new bride of the third's family, pondering what she might be doing at this moment.
The more one thought about it, the more they feared, Mrs. Zhang put down her bowl, instructing her grandson who had finished his egg soup, "Jinbao, go to your third aunt's house and see what they are up to, then come back and tell me."
Liu Jinbao responded with an 'oh', before leaving he recalled the matter of the straw, again looking at Liu Fei, "Uncle, are we still going to ask third uncle for the straw?"
Liu Fei, scooped another half bowl of egg soup, ate it with bran buns, each spoonful of soup, a bite of bun, chewed as though they were enemies, and didn't pay him any mind.
Left with no choice, Liu Jinbao could only run alone into the innermost part of the village.