GBP Chapter 367 Complaint
Chapter 367 Complaint
Osmanthus Village.
"That eldest son and his wife are such ingrates!"
Lin Qingchuan, who was busy all day long, was completely unaware that his father, who was far away in the countryside, was complaining about him behind his back.
In recent years, the family of five has had almost no contact with the people from the old house.
Mr. Shen slammed his cane on the ground. In recent years, he had seen his eldest son less and less each year. At first, he could still see his eldest son returning to the village to buy medicinal herbs, but gradually his son made money and started hiring workers and sending his trusted confidants back to buy them. Even if he wanted to come and make some money, he couldn't.
He did want to go to his son's current residence to try and get some benefits, but the mouths of the men and workers who came back to buy medicinal herbs were all sealed shut, and none of them were willing to reveal their whereabouts.
Moreover, as a mere scholar and father, it would be beneath his dignity to inquire about the whereabouts of his eldest son and his family. He would be seen as someone trying to curry favor with his son who had risen to prominence. Where would he put his face then?
So, for the past few years, he has forced himself not to contact the boss.
When the family divided their property, the eldest son and his wife didn't get much, just a few taels of silver. They built a brick house and had nothing left. But the eldest son and his wife seemed to have found a treasure trove. They made money no matter what they did and had everything go smoothly. It was as if they were protected by the God of Wealth, which made people envious.
Back then, no one expected that the eldest son and his wife would be successful and make a fortune in business.
It was I who drove him away in the first place.
In a short period of time, the eldest son and his wife have started living a good life.
He started by supplying pig trotters to restaurants, then opened his own restaurant, and now he's transformed from a poor boy struggling to make a living on the land into a big landowner who even hires people to do his work.
On the contrary, the Shen family, a large and strong family, is becoming increasingly poor.
"Sigh, that ingrate is really heartless..."
The more Mr. Shen recalled, the more resentful he became, and his face turned ashen.
To put it bluntly, he was simply dissatisfied that his eldest brother was living a good life but didn't know how to show him filial piety.
On the threshold of the main room, Mr. Shen's quiet mutterings reached the ears of the others inside.
Everyone had different thoughts, and the expressions on their faces changed rapidly.
Sun, who was mending clothes, heard it all clearly; she caught the old man's complaints.
His sharp mind started working quickly, and his bloodshot eyes darted around rapidly.
"Sigh, when will this ever end?"
Already feeling annoyed, Old Man Shen's face darkened even more.
"Ugh……"
Ignoring the old man's expression, Mrs. Sun sighed again.
Old Man Shen, his face grim, was about to speak when Madam Sun suddenly changed the subject.
"If the eldest brother hadn't refused to help us back then, our family wouldn't be owing the restaurant several hundred taels of silver."
Old Man Shen was speechless.
Back then, Sun was so provoked that she seemed to lose her mind and learned to make braised pig's trotters. She supplied pig's trotters to the restaurant that supplied her eldest son, and even went so far as to claim that she used the same recipe as her eldest son's braised pig's trotters.
Unexpectedly, using the same method and similar cooking techniques, the pig's trotters produced tasted completely different.
He invested a lot of money to cook pig's trotters. A restaurant across the street ordered his pig's trotters, but instead of making a fortune, it ruined the reputation of Juxian Restaurant.
Enraged, Manager Zhang of Juxian Restaurant not only broke off cooperation with them, but also demanded several hundred taels of compensation.
The family, which was already struggling to make ends meet, is now even more destitute.
There was a pile of leftover pig's trotters at home, which the whole family eventually forced themselves to finish.
Now, the whole family looks disgusted at the mere thought of pig's trotters.
Thinking back to those shameful days, the family hated Qingchuan to the core.
"Why is my life so hard? I used to work so hard for this family, and I even wore myself out."
While rubbing her eyes, Mrs. Sun complained to herself.
Old Man Shen turned his head to look at Madam Sun, his face contorted with embarrassment.
In the past, he would have definitely shouted and cursed.
Unfortunately, he was also involved in the idea of selling braised pig's trotters proposed by Mrs. Sun.
Even though he was angry, he couldn't raise his voice. His eyes were filled with resentment, and his voice was irritated. "That's enough. Go and mend your clothes properly."
With a pained expression, Mrs. Sun held the needle and thread, gritting her teeth as she forcefully poked at the clothes in her hands.
The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. He glanced at his sons beside him and quickly gave them a meaningful look.
The others immediately noticed the gaze and nodded to each other.
The second, third, and youngest brothers all said in unison, "Father, Mother wasn't talking nonsense. Our eldest brother is doing very well these days, and as his brothers, we're naturally happy for him, but..."
Saying something is one thing, but what you really think is quite another.
Old Man Shen looked over, and his gaze changed.
To be honest, it's impossible not to envy the good life that Qingchuan's family is living now.
Who wants to live a hard life? Who doesn't want to eat well, drink well, and live in a big house? But he doesn't have that ability.
But it was absolutely impossible for him to swallow his pride and beg his own son. He cared about his reputation; he couldn't lose face as a scholar.
But once his three sons brought up the idea of living a good life, he found it hard to suppress it anymore.
The father remained silent, which made Sun and the others a little nervous. She then looked at her three sons.
They didn't say a word, but their expressions made it clear that they wanted them to continue talking.
“Father, we brothers are incompetent, causing you to suffer with us at such an old age. We deserve to die.”
The three men tried a different approach to persuade him, and sure enough, Old Man Shen reacted differently.
The youngest son laughed and cried at the same time, pressing his chest and saying, "Dad, you've gotten thinner these past few years with us. As your son, I feel indignant on your behalf. Although we were wrong back then, we're family, and you're his father. My eldest brother has neglected you all these years; he's really heartless."
At this point, the second and third brothers chimed in, their words filled with sympathy and indignation for Old Man Shen.
Old Man Shen, who seemed clever but was actually extremely foolish, was successfully lured into the trap.
His breathing grew heavier, his chest felt suffocated, and he pressed one hand down, his reddened eyes fixed on one spot: "You're right, I'm his father. No matter what's wrong, he should still be filial to me."
With these words, the mother and her two children, who had been planning all this, finally felt relieved.
Old Man Shen could no longer contain his emotions and turned to leave.
He didn't get home until dark, his face showing a complicated expression.
"Tomorrow I'll send someone to find that ingrate and demand his money back. He'll have to pay back all the retirement money he's owed over the past few years."
After going out, Old Man Shen had already found out some news about Qingchuan.
The group of people sat down together and discussed it, deciding to go find someone tomorrow.
The next morning, with a pained expression, Old Man Shen took out twenty copper coins from a cloth bag wrapped in several layers and handed them to his cousin, who then had someone find an oxcart.
"Are you really going to find Qingchuan?"
My cousin took the coin, weighed it in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke his mind.
"Of course we should go. He's had a good life, and as the eldest brother, he should help everyone."
Old Man Shen was so angry that he wouldn't listen to his cousin's advice and eventually kicked him out.
"Father, where are we going?"
"Dushui County, Qianzhen Tower!"
Old Man Shen gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words, his expression full of determination.