Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Confrontation at the Door

None of the three adults expected this turn of events, and all of them were furious.

It had to be Liu Guifang who taught them those words—how could a child know terms like “bastard” or “jinx” on their own?

Looks like the beating this morning was too light.

“Dabao, from now on, if anything happens to you outside, remember to come home and tell us right away. Don’t be afraid—I trust you wouldn’t do anything wrong.

And about what happened today, we really should thank your friend Erdan properly. Once the soap is ready, I’ll go with you to deliver it to him myself.”

Gu Qinghuan forced herself to calm down and speak gently, so as not to scare the children any further.

Dabao had always been used to bearing everything on his own. In the past, whenever he and his sister suffered any grievances outside, he would just grit his teeth and swallow it. No one would stand up for them, and no one would believe they hadn’t done anything wrong.

That’s why his first instinct was to tell his sister not to mention anything to the family, afraid they’d be disliked or blamed.

If it hadn’t been for Erdan being brought up, he wouldn’t have planned to tell the truth at all.

Gu Qinghuan’s words were like a gentle spring, soothing and calm. Dabao and Beibei had imagined many things, but never that they’d receive such care and affirmation from her.

Aren’t most adults afraid their kids will cause trouble outside?

Watching this scene, Xu Huaian was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. If only he’d had a mother like Gu Qinghuan when he was young—how happy he would have been.

Unconditional trust, steadfast support, gentle encouragement—the children were truly blessed.

—

Meanwhile, back at the Xu family, as soon as they got home, they put Lin Xiaomeng through a “three-court interrogation,” forcing her to explain the matter of the wild ginseng.

But Lin Xiaomeng was as stubborn as ever. With no evidence against her, she flatly denied everything, even turning the tables on Gu Qinghuan and accusing her of sowing discord.

The two elders were half-convinced, half-doubtful, and could only let the matter drop for now.

Liu Guifang, beaten black and blue and covered in bruises, was lucky not to have any serious injuries. Xu Mingshan couldn’t bear to take her all the way to the county hospital, so he just found a barefoot doctor to prescribe some medicine.

While resting at home, she secretly snuck into Lin Xiaomeng’s room to search for clues, but found nothing suspicious—Lin Xiaomeng had hidden everything in her space.

Frustrated, she took the opportunity to fill Dacheng’s head with bad ideas, telling him that Dabao and Beibei were bad kids, and that he should bully them whenever he saw them to help grandma get justice.

That’s why, that afternoon, Dacheng ganged up with a few friends to pick on Dabao and Beibei.

But in the end, he was the one who got beaten up by Dabao.

Dabao was no ordinary child—he’d suffered enough in life to be as fierce as a wolf cub when he needed to be. He never held back in a fight, because being soft-hearted only led to more suffering. That was the lesson hardship had taught him.

Dacheng went home crying and told Liu Guifang everything.

Liu Guifang immediately gave him advice, telling him he had to get revenge.

The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the factory had given everyone the day off. Xu Huaizhi came home just before dark, and Lin Xiaomeng arrived around the same time after her shift.

All the recent work had left her exhausted and frustrated. She was already thinking about finding herself an easier job as soon as possible.

Even better would be to force the two old folks to split the family up, so she could live on her own. That way, she could finally use all the good stuff she had hidden in her space.

Liu Guifang was stingy to the core. Even though there was food at home, it was always coarse black bread for one meal and corn cakes for the next. Lin Xiaomeng was sick of it.

As soon as she got home, she saw her son Dacheng’s face swollen and red, crying as he said, “Dad, I was playing by the river with Shitou and the others this afternoon, and Dabao and Erdan bullied me. They pinned me to the ground and beat me up, and almost threw me in the river. My whole body hurts!”

Fresh and old grudges combined—Lin Xiaomeng exploded on the spot.

Those damned brats—how dare they bully her son!

Xu Huaizhi had his doubts. After all, he’d lived with Dabao for years and knew how sensible the boy was. He didn’t seem the type to hurt others on purpose.

But hearing his son cry so miserably, and seeing the bruises with his own eyes, he couldn’t help but believe him. A child this young wouldn’t beat himself up just to frame someone else.

Xu Huaizhi felt a surge of anger. Seeing Lin Xiaomeng storming out with their son to confront the others, he hurried after them.

Meanwhile, Gu Qinghuan’s family was having dinner. They’d all worked together today—not only making soap, but also planting vegetables in the field.

So that night, Gu Qinghuan made a special meal: white rice, pork and chili sauce that Zhong Zijun had made earlier, tomato and scrambled eggs, stir-fried long beans with eggplant, and vegetable soup. The food was delicious and fragrant.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door. Worried that trouble was coming, Gu Qinghuan quickly told Zhong Zijun to hide with the children and not show themselves.

Xu Huaian opened the door to see his older brother and sister-in-law, along with their son, standing there with dark, thunderous faces.

On the way over, Lin Xiaomeng had exaggerated the story of Xu Huaian beating Liu Guifang that morning, making Xu Huaizhi even more angry and disappointed.

He was happy his younger brother had recovered, but couldn’t understand how he’d changed so much—he didn’t even acknowledge his own parents anymore.

“Big brother, you’re back? What brings you here?” Xu Huaian still respected his older brother.

Back when he was seriously ill and their parents ignored him, his big brother was the only one who’d pretend to care when he came home.

Every time Xu Huaizhi visited, he’d help him change clothes, wash up, feed him, and talk to him. Xu Huaian remembered his kindness.

“What big brother? Don’t try to get close to us. You don’t even want your own parents anymore—what kind of family are we to you? Hand over those two brats of yours! Just look at what they did to my Dacheng!” Lin Xiaomeng shouted angrily.

Xu Huaizhi also frowned in disapproval. “Huaian, I’m glad you’re better, but I never thought you’d turn out like this. I’m really disappointed in you.”

Xu Huaian was stunned. What had he done?

Inside, Gu Qinghuan heard every shameless word from the couple.

Dabao and Beibei looked at her in terror. Their uncle and aunt had come to confront them—would their mother be angry at them?

Gu Qinghuan stroked their heads to comfort them. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone wrongly accuse you.”

With that, she strode out. “Who’s out here spouting nonsense?!”"

"Chapter 58: Proving Innocence—Kindness with an Edge