He remembered very clearly that Zhang Zixuan's expression back then was identical to what it was now.
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go inside!"
Seeing Zhang Zirong standing motionless, Old Lady Liu immediately scolded him again.
Hearing this, Zhang Zirong snapped back to reality.
Right! He was just a cripple now. With his own large build, how could he not handle a cripple?
Thinking this, he quickly picked up the iron pot again.
"Mom, look, this iron pot is so heavy; it must cost at least several taels of silver. Even if she really sold a recipe, how could she be so extravagant as to buy such a heavy iron pot? Who would believe she didn't embezzle private savings..."
As he said this, Zhang Zirong deliberately addressed the villagers at the door, intending for them all to hear.
Sure enough, after hearing Zhang Zirong's words, the villagers' murmurs grew louder.
It had even reached the point of being brazen and unrestrained.
When the third branch's people entered, what they saw was a scene where their Mom and brothers seemed to be robbing the place.
Zhang Zifu didn't hesitate; he quickly walked in, blocking the others, and said: "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, you can't do this. Mom knows, the fourth branch definitely didn't embezzle private savings."
"Third Brother, what do you mean by that? Are you clearly saying our Mom is being unreasonable?" Zhang Zirong said, craning his neck aggressively.
After saying this, he gave Zhang Zifu a hard shove.
Fortunately, Zhang Zifu was prepared; otherwise, he really would have been pushed over.
"Mom, you can't do this! You know Fourth Brother. Every time he came back from escort missions, how much silver he earned—you used to go and ask back then. You must know whether they embezzled private savings or not. Didn't you go ask the escort agency manager every time? How could you not know how much silver Fourth Brother earned per trip?"
Seeing he couldn't persuade Eldest Brother Zhang Zirong, Zhang Zifu turned to speak to Old Lady Liu.
Others might not know, but Zhang Zifu knew very well.
Back when Zhang Zixuan was still running escorts, every time he came home and handed the silver to their Mom, she would repeatedly confirm whether Fourth Brother had possibly pocketed any silver.
After hearing the Fourth Brother say no, she wouldn't just believe him; she would always go to the escort agency to confirm again.
Only after hearing the agency owner's words would she truly believe it.
But now, their Mom was pulling this stunt; it was clearly just to seize all the things Fourth Brother had bought.
Thinking of the rice ball Fourth Brother gave them that day, and considering the things his wife had been discussing with him recently, Zhang Zifu ultimately couldn't hold back and rushed over.
He hoped he hadn't arrived too late.
"Third Brother, what are you saying?" Zhang Zixuan, sitting in his wheelchair, asked incredulously.
He had escorted him for so many years but never knew his Mom had pulled this trick on him.
Hearing her third son's words, Old Lady Liu felt somewhat guilty.
But she quickly recovered; as long as she flatly denied it, what could they do to her?
Thinking this, she said to Zhang Zifu: "Third Son, don't think that just because you have some friendship with this cripple you can talk nonsense here. Don't forget whose son you are. Or do you want to end up like this family, kicked out?"
"Shut up!" As soon as Old Lady Liu finished speaking, Old Zhang beside her spoke up and scolded her.
The separation of the fourth branch was unavoidable.
It was all caused by Xu Xiu having trouble.
Besides, the fourth son wasn't his biological child, and his legs were like that. Separating was naturally more beneficial than harmful for the main house.
But Third Son was different. Not only was Zhang Zifu his own flesh and blood.
But also, with how diligent and clever he and his wife were, the third branch absolutely could not be separated out.
Hearing Old Zhang's words, Old Lady Liu immediately realized she had said the wrong thing.
Old Lady Liu wasn't a fool; she naturally understood what Old Zhang was thinking.
"So, whether I, Zhang Zixuan, embezzled private savings, you knew perfectly well all along, right? And now you're pulling this stunt—you're clearly just trying to rob, aren't you? If that's the case, then fine. Tomorrow I will report this to the authorities."
Zhang Zixuan said through gritted teeth to Old Lady Liu and Old Zhang.
If he weren't stuck in this inconvenient wheelchair now, he really wouldn't mind laying hands on her.
"Fourth Son, how are you speaking to your Mom?" Old Zhang couldn't help but speak up.
"Is she my Mom? What kind of Mom treats her own son so cruelly? And whether she is my Mom or not, I think you know perfectly well in your heart."
"You... Fourth Son, what do you mean by that?" Old Zhang asked guiltily.
That Zhang Zixuan wasn't his biological son was something only he and his wife knew.
To outsiders, they had never spoken of it.
But when they had brought Zhang Zixuan back, he had many valuable things in him.
If he found out, who knew how he would settle accounts with them?
Besides, the main house has managed to save so much silver over the years thanks to Zhang Zixuan.
After this calculation, Old Zhang really felt a bit guilty.
However, while Old Zhang felt guilty, it didn't mean Old Lady Liu did either.
"If I weren't your Mom, would I have raised you? You ungrateful wretch! Now that you're grown, your wings have hardened, and you want to lay hands on us two, is that it?"
Lin Zhi, who had just entered, restrained herself but ultimately couldn't hold back. She immediately said to Old Lady Liu:
"Auntie, what you're saying isn't right. How Zhang Zixuan has gotten through these years is something we've all witnessed. And these past few days, we've been here helping clean up. We all know where Xu Xiu's silver came from. You keep saying Xu Xiu embezzled private savings, but do you have any proof? If not, you're just taking things from their home like this is unreasonable!"
Hearing this, Lin Xia also spoke up: "Exactly! Besides, Zifu said it himself: every time Brother Zixuan came back from escorting, you personally went to the agency to ask again. So whether he embezzled or not, aren't you very clear? Now you pull this stunt today—what difference is there from outright robbery?"
Lin Xia spoke bluntly, not as tactful as Lin Zhi, but her words hit the nail on the head.
Sure enough, the villagers at the door, hearing her words, immediately sided with Zhang Zixuan again.
"This Old Lady Liu was never any good to begin with. Not to mention, this is exactly the kind of thing she would do."
"In previous years it was somewhat better, but these past two years since Zixuan couldn't move, how harsh Old Lady Liu has been towards Xu Xiu and them—I've seen it with my own eyes. A family of five only got one steamed bun for the whole day, and that bun was spoiled! Tell me, isn't that pitiful?"
One villager spoke indignantly.
"Was there such a thing?"
"Exactly! That day, I saw how pitiful the Mom and children were. I couldn't bear it and ended up giving them half a bun."
"You say that, and I remember too. I often seemed to see Xu Xiu carrying a basket on her back late at night to gather pigweed at the foot of the mountain."
"Right! So when Brother Zixuan just now mentioned biological or not, it really might not be certain?"
"..."
Listening to the various opinions flying around, Old Zhang grew increasingly guilty.
Old Lady Liu did too. She spewed a torrent of abuse towards the villagers at the door.
"Whether he's my biological son or not, wouldn't I know? Why are you gossiping here? Scram, scram, all of you, get out of here..."
With that, she casually picked up a stick and walked towards the villagers at the door.
Seeing this, the villagers naturally began to disperse.
"What are you all still standing there for? Hurry up and carry those things away! What are you dawdling for?" Old Zhang said to his eldest and second sons.
Meanwhile, Fang Miaojuan and Chen Sixi had already started rummaging through the pots, pans, bowls, and dishes.
"All of you, stop! Are those things for you to touch?" Zhang Zhiyong hurried forward to stop them.
But they were, after all, two women; he naturally didn't dare to lay hands on them.
"Mom, there's at least fifty catties of rice in here!" Zhang Zirong's loud voice came from inside, calling to Old Lady Liu outside.
"What are you waiting for then? Aren't those all ours? Carry them out!"
"Right away!"
"Mom, there's fine flour here too! Must be over ten catties!" Zhang Zihua's excited voice also came from inside the house.
"Oh! There are several sets of new clothes here too."
"..."
Outside, Zhang Zixuan just watched the few people inside acting like bandits.
Looking closely, one could see the veins bulging on his forehead.
Clearly, Zhang Zixuan was barely containing himself at that moment.
"Mom, what about these pots, pans, bowls, and dishes? Should we take them too? There are two steamed buns in this pot!"
"Not just that! There's a meat dish here too! Look at the life they're living..."
"You can't take our family's things! My Mom made those herself! You can't take them!"
"Can't take them..."
Liu-Tou and Qi-Tou stood in front of Fang Miaojuan and Chen Sixi, protesting.
But how could the two women take the words of two little brats seriously?
They shoved the two children aside and proceeded to take and carry away everything they could.
Hearing her two daughters-in-law's words, Old Lady Liu answered without hesitation:
"Of course, take them! Those were originally things from our main house! And that firewood chopper—take it all! Don't leave anything for them."
The utterly entitled expression on her face as she said this made the villagers at the door shake their heads in disapproval.
If they had initially thought Zhang Zixuan was being excessive, now, seeing Old Lady Liu's true face, they suddenly understood Zhang Zixuan a bit better.
"Aunt Liu, how are Zixuan and his family supposed to live if you do this? He has three children!"
"Three children aside, the key is that Zixuan is in this state. The whole family relies on Xu Xiu."
"Exactly. Look, Xu Xiu still isn't back, and the sky is already darkening."
"What can be done? It's all forced upon them. If possible, who wouldn't want to live an easy life at home?"
"..."
When Xu Xiu returned, what she saw was a large crowd of villagers gathered at her doorstep.
From a distance, Xu Xiu could see the villagers pointing and murmuring towards her courtyard.
Seeing this, Xu Xiu immediately became anxious, and her footsteps instinctively quickened.
Inside the courtyard at this moment.
Zhang Zixuan's wheelchair was blocking the courtyard entrance. The wooden stick in his hand pointed at the group as he said expressionlessly:
"I said, if you want to leave, you must put down the things in your hands."
"I really won't put them down!" Old Lady Liu said, straightening her back.
With that, she carried dozens of catties of rice in one hand and the iron pot Zhang Zirong had brought over in the other, swaggering towards the doorway.
Seeing this, Zhang Zixuan didn't hesitate; he raised the stick in his hand and swung it down at Old Lady Liu.
"Ouch..." Old Lady Liu immediately bent over in pain.
It wasn't that she couldn't fight Zhang Zixuan; it was that she hadn't expected Zhang Zixuan to actually dare strike her.
How could she tolerate this?
He was just a cripple, yet he dared treat her like this?
Thinking this, Old Lady Liu didn't hesitate; she kicked his wheelchair.
This kick directly sent Zhang Zixuan tumbling to the ground from the wheelchair.
Zhang Zhiyong saw this and hurried forward. He helped Zhang Zixuan up and settled him back into the wheelchair.
Then he positioned himself in front of Zhang Zixuan, facing Old Lady Liu, and said:
"How are you any different from bandits? If you don't put the things in your hands today, I... I'll... I'll..."
As he said this, Zhang Zhiyong looked around, trying to find something to threaten her with.
Unexpectedly, Old Lady Liu seemed to see through his thoughts and said arrogantly:
"You'll say what? You wouldn't be thinking of calling the village chief, would you? Fine! I'd like to see how the village chief decides on this matter! Never mind that this is a family affair; even if it weren't, I'm taking things from my own son—perfectly justified! What can the village chief do? Can the village chief act lawlessly?"
"You..." Zhang Zhiyong pointed at Old Lady Liu but couldn't utter a single word.
Seeing this, Old Lady Liu became even more pleased with herself.
She had naturally also noticed that Xu Xiu, that wench, wasn't home; otherwise, getting these things today might not have been so smooth.
Thinking of her fierceness a few days ago still sent chills down her spine.
Besides, the sky was already darkening; she guessed that the wench should be back soon.
She naturally wanted to get the things back as quickly as possible.
Thinking this, Old Lady Liu said to her sons and daughters-in-law behind her: "What are you still standing around here for? Hurry up and go!"
"Okay, okay, Mom. We're going back now, going back now."
"No one leaves! No one is allowed to leave!" Zhang Zixuan, who had just been seated back in the wheelchair, spoke up again.
As he spoke, his hands kept trying to maneuver the wheels of the wheelchair.
However, perhaps because Old Lady Liu had kicked it earlier, the wheelchair stubbornly refused to move.
Seeing this, Old Lady Liu laughed out loud.
"You damned cripple! Like this, and you still want to fight me? Say one more word, and believe me, I, your Mom, will beat you to death!"
"Are you my Mom? Are you worthy?" Zhang Zixuan said through clenched teeth.
At that moment, he hated his own useless legs more than ever.