"Uncle San, have you eaten?" Zhao Dabao asked with a smile.
"I've eaten." Zhao Zheng looked indifferent. This kid had never been nice to him in the past. Why was he smiling so happily today? He definitely had no good intentions.
At this moment, Zhao Wei's voice came from inside, "Come on, why are you shouting? Third brother, come in."
Zhao Zheng stepped over the threshold and went inside, and saw Zhao Wei reclining in a rocking chair, with a woman in her twenties feeding him a bowl of rice porridge.
This was the wife that my predecessor had originally entrusted Zhao Wei to find for me. She was a widow with a daughter. She was average looking and not even half as pretty as Zheng Chunmei.
Ke Sheng was young, almost twenty years younger than Zhao Wei. Seeing Zhao Zheng, he smiled and said, "Third uncle is here, sit down, the old lady hasn't gotten up yet!"
Zhao Zheng looked down on this kind of stuff, but this was the woman he married with his previous life's money, so he must settle the score.
"Just tell me what you want to say. I'm in a hurry to go back and dig a cellar!" Zhao Zheng pulled a chair and sat down with a swagger. He didn't have any good feelings towards this cheap brother who was full of evil intentions and liked to act like a landlord.
"What cellar are you digging?" Zhao Wei narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I heard you recently found some persimmons and exchanged them for a lot of goodies at the market. You need to dig a cellar to store them."
"Say it or not, if you don't, I'm leaving."
"Third brother, are you still blaming me?" Zhao Wei sat up straight and immediately put on a helpless look. "Big brother hit you because you went too far. This is the woman I married, your sister-in-law. How could you disrespect her?"
"That was bought with the pension money my son received when he died in battle. In short, I bought her." Zhao Zheng didn't indulge him at all. "Of course, if you return my son's ten taels of pension money to me, then she'll be your woman. Otherwise, you're stealing your brother's woman. You're shameless!"
"From now on, I'll go around the world promoting this and see how others poke holes in your spine!"
Zhao Wei's face turned cold, "Don't talk nonsense, I got a lot of pension money, but it was used to support my mother.
Your two short-lived adopted sons have been in our Zhao family for so many years, eating and using Zhao family's money, and they left without even showing filial piety to the elders. What's wrong with accepting ten taels of silver?
That's filial piety. Even if you bring the matter to the village elders or to the government office, I'm always right!"
In Dakang, the word "filial piety" can crush many people.
Abandoning the elderly is something that is against the will of heaven.
Zhao Wei looked at Zhao Zheng with an ugly expression, feeling disdainful in his heart. This third child has had a dull mind since childhood, and he was trained like a dog by him. How dare he bark at him?
"I'm warning you, you'd better not go out and tell anyone, otherwise, I'll beat you up."
"It's only natural for the eldest brother to teach his younger brother a lesson. No one can stop him!"
"I called you here today to give you a way out. Don't be ungrateful!"
Zhao Wei spoke loudly and stared at Zhao Zheng.
In the past, my predecessor would have been frightened and bowed his head.
But at this moment, Zhao Zheng smiled coldly, "I don't recognize you as my big brother!"
"What did you say?"
Zhao Wei's face darkened. "Are you itching for trouble? I didn't wake you up a few days ago, and you're acting stupid again?"
As he said this, he stood up and began to search around.
His little wife also hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Boss, calm down and don't get violent. If this gets out, others will laugh at you."
"He dared to talk to me like that. If I don't beat him up, he'd think I'm the big brother for nothing." Zhao Wei said angrily.
Zhao Dabao also hurriedly said: "Uncle San, just admit your mistake to my father and this matter will be over."
"Admit it."
Zhao Zheng took out an axe from his clothes and hammered it into the ground. "If anyone dares to touch me today, I'll chop him to death!"
Zhao Dabao was startled and took a step back. "Uncle San, where did you get the axe?"
Zhao Wei was also stunned, with a flash of shock in his eyes, "Zhao Laosan, you dare to fight me?"
Mao Xiaofang was also shocked. "Uncle San, we are brothers, why are you using an axe? If it gets out, people will think that the Zhao brothers are not united."
Zhao Zheng crossed his legs and said, "Stop talking nonsense and call me and the whole family of the fourth brother over here. If we don't make this clear today, I'll chop whoever I catch!"
These bullies who only fear the strong and bully the weak, if they don't show their power, do they think they are sick cats?
"Third brother, you want to die, right?" This was the first time that Zhao Zheng resisted him, which shocked Zhao Wei and made him angry and embarrassed.
"My son is gone, and my pension is gone too. There's no point in living anymore." Zhao Zheng raised his axe. "I'm here today for one thing: money. Either give it to me, or I'll chop you to death!"
Zhao Wei looked at Zhao Zheng's red eyes and his heart was beating fast.
Mao Xiaofang was also frightened. She didn't expect that Zhao Laosan, who was timid and cowardly, would dare to speak to Zhao Wei like that.
"Evil son, is this how you talk to your elder brother?"
Just then, an old lady wearing a blue coat, with silver hair and full of energy came out.
However, even though she tried her best to maintain a cheerful spirit, her sallow complexion still betrayed her.
She was holding a boy of seven or eight years old in her hand. He was the son of Zhao Zheng's second sister who was married.
Because my second sister's in-laws were having a hard time, they left her son in the Zhao family to be raised. Over the years, my second sister never mentioned anything about the Zhao family's food and drinks.
"Mom, please take care of the third son! He's rebelling!" Zhao Wei hurried over to support the old lady. "He even pulled an axe on me and said he was going to chop me to death!"
The old lady sat down and said, "I'm right here. Let's see if he dares to touch you."
In the Zhao family, the old lady is the absolute authority.
Zhao Zheng was thinking about how to break the deadlock, how to get the money back and give Zhao Wei a good beating at the same time.
You must not be labeled as unfilial, otherwise you will be criticized by everyone.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.
"Mother, it's my eldest brother who's been too bullying. I just want an explanation." Zhao Zheng's eyes were red as he said, "My eldest brother is your daughter, and I'm your daughter too. Why don't you treat me equally?"
"I'm the eldest son, and I'm supposed to bring honor to our family. It's only natural for Mom to treat me well!" Zhao Wei said coldly, "Besides, Mom has always been fair. It's you who's ignorant and keeps making Mom angry."
The old lady agreed with her eldest son's words, but she had heard what Zhao Zheng had said just now and didn't want to show her partiality too obviously. "Third brother, you two are brothers. Breaking bones is like breaking tendons. Why don't you put away the axe quickly? Do you want to piss me off to death?"
"You can take the axe, but ask him to return the silver to me." Zhao Zheng said.
"I've already said that, that's the money for supporting my mother, and it's my future retirement money!" Zhao Wei said angrily.
"I can also support my mother."
Zhao Zheng stood up and said, "Mom, come with me. I promise to take good care of you!"