Xu Ke talked with the boss for a long ti before they parted ways. Early the next morning, while it was still dim outside, the sound of commotion erupted in the inn, stirring Xu Ke from his sleep.
As Xu Ke followed the noise downstairs, he found a scene unfolding below.
"I don’t care, your brother is of marrying age now. The bride’s family is asking for a dowry, a house, and a car. Where is your brother going to get the money for these things? You’re doing well now, so why not help out? After all, that amount of money isn’t much for you," said a middle-aged woman, seemingly in her fifties, as she slapped her own thigh.
Beside the woman was a young man dressed in trendy clothing. If nothing unexpected had happened, this person was likely the boss’s younger brother.
"Mom, my brother is already an adult. He’s graduated from college and is a grown man. He should be responsible for his own future. Why should I be responsible? I am his brother, not his father. If he wants to buy a house, a car, pay a dowry and get married, that’s his business. What does it have to do with ?" the boss said.
"What do you an by that?" The boss’s mother grew anxious upon hearing this. She slamd her palm on the counter, and the huge sound, accompanied by a huge pain, made her face twitch.
"You’re doing well as an older brother, what’s wrong with helping your brother? You two are blood brothers, after all. Besides, the eldest brother is like the father; aren’t you just like his dad?" The woman argued unreasonably.
The boss was stumped by his mother’s words, not knowing what to say.
"Anyway, I’m putting it out there today: you will have to give the money today, whether you want to or not. I won’t leave without the money. You aren’t getting married, not allowing your brother to get married either—what’s your agenda? What, do you want our family line to end?" The woman pretended to slap the counter again but recalled the pain and retracted her hand halfway.
"Mom, my brother isn’t young anymore. You can’t keep pampering him like this. You ask for money now, I give you, but what about later? I can’t support him for a lifeti, right? Even though I’m not married now, one day I will have my own family, and by then, what will happen to my brother?"
The boss tried to reason with his mother. Xu Ke was standing at the turn of the stairs, listening. Hearing the boss say this, he shook his head silently.
Won like his mother wouldn’t listen to reason, Xu Ke thought to himself. Sure enough, the sharp voice of the boss’s mother echoed through the hall.
"In the future? Why can’t you support your brother forever? Don’t you forget your family na. What about getting married? That wife of yours is ultimately an outsider. What right does she have to decide matters in our family? If she disrupts the brotherly bond, just divorce her. It’s no big deal." The old lady stated matter-of-factly.
"Mom, how can you say such things? What do you an an outsider? Though she may not be related by blood, we’re ant to spend our lives together, and she will bear my children. What’s wrong with listening to my wife?" The boss couldn’t help but retort.
"That wife doesn’t even exist yet, and here you are speaking for her and planning for her. You treat a stranger so well, why can’t you be nicer to your brother? The money we’re asking for is not even a tenth of what you have. Even if you give it, so what? It’s not like you’ll miss a chunk of flesh or a drop of blood." The old lady scoffed disdainfully.
"To put it bluntly, you just don’t want to give your brother any money, afraid he’ll live better and happier than you, don’t you?" For the sake of her younger son, the old lady didn’t mind using the harshest words to speculate about her eldest son. Each word was like a steel knife, piercing the boss’s shoulder and chest.
The pain was suffocating.
"Is that how you see ?" The boss looked at his mother, sowhat hurt.
The old lady blushed at her son’s question, knowing she was wrong to say such things, but had no choice since her younger son needed the money.
Compared to her eldest son, who was always quiet and understanding, the younger son, who was always by her side and pleasing her, seed more important. She loved her eldest son, but still, the younger son mattered more.
Thus, the fleeting guilt she felt vanished like bubbles in the sunlight, bursting without a touch.
"Is it my fault for thinking of you that way? Isn’t it you who made think like that? Mom knows you’re a good boy, always sensible since childhood. Why can’t you be sensible just this once? Just this once, for mom’s sake, will you?"
"You’re forcing . Just because I’ve been sensible doesn’t an I should sacrifice myself, beco a stepping stone for my brother, right? If I don’t do as you ask, don’t help him as you require, does that an I’m unfilial, a bad son, a bad brother?" The boss asked question after question, with each adding to the chill in his eyes. By the ti he finished, his gaze at his mother and brother was no different from that of a stranger.
The old lady felt uneasy under her eldest son’s gaze, as if sothing bad was about to happen.
"Why are you looking at like that? Was what I said wrong? Did I accuse you unjustly? I spent money raising you to this point, paid for your education so you could gain so exposure. Without us, where would you get the money to run such a large inn? We’ve made you the success you are today. Isn’t it fair to expect so return?"
"Haven’t I shown gratitude all these years? You’re my mother. Over the years, I’ve t your needs as much as possible, even indulging many unreasonable demands. But just because you’re my mother and I want to see you happy, doesn’t make those my responsibilities or obligations. In short, I won’t agree to your unreasonable demands anymore. I have my own life, and I need to live it happily." The boss stated.
"I’ve said all I needed to. If there’s nothing else, I won’t see you out. If you think I’ll pay for his things and help him get married, I can tell you firmly that’s not going to happen." The boss straightforwardly refused his mother’s request.
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