Chapter 494 - 492: Clarify
"Eldest Brother, as the Wang Family’s eldest son and grandson, you’ve never been mistreated. The year you married, the household was still doing well, and your grandmother was still alive. Plus, you married Lady Lin, who was always her favorite. The wedding was the talk of the village—so lively! Who else’s marriage that year could compare to the spectacle of yours? Have you forgotten all this now?"
"As for the second brother, that inhuman beast, he became a Scholar, and his wedding was the most extravagant because of it. Yet we also received many gifts, which helped to recover from the famine in the previous years. Talking about him now is meaningless; as far as I’m concerned, I might as well not have given birth to that brute!"
"Laosan, your mother knows you feel resentful, no wonder—your wedding was the most modest among the three brothers, which embarrassed you. But why don’t you reflect on the fact that less than a year after you married, you ran off without a trace, and your wife gave birth and raised the children with the support of the family? Over the years, have you ever contributed a single Large Coin to the household? Have your brothers said anything? Have your father and I ever driven your wife and children out? Think about it carefully with your conscience—having supported your wife and children for seven or eight years, isn’t that more than enough to make up for the shortfall at your wedding?"
After this speech, both Wang Yonggui and Lady Jiang blushed and were at a loss for words.
"As for Laosi’s wedding this time, the dowry is more valuable, but that’s only proper! He’s the youngest among you brothers, yet he’s been working in the fields since he was just over ten. He had an arranged marriage that got called off, and before we could find another match for him with the compensation Silver, our family faced a crisis, and that money was fully spent on the family’s needs. Over the years, Eldest Brother and Laosi have been the main labor force of the household. Yet while Eldest Brother works to earn money for his own family, Laosi has contributed all his earnings to the household."
"You two, as his elder brothers, tell me with your conscience—hasn’t this money been spent on you? Hasn’t it been spent on your children? Now he’s getting married, and in a few years, your younger sister will be getting married too. Your father and I are getting old, and we’ll probably divide the household soon. You two, as elder brothers, the family has raised your children until they’re seventeen or eighteen, and even helped them with their marriages for Eldest Brother’s family, but when it’s Laosi’s turn, his children might just start walking, and he’ll have to leave."
"Calculating all this, isn’t Laosi at a disadvantage? He’s the one who’s suffered the most in our family! You as his elder brothers, instead of looking out for this disadvantaged brother, are busy calculating against him? Isn’t that heartless? How shameless of you, Laosan, to claim you feel aggrieved. What do you have to be resentful about?" Old Granny Zhang pointed at Wang Yonggui’s face and asked.
Wang Yonggui’s face turned as red as pig liver, and he, usually so quick-witted, found himself at a complete loss for words.
He had always felt that his parents favored the others, and that his own branch was the least favored. But now that his mother had laid out everything clearly and accounted for it all, he wished there was a crack in the ground he could crawl into.