He never expected this to be the beginning of their family's nightmare. Zhang Dashan came before her, bowed his head, and confessed his mistakes. He said he had listened to his two sons' slanderous words, believing that her patience meant she would abandon him without a second thought. Now that his two sons treated him poorly, he knew he was wrong and wanted to reconcile. Yuan Zuna, being a soft-hearted person, couldn't bear to see him with nowhere to go and reluctantly took him in. Although Hesheng was unhappy, his mother insisted, so he could only grit his teeth and accept it. At first, they thought he had truly reformed and was helpful around the house. But gradually, they noticed something was amiss. Either the household's silver was missing, or the grain was dwindling. To avoid wrongly accusing him, one night, after Zhang Dashan quietly got up, Yuan Zuna secretly followed him. She saw him stealthily packing a significant portion of the seeds saved for the spring plowing the following year and carrying them to his two sons' homes. Standing in the cold wind at that moment, Yuan Zuna felt the weather outside was fine; it was her heart that was cold.
The next day, when Yuan Zuna loudly questioned him, Zhang Dashan initially denied it. When he saw he had been discovered, he became somewhat angry. "I just prepared a little grain to take back. Is that such a big deal? We arrived late, and those two children didn't get much grain. What about spring plowing next year? I didn't take all the household's seeds. Besides, Hesheng is my son, and Husheng and Haisheng are too. I can't favor one over the other. You, a woman, shouldn't be following me around in the dark. If it were someone else, they would have slapped you long ago."
"I've been married into your family for so many years. At first, I dedicated myself to raising your children. You said our family was poor and couldn't have more, or we wouldn't be able to afford them. I listened to you, and that's why I had Hesheng so late in life. When we were back in our hometown, your mother and I worked like oxen and horses. We endured so much hardship on our journey to get here. Do you know Hesheng's arm was injured by someone, and he still can't use it much? You don't consider him but think about your two healthy sons. Isn't he your son too?" Speaking of this, Yuan Zuna became heartbroken. Not only were they alone and helpless in the cave, but Hesheng's arm was injured. They couldn't seek revenge from the assailant and had to stay far away. Along the way, they encountered many robbers. To survive, they secretly sought refuge with people from a village. They didn't just approach anyone randomly; after careful observation, they found that while their leader was highly capable, he was also very kind. Seeing them as a desolate group, and with Hesheng falsely claiming he had given the stranger all the silver he had, the leader allowed them to join.
Although some people in their group had objections, considering that the newcomers were diligent and caused little trouble on the road, no one said anything. After all, a larger group traveling together deterred others from bullying them. If they had traveled alone, how could they have reached the Northwest?
However, upon arriving in the Northwest, the policies there were strict. People who had traveled together couldn't be assigned to the same area, for fear that they might defy the village chief's authority and cause trouble. Therefore, they were fighting a lone battle in this village.
Previously, no one knew their background and assumed her husband had died on the journey. Unexpectedly, Zhang Dashan arrived. To make himself look better, he simply said they were separated on the way, and people expressed understanding.
"Why are you doing this business? Didn't you encounter any danger on your escape? Regardless, you arrived before us. Do you know why we were so late? It's because on the way, Husheng and Haisheng were captured to be soldiers. They were sent to the front lines, where death was almost certain. We thought we would never see you again. Fortunately, they were clever and, seeing the situation, quickly escaped, saving their lives. We hid and fled all the way, fearing pursuit from the imperial court." While saying these words, Zhang Dashan was extremely regretful. If he had known they would be so lucky, he would have gone with them. He originally thought that they would reach a safe place first after leaving their hometown, as they wouldn't encounter many refugees and would have enough food. But unexpectedly, after much wandering, they were overtaken by others.
Especially when he thought of his two sons being conscripted and him leading the women and children, people looked at them with ill intentions. At that time, he felt uneasy and was prepared to abandon one or two of them if necessary.
Shortly after arriving, Xiaocao asked him where his eldest granddaughter was. He lied, saying his eldest granddaughter starved to death on the way. Although they had no affection for Yuan Zuna, these children were raised by Yuan Zuna. As a result, they were heartbroken. In reality, the food they brought was sufficient, so how could she have easily starved to death? It was just that on the way, for self-preservation, he had given his eldest granddaughter to the eldest grandson of that family as a wife, seeking their protection.
He knew that if he told the truth, Yuan Zuna would look at him strangely, as that family's eldest grandson was mentally unstable and hit everyone he saw. It was easy to imagine the outcome for his eldest granddaughter marrying into their family. But what else could he do in such a desperate situation? Therefore, even now, his eldest daughter-in-law looked at him with resentment when she saw him.
Seeing his expression, Zhang Dashan felt wronged. He felt he had considered everyone's best interests. When the decision was proposed then, no one objected. Why were they blaming him now?
His two sons escaped and returned, and that family had also left. Although the eldest son was still somewhat unhappy, thinking why his own daughter had to be sacrificed when the second son also had a daughter, he let it go, thinking that it was just a girl who would eventually be married off anyway.
Now that Yuan Zuna questioned him, he had no words to express his suffering and could only repeatedly promise that such a thing would not happen again.
Although Yuan Zuna had no hope for him, he was, after all, her husband. She couldn't just drive him away. If she truly did that, she believed the villagers' spitting could drown her.
Fortunately, he behaved himself afterward. Sometimes, when he was bored, he even helped out in the fields. As time passed, Yuan Zuna forgot the pain and gradually overlooked that incident. Unexpectedly, when the harvest came the following year, the same thing happened again.
This time, before Yuan Zuna could say anything, Hesheng was unwilling. In his eyes, this man was heartless and unrighteous. His mother tolerated him time and time again. If it weren't for his mother, he would have driven him away long ago.
"You unfilial son, are you trying to drive your teacher away? I'll tell the villagers now that you are unfilial. See how you survive in the village in the future." Zhang Dashan, seeing his expression, knew what he was thinking. He had disliked this son since he was young, and this son didn't listen to him much. It was a vicious cycle, and now they couldn't stand each other.