Qin Chuan pushed open the door and walked into his eldest brother's house. He saw his eldest brother, sister-in-law, second brother, and Li Ya all present. His eldest and second brothers were smoking, and the atmosphere in the room was heavy.
Only his nephew, Tao Tao, was playing with his toys carefree.
"Xiao Chuan!"
"Third Brother!"
Upon seeing Qin Chuan enter, the three people in the room greeted him.
Qin Chuan nodded and sat down on a stool.
"When did they arrive? Are they all here?"
After sitting down, Qin Chuan asked first.
This kind of matter, though annoying, since they had come to their doorstep, they had to find a way to resolve it. Hiding at home and not seeing them was clearly inappropriate.
"They've been here for about ten minutes!"
Qin Yang said.
"Two full tricycles, loaded to the brim with two baskets of people. I didn't count carefully, but it should be everyone who should be here!"
"Damn it, so many people showed up at once, and they even brought those two old folks over eighty years old. It's clearly a tactic of using a tiger's skin to pull a flag, specifically to badmouth our family."
Qin's second brother cursed resentfully.
"Do they really think, with those two old folks present, they can get our family's forgiveness, make us let go of the past, and make money together?"
"It's simply laughable!"
From Qin's second brother's tone and expression, it could be judged that he harbored great resentment towards the actions of those relatives and would not forgive them so easily.
"Xiao Chuan, what do you think?"
Qin Yang asked.
"Since so many of them have come to our house, as the hosts, if we avoid them, it would make our Old Qin family seem petty."
Qin Chuan said after some thought.
"However, what Second Brother just said is very true, it's absolutely not that easy to get our forgiveness, even if Grandma and Grandpa are here!"
Hearing Qin Chuan's words, Qin's second brother showed a hint of excitement.
"Didn't I say so? We absolutely cannot forgive those people easily, otherwise, with those disgusting folks, who knows what else they'll do in the future!"
Wu Yanyan couldn't help but say, "Xiao Chuan, it's New Year's. You all need to watch your tone, especially in front of Mom and Dad..."
"We know!"
Qin Chuan stood up. "Then shall the three of us brothers go and see? Sister-in-law, you have Tao Tao, so stay here with Li Ya. There's no need for you to go!"
"Then let's go!"
"Let's go!"
Qin Gang and Qin Yang followed Qin Chuan's footsteps, and the three brothers walked towards their parents' room.
The three brothers, walking together, were all over 1.85 meters tall. Especially Qin Yang, with his broad shoulders and muscular build, and a height of nearly 1.9 meters, exuded an imposing aura that inspired fear.
As they passed through the courtyard, their cousins were still there. Seeing the tall and strong trio appear, everyone put away their smiles.
Someone seemed to be considering greeting them, but was directly ignored, watching them walk into the house.
In Qin's father and mother's room, on the spacious earthen kang, sat two elderly people with wrinkled faces, their necks and the backs of their hands covered in age spots.
They were very old and emaciated, having suffered greatly from the ravages of time. Fortunately, their eyes still held a spark, and they appeared quite spirited.
By the side of the kang, a row of people sat, all familiar faces.
Jiang Cui'e, Jiang Cui Ping, Jiang Guo Ping, Jiang Guo Li...
Qin Shuren and Jiang Cui Hua were chatting with everyone, occasionally refilling their teacups.
The sudden appearance of the Qin brothers made the previously lively room fall silent.
Everyone stared at the strong and healthy trio with complex expressions, a subtle sense of fear mixed in.
"Oh, what wind blew in today to bring so many people to our house!"
"It truly makes our humble abode shine!"
Qin Chuan spoke, his jet-black eyes sweeping across everyone, his inner mockery undisguised.
"Isn't that right? I thought the sun rose from the west!"
As the brothers' words fell, Jiang Cui'e, Jiang Cui Ping, Jiang Guo Li, Jiang Guo Li, and the others showed embarrassed expressions, and the atmosphere became subtle.
The two elders sitting on the kang remained impassive.
"Xiao Chuan, Xiao Gang, you're up. Come and meet your maternal grandparents!"
Jiang Cui Hua immediately spoke, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"You haven't seen your maternal grandparents for several years, have you!"
Qin Chuan and Qin Gang then turned their gazes to the two elders on the kang.
"Yes, it's been many years!"
Qin Chuan said, his sharp eyes fixed directly on the elders on the kang.
"We remember when we were young, we used to visit them every few days. Ever since we knew Grandma and Grandpa didn't like our family, we visited less and less!"
"It's not just Grandma and Grandpa who dislike us, but all the uncles, aunties, and uncles-in-law too!"
Qin's second brother added cooperatively.
"Because my mother married the farthest and also the poorest family, they all looked down on us, always thinking that our whole family was coming to freeload during festivals."
"This situation led to our family not visiting any of your homes for many years, and our family ties slowly faded!"
"Especially last year... no, it should have been the year before last, around New Year!"
Qin Gang wore a reminiscent expression.
"Xiao Gang, shut up!"
Jiang Cui Hua suddenly cursed loudly, her face looking very displeased.
Qin Shuren's lips moved, but no sound came out. It seemed that in his heart, this was also a difficult knot.
Instead of letting it fester in his heart forever, it was better to let his son untangle it.
Qin Gang, however, acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to speak on his own:
"A great disaster suddenly befell my family. My father was burned in a fire and was directly hospitalized."
"Due to the high cost of hospitalization and surgery, our family didn't have much money at the time, so my mother took me to visit all the elders to borrow money."
"The situation at that time is still vivid in my memory..."
As he said this, Qin Gang let out a strange laugh, his eyes slowly scanning all the relatives present, finally settling on the two elders on the kang.
"I still remember that my mother knelt at Grandpa and Grandma's doorstep, begging, and they chose to turn a blind eye..."
As Qin Gang said this, his laughter ceased, replaced by tears welling up in his eyes and his voice becoming incredibly hoarse.
Jiang Cui Hua, who had been trying to stop her son from speaking, was now covering her face and crying softly. Beside her, Qin Shuren's face was grim, his fists clenched tightly.
"As for the uncles and aunts, there's no need to even mention them!"
"Either they avoided us, or they directly refused!"
Qin Gang continued at this point, his face full of sarcasm.
"In short, the final result was that my mother and I went to all the relatives, Grandma, Grandpa, two aunts, two uncles, and we didn't borrow a single cent."
"After returning, my mother also fell ill!"
"In the end, it was my father's sister, our aunt, who had the worst financial situation, who sold the only cow with calves at home to help our family through that disaster!"
As Qin Gang finished speaking, the entire room fell silent. Everyone's expression was grim, and some lowered their heads in shame.
"Today, you all made such a grand show of suddenly coming to our house. I want to ask you, on behalf of my parents, and also on behalf of us three brothers, what are you here for?!"