After the family got into the car, they headed straight home.
Of everyone, only Li Ya hadn't been drinking, so she drove.
Qin Er Ge had really had too much to drink. Less than two minutes after getting in the car, he was fast asleep.
Qin Chuan and Qin Yang were both wide awake.
Just then, a phone rang. It was Jiang Cui Hua's mobile, which was in the front passenger seat.
Jiang Cui Hua first glanced at the back seat. Seeing that Qin Chuan and Qin Yang were both awake and clear-headed, a hesitant expression clearly appeared on her face. Finally, she answered the phone and quietly said, "Hello?"
"Third Sister, where are you? Why have you been in the restroom for so long?"
As soon as the call connected, a loud male voice came from the other end. Qin Chuan recognized it as his youngest maternal uncle, Jiang Guo Li.
"Li Ya, could you please pull over!"
Jiang Cui Hua suddenly covered her phone and turned to say to Li Ya.
"Okay, Auntie!"
Li Ya quickly stopped the car. Jiang Cui Hua opened the door and got out, then with a "bang," she closed it.
Through the car window, they could see Jiang Cui Hua walk a considerable distance away before she started speaking rapidly into the phone...
Seeing this, Li Ya couldn't help but turn to look back at Qin Chuan sitting in the back.
She found that Qin Chuan's face was already as gloomy as water, shrouded in dark clouds.
"Xiao Chuan, are you hiding something from me?"
At this moment, Qin Yang asked.
"Tell me, how did you and Mom meet them?"
Seeing how perceptive his elder brother Qin Yang was, Qin Chuan stopped holding back and recounted how he had accidentally discovered his mother with a group of relatives.
After listening, Qin Yang's expression became even more somber than Qin Chuan's. He clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, saying, "Have these people gone this far now?"
"They're meeting Mom privately, even leaving Dad behind. It's obvious they're up to something shady!"
"Heh!"
"Does that even need to be said? The answer is already crystal clear!"
Qin Chuan sneered and then explained how he had arranged for Yan Wei Wei to gather information about what was happening in the private room.
After listening, Qin Yang was on one hand shocked by his younger brother's meticulous planning, and on the other, he was seething with rage.
Those relatives were actually using business tactics at a family dinner table. How heartbroken their mother would be if she knew.
As sons, they understood their mother, Jiang Cui Hua, all too well.
She was truly an incredibly kind-hearted, simple, and honest woman, who had worked diligently her entire life, never complaining, and valuing relationships deeply.
Even after the disgusting things those relatives had done before the Lunar New Year, Jiang Cui Hua had shouldered all the bitterness and hardship herself, unwilling to break the blood ties.
Regarding their mother Jiang Cui Hua's approach, how could her sons Qin Yang, Qin Chuan, and even Qin Gang, put it?
Their hearts were filled with nothing but pain!
It was true pain!!
Pain for their mother's sacrifices!
In the memory of the three brothers, their maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, eldest aunt, second aunt, and both maternal uncles were almost all very indifferent. They were a group of people who placed little value on kinship.
Qin Chuan clearly remembered that when he was young, and Qin Shu Ren and Jiang Cui Hua occasionally took them to visit their maternal grandparents, they were never met with good looks from their grandparents or uncles.
Once, while playing, he had secretly overheard his maternal grandparents and both uncles lecturing Jiang Cui Hua and Qin Shu Ren's couple privately, and not politely at all.
They said things like bringing the whole family over was clearly just to mooch off their meals.
Their own household's food wasn't enough, so they came to others to freeload.
They said that a daughter who was already married should not return to her maiden home for no reason, and should manage her own life.
That afternoon, Qin Chuan remembered, his parents took the whole family home. That night, his mother secretly cried in her blanket, while his father's face was ashen.
From that moment on, Qin Chuan held no good feelings towards his maternal grandparents and two maternal uncles.
As for the two aunts, there was no need to even mention them. They were even worse than the uncles. Only they could ask for help, but if you ever needed something from them, then forget about it, not even a crack in the door would be opened.
It wasn't until many years later that Qin Chuan realized that in that era, people like his mother's side of the family were very common.
Especially in the countryside, in that era, it was still very poor, and many families had numerous children, with seven or eight, or even over ten children.
The year's harvest was not enough for their own families to eat, and in the face of hunger, kinship meant nothing.
Therefore, in that era, especially in some particularly poor rural areas, kinship was truly very, very weak.
Many sisters and brothers lived far apart and hadn't seen each other for years.
Some siblings died without anyone attending.
Transportation was inconvenient, and there were no telephones...
However, even with the general environment, Qin Chuan still felt that his mother's family had gone too far and that human nature was cold and indifferent.
Their father, Qin Shu Ren, had suffered such severe burns, and after their mother had traveled all over, among so many close blood relatives, not a single person lent them money. Their mother returned home empty-handed, having secured not a single cent.
Their father's body was left to fate, to fend for itself...
Therefore, Qin Chuan deeply detested those people from the bottom of his heart!
He would not easily forgive them!
Now that their family was wealthy, those previously indifferent relatives had all flocked to them like stray cats smelling fish, begging for benefits. Where in the world could such a good thing exist?
"Xiao Chuan, I think we need to give Mom a heads-up!"
Just as Qin Chuan's thoughts were drifting, Qin Yang's voice came to his ears.
"Mom is kind-hearted and can't stand harsh words. I'm worried that if this continues, she'll soften her heart and agree to their demands."
Qin Chuan remained silent, his thoughts unreadable.
Qin Yang, thinking Qin Chuan didn't want to speak, immediately said, "If you don't want to be the bad guy, then I will."
"Brother, you've misunderstood!"
Qin Chuan smiled and shook his head. "I'm considering how to talk to Mom."
"You and I both know Mom. She values emotions too much. She'll never be able to cut off that kinship. As sons, we must consider her feelings and not just focus on our own anger."
Qin Yang frowned. "Then what should we do?"
Just as Qin Chuan was about to say something, Li Ya suddenly said, "Auntie's back!"
The two brothers immediately fell silent and watched Jiang Cui Hua open the car door and get back in.
"Mom, you look unwell. Did my aunts and uncles say something unpleasant to you again?"
Qin Chuan asked.
"Nothing of the sort, your aunts and uncles... huh?"
Jiang Cui Hua stopped mid-sentence, then turned her head in shock.
Qin Chuan met his mother's gaze calmly and grinned, "Mom, I saw everything!"
"You were eating at the mutton restaurant with them!"
"You suddenly left, leaving them hanging, ruining all their plans for tonight. Knowing how those people are, when they call, will they say anything nice?"
"They must have cursed you with some unpleasant words, right?"