Gu Chunhai was tall, standing at the doorway blocking the light from outside, making it hard to see the expression on his face, but one could tell from his voice how angry he was at the moment.
"Then letās settle what has happened over the years once and for all." Gu Chunhai walked in, glanced at Old Sir Gu with concern and asked, "Dad, are you okay?"
Old Sir Gu shook his head, pointing at Gu Chunli, "This ungrateful wretch is going to drive me to death."
"Dad, what Iām saying is also the truth. Can you really bear to see your youngest son and his family cooped up in that tiny old apartment all day?" Gu Chunli said with his head down.
"Ha... itās okay if you donāt want to be cooped up there." Old Sir Gu sneered, "Tomorrow Iāll go to the factory and tell the manager I donāt want that job anymore; you can come back and farm the land. There happens to be some land at home, and the house is big. If you think the side loft bed is too small, Iāll vacate the bed in the main room for you."
"What? Farming? No way." Liu Xiufeng screeched.
Giving up a perfectly good job to come back and farm? Isnāt that foolish?
"Dad, how can you be like this?" Gu Chunli said in shock.
"Why canāt I be like this?" Old Sir Gu, who had been thinking about his youngest son these past days and felt increasingly that he had been too lenient with him, looked at Lao Er, Gu Chunhai. The burdens at home had all fallen on him over the years.
If thereās any unfairness, itās unfairness to Gu Chunhai.
"My leg has been bad for about eight years, hasnāt it? And youāve taken over my job for eight years." Old Sir Gu knocked on his leg, "In these eight years, have you ever bought anything for your old father?"
No, nothing at all.
"Have you ever contributed a penny to the family in these eight years?"
No, not a single cent.
"Except for rushing back on the afternoon of New Yearās Eve, when have you ever come back?"
"You remember now that Iām your old father at this time?"
"I thought you stopped considering me your dad and stopped seeing yourself as a son of the Gu Family. I thought you had changed your last name to Li long ago."
"Dad, we... weāre just busy with work." Liu Xiufeng said awkwardly.
"You shut up. Since when does a daughter-in-law have a say in the Old Gu Familyās matters?" Old Sir Gu said sternly, "Want a house? Fine."
Old Sir Gu paused here, then saw Gu Chunli and his wife looking at him joyfully.
The disappointment in his heart grew stronger.
"First, letās clear up the debts of the past eight years." Old Sir Gu closed his eyes, unwilling to see his youngest sonās face, "I wonāt ask you to give much money to the family every month; your second brother leaves only ten dollars out of his monthly salary, and you can just give ten."
Gu Chunhai, who drives long-distance, earns over fifty dollars a month, leaving only ten dollars, meaning he has to give more than ten dollars to the family.
Gu Chunliās salary is over thirty dollars a month, and by giving ten dollars, he still has over twenty dollars left.
This calculation still leaves Gu Chunhai at a disadvantage.
But Gu Chunli hasnāt contributed a cent to the family in eight years, and calculated like this, ten dollars a month means a hundred and twenty dollars a year, making it nine hundred and sixty over eight years, almost a thousand.
Such a sum would practically take Liu Xiufengās life.
"How can this be?" Liu Xiufeng shrieked, "Gu Chunli, you dead man, say something!"
"If you canāt accept it, then roll out of my house, and if you dare come in again, Iāll break your legs." Old Sir Gu yelled, "I would consider I donāt have this son."
After being so aggrieved for so many years, first by Wang Meili and Old Mrs. Gu, and now by his own youngest son, Old Sir Gu genuinely felt, could a tiger be mistaken for a sick cat if it doesnāt show its might?
"Dad... how can you be like this?"
"Fine, if you donāt act benevolently, donāt blame us for not acting righteously." Liu Xiufeng, seeing this situation, said angrily, "They donāt want you anymore, so why are you still recognizing him as your dad?"
"If I donāt come back, then I wonāt. Dad, you canāt blame your son for being unfilial." Gu Chunli said, turning his head.
"Ah..."