Chapter 289: 289 willing to settle Chapter 289: 289 willing to settle Back in the day, when he was still young, as the elder brother, Ye Zhong would take him to climb mountains, fish in the river, and their relationship as siblings was the best. Even his sister-in-law, when she married into the family, treated him well.
Later on, the discord between the two brothers began with Madam Li’s entry into the family.
At that time, he was forced to marry Madam Li, and he already harbored resentment; their mother incessantly took Madam Li’s side, to the detriment of Madam Wang, who was the sister-in-law. From that time on, there was resentment in the hearts of the brother and sister-in-law.
He himself felt that marrying Madam Li meant there was no hope for a good life. Thus, he was listless all day and neglected everything at home, letting them quarrel however they wanted.
In the end, the relationship between the two brothers slowly turned into one where they would blush upon seeing each other.
This was further exacerbated by the issue of dividing the family property and the slanderous speech by some women at their mother’s death, accusing the elder brother of being unfilial, which only increased the estrangement between them.
Now, thinking about how wealthy he was with children and grandchildren around, owning both land and a business,
the elder brother, on the other hand, had only one sickly son due to his wife’s complications during childbirth and failure to recuperate afterward.
Now that his son was dead and his daughter-in-law had run away, leaving an unhealthy grandson just like his father, Ye Zhong and his wife struggled to get by over these years.
Reflecting on their past affection and seeing how his elder brother was barely able to keep going but still had to forcefully continue farming, Old Man Ye’s nose began to sour.
Turning his head, Old Man Ye looked at Madam He, “Wifey, we won’t be using our donkey today, how about… we lend it to the elder brother’s family for use?”
“Up to you, as long as you’re willing to swallow your pride and go over there, that’s fine. We still have a few acres to tend to, indeed lending the donkey today is fine, but when we go to work on other fields tomorrow, it can’t delay our own work,” Madam He said.
“Alright, I understand,” Old Man Ye replied. He put down the hoe he was holding, and then walked over to Ye Zhong, his expression somewhat troubled. After he walked over, what should he say? Or rather, how should he start the conversation?
You see, when his elder nephew was sick, he had wanted to reconcile with the elder brother, knowing that the elder brother was borrowing money all around, so he took the initiative to pool family funds and lend them to him first. But in the end, his goodwill was met with cold disdain, and he was even driven out after offering the money.
He knew that the elder brother had no bad intentions; it was just that the elder brother was too obstinate and couldn’t lower his pride, especially when his own household was faring better than the elder brother’s.
Old Man Ye didn’t know if Ye Zhong would explode at him again this time, and whether he should still stand his ground like in the past!
When Old Man Ye reached Ye Zhong and his wife, he still hadn’t figured out exactly how to begin.
It was Madam Wang who, after looking at Ye Zhong and then Ye Cheng, finally said, “Little brother’s here!”
“Mm.” Ye Cheng nodded, then looking at Ye Zhong, said stiffly, “We’ve finished plowing our plot, the donkey and the plow are tied up at the end of the field, you can just go and lead them if you need.”
Madam Wang’s face brightened, yet she stiffly looked at Ye Zhong.
Being no longer young, and truly finding it tough to handle the farming work, which consumed a lot of energy and left them extremely tired, they couldn’t progress as quickly as other families in their farming.
Siblings should indeed help each other, and since Old Man Ye was now willingly initiating conversation, it already indicated a desire to reconcile; Madam Wang was happy yet worried that Ye Zhong’s stubborn disposition might lead him to make a hurtful remark again.
Seeing Ye Zhong’s stern face saying nothing, Madam Wang’s joy faded, she looked uneasily at Old Man Ye and said, “Little brother…”