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Fan Feng Shou pondered deeply and felt that even though he was insignificant, he still should not completely fall out with his older brother. After calming his anger, he rubbed his aching mouth corner and carefully said:
"Big brother, about the past, I was young and ignorant. Please forgive me this time as an adult with a large heart!"
Fan Jiefang didn’t even want to respond. If it weren’t for the worry that his younger sister might again be persuaded and manipulated by their mother, he would have left already.
He shook his head with a sigh. As for what Fan Feng Shou said, Fan Jiefang didn’t believe a word.
Undeterred, Fan Feng Shou continued, "Big brother, the matter concerning adopting Xiao Xianzi was always mother’s own idea. I had some thoughts, but Xiao Xia was unwilling. Just a couple of days ago, Baozhen fell ill with a high fever, so I didn’t have time to discuss it with you..."
Seeing that his brother listened and glanced at him, Fan Feng Shou felt hopeful and continued making efforts to absolve himself of blame:
"As for today, it really wasn’t that I didn’t go to find mother. Right after younger sister hung up the phone with me, Xiao Xia called me, telling me that Baozhen was beaten at school!
As soon as I heard that, I rushed to the school to understand the situation. You didn’t see it; Baozhen’s face was swollen like a pig’s head. She had just recovered from her illness, and being beaten like that, she got deeply distressed and immediately developed a fever.
It just so happened that today mom went to Eldest Aunt’s place, and Xiao Xia had returned to her parent’s home. The school couldn’t find anyone at home..."
After listening to all this, when he heard his grandniece had been beaten, Fan Jiefang still got worried for a moment, but then remembering that it was Fan Feng Shou’s own misconduct that nearly wrecked his family, his sympathy dissipated.
The two brothers, one was rambling about the course of events, the other’s gaze continued to fixate on their elderly mother’s room, temporarily achieving a moment of calm.
It wasn’t until more than ten minutes later, they saw Fan Hongshan’s eyes became even more red and swollen, her face showing a mix of pale and flush, too distressing to look straight at.
Meanwhile, Li Xiaochun appeared calm. She walked straight up to Fan Feng Shou, looking at the palm print on her younger son’s mouth corner. She felt dizzy for a moment, realizing that the man in front of her indeed resembled her husband too closely, which was why her feelings were unwittingly transferred, treating him better and better.
But unexpectedly, she raised a thankless wretch.
"Feng Shou, mom’s leaving. You, live a good life," Li Xiaochun finally said nothing more, just left that remark and took her bundle, walking away.
"Mom, where are you going?" Fan Feng Shou was shocked and quickly stood up to follow his mother, but was pushed away by Fan Hongshan. She glared at him with red eyes:
"Fan Feng Shou, you are an ingrate, a thankless wretch. Mom has decided to move back to the old house, she doesn’t want you anymore!"
The current big three-room set was bought by Li Xiaoxia’s maternal family. It was not the previous old house of the Fan family.
The "old house" that Fan Hongshan referred to was an old building on the edge of the town near the foothill, the ancestral home.
"Mom, mom, don’t go. You said wherever I am, you will be. Why suddenly move back to the old house?"
"To atone for your sins. You should take care of yourself. Don’t make mistakes again; no one will protect you anymore."
Li Xiaochun said in silence, shaking off the pale chubby hand holding her, and step by step walked out of the house, with Fan Hongshan’s eyes turning red, following close behind.
Fan Feng Shou wanted to step forward, but was blocked by Fan Jiefang in front of the room:
"Fan Feng Shou, it’s good that mom has thought things through. From now on, just live your own life well and don’t appear in front of mom if there’s nothing serious, or you’ll only bring her tears."
This might be good for Fan Jiefang and Fan Hongshan, but for Fan Feng Shou, what good was there?
Seeing his mother acting so resolutely, Fan Feng Shou really panicked. But he could truly neither fight nor overcome his physically stronger brother, so he could only shout at him:
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