Chapter 3: An Eruption Amid Endurance

When they returned home, the food on the table had long been cleared away, leaving only a pile of dirty dishes.

Old Mrs. Han was dozing on the bed.

Seeing the youngest son’s family come back, she called out, “Where have you been, coming back so late? The third son’s family—why aren’t you washing the dishes? They’re all drying there.”

Kindness invites exploitation.

Liu Shi was precisely such a person.

Since the day she married into the Cheng family, she had been the one doing all the hard and dirty work—washing clothes, cooking meals, gathering wild vegetables, collecting firewood...

Nearly all the burdensome tasks fell on her shoulders.

She had tried to resist before, but a single warning from Old Mrs. Han—“If you’re unfilial, I’ll have my son divorce you”—had suffocated her for ten years.

Especially since her own husband was a thorough “filial son.”

Could she expect him to stand up against Old Mrs. Han for her?

But this time...

For the first time, Liu Shi did not obey.

Clenching her anger, she said, “Mother, Young Liu was in such pain just now, and you didn’t say a single word? Besides, the eldest and second sisters-in-law are home—couldn’t you have washed the dishes first?”

“What did you say?” Old Mrs. Han sat up slowly, staring outside in disbelief.

“Third son, is this your good wife? Did you tell her to speak to me like this?”

“Mother...” Cheng Dashan dared not meet his mother’s gaze.

He sighed helplessly and looked back at his wife with a pleading expression. “Say less, can’t I just wash the dishes?”

“Is washing dishes the real issue here, Cheng Dashan?” Liu Shi cried out, choked with emotion. “Have I done too little for this family all these years? But what about you? Have you ever protected me even once?”

Cheng Dashan was too embarrassed to reply.

Old Mrs. Han got out of bed and came to the door, trembling as she sighed, “I hear it loud and clear! You’re saying I’m bullying my daughter-in-law, huh?”

“I only asked you to wash a few dishes—is that wrong? Fine, fine, you third son’s family! If my wife can’t argue with you, I’ll admit I’m wrong, okay? I’ll wash those dishes myself, won’t trouble you to lift a finger, alright?”

She moved to clear the dishes, but perhaps due to her age, she lost her footing, leaning on the table and nearly falling.

Cheng Dashan rushed over in alarm to steady his mother, whispering, “Mother, please calm down! I’ll wash the dishes.”

“No need!” Old Mrs. Han pushed her son away with a cold look.

“I’m an old woman near death—I wouldn’t dare trouble you. But mark my words, if your wife cries again tomorrow, I might just throw you two into the mountains secretly!”

Those words cut deep—poisonous beyond measure!

What son could be so unfilial as to cruelly cast his own mother into the wilderness to feed the wolves?

If that got out, Cheng Dashan and his wife would be done for.

This was Old Mrs. Han’s usual tactic.

She knew her son’s temperament too well: weak and afraid of gossip. That’s why she always got her way so easily.

This was classic moral coercion!

“Oh? What’s all this noise?” Aunt Qin Dongzhi came out of the south room, teasing Cheng Dashan, “Third son, everyone in Hexi Village says you’re filial, but is this how you show it to our mother?”

“Isn’t it?” Aunt Yao Chunhua came out of the east room, unafraid of trouble, “I say, third son’s family, it’s just washing a few dishes. Why make our mother so angry? Everyone outside says you two are filial—if this spreads, how will people see our family? Isn’t it embarrassing?”

Cheng Dashan blushed deeply.

He glanced at his wife, then at his mother, his face full of inner conflict. His fists clenched tightly, but he could not utter a word.

Liu Shi looked at her husband, waiting for a sign...

If at this moment Cheng Dashan still sided with Old Mrs. Han, she would give up completely, never looking back at this family again.

In the silence,

“Mother.”

Cheng An suddenly grasped his mother’s hand.

He looked at Old Mrs. Han with terrified eyes, his voice trembling as he whispered, “I... Young Liu is scared...”

Wailing uncontrollably, Liu Shi dropped to her knees, clutching her son and crying out loud.

Her anguished cries carried far, as if releasing all the grievances she had borne for years.

“Mother, why are you crying?”

Cheng An gently held his mother’s head, patting her back softly. “Don’t cry, Mother. Young Liu isn’t scared anymore—I’ll protect you.”

Yet inside, he sighed.

“Mother, it’s not that your son wants to make you suffer—it’s just that life is unbearable. If we don’t force Father this once, we’ll keep being bullied!”

A moment’s pain for a lifetime’s relief.

Cheng An believed it was worth it.

Liu Shi suddenly lifted her tear-stained face.

Her eyes full of struggle, she finally made up her mind and bit her lip, “Let’s go, Mother will take you home!”

“Cuiyun!”

Cheng Dashan turned sharply to his wife and son, panic finally showing on his face.

But Liu Shi refused to look back, pulling her son toward the door. Her resolute figure made Cheng Dashan afraid for the first time.

He knew well that if she left this time, it would be goodbye forever.

“Don’t go!”

At last,

He rushed forward, gripping his wife’s hand tightly. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’m useless, and you and our son have suffered because of me. Please don’t go, Cuiyun, I beg you.”

“Third son!”

Old Mrs. Han glared at him, furious. “What do you mean by that? Are you saying I bullied your wife and son? Are you still my son or not?”

Liu Shi said nothing this time.

She shook off her husband’s hand and pulled her son toward the door.

“Mother!”

Cheng Dashan shouted, trembling.

His eyes red as he looked at Old Mrs. Han, anger in them. “Please say less, alright? How much has Suyun sacrificed for this family all these years? Don’t you see it?”

It was the first time he spoke to Old Mrs. Han like this.

In this era where filial piety reigned supreme across all levels—from emperors and generals to common folk—everyone upheld “benevolence and filial piety” as the foundation of family governance.

A person lacking filial piety was truly ostracized.

Liu Shi paused after a few steps.

She looked back at her husband, as if surprised those words came from him.

Old Mrs. Han was equally shocked.

She stared at her son wide-eyed, as if facing a stranger.

After a long moment,

Old Mrs. Han finally reacted, trembling as she said, “So you think I, an old woman, have been harsh to your wife and child? Fine, then I’ll just die!”

With that, she staggered toward the wall, clearly intending to dash her head against it in front of her third son.

But this time, Cheng Dashan did not move.

He quietly watched his mother, full of disappointment and bewilderment—why was his own mother so harsh to him when he was her flesh and blood?

When Old Mrs. Han reached the wall and still received no plea from her son,

She turned back, furious, ready to scold—

But heard Cheng Dashan’s disappointed voice say, “Mother, let’s separate the family.”