It's All Your Fault
Su Sanyun's gaze sent a chill down Old Man Su's spine.
This third son was the most honest and obedient child in the family. Though strong and burly, Su Sanyun had a gentle and docile temper and was very filial to his parents. Old Man Su had never seen him angry before.
But now, he saw his most honest and mild-tempered third son, hair bristling in fury, eyes bloodshot, looking at him like an enemy.
After the door was broken open, villagers poured in like a tide, surrounding the Su family house completely.
Su Sanyun stepped forward, each word dripping with sorrow as he questioned, "Father, why did you sell my daughter?"
Old Man Su felt guilty to death inside but still put on a tough front, stiffening his neck and arguing, "I'm your father. So what if I sold your daughter? The family is so poor we can't even put food on the table, and you refuse to help. When times are tough, who doesn't sell their children? I sold your daughter to get food for your parents. What's wrong with that?"
"Father, where is your conscience, hmm?" Su Sanyun trembled with anger. "How have I not helped the family? Every month, I give my due filial respect without missing a single grain of rice! The villagers see how filial I am to you; you know in your heart how I've treated you. But how have you treated me?"
"Your filial respect is a joke!" Old Man Su spat, stomping his feet and glaring red-eyed as he scolded, "If you were truly filial, you would hand over all the money you earn to your parents! Hmph, you enjoy the good life yourself, earning piles of silver every month, yet give your own parents so little? What is this, sending us away like beggars?"
Su Daqi joined in, "Third brother, it's not that big brother is blaming you, but your family is just too stingy. Last time we took some things from your house, and you even took them back! If your family hadn't gone too far and hurt our parents' hearts, causing them to starve, would father have sold Lanxiang?"
"Right, if I hadn't been driven to desperation by you unfilial sons, would I have sold my granddaughter?" Old Man Su said, his chest heaving as he spoke, increasingly convinced that all this was Su Sanyun's fault.
Faced with accusations from his own father and elder brother, Su Sanyun's lips trembled. This honest man couldn't argue much reason against Old Man Su and Su Daqi's sharp tongues. But his father and brother's words felt like steel knives stabbing into his heart, chilling and sobering his once deeply filial heart little by little.
Old Man Su babbled on, turning the tables and accusing Su Sanyun and Mrs. Sun of being unfilial, claiming that since they had split from the family and grown wings, they were rebellious against their parents.
Su Sanyun looked at Old Man Su's moving lips. Su Lanxiang, scared by her grandfather, cried out in his arms, clutching her father tightly as she sobbed, "Father, please don't let grandpa sell me again!"
Su Lanxiang looked terrified. Su Sanyun gazed at his daughter in his arms, tears streaming down his face. He gently stroked her head, "Lanxiang, don't be afraid. With father here, no one will bully you anymore."
Su Sanyun handed Su Lanxiang to Su Shirong beside him. Suddenly, a roar interrupted Old Man Su's endless babbling.
"Enough!" Su Sanyun glared at Old Man Su with bloodshot eyes. "Father, if you think I'm so utterly unfilial and bad, then I sever all ties with you now! Just like Second Sister-in-law Ali's family, just like Fourth Brother's family, I, Su Third, today cut all ties with the Su family! From now on, you are no longer my relatives, and don't even think about squeezing a single copper coin from me!"