Chapter Seventy-Six: A Pack of Scoundrels (Part One)

Upon hearing his words, Mrs. Yang was so furious she nearly staggered backward, barely keeping herself from falling. He had made mistakes and showed not the slightest hint of remorse, and now he dared to speak in such a manner.

“Dacai, do you truly wish to spend your life alone, with no one by your side?” she scolded.

Finding a wife was no easy feat. Li, his wife, was mild-tempered and had not once considered divorce despite Gu Dacai’s gambling habit. Such a good woman could not simply be found at a glance, yet her son did not cherish her in the least.

“What do you mean, alone? Once I have money, I can have any kind of woman I want,” Gu Dacai sneered, convinced his parents fretted over nothing. With wealth, he thought, he could bring home a young maiden if he pleased.

Mrs. Yang clutched her chest, glaring at his brimming self-confidence, and spat in disgust.

“Take a good look at yourself—do you really think you’re still young and desirable? You have neither money nor a house to your name; what girl would willingly follow you?”

“If there truly was such a girl, she must be blind to choose you,” she said, her words cutting deep.

Gu Dacai, stung by his mother’s biting remarks, flung his sleeve in anger.

“Mind your own business—who says no girl would come to me?”

Old Gu watched his youngest son’s obstinate ways and heaved several heavy sighs.

“Wife, enough. He won’t listen anyway,” he said. “I doubt your daughter-in-law’s heart remains in this home. Perhaps Dacai really will manage to find himself another wife.”

The moment Mrs. Yang heard her husband’s words, she raised her hand and delivered a slap that sent Old Gu stumbling forward.

“It’s because he has a father like you that he’s grown so thoughtless! He has no sense of his own worth, yet dreams of soaring to the sky!”

“If he and his wife truly part ways, finding another will be harder than reaching the heavens. And if he ever does, she’ll be blind and lame! Just look at the two of you, dreaming away. Tell me, which family’s daughter would marry into our household as things stand?”

“Enough! Can you stop harping on this? You’re ruining my mood!” Gu Dacai shouted impatiently at Mrs. Yang, tilting his head. He shoved open his door and stormed inside.

“Don’t come nagging at me again. If you keep this up, I’ll throw you both out!”

Mrs. Yang would not be cowed by this. The house and the courtyard were built with their money, not a single coin from that unfilial son.

“What did you say? You’ll throw us out? Take a look around—what here belongs to you? This house was built by me. If anyone’s leaving, it’ll be you!”

Fearing she would truly provoke their son and cause a fight, Old Gu hurriedly dragged Mrs. Yang into the house.

“Oh heavens, please, stop arguing with him. What’s the use? He won’t listen to a word you say.”

Sitting on the heated brick bed, Mrs. Yang’s eyes reddened with anger. She hammered her fists on the bed and, suddenly, tears began to flow.

Life was growing harder by the day. How had she been so blind and deaf not to see Dacai’s gambling addiction?

“What did I do to deserve this? We used to be one of the best-off families in the village, and look at us now—the most pitiful of all.”

The more she thought about it, the more her tears fell, as if she could pour out all her bitterness through them until there was none left.