Fields of Gold (Web Novel)

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“Dahai, I raised you and your older sister up into adults. That took hard work. Please remember our old affections and help me plead for leniency to your mother. Don’t let her take away my soul…” Madam Zhang saw Yu Hai as her last chance for survival and entreated him piteously.

Old affections? Perhaps it was guilt or something else. Before Yu Bo was born, Madam Zhang treated him and his older sister pretty well. Everything they ate and wore was about the same as Yu Dashan’s. However, once Yu Bo started going to school, Madam Zhang forced Yu Hai, who was only thirteen at the time, to brave the dangers of hunting in the mountains. Not only did he have to give her all of the money, but he also had to do all of this on a half-empty stomach.

At the time, Yu Hai believed that the family was in poor financial shape, so every day he went into the mountains to catch hares and pheasants while hungry. Despite that, he couldn’t bear to eat a single morsel of meat that he caught and sold them all to subsidize the family’s income. Later on, he found out that the reason his whole family lived frugally was to save money for Xiaobo’s school tuition. Since he was purehearted and cared about his siblings, he worked even harder to learn hunting techniques from Older Brother Zhao. Thus, he managed to catch more game and the variety also increased.

After he married, his wife and kids didn’t receive preferential treatment at home despite him making the most income. Instead, the family used his unquestioning filial piety and his wife’s kindheartedness to make them the overworked servants at home. They did the most work at home but ate the worst food. As the days went on, his wife’s body became worse and worse and his children all became emaciated. The whole family was sickly and weak. However, Madam Zhang wasn’t even willing to pay for their doctor and medicine fees and his youngest daughter almost died...

“Old affections? You’re talking about familial affections with me? Wasn’t I the one who earned almost all of the money that covered youngest brother’s school tuition as well as his living expenses in town? Wasn’t that a sign of my familial affection? Before we split from the family, my wife worked like a dog despite being sickly. Wasn’t that also a sign of our familial affection? When I was seriously injured and near death, Older Brother Zhao came by with three hundred taels that were all taken by you. My whole family didn’t say a single word. Wasn’t that also a sign of our familial affection? Yes, you raised my older sister and me for a period of five to six years. However, I used fifteen years of hard labor and returned it all to this family. If that wasn’t enough, then the three hundred taels, which should have been used to save my life, should be more than enough to return your so-called ‘old affections’ right?”

Every single word that came out of Yu Hai’s mouth seemed to drip with blood, “In that case, I don’t owe you anything! On the contrary, you’re the one who owes me! You owe me my mother’s life!! When will you be able to repay me for that?”

Madam Zhang had gotten used to getting her way at home and didn't expect Yu Hai, who was always the most obedient, to suddenly retort her so intensely. The fears within her suddenly evaporated and she glared fiercely at Yu Hai and shrilly shrieked, “All of the money you made wasn’t spent on me! I spent all these years scraping together money and being frugal. Wasn’t it all for the sake of the Yu Family? Xiaobo is your blood brother and has your Yu Family’s blood. The oldest brother is like a second father, isn’t it right and just that you pay for his school fees?”

When he saw that Madam Zhang wasn’t a bit repentant about her actions and was trying to twist the logic around, Yu Hai remarked in a voice filled with disappointment, “You’re wrong. I’m not the oldest brother of the family. The oldest brother of the family is Chen Dashan who has already changed his surname to Yu. He also crawled out of the same belly as Yu Bo. That being said, you, as their mother, are still alive and well! After doing all of these calculations, I don’t think that I, as the second brother, should be the one raising them!!”

Madam Zhang continued to persist on her stance and pestered him, “I was able to provide for your older sister and you, so why can’t you provide for your younger brother!! You have money now yet you’re so reluctant to take out five hundred taels for your younger brother. I was truly blind for raising a person worse than a pig into an adult. I should have just sent you and your stupid mother down to hell back then…”

“Shut up!!” Old Yu slapped Madam Zhang forcefully on her face and furiously hollered, “Why do you keep saying that you’re the one who raised Dahai and older sister up? Do you know how to fish or farm? Wasn’t I the one who earned the money to feed and clothe Dahai and his older sister? Did I ever say a word in regards to you and that good for nothing son of yours for eating my food? Ever since our youngest son was born, how have you treated Dahai and his sister? Do you think I’m blind? How do you have the face to boast about what you did?”

Madam Zhang held her face that had just been hit and dazedly looked at Old Yu. She would have never expected that her husband, who never had a temper, would one day raise his hand towards her. In addition, he would even do it for the sake of that b*tch’s children!

Madam Zhang exploded and screeched, “Ahhhhhhhhh——”. She flung herself at Old Yu and used her long nails to scratch at the old man’s face as she screamed, “You hit me? I did all of this for you ah? It was all for the sake of your Yu Family’s future!! Yu Hai is your son, but that doesn’t that mean that Xiaobo isn’t your son, ah? You old bastard, if you actually had the ability, do you think I would have needed to scrimp and save so much ah?”

Under her explosive temper, Madam Zhang showed her true potential. She unexpectedly managed to push Old Yu, who had done hard labor all his life, underneath her body and clawed at him furiously. Although Old Yu protected his face, a few long scratches that dripped with blood managed to land on him.

“Enough!!” Yu Hai caught Madam Zhang’s arm and pulled her off of Old Yu.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Madam Zhang rolled around on the kang bed and wailed, “Someone come quickly! Old Yu’s family wants to kill me!! You two are ganging up on me, an old woman. You guys want my life!! You want me to die!! They’re killing me!!”

Yu Dashan, who had long heard the ruckus inside, rushed into the room despite Madam Li’s attempts to stop him. He forcefully pushed Yu Hai aside and placed himself in front of Madam Zhang protectively. He snarled, “Dahai! My mother is your elder, how could you treat her like this?”

Yu Caidie was standing outside the room with tears streaming down her face. She cried so hard that her body trembled. She looked at her own mother with eyes that seemed to regard a stranger. Her mother, who had always tenderly loved and taken care of her, had actually murdered her second older brother’s biological mother. If Second Brother reported this to the authorities, then her mother would pay with her life!! This kind and weak girl couldn’t stand this revelation. Her legs gave out under her as she fainted onto the ground.

However, the situation inside was chaotic, so no one noticed her. Yu Hai regarded Madam Zhang, who was still trying to shamelessly wriggle her way out of this situation, with a dead look in his eyes. He calmly stated, “Who’s right, who’s wrong, we can find out when the authorities make their decision! The price for killing someone is your own life, debts must be repaid, that is the law of the heavens!!”

Madam Zhang abruptly stopped her wails as she looked at Yu Hai in alarm. His one sentence made her feel more afraid than seeing her cousin’s, Madam Liu, ghost. This case couldn’t be reported. She couldn’t allow her youngest son, who had a bright future ahead of him, to be stuck with a ‘murderess mother’. Her youngest son was going to pass the examinations and become a high-ranking official!

“No!! Dahai, you can’t do this!! You will ruin your younger brother. Xiaobo is your blood-related younger brother ah. Do you think you can watch with open eyes as you ruin his reputation by reporting this case ah?” Tears dripped down Madam Zhang’s face as she rushed over to hold onto the corner of Yu Hai’s jacket. She desperately hoped that Yu Hai would let go of his desire to report this case.

Yu Xiaocao couldn’t stand it anymore. She stepped out and loudly proclaimed, “You’re wrong! Younger Uncle wouldn’t have his reputation ruined by my father. The one ruining his reputation is you, his malicious and evil mother!! Since you dared to kill someone, then you must be willing to take on the consequences. Don’t try to use morality to restrain my father! My father is taking revenge for my biological grandmother. This is the responsibility of every son, so he has no wrong in this!!”

Madam Zhang could only think about her youngest son’s future prospects. She sobbed piteously, “Yes, yes! It’s all my fault!! However, my Xiaobo didn’t do anything wrong and my Caidie also didn’t do anything wrong!! My poor daughter, if she had the reputation of having a mother who killed someone, then the Mu Family will definitely break their engagement. Her future will be ruined. Xiaobo and Caidie are both your blood-related siblings ah!! Feel something for them and let me go this one time——tomorrow I’ll have someone come over to fix your mother’s grave and a monk to say the last rites for her. I’ll place your mother’s placard in the house and burn incense for her and I’ll also visit her grave on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Just spare me this one time!”

When he saw Madam Zhang’s expressions and thought of his younger brother and sister, Yu Hai felt his resolve waver. At this time, Old Yu came over with a hand over the cuts on his face and said, “Dahai, Madam Zhang is truly guilty of a terrible crime. However, even if we sent her to the guillotine, we still wouldn’t be able to bring your mother back to life! We need to focus on those living instead. For your pitiful younger brother and sister, please don’t bring this case to the authorities, okay?”

When Yu Xiaocao saw her father wavering, she decided she needed to step in as she didn’t want Madam Zhang to get off that easily. That old hag was truly someone who forgot the pain once the wound healed. If they let her off now, then, in the future, she would likely continue doing shameless things, which was just aggravating to think about!

She thought for a bit and then said, “If you want my father to give up on reporting this case to the authorities, that could be done. However, we need to make sure that she truly regrets her actions! Since my biological grandmother came over to find her, it must be because she didn’t repent and continued to bully our family. Because she couldn’t stand seeing this happen, she came over to aid us, the victims.”

Xiaocao paused for a second before she continued, “Grandfather, do you know what she did in town today? She threatened my father in order to have him give her five hundred taels. She wanted to use that money as a bribe to allow my younger uncle a backdoor way to enter Rongxuan Academy. If it truly could happen, that would be one thing as we could take it for younger uncle’s future prospects. We would even borrow money to make that happen. However, I asked the headmaster of the academy and he told me that there was no such thing. The academy has already reported this matter to the authorities and I am confident that we will find out the ending very soon!! Grandfather, younger uncle is your son, but my father is your son too ah! Both the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh, you can’t kill one son to pave the future for another ah!! Grandfather, my father already doesn’t have a mother anymore, are you trying to make it such that he doesn’t even have a father who loves him anymore too?” Xiaocao looked at her grandfather with tears shining in her eyes. She was doing this for the sake of her father and her family, who had all suffered through a lot in the past.

Old Yu looked at his son, who was much taller than him. In the facial features of his second son, he could see the shadow of his first wife. This son of his had always been sensible since childhood and was the most obedient of all his children. Xiaocao was right. He couldn’t continue to neglect this son just because he was sensible and obedient. That would hurt his son’s feelings!

“Dahai, don’t worry! In the future, Madam Zhang won’t dare to cause more trouble for you guys. She doesn’t have the face to find you all anymore. I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her!!” Old Yu seemed as if he had suddenly aged many years at once, and he couldn't seem to straighten his back anymore.