Chapter 76

Chapter 76

After the last unpleasant encounter with Fan Zixu and the other two, they were too embarrassed to face Han Zhang again. Han Zhang, for his part, didn't want to waste time with these three co-brothers-in-law who were never meant to see eye to eye with him.

And to gain Father Shen's respect and support, it wasn't necessary to brown-nose him.

So when Han Zhang met Father Shen, he respectfully presented his congratulatory gift, exchanged brief pleasantries, and then requested a private conversation with Second Brother Shen.

Unlike the other three sons-in-law who were eagerly sucking up, Father Shen wasn't displeased with Han Zhang. Instead, he was quite curious and intrigued that Han Zhang would want to associate with his ne'er-do-well second son.

"Oh? You seem to get along quite well with my second son?"

Father Shen clicked his tongue in amazement.

He could tell that Han Zhang genuinely wanted to befriend his second son, not simply to ingratiate himself with his wife's family.

But precisely because of that, he found it surprising.

Given his second son's temperament, being able to have such a close and harmonious relationship with Han Zhang, a scholar brother-in-law, was truly as rare as a rooster laying eggs—now that was a first.

Father Shen's disdain for his son was all too obvious.

Being so blatantly looked down upon, Shen Huaizhi immediately took offense: "Father! What kind of look is that? Can't I get along with Brother Han?"

Father Shen wasn't about to coddle him, wagging his head and stroking his beard as he recited:

"A stubborn stone defies the chisel's art; / To speak of ice to summer bugs is vain. / With you I've little left to say at heart; / A breeze o'er the wild bridge will pass again."

Those who understood covered their mouths to hold back laughter.

Shen Huaizhi didn't understand and blurted out: "What does that mean?"

Shen Huairen finally got a chance to one-up his brother verbally, offering a "helpful" straightforward explanation with malicious glee:

"Second Brother, Father is saying you have a blockhead that rotten wood can't be carved from, and he has nothing to say to a blockhead like you."

Second Brother is such an idiot—he couldn't even understand such a simple doggerel.

Fan Zixu and the others could no longer hold back and snorted with laughter.

This instantly made Shen Huaizhi turn beet red with shame and fury.

Thick-skinned as he was, being humiliated in front of so many people—especially in front of his valued Brother Han—was a blow to his pride. He felt deeply embarrassed.

"You're the blockhead!"

Shen Huaizhi glared furiously at his elder brother who was enjoying his misery.

Then he turned to Father Shen, his eyes turning red with rage. Forgetting where he was, hurt and outrage welled up together as he raged:

"Father, am I really your own son? What kind of father speaks of his son like that!"

"Yes, I do enjoy the good life, and I don't measure up to Eldest Brother in my studies, but I'm not that bad! What stubborn stone, what summer bug... I may not be good at studying, but I can do business! I'm excellent at business!"

"Father, you've gone too far... I'm your own son! You look down on me on normal days, and now you even write poems to humiliate me..."

"Since you think so little of me, why don't you just kick me out of the house today? That way I won't be an embarrassment to you anymore, alright!"

Though he had a thick skin, he still had his dignity.

Shen Huaizhi fought back the tears. The years of bottled-up resentment from being looked down upon by his father and scorned by his brothers exploded in that moment, making him lose his temper and let his mouth run away with him.

Father Shen had only been habitually admonishing his son, not truly intending to embarrass him—the words just came out that way. In the past, his second son would always laugh it off and sass him back, but he never expected him to suddenly blow up today!

Father Shen momentarily regretted running his mouth, as well as the awkwardness of being publicly accused by his own son.

But as a father, he couldn't swallow his pride in front of everyone.

So Father Shen could only keep up a stern front, scowling and barking:

"Everything I said is true. You're two years past the age of twenty, and if you can't even accept honest words, what future do you have?"

"Commerce is a lowly path. If you don't study hard and seek official rank, you'll be reduced to a tradesman when the family splits up—and you'll suffer for it."

"You can't even tell good from bad advice, and you dare to yell at me? How could I have such a foolish son?"

Anyone who has experienced emotional outbursts knows that when someone's emotions get the better of them, the more you poke, the more they explode.

That was exactly Shen Huaizhi's state now.

He had endured contempt and scorn his entire life for not being good at studying. Though he always laughed and acted carefree, how could he truly be unaffected? How could he never have negative emotions?

Besides, as a son, no matter how much he complained about his father, deep down he still craved his father's recognition and approval.

But instead, his father not only looked down on him but even made fun of his pain!

The shame and grievance in Shen Huaizhi's heart now burst forth like a dam bursting, impossible to contain.

"Fine, fine, fine! I'm foolish, I'm unfilial, I'll never match Eldest Brother, I'm just a worthless dandy... Your son has such self-awareness, Father—are you satisfied now?"

After his indignant outburst, he stormed off red-eyed, flicking his sleeves.

Leaving Father Shen both angry and embarrassed, he could only slam the table and roar: "Unfilial wretch!"

The hall fell silent.

Fan Zixu and the others looked at each other in awkward silence. This time, they really hadn't intended to witness their father-in-law's embarrassment.

Han Zhang stepped forward to state his position, looking coldly at Father Shen as he declared:

"Father-in-law, I understand your eagerness to see your son succeed, but I must respectfully disagree. Second Brother is by no means as worthless as you describe. He is actually quite remarkable—it is you who have been one-sided and failed to see his merits."

"As the saying goes: don't reprimand your children in public, don't scold your wife before bed. Today, Father-in-law, you have gone too far... I hope you'll forgive my bold words."

With that, Han Zhang clasped his hands and bowed, then withdrew and went after Second Brother Shen.

"You, you..."

Humiliated once again, Father Shen sat in his chair, his face flushing and paling by turns, seemingly choked speechless by Han Zhang's blunt words.

Fan Zixu and his two companions, seeing this, naturally seized the chance to disparage Han Zhang, their despised brother-in-law.

Fan Zixu pretended to shout in anger: "Han Qinzhang, stop right there! How dare you be so disrespectful to your father-in-law?"

Zhao Hongji played along: "Second brother-in-law, when your elder is lecturing you, how can you talk back like that?"

Chai Wenxuan went even further and flat-out accused him: "Hey! Second brother-in-law, butting heads with your father-in-law like this is really unfilial..."

Shen Huairen, on the other hand, aimed his attack at his own younger brother, joining their father in righteous anger:

"Father, Second Brother is getting more and more out of line. I think we should give him what he wants and let him go out and struggle a bit, so he learns to appreciate your efforts."

Once Second Brother was out of the house, no other brother would dare talk back to him, the legitimate eldest son.

Shen Huairen gloated to himself at the thought.

He completely missed how his father's gaze changed after he spoke.

Shen Fu felt like he'd been struck by lightning—

Was this the eldest legitimate son he'd poured everything into raising?

How could Huairen be this dense?

He was Second Brother's own father—disciplining him was only natural, out of a desire for his son to do well. But the eldest son treating his brother like this was nothing less than pushing him out and putting him down!

In the past, when the brothers fought, he'd chalked it up to youthful high spirits. Besides, every fight between the eldest and second sons was about protecting Lan Geer and Quan Geer, their two younger brothers—surely that showed loyalty and love.

But now, Shen Fu didn't see it that way anymore.

He suddenly started to suspect that the eldest son's defense of Quan Geer—besides Quan Geer being more obedient—might have more to do with going against the second son and using it to suppress him...

Even though he often called the second son useless, he was actually pretty satisfied with his business sense.

It was just that the second son was too rebellious by nature, so he often scolded him, hoping the boy would understand that the road of business was hard and standing on his own wasn't easy, so he wouldn't get cocky.

In the future, the second son could lean on his elder brother, who was already in officialdom, learn to be humble, and not ruin things with his brother.

Unfortunately, the second son just couldn't stand the eldest and wouldn't see reason.

Now the eldest son was even dumber, actually wanting to kick the second son out of the house...

Shen Fu felt like everything went black!

No matter how wild the second son was, he wouldn't be surprised—after all, he'd never given that son his careful upbringing.

But the eldest son was someone he'd personally taught with so much effort, pouring almost the whole family's resources into him—and now he was pushing away his own cash cow?

He'd already misjudged the young ladies and lads,

Could it be that with his sons... he'd picked wrong again?

Shen Fu's head was throbbing with pain.

...

Meanwhile.

Shen Huaizhi, furious, stormed out of the hall. Instead of going back to his own courtyard, he made a beeline for the main courtyard to find comfort with his mother and younger brothers.

His father didn't like him, looked down on him, but his mother and brothers understood him.

And sure enough, that was true.

When Madam Shen heard what Shen Fu had done, she flew into a rage, rolled up her sleeves, and was ready to go have it out with him.

"That blind old fool! He looks down on my son every day, and now he dares to treat him like this? I'm not letting that old bastard get away with this!"

Shen Qinglan chimed in excitedly to comfort him: "Second Brother, don't listen to Father's nonsense. In my heart, you're the best. Whether you go into business or pursue officialdom in the future, I'll always be closest to you!"

"I believe Second Brother will achieve great things someday, even greater than Eldest Brother."

Such wholehearted support moved the wronged Shen Huaizhi so much that he couldn't help but cry right then and there.

"Mother, Lan Geer, wuwu..."

"My son, wuwu..."

"Second Brother, wuwu..."

The three of them hugged and sobbed together, putting on quite the dramatic show.

When Han Zhang caught up, this was what he saw.

He couldn't help but hold back the smile at the corner of his mouth before joining in with great enthusiasm.

"My dear husband is right. Second Brother, do you remember what we brothers said back then?"

"A roc rises with the wind one day, soaring ninety thousand miles up... Second Brother's talent is beyond ordinary people; it just needs some polishing to catch the wind and soar!"

Time to spin the story and lay on the charm!