Lady Ding felt a smug sense of satisfaction in her heart, and her crying intensified: "I was so blind back then! I knew it wouldn't be easy to be a stepmother, yet I still chose to marry into this family. Now, after I've worked so hard to raise these children, all they remember is their birth mother, treating me like an outsider. I might as well be dead!"
Ji Dashan angrily raised his hand to hit Xiao Bei and Ji Xinhe, his palm held high, and shouted angrily, "Apologize to your mother right now!"
Xiao Bei quickly retreated into Ji Xinhe's embrace out of fear, but Ji Xinhe showed no fear and instead raised her head to meet Ji Dashan's gaze: "Dad, just now mom accused Xiao Bei of being a thief and wanted the whole village to know. However, Xiao Bei's chicken eggs were clearly given by Gou Dan. I suggested having Gou Dan testify to clear Xiao Bei's name, but mom refused and cried hysterically."
Ji Dashan was taken aback, first by the unexpected truth of the matter, and second by Ji Xinhe's calm manner. For some reason, he couldn't see any trace of fear or reverence for him as a father in his daughter's eyes, even though he had raised his hand to hit her.
Lady Ding hurriedly tried to interrupt, but Ji Xinhe continued: "Dad, who am I doing this for? Isn't it for the reputation of the Ji family? If we can't prove that Xiao Bei isn't a thief and clear his name, people will gossip about you as a father who raised a thief for a son, and the family will never live this down."
At these words, Ji Dashan's face turned sour.
Ji Xinhe sneered inwardly. Her father didn't care much about his children's reputation, but when it came to himself, things were different.
Ji Dashan coughed lightly and then said to Lady Ding: "You're also at fault. If you wrongly accused the child, you should at least give him a chance to clear his name. What would the village think of our family otherwise?"
Lady Ding stared blankly for a moment, seemingly in disbelief that Ji Dashan would speak up for the children for the first time.
Lady Ding glared at Ji Dashan with fury, the air seemingly freezing, while Ji Dashan looked away, seemingly scared.
After a long while, Lady Ding let out a heart-wrenching wail: "Oh, I can't live anymore! What sins did I commit to marry a loser like you? Our family is in poverty, and I suffer so much. I've worked hard all these years, raising your children, nearly dying in childbirth to give you a son, and managing the family affairs. I've spent half my lifetime without complaining, yet now you start to find fault with me? Ji Dashan, you ungrateful wretch, you might as well divorce me! See if any other woman would be willing to marry a loser like you!"
As Lady Ding cried and pushed Ji Dashan violently, his face turned deep red, and he hurriedly said, "I, I, I didn't mean it like that."
"You spineless creature, you can't even handle simple matters outside, and the only thing you're capable of is taking care of our meager farmland. How blind I was to follow you! You're so submissive outside, and now you come home wanting to assert your authority by mistreating me? The heavens are truly blind to let me suffer like this!"
Lady Ding's harsh words were a common occurrence in the Ji household, and most villagers had grown used to listening to them. However, this time her voice was unusually loud and her cries penetrating, so it didn't take long for many passing villagers to gather around the courtyard to watch.
Being humiliated in front of so many people, Ji Dashan's face flushed with embarrassment, yet he dared not get angry at Lady Ding. Instead, he repeatedly tried to placate her: "Alright, alright, be careful not to let others hear."
"What does it matter if others hear?! Ji Dashan, did you do things without the courage to admit it? Oh, what sins have I committed to suffer like this with you? I can't live like this anymore!" Lady Ding showed no mercy and relentlessly pursued the matter. She had always been like this, pinning Ji Dashan down on his weak points and never letting go until she achieved her aim.
Finally cornered, Ji Dashan roared, "Ji Xinhe, Ji Bei! Apologize to your mother immediately!"
Xiao Bei, hiding in Ji Xinhe's arms, felt a strange sense of security. Despite being afraid of Ji Dashan's anger, he stubbornly refused to submit.
Lady Ding's gaze fell on Ji Xinhe and Xiao Bei, waiting expectantly for their reaction.
"If you two keep causing trouble today, I'll throw you out and be done with raising you!" Ji Dashan bellowed.
"Since dad has said so, I guess we have no choice," Ji Xinhe casually responded, seemingly unaffected by his threat.
"You!" Ji Dashan's eyes widened in disbelief. He had always been a timid man with no accomplishments outside his home and unable to stand up to his wife. Since then, his children had been the object of his wrath, but now even his own daughter looked down on him.
Ji Dong returned home at some point, his face gloomy: "If dad doesn't want us, I'll take my younger siblings and leave."
Ji Dong was not a soft-hearted person, especially as the eldest sibling who had always taken the responsibility of protecting his younger siblings. How could he stand seeing them wronged?
"Oh, all of you are trying to turn the world upside down, aren't you?! Now that you've grown up and your wings have hardened, you think you're invincible!" Ji Dashan was still stunned when Lady Ding yelled again: "What ungrateful creatures have I raised? Your parents haven't even spoken, yet you're already thinking of separating! You're unfilial and wicked. Only you could do such a thing!"
Lady Ding would never willingly let go of Ji Dong, the laborer that she had taken into account. Over the years, if it hadn't been for Ji Dong's hard work, she would have kicked the other three kids out long ago, instead of having the Ji family raise them for nothing. Now that Ji Xinhe had grown up and could be sold for money, and Ji Bei could start working, she wouldn't let go of the laborers she had raised all these years.
"You!" Ji Dong was about to argue but was stopped by Ji Xinhe, who shook her head gently. They couldn't be the ones to propose separation; as the children, it would bring disgrace, and Lady Ding wouldn't easily let them go, making it a loss for them.
Moreover, why should she leave her mother's hard-earned property to Lady Ding and that worthless father? They should be the ones to leave! Everything that belonged to her, she would take back!
Angrily, Ji Xinhe swayed and fell, but was quickly caught by Ji Dong and Xiao Bei, who anxiously asked, "Xinhe, what's wrong?"
Ji Xinhe gasped weakly, her eyes welling up with tears: "It's all my fault. I was only thinking of eating some eggs to help recover from my head injury, but the eggs in this house aren't for me to eat. Mom manages the household daily, and it's only right for her to have an egg every day. I'm thin and weak, having been raised by the family for all these years – I have no right to eat such precious food."