Everyone looked at the old man in surprise.
Jin Yao and Jinjin also turned to look at the old man with grim expressions. Jinjin shouted anxiously, “Grandpa, last time you even said this bowl was given to Jinjin! This is my bowl!”
The old man ignored Jinjin.
Jin Yao’s eyes darkened as he stared at the old man. “Why? You clearly know that is my property.”
In his heart, he could not help but begin to doubt whether he was truly their son. Why had they always been so cold—even somewhat repulsive—toward him all these years?
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t felt their dislike for him in the past, but he simply hadn’t been willing to believe it. They were both their sons, so why did they show endless tolerance to his eldest brother while always being so picky and harsh toward him?
He had always harbored a sliver of hope toward them, foolishly thinking that as long as he worked hard to earn more money for the family, they would view him in a different light.
Yet that day never came—not even up until the day his whole family was driven out of the house.
It was as if his life, death, and happiness meant nothing at all to them.
Having finished his question, Jin Yao’s eyes turned red with aggrieved hurt.
Why treat him this way? Even violent bandits gave a reason before killing someone, yet they told him nothing at all.
Hearing Jin Yao’s words, the old man’s face changed, and he asked subconsciously, “How do you know that’s yours?”
Having said that, seeing Jin Yao squinting and staring at him, the old man paused, quickly adjusted his tone, and changed his tune: “Who told you that’s yours? Does it have your name written on it?”
With red eyes, Jin Yao stared at him without saying a word.
Did this bowl have something to do with him?
In the old man’s subconscious words just now, he had caught a trace of panic and tension.
Holding the broken bowl, Mrs. Xu was stunned. What did this mean?
The old man looked at Mrs. Xu and said, “Give that broken bowl to me!”
Mrs. Xu held the broken bowl without moving, her eyes darting back and forth. It seemed this bowl really was strange.
In that case, she could give it to them even less.
Seeing that she didn’t move, the old man frowned and said in a deep voice, “Eldest Son’s Wife, give me that broken bowl!”
Seeing that the old man wanted the bowl, Jin Yao knew in his heart that he had to get it back as soon as possible. He turned around, placed Jinjin over near the main gate, and instructed her to pay attention to her surroundings and run if anything seemed wrong. Then, he turned around and walked toward Mrs. Xu.
“Hand it over, or watch out—I’ll tear down this wretched yard of yours. If you won’t let us live in peace, don’t even think about living well yourselves!” Jin Yao said coldly, staring at Mrs. Xu.
“Jin Yao, how dare you!” the old man barked angrily.
“You lowly thing! Is that yours to just come up and snatch? Eldest Son’s Wife, give it to me!”
Seeing that Jin Yao was going to snatch the bowl back, the old woman also flew into a rage. She extended her hand toward Mrs. Xu, demanding the bowl.
Jin Yao felt a surge of pain in his heart. She actually called him a “lowly thing”?
Mrs. Xu glanced around at them and shouted loudly, “I’m not giving it to anyone! I brought this back, so it belongs to our eldest branch!”
“You wench, have you lost your mind?! Give me the bowl!” the old woman cursed furiously. Raising her finger at Mrs. Xu, she walked toward her.
Jin Yao did not press any closer, merely staring intently at the bowl in her hands, though his mind was in turmoil.
He suddenly had a very bad feeling. Mrs. Wang didn’t feel like his mother at all. Looking back at the curses she had hurled at him over the years, the more he thought about it, the less it sounded like a mother cursing her own son.
Hiding to the side and sucking on his finger as he watched all this, Haohao suddenly rushed over and shielded Mrs. Xu. Looking at the old woman and Jin Yao before him, he shouted loudly, “You’re not allowed to bully my mother! I’ll beat you to death!”
After shouting, he charged forward and pushed the old woman.
The old woman hadn’t expected the grandson she doted on so dearly to suddenly push her. Taken off guard, she was knocked backward to the ground, the back of her head striking the sharp edge of the large stone.
Instantly, pain made her see stars, and her head spun in confusion. She screamed out loud as a knee-jerk reaction, “Aiyaya, murder! Someone’s committing murder!”
“Blood! There’s blood on the ground!”
Jinjin, standing to the side with sharp eyes, caught sight of the blood on the large stone and cried out in terror.
“Jinjin, don’t be scared!” Jin Yao hurriedly comforted her, turning his head to check on the old woman’s condition.
The crowd also hurriedly looked over at the old woman, only to see that she was still quite conscious. Holding her head with her hands, she actually managed to stand up unsteadily on her own.
Mrs. Xu cursed in her heart: *The old hag sure is sturdy. That didn’t even knock her dead?*
By this time, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered at the Jin family’s main gate.
Seeing this scene, everyone was stunned. It had actually drawn blood?
It seemed the elders’ words were not unfounded!
Once the old woman steadied herself, she glared fiercely at Haohao and cursed angrily, “You ungrateful little wolf! I doted on you for nothing!”
“Ah!”
Seeing the blood on the old woman’s hands, Haohao shrieked in terror and ran behind Mrs. Xu to hide, poking his head out occasionally to see if the old woman was coming after him to hit him.
Seeing that the back of the old woman’s head was bleeding but that she was otherwise fine—likely having only scraped her skin—Jin Yao did not want to stay here and cause more trouble. Wanting only to quickly grab his family’s bowl and leave, he walked directly toward Mrs. Xu to take it.
“Give me the bowl!” He reached out to grab it, but unexpectedly, Mrs. Xu spun around quickly, hugging the broken bowl, and ran toward her house.
Seeing this, Jin Yao moved his feet swiftly, taking several large strides to block her front door, and said in a cold voice, “Eldest Sister-in-law, give me the bowl. This belonged to our Jinjin in the first place.”
Seeing her retreat cut off, Mrs. Xu pointed at Jin Yao in a rage and cursed hysterically, “You lowborn wretched thing spawned by a lowly creature! You weren’t even part of our family to begin with, so what right do you have to take my family’s things? This is my house! I say it’s mine, so it’s mine! Who can prove it belongs to that little wench? This bowl has nothing to do with you—get the hell out of my house!”
Hearing her curse so foully, Jin Yao clenched his fists as rage surged within him.
Yet in the next second, he suddenly realized what she had said. She had cursed him as a “lowborn wretched thing spawned by a lowly creature.”
He abruptly snapped his gaze toward the old woman. He understood very well that the “lowly creature” in Mrs. Xu’s words was not referring to the old woman, Mrs. Wang.
His expression instantly changed, and he asked urgently, “What did you say? What do you know? Tell me!”
Realizing she had let something slip, Mrs. Xu coughed lightly, changed the subject, and cursed angrily, “Move aside! I’m going inside to check on Jin Shi!”
Jin Yao’s eyes turned dark. It appeared there really was something wrong with his parentage.
“If you want to go in, leave the bowl behind!” Jin Yao said in a deep voice.
He felt that this bowl must be tied to his true identity.
“Mrs. Xu, give me the bowl!”
The old man cast a glance at the old woman, completely ignoring the bleeding on the back of her head. Seeing that Jin Yao was about to take the bowl, he hurried over as well.
Seeing both father and son in front of her wanting the bowl, and thinking about how her useless husband couldn’t help her one bit, Mrs. Xu grew furious. Holding the bowl in one arm, she pointed at Jin Yao and the old man with her other hand and spat venomously:
“You both want it, don’t you? Keep dreaming! Our Haohao is the true bloodline of the old Jin family, the one who will carry on the family line! There’s something strange about this bowl, isn’t there? You won’t give it to Haohao, but you want to take it back?”
“Haha! I brought this back myself. Even if my family can’t keep it, I won’t give it to either of you! Give up!” After screaming her malicious refusal, Mrs. Xu swiftly raised the bowl in her hands and smashed it onto the ground.
The broken bowl struck the ground with a loud *crack*, instantly shattering into pieces.
“Go on, take it! Hahaha! Pick it up! Why don’t you go ahead and pick it up?! If I can’t have it, none of you will either! Tui!”
Mrs. Xu spat at Jin Yao and the old man, then quickly dragged Haohao into the house, slamming the door shut and bolting it behind them with a heavy thud.
When Jin Yao saw Mrs. Xu about to smash the bowl, he had tried to rush forward to grab it, but the old man had swiftly reached out and held him back, preventing him from retrieving it in time.
Looking at the shattered pieces of the bowl, Jin Yao felt as though a hollow space had suddenly opened in his heart, as if he had lost something irreplaceable.
His expression turned exceedingly grim. Turning back quickly to check on Jinjin, he saw the little girl staring blankly at the shattered bowl, her eyes slowly welling with tears.