From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 806: Chapter 808: Grandparent and Grandchild

Seeing her young grandson looking so aggrieved, Li Cuicui immediately flared up. "Who bullied you? Tell Grandmother. I’ll go teach them a lesson for you."

Gu Ben Can waved his hands in a panic. "Grandmother, I’m afraid I might not be around to take care of you in the future."

Hearing this, Li Cuicui turned pale with fright. "What happened? Don’t scare me like this."

Seeing the old woman’s expression, Gu Ben Can knew he had overacted. He quickly sat up straight and explained rapidly, "My dad wants me to study hard to become a scholar, so he assigned me a massive pile of homework.

"These past few days, I was just thinking about how rare it is for me to come home, so I wanted to bond with my brothers. I got so busy that I completely forgot about my homework!

"I’m afraid that if my dad checks my homework tonight and I have nothing to show for it, he’ll beat me to death.

"Grandmother, you don’t know how much it hurts when my dad hits me. Sometimes, I have to lie in bed for days before I can even get up."

When Li Cuicui heard the first part, she didn’t think much of it. A father making his son do homework was for the child’s own good. But when she heard that the boy was beaten so badly he couldn’t get out of bed, her expression instantly changed. "How could your dad be so heavy-handed?

"Your grandfather and I never beat him like that when he was little. He’s gotten too big for his britches!

"No, I have to have a good talk with him about this. It’s not like you kids can’t understand reason; there’s no need for him to resort to violence. If he seriously injures you, he’ll be the one regretting it."

Li Cuicui then shifted her tone. "What about your mother? Did she just stand by and watch when your dad hit you?"

Gu Ben Can’s eyes darted around, and he looked even more wronged. "Don’t even mention it. If my mom dares to speak up for us, my dad will ground her! He won’t let her leave the estate, and he even has people guard her bedroom door."

He wasn’t entirely lying. Sometimes, when his mother was feeling unwell, his father would get so anxious that he really would do that—sometimes even standing guard at the door himself.

Hearing that her daughter-in-law was also being mistreated, Li Cuicui took a deep breath. "Has your dad’s temper been getting worse ever since he became an official?"

In the past, her son used to treasure his wife to no end. Whenever Li Cuicui had criticized her even slightly, he would get upset. Sure enough, men were all the same. They always forgot the wives who had supported them through thick and thin. At this moment, the old lady felt a surge of sympathy for Old Seventh’s wife. She felt that every woman walked the same tragic path, and their harmonious, glamorous lives were merely a facade for outsiders to see.

"Exactly! Everyone under my dad is terrified of him," Gu Ben Can said, nodding repeatedly. It was true—his father spent all day at the government office with a dark scowl, and there wasn’t a single subordinate who didn’t fear him.

Li Cuicui looked at her grandson sympathetically. "It’s been hard on you boys. But your dad is an official now, so he naturally needs to maintain his dignity. Sometimes, you just have to humor him a bit.

"It’s truly not easy for one man to support your large household and uphold this entire clan. As his sons, you need to understand him and try not to make him angry..."

Gu Ben Can was speechless. So... his whole tragic act had been for nothing?

Seeing her young grandson sitting there in a daze, Li Cuicui assumed he was scared. She patted his hand and comforted him, "Don’t worry. I’ll go back with you in a bit. I’ll just say that this old woman missed her grandson and wanted you to stay by my side to help out, which is why your homework was accidentally delayed.

"However, you need to have a better sense of priorities in the future. Finish the tasks your dad assigns you before you go out to play..."

Gu Ben Can stared blankly. He thought, "Grandmother, Granny, it’s only been one day! Am I no longer your precious darling?"

Back at the estate.

Gu Ben Can had thought he could use the old lady’s influence to smooth things over, but to his surprise, her interference only made his life even more miserable.

"Serves you right. Did you really think that just because your grandmother dotes on you, you had the upper hand? That you could use her to turn the tables on your dad?" Jin Qianqian leaned against the bookshelf, watching her son scribble furiously. She was just short of grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds to enjoy the show.

If he couldn’t finish copying these penalty essays today, the amount would double tomorrow.

"Mom, don’t gloat like that. If you knew, why didn’t you warn me?" Gu Ben Can didn’t dare stop his hand. He knew his father’s temper; if he didn’t finish today, his dad would absolutely make good on his threat.

"So it’s my fault now?" Jin Qianqian retorted. "Even if I had told you, you probably wouldn’t have believed me.

"Since we have this opportunity today, allow your mother to let you in on a little secret.

"Don’t be fooled by how the old lady calls all you grandsons her precious darlings. In her heart, none of you boys will ever compare to her own biological sons."

"But why? Aren’t we all her descendants?" Gu Ben Can asked, genuinely confused.

"Your dad and his brothers all came from her womb and were raised single-handedly by your grandmother," Jin Qianqian explained. "No one can compare to that kind of bond.

"Besides, haven’t you heard that mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are natural enemies? Yet you are a piece of flesh that fell from my body. How could that ever be the same?"

"No wonder..." Gu Ben Can seemed to realize something. He placed his brush on the inkstone, turned around, and looked at his mother. "Mom, in the future, will you also prioritize me and my eldest brother over everything else?"

Jin Qianqian fell silent for a moment before replying, "I don’t know either. After all, I haven’t reached that stage in life yet.

"But don’t hold out too much hope for me. As long as people are alive, they will always be a bit selfish. Even if I want to be fair, my heart will inevitably favor the children I gave birth to and raised.

"If there were things I didn’t quite understand before, I definitely understand them now after raising you and your brother."

Gu Ben Can walked over and held Jin Qianqian’s hand. "Mom, I promise I won’t be one of those men who forgets his mother the moment he marries a wife."

Jin Qianqian backhanded his hand away. "You’re wrong about that. When you marry a wife, you just need to keep your mother and your wife balanced on the same scale.

"I am your father’s responsibility, and your wives will be your responsibility. Your dad and I have no desire to get tangled up in your domestic affairs in the future.

"All these conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law are entirely caused by you men failing to handle things fairly and impartially."

Gu Ben Can rubbed his reddened hand. "If my future wife isn’t filial, I’ll just divorce her."

Jin Qianqian looked him up and down with disgust. "It’s exactly because of men like you, with this macho chauvinism, that there are so many conflicts in the world."

In a society governed by filial piety, Jin Qianqian wasn’t the least bit worried that her children and grandchildren would be unfilial. Besides, she held a massive amount of wealth in her own hands, so it was impossible for things to ever reach that point.

Bringing up this topic today was simply to help this boy better understand the ways of the world. Having been born into a life of luxury, the two brothers were sorely lacking in life’s harsh lessons. It was indeed somewhat problematic for them to grow up so sheltered. Jin Qianqian clicked her tongue, staring absentmindedly at her youngest son.

Gu Ben Can didn’t know why, but under his mother’s intense gaze, he actually felt a chill run down his spine.

He lowered his head, trying to read Jin Qianqian’s eyes. "Mom, why are you looking at me like that?"