My brother received a phone call, and a few high school classmates had arrived at the village entrance, so he got up to greet them.

As he left, Mom brought the dishes to the table and saw someone pouring wine for my brother's grandfather, pouring it almost to the brim.

She kindly advised, "Uncle, drink less, this wine is strong and not good for your health."

The hard-of-hearing old man actually heard her this time.

He slammed the wine glass on the table:

"Who do you think you are!"

"This is my son-in-law's house, my grandson's house. It's not your place as an outsider to meddle in my affairs."

His son stepped in, "Dad, please stop, you've had too much to drink!"

"I haven't had too much! Some people, you give them an inch, they take a mile."

"I was just being polite to you for the sake of my grandson, and you want to show off?"

"You call yourself a mother, Xiao Zhe has a mother, a respectable high school graduate. His uncles are all civil servants, living off the state. Who do you think you are to have Xiao Zhe call you mother? Don't make me say it, you're just a daughter of a pig butcher! Illiterate fool, you think you deserve to be called a mother? My grandson has only eaten at your place for a few years, and will give you some money every month in the future, that's enough. Don't get delusional!"

He went on a tirade in his thick local dialect.

The whole table was stunned.

Mom stood there like a statue, Aunt Zhu dragged her away.

I was trembling with anger, wanting to jump on the table and argue with the old man.

But with so many eyes watching, acting impulsively would only further embarrass Mom and make her unable to live in peace.

The woman with the pumpkin face I saw outside the auditorium years ago turned out to be my brother's second aunt.

At this moment, she coolly said, "Sorry everyone, my dad is drunk."

Just now when someone asked her about her son's university, she had a cold expression, but now she was gloating, laughing uncontrollably.

Third Auntie calmly stood up.

She pointed at the second aunt with her cigarette, sneered, and said, "Is the old man really drunk, or just pretending?"

She turned to my brother and said, "Big brother, it's been years, your acting skills have improved. Over a decade ago, when your daughter committed suicide, you weren't this angry. You used to say, a son-in-law is only half, if the daughter dies, she dies, the son is still good. You left a child behind, and for so many years, your Wang family never asked about it. Now that this child has grown up, of course you want to quickly kick out Hu Suxin. This is called planting trees for the next generation to enjoy the shade. Big brother, do you see what I'm saying, is it right?"

Provoked by Third Auntie, my brother's grandfather was furious and ashamed.

He completely lost his temper, accusing my mom of being a mistress, a fox spirit, a despicable woman full of malice.

My brother rushed back and tried to pull his grandfather away, begging him to stop.

His grandfather roared, "Lin Sizhe, today in front of so many people, you must sever ties with her. Otherwise, your deceased mother in heaven won't forgive you, and our Wang family will disown you!"

The second aunt came over and advised, "The year you ranked first in the exam, I kindly greeted her outside the auditorium. I asked, Lin Sizhe is your son, right? Xiao Zhe, didn't you see, she glared at me fiercely and said, don't talk nonsense, Lin Sizhe is not my son! Xiao Zhe, with a person like that, are you still not going to cut ties with her?"

Other relatives began to whisper:

"No wonder she committed suicide, they were already involved long ago."

"So this stepmother is truly malicious..."

My brother, who had never drunk before, picked up a glass of white wine.

Amidst everyone's gasps, he downed it in one go.

Setting down the glass, he said slowly, "Alright, then let's sever ties."