Chapter 3: Your sister-in-law is forcing you.

Ah, it was only when his father shouted that Li Qi finally snapped out of his daze.

That’s right, there was still the younger brother.

Li Zhe—the brother who had inherited his job, later swindled all the family’s relocation compensation, refused to pay for their father’s medical treatment, essentially dragging the old man to his death, and then kicked him out on the street.

At this moment, Li Zhe, who was in his third year of junior high, was watching the commotion with a cold, detached gaze. His eyes were devoid of emotion, as if he were looking at a room full of strangers. When his father asked him to help, he simply stood up and retreated into a small side room. Sitting at his desk and opening his textbook, Li Zhe felt a deep sense of misery. Since his mother’s passing, he hadn't wanted to spend a single minute in this squalid household. He watched his classmates bask in their parents' affection, carrying new schoolbags, using proper stationery, and sitting on comfy cushions. He, however, had nothing. Every time he tried to ask his father for money to buy supplies, it was a grueling ordeal that usually ended in a lecture. He never considered the hardship his father, Li Mantang, faced raising two sons alone; he only felt that his own fate was bitter. He secretly resolved to pass his exams, go to university, and leave this home forever.

Li Qi looked at Li Zhe retreating and let out a scoff. He knew Li Zhe had always looked down on their family, feeling that their poverty and the family’s lack of sophistication were dragging him down. He had dreamed of changing his destiny through education and becoming a "phoenix man." Unfortunately, he wasn't cut out for it. In his past life, he had failed his high school entrance exams, repeated a year, failed again, and by the third year, he had given up entirely to take over Li Qi’s job at the mine. Later, when the house was demolished, Li Qi, having no heirs, gave all the money and property to Li Zhe, thinking it would buy him some brotherly affection. Instead, his brother had cleaned him out and cast him onto the street.

Thinking of this, Li Qi sighed. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself for placing his trust in someone else’s conscience. In this life, he thought, we’ll see how things go.

After Li Mantang shouted, Li Hai and Li Qi finally stepped in to separate the three people on the floor. Du Li, her hair a disheveled mess—a chunk having been ripped out along with the scalp by Tang Chunyan—wailed to the heavens, "Is this how the Li family treats a woman? I’m going home to get my parents to settle this! No one is getting away with this today! Li Qi, I’ve been so good to you, always looking out for you, and you just stood there watching your second sister-in-law beat me like this?"

Li Qi shook his head like a bobblehead. "No, I wasn't just watching. I was drinking water while I watched. It’s a shame I don't have any sunflower seeds; if you give me twenty cents, I’ll go buy some now."

Du Li was so angry she nearly suffered a heart attack. Was that what she meant?

"Listen here, Third Brother, you’d better think clearly. You are going to see Uncle Manjiang whether you want to or not. If you obediently donate your kidney, I’ll let today’s incident slide. Otherwise, I’ll make a scene at the town office and ensure the Li family has no face left to show anyone!" Despite the beating, Du Li still knew her priorities; her vendetta against Tang Chunyan could wait.

Right now, since she had been beaten, she had to leverage the old man and Li Qi to ensure that not a cent of that twenty-thousand-yuan payout went to the second brother’s family. Li Peng secretly gave his wife a thumbs up; she knew how to keep her eye on the prize.

Li Qi stood up slowly and put on his cotton-padded shoes. The soles were cracked and the synthetic wool was damp, which made his heart ache. His eldest brother had taken their mother’s bankbook and hadn’t left a cent for the house; he had been wearing these same shoes for three winters. At that moment, all his hesitations vanished, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face.

"Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law. I am definitely not donating this kidney. You can talk until you’re blue in the face, you can fight until you’ve bashed each other’s heads in, it doesn't matter. I don't believe that if I refuse, you’ll dare to tie me up and drag me to the hospital. Rest assured, if you try that, the doctors wouldn't even dare to perform the surgery. As for the twenty thousand yuan and the job offer, whoever wants it can go donate their own kidney."

Li Qi’s tone was ironclad. His second brother, Li Hai, and his wife, Tang Chunyan, exchanged a look. They knew the matter was dead in the water. Without another word, they greeted Li Mantang and walked out, looking sour. Li Peng and Du Li were trembling with rage. This third brother was too willful and selfish; he had no spirit of self-sacrifice for the greater good. It was all because his mother had spoiled him.

As Li Peng was about to speak, Li Hai’s voice drifted in from the courtyard: "Second Uncle, Baozhu’s mom, Auntie Wu, Uncle Lao Gen... stop crowding around, clear off."

"Li Hai, what’s going on? We heard a racket in there—were you fighting?"

"No fighting, no fighting. How could you call that a fight? I was just hitting someone, and the eldest brother and his wife were taking a beating."

Tang Chunyan added modestly, "What’s the matter? Tell us, Auntie. We’re all family, how did it come to blows?" Auntie Wu loved hearing about such scandalous affairs. She was dying to get the scoop so she could embellish the story and gossip under the big poplar tree in the schoolyard. She had already prepared her opening line: "Did you hear? You don't know? Sigh... it’s the Li family. I’m only telling you, don't you dare tell anyone else..."

Tang Chunyan knew she wouldn't be getting the kidney money, so she didn't bother hiding it. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "My father-in-law’s cousin—a big shot in the city—has a son who needs a kidney. They’re desperate. They came to us asking our third brother to donate, claiming that blood relatives are the best match. They offered twenty thousand yuan and a job for our third brother. My father-in-law called us here to discuss it, but the eldest sister-in-law insisted the kidney must be donated while she kept the money. I thought she was being shameless, so I gave them a beating."

Tang Chunyan struck first, effectively distancing herself from the fact that she had wanted the money too. The neighbors erupted in a buzz.

"My goodness, twenty thousand yuan! How many years would my family of three have to save to get that?"

"You wouldn't save that in ten years! In this day and age, you think you’ll become a ten-thousand-yuan household on that meager salary? You’d have to start a business."

"Can a man survive without a kidney? Won't he be unable to have kids?"

"They say if a man loses a kidney, his beard stops growing and he turns into a eunuch."

"Has the Li family gone crazy with poverty, trying to sell their third son’s kidney?"

Someone shouted, "Let’s go in and talk some sense into Brother Mantang!"

The onlookers, as if waiting for this exact invitation, surged into the courtyard.

Li Mantang was a worker for the town’s road maintenance crew and lived in company housing. These houses were built in the outskirts, typically consisting of a small courtyard where they grew vegetables. Inside the door was a kitchen area with a stove, a water vat, and a dish cabinet. This led to the main rooms, which had heated brick beds (kangs). Large families often had both a north and a south kang in one room. Li Qi’s family was one such household.

When the neighbors crowded into the main room and saw the battered Li Peng and Du Li, their eyes were filled with schadenfreude. This couple had always acted as if they were part of the upper crust, looking down their noses at everyone and barely acknowledging anyone. That was a major taboo in the Northeast. Regardless of how well your children did in school or how they looked, you were expected to greet people. Seeing them beaten brought warmth to many hearts.

Auntie Wu entered the room and pulled Li Qi into her embrace. "My poor child, tell me everything. Before your mother passed, she held my hand and begged me to look after you. Don't be afraid. Tell me, do you actually want to give up your kidney, or is your sister-in-law forcing you?"