Chapter 58: That Was My Own Mother

"Mother, mother, ah, mother, be gentle, I was wrong, your son was wrong, I was confused... Mother, my dear mother, are you going to beat your son to death?" Little Stone sobbed and wailed as he was beaten, not realizing that the louder he cried, the angrier his mother became.

"What useless son! I don't want you anymore. If I'd given birth to a dog, it'd be better than you. Let me just beat you to death..." Stone's mother was clearly furious.

Anyone would be angry if their child cursed them without knowing right from wrong, and in Niuluo Village, such disrespect was no trivial matter. There was no way to let it slide without a good thrashing.

Little Shunzi stood frozen, watching the scene and thinking to himself, Thank goodness my mother is better, she even picked 'death-not-pull' for me.

It turned out Little Stone realized he hadn't given birth to a child only after he rolled around crying that he was going to be tormented to death, prompting his mother to impatiently whack him on the head with the small broom she used for sweeping beans.

He was stunned for a moment, then started wailing even more pitifully. But his mother was not about to coddle him—she slapped him hard, leaving him dazed, then grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and began to question him closely.

After listening, she was both angry and amused, poking Little Stone's forehead with force.

"Are you stupid? Have you ever seen a man give birth? Giving birth is a woman's job."

Little Stone nodded in grievance, agreeing, "That's right, we said so too, but aunt wouldn't believe us. She insisted we had to give birth."

"Don't talk nonsense. You misunderstood. Aunt gave you pumpkin seeds, not to make you give birth." Giving birth wasn't as simple as eating pumpkin seeds. If only it were, things would be much easier.

"But aunt said—"

Stone's mother cut him off; she didn't need to hear it to know that the boys had probably been naughty and aunt had only scared them as a joke.

Thinking of how her son returned home crying and shouting, Stone's mother was both angry and amused.

"Does your stomach still hurt now?"

Little Stone lowered his head to check, unsure, "I don't think it hurts anymore."

"Exactly!" She didn't need to guess; it was clear the boys were just scared and imagined their stomachs hurt, thinking they were going to give birth.

Stone's mother rolled her eyes. "No wonder aunt was angry. How could you all be so foolish? Don't you realize that was aunt blessing your sister-in-law, not you? Others don't get such luck so easily. You want to give birth? Dream on!"

Since marrying into the family, she'd never seen anyone in the village as silly as her son. No, it wasn't just him; the same went for Little Shunzi and the others. Stone's mother couldn't help but wonder who claimed that sturdy children were smart—these few were clearly a bit daft!

Little Stone protested, "Giving birth hurts so much—how is that lucky?" He'd never seen it, but he'd certainly heard the stories.

"Not lucky at all!" Stone's mother nodded, then recalled her son's earlier insults, feeling her anger rise again. She thought, When I gave birth to you, I suffered terribly, and instead of thanking me for raising you, you curse me.

So she turned and pulled a stick from the firewood pile, pointing at Little Stone, who was ready to sneak away.

"Stay right there!"

"Hehe, mother..." Little Stone grinned, trying to sweet-talk and act cute.

"Call me mother? Even if you called me ancestor now, it wouldn't help!"

Stone's mother pointed to the long bench beside them, indicating, "Get over there and lie down."

Little Stone dawdled, which only made her angrier. "Try dawdling again!"

Sensing her tone, Little Stone didn't dare hesitate, rushed to the bench, and before lying down, even moved it to a new spot, then finally lay across it.

"Mother, ah, mother, your son knows he's wrong, please be gentle."

"Gentle?" Stone’s mother, furious, raised the stick. "You little brat, heartless thing, and you want me to go easy..."

So it was just as Little Shunzi arrived that he saw this scene.

Little Stone quickly spotted Little Shunzi. Although getting beaten in front of his friends was embarrassing, he thought to himself that everyone was losing face together. Being seen getting punished wasn't so bad after all.

Little Shunzi hesitated before calling out, "Auntie."

Stone's mother had already seen Little Shunzi. Hearing him, she turned her head to glance his way, continuing to smack her son's backside while half-jokingly asking, "Little Shunzi, how many have you given birth to?"

"Auntie." Little Shunzi blushed with embarrassment, mumbling, "Auntie, that's not it. We misunderstood. I only learned at home from my mother that it was just a stomach ache."

He scratched his temple, continuing, "Auntie, please don't tease us. We're still young—making mistakes is normal."

"Mother, ah, mother, please stop, see, Little Shunzi came looking for me. If you keep hitting me, where will your son put his face..." Little Stone pleaded, half begging, half pitiful.

Stone's mother had intended to stop when she saw Little Shunzi, since he was her son's playmate and they would grow up together in the same village. She wanted to spare her son some dignity.

But she was too angry to stop right away, so she gave a few extra smacks.

Now she felt it was about enough. Mainly, she could tell her son truly understood his mistake, and if she continued, she'd have to find medicine for him, which would be more trouble than it was worth.

She glared at the wailing Little Stone and snapped, "You dare talk to me about dignity? Next time you spout nonsense, see how I deal with you!"

"Mother, mother, I know, your son understands, please calm down... your son apologizes, please don't be angry..."

"You'd better remember what you said today." Stone's mother handed the stick to Little Stone, scolding, "Alright, get out of my sight. Just seeing you makes me angry."

Little Stone hurried to agree, took the stick, and didn't dare throw it away. Limping, he put it back where it belonged, then politely said a few words before leaving home with Little Shunzi.

"Are you alright? Can you manage?" Little Shunzi asked, worried as he saw Little Stone limping.

Little Stone wiped the tear tracks from his face, pretending to be unconcerned. "I'm fine. A real man, blood—cough—taking a beating is nothing. I'm okay!"

Little Shunzi nodded.

Then Little Stone looked Little Shunzi up and down, puzzled, "You didn't get beaten?"

"No!" Little Shunzi shook his head, proudly saying, "My mother is my real mother—she wouldn't have the heart to hit me!"

"Nonsense!" Little Stone rolled his eyes; he'd seen Little Shunzi chased around the village by his parents with sticks before.

Growing up together, Little Shunzi knew he couldn't fool Little Stone. He chuckled and, since everyone had lost face together, recounted what happened after he got home.

(Six thousand delivered. Darlings, see you tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow's update will be a bit earlier?)