Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 96 The Petty Man is Faultless; The Gentleman Frequently Errs

Chapter 96: Chapter 96 The Petty Man is Faultless; The Gentleman Frequently Errs

Men who honor their parents are certainly not in the wrong; indeed, it’s the undutiful men who are truly frightening. However, being filial to one’s parents does not necessarily mean taking a stand against one’s wife. Many women are not against their husbands being filial to their parents; what they oppose is blind filial piety.

Those who have no regard for their own family, wife, or even children, are a scourge upon marriage.

Therefore, Xia Yuan’s relatively good impression of Xie Changgen plummeted instantly.

"I’ll go too," Shitou suddenly interjected.

"No need, Aibing and my older sister’s husband are coming too. Too many people would be inappropriate, as it would seem like we’re bullying him with numbers," Lu Aiguo flatly refused. He hadn’t been in a physical altercation for a long time and was eager to get into one.

"You stay at home; we still haven’t dealt with the Su Family. By the way, my second brother’s wife and my younger sister will be coming over tomorrow to help cure the wild boar meat and deal with the things we’ve harvested. Xiaoyun, remember to take some of it out later. I’ve asked them to cook here, and I even told my second brother to come over for lunch. He’s also said he’ll help buy the train tickets. We’ll probably be able to head to Haicheng in the next two or three days."

"Okay," Lu Yun obediently replied.

"If he truly doesn’t know how to repent, it might be better to advise my sister to divorce and come with us to Haicheng. After all, if things continue this way, there’s no happiness to speak of in my sister’s future. It’s just that the children will suffer the most," Xia Yuan’s voice lowered as she spoke. Indeed, how could a mother not think of her children? Having suffered similarly, she understood that heartache all too well.

"My sister has it so hard," Xia Yuan said, tears falling.

"Don’t worry, I will warn Xie Changgen to his face. We’ve given him a chance, and if he still doesn’t know how to repent, he can’t blame us for supporting my sister’s divorce. By then, even my second brother and his wife won’t try to persuade her to stay," Lu Aiguo reassured, his heart aching as he saw his wife cry. He slowly shared some of his grandfather’s thoughts with her.

The tradition in the Lu Family, starting with Grandfather Lu, had always been to choose a wife carefully, and then to give her absolute respect.

Another tenet was that if a daughter was unhappy in her marriage, her family must give her the utmost support, even if it meant facing criticism. If the daughter herself decides, then she must be taken back, without letting her suffer in her husband’s family.

He actually knew the reason behind this. He was closest to his grandfather as a child and had heard him express regret more than once. His grandfather lamented that he had caused his grandmother to suffer for half of her life. When he finally came to his senses, it was too late—his grandmother had already passed away. Therefore, his grandfather often sighed that a woman’s life is much harder than a man’s.

So, assuming the roles of both father and mother, he consciously led his sons in their upbringing: to live a comfortable life, they should respect their parents, but they must also take care of their own family. In fact, there is no conflict between the two. He taught his descendants that if there was a problem between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the man definitely had a bigger problem. One should look for the issue within oneself to maintain harmony and prosperity at home.

Of course, such a principle is not universally applicable. One can only reason with those who are willing to listen; for those who are not, no amount of talking will help. It’s better to part ways sooner rather than later, and if separation is not immediately possible, one must find a way to make it happen.

"The ancients weren’t wrong when they said, ’The petty man is faultless, the gentleman is often at fault,’" Xia Yuan sighed, convinced that wise men truly hid among the common people. Although her grandfather had made mistakes in the first half of his life, the mere fact that he had come to realize them and had bravely owned up to them to teach his descendants made him truly a wise man, deserving of their eternal respect.

"The petty man is faultless, the gentleman is often at fault."

Lu Aiguo savored this phrase, as did Shitou and Lu Yun, who all chewed over it and turned to look at Xia Yuan. None of them had ever heard the saying before, and while they didn’t understand it, they surprisingly found it pleasing to the ear.

"There’s a story behind it. It tells of two families: one was always quarreling while the other was the exact opposite, with constant laughter and never a dispute," explained Xia Yuan.

"The constantly quarreling family couldn’t stand it anymore and went to ask the family always filled with laughter if there was a secret to their harmony. The laughing family’s patriarch was clueless and insisted there was no secret."

"Just as the quarreling family was about to leave in disappointment, they saw the wife of the laughing family trip and fall. The mother-in-law quickly exclaimed, ’Oh no, it’s all my fault for not wiping the floor dry.’ When the son came out and saw it, he was even more distressed, blaming himself, ’It’s my fault, I saw it and still forgot to remind you about the water on the floor.’ Finally, the wife who had fallen got up without any resentment and said, ’Don’t blame yourselves; it’s my fault for not watching where I’m going.’"

"In the end, it seemed the quarrelsome family understood. If the wife had tripped and blamed the wet floor, and if the mother-in-law had blamed the wife for not watching her step, the outcome would have been utterly different."

"After returning home, the quarrelsome family slowly began changing their habit of blaming others for their mistakes, instead starting to look at their own faults. Eventually, laughter began to fill their home as well. This is what it means by ’The petty man is faultless, the gentleman is often at fault.’"

Xia Yuan finished carefully, her expression melancholic. This was a saying her father had often repeated when he was still alive.

Back when her parents were still alive and she, her brother, and sister had not yet started their own families, they mostly lived together in harmony, though disputes arose occasionally. Whenever there was a quarrel at home, her father would intentionally or otherwise quote this saying, tell this story. Then she and her siblings would conscientiously begin to introspect.

Times have changed; her father, mother, and younger brother had been gone for many years, leaving only her and her sister.

"We should include all of this in our family instructions, to pass down through the generations," Lu Aiguo suggested, noticing his wife’s face was filled with a sense of loss, realizing that this saying, this story, must have touched her heart. He couldn’t help but tenderly embrace her. At that moment, Xia Yuan was so lost in her memories that she didn’t notice his gesture and didn’t push him away in time.

When she came back to her senses and realized what had happened, Lu Aiguo had already hurriedly let go, leaving Xia Yuan both exasperated and amused, and the sense of loss within her dissipated significantly.

The past is gone; it’s the living who must strive for happiness and well-being. Now, she and her sister had their own families, their dearest ones. Surely their father, mother, and younger brother would rest peacefully if they saw this...

"It’s getting late; we should all go to sleep," Xia Yuan said, her frustration with Lu Aiguo’s behavior at a loss for words but laced with a tiny satisfaction, making it impossible for her to be truly angry with him. She turned her head away, refusing to look at him and instead spoke to Lu Yun and Shitou.