She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 351 - 350 He is a Snob

Chapter 351: Chapter 350 He is a Snob

Qi Yourong didn’t comment on Qi Yougui’s words; he just looked at Qi Younian, chewing on meatballs while taunting, "People often say that poverty wrings one’s neck while wealth draws out one’s tendons—and indeed they are right. Second brother, you’re hardly rich and powerful, just merely asking you about your family’s daily food, not necessarily demanding it from you. Why have you started being so stingy, too scared to even respond?"

Qi Younian’s expression remained unchanged, but he set down his chopsticks and said, "The Leader of the Family for the cheese business is Sixth Master Rong, not us. We don’t call the shots. Yourong, just bear with it—for the day you earn your own silver, I can promise to supply you with half, selling it to you. Food earned on one’s own is more peaceful and delicious to eat."

Qi Yourong grew somewhat annoyed yet couldn’t bear to put down his chopsticks, only waving them in anger as he said, "Second brother, what kind of talk is that? If it were with my own silver, why would I bother talking to you? Aren’t we still brothers?"

Ye Xinyan, who was immersed in her meal, nearly choked. When she heard Qi Yourong angrily ask ’what is this supposed to mean,’ she thought he would question whether it was a taunt about him freeloading. But to her surprise, Qi Yourong had come precisely to freeload.

She then glanced at Madam Song and the others from the third branch, not one of them showing shame; all of them took it for granted. Even the Qi Dong siblings at the same table were eagerly watching Qi Younian, waiting to see what benefits their uncle would concede under questioning from their own father.

Qi Younian surveyed the people at the table and slowly said, "I remember, you’ve said ’we are family brothers’ before, and we made that clear at the time. Reflect on it yourself. We are at big brother’s house, and I won’t quarrel with you about it."

Qi Yourong immediately remembered the conflict at the meal in the second brother’s house; indeed, the second brother hadn’t shown him a good face since then. Suddenly, he felt he was at a loss—such good relatives, his own brothers, their home was so wealthy, yet he had gained so little from it. Could there be a more useless brother than him?

Angry, Qi Yourong slapped his chopsticks on the table and said, "You make it sound easy, saying we’re brothers by blood—that’s given by our parents. You think you can just stop being brothers if you wish? Wishful thinking! You’d have to ask our parents beneath the ground for their opinion first."

Everyone from the third branch, including Ye Xinyan and Nanny Liu, were stunned into silence by Qi Yourong’s words. Could this reasoning make sense? It seemed it actually could.

There’s no need to mention the people from the third branch; even those from the first branch were unsurprised and indifferent, as if they were accustomed to hearing such opinions.

Qi Younian, however, remained very calm. He just looked at Qi Yougui and spread his hands, saying, "You see, big brother, if each family celebrated separately during the New Year, there would definitely be fewer disputes. Gathering together, even trivial daily matters can stir up trouble—is the New Year meant to provoke such idle strife?"

Qi Yougui was livid, pointing at Qi Yourong and scolding, "Look at you—such a fine meal, why can’t you just eat quietly? I’ve never seen someone so thoughtless, you arrived and only cared about eating, disregarding the ancestral rituals. And yet, you turn around and use the New Year as an excuse to demand food from the second brother. Are you lacking food here?"

"Big brother, don’t wrong me. When have I ever disregarded the ancestral rituals?" Qi Yourong said, looking extremely surprised and confused.

Qi Yougui was too upset to continue maintaining face for him and retorted, "Just now, when we were about to start eating, your two grandsons were nowhere to be seen. When your sister-in-law inquired about them, did you take it seriously and send someone to look for them? It’s New Year, and your sister-in-law is too busy hosting guests; how come you didn’t think to look after your own grandsons nearby? Don’t you know to remind the children about the ancestral rituals before eating?"

Qi Yourong defensively retorted with his eyebrows raised, "Big brother, Sanshun was also called back at the last minute, why don’t you talk about your own grandsons? Aren’t all the kids like that? There are plenty of people in the village calling for dinner, it’s not just my Congwen and Congwu who behave like this."

The New Year is not a good time for quarrels, but Lady Wang could only take care of women and children, and it wasn’t her place to interfere in men’s affairs. Thus, she did not plan to speak up, as long as there was no trouble among the women and children. However, seeing that Qi Yourong was about to direct his anger towards her own grandson, she could not stand idly by.

Lady Wang explained gently, "Sanshun and Brother Jia had said hello before going out to play. They didn’t go far, just behind the house. Xinger called them back with just a shout at the door."

Qi Yourong glanced at Qi Younian, who was frowning, then at Qi Yougui, who was glaring at him, and turned to scold Qi Congwen, "What’s wrong with you two? Can’t you just play with Sanshun? Why run off needlessly?"

Qi Congwen just kept his head down to eat, and had no intention of answering. Why explain why they didn’t play together? It was better to eat a good meal to one’s content.

Qi Congwu, on the other hand, gulped down a large bite of meat and said, "Great Uncle, it’s not our fault. We did want to play with Brother Sanshun, but he wouldn’t let us. He’s always been like this, preferring to give good things to others rather than to me and my brother, and he especially doesn’t want to play with us."

Qi Yougui thought that his very own grandson, Sanshun, did not play with the children from the third branch probably because of Qi Jiaer. Qi Jiaer had suffered a lot in the third branch, and Ye Zi had made it clear long ago that the children of the third branch were not allowed to be near Qi Jiaer.

This was a difficult situation to deal with, but they were all descendants of the Qi family—how could there be overnight grudges?

Qi Yougui said in a conciliatory tone to Qi Sanshun, "Sanshun, in the future you must take good care of your younger brothers when you play. Don’t make distinctions between close and distant relatives so clearly, do you understand?"

Just as Qi Sanshun was about to speak, Lady Wang gave him a look, and he stopped resentfully, took a mouthful of vegetables, and chewed fiercely.

Qi Congwu chewed on the fragrant crispy meatball but didn’t stop talking. He repeated words he had heard from somewhere, "Great Uncle, your Brother Sanshun despises the poor and curries favor with the rich; he’s a snob. He sucks up to the wealthy family of Qi Jiaer and looks down on us because we’re poor. Telling him won’t change anything."

Qi Yougui was astounded. What sort of nonsense was this?

Qi Sanshun couldn’t stand it any longer, ignoring Lady Wang’s gaze, he argued indignantly, "That’s not how it is; we didn’t play together before, and it wasn’t just recently. Back then, your children wouldn’t play with me either, and Xiao Jiajia too. When he was at your place, he didn’t even spare me a glance."

Qi Congwu might have been young, but he was not bad at arguing. His retort came readily, "If you’re not a snob, then why are you playing with Qi Jiaer now, but unwilling to include me and my brother? It’s because Qi Jiaer now has money and can give you nice things to eat and have."

Qi Yougui, looking at the New Year’s Eve dinner turning into a scene, hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, next time you play, remember to include your two younger brothers. It’s the New Year; let’s not talk about this now, eat first."

Instead of eating, Qi Sanshun stood up and said loudly, "No, if I keep silent, wouldn’t I be admitting to being the snob they say I am? It’s not that I didn’t include him in play; it’s that they are too unruly, especially Congwu. He wants all the good things for himself, grabbing everything to stuff into his own pocket, not leaving anything for others. There are many of us, not just me alone; we can’t play with him."