C5 Mom! I'm Back!

"No need! I treat people without charging any fees, nor do I accept any benefits in disguise!"

Shen Yong declared coldly.

Zhang Chuntao was fuming inside!

The unattainable always stirred restlessness in her.

"I refuse to believe it! There can't be a man in this world who isn't driven by desire! I need to figure out a way to win over Shen Yong quickly! Otherwise, if another woman catches his eye, it'll be too late!"

Zhang Chuntao glared at Shen Yong, grumbling to herself.

Little did she know, Shen Yong wasn't the unflappable sage she imagined him to be. His heart was already filled to the brim with a very special girl, leaving no room for anyone else.

"Alright then! You'd better head home! Your parents have been through so much to get you treated. Now that you're well, go home and give them some joy!"

Zhang Chuntao said as she straightened Shen Yong's disheveled hair.

"Yes, home! It's time to head back."

Shen Yong replied.

"Come visit your sister-in-law's place when you have time! I'll make you scallion pancakes! It's a token of my affection, and you better not refuse!"

Zhang Chuntao insisted.

"Okay."

Shen Yong nodded, uttering a single word before leaving Zhang Chuntao's house and making his way home.

It had been over five years since Shen Yong had truly seen his parents.

Though his body had returned, his consciousness had not. The greatest distance in the world isn't measured in miles but in the space between parents who stand before you, unrecognized.

Now, learning from Zhang Chuntao about the hardships his parents endured for his treatment, Shen Yong's heart raced with urgency.

With that thought, he quickened his steps, longing to reach home and call out as he used to, "Mom! I'm back!"

The joy of hearing his mother's familiar reply was unparalleled.

But at that very moment,

Zhao Dabiao, along with his brothers Zhao Erhu and Zhao Sangou, and a few rough-looking youths, had barged into Shen Yong's home, pressuring his parents to repay debts and cover medical costs.

"Pay up! The money is due today! If you don't, my brothers and I are moving in, and we won't leave!"

Zhao Erhu fumed, "And look at what your idiot son did to my big brother's face! It's as swollen as a pig's behind! He can't talk straight, and he's drooling all over himself when he drinks! Without a thousand yuan for medical bills, we won't let this go!"

Zhao Erhu was a hefty man with a face buried in fat and a long, unkempt beard that hadn't seen a trim in years, resembling wild underbrush.

"Erhu, we had an agreement when we borrowed the money. We said we'd pay you back after the peaches ripened this year," Shen Wanshan pleaded from his wheelchair, his voice tinged with desperation. "I'm telling you, I'm broke! Even if you all camp out in my home, I can't cough up a single cent!"

"Oh, really? You owe money and you think you're in the right!?" Zhao Erhu lunged forward, seizing Shen Wanshan by the collar, his voice seething with rage. "Your dimwit son puffed up my big brother's face! So I'll return the favor on yours!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Zhao Erhu's arm swung out, landing a hefty slap across Shen Wanshan's face.

"Smack!"

"Thud!"

The force of Zhao Erhu's slap sent Shen Wanshan tumbling from his wheelchair.

"Father Yong!" Xie Yun rushed from the house to help Shen Wanshan up, scolding, "Zhao Erhu! You've crossed the line! Shen Yong might be confused right now, but he would never strike anyone! Stop slandering an innocent man!"

"What? You dare accuse me of framing your foolish son!?" Zhao Dabiao, fuming at the memory of Shen Yong's slaps, snapped back, "Just because your son's a halfwit, you think I am too?!"

"Yeah, you two old crooks think you can weasel out of this, huh? Borrow money for your son's treatment, and instead of getting better, he's getting worse!" Zhao Sangou, skinny and effeminate, jeered, "Today he's bold enough to hit my big brother; who knows who he'll go after tomorrow! If you ask me, that idiot shouldn't be roaming free. He ought to be locked up in a dog cage!"

"Bring the dog cage up front, now!"

"Right away, Brother Dog!"

Four young men, all in their twenties, responded and hefted a steel-reinforced iron cage, a meter in dimension, placing it squarely before Shen Wanshan.

"Shen Wanshan! If you agree to keep your dim-witted son in this cage from now on, we might let you off the hook for the medical bills!" Zhao Sangou declared, his foot resting on the cage.

"Hahaha! Leave it to Third Brother to come up with the best ideas!" Zhao Erhu, standing to the side, laughed heartily. "But you still owe us the thirty thousand yuan you borrowed, plus interest. That's fifty thousand in total, and not a penny less!"

"You... You're pushing us too far! Cough cough..."

Shen Wanshan was practically gasping for air in the face of the village's tyrants.

The Zhao brothers were nothing but cowards, despite being born to a kind mother.

Twenty years ago, the village suffered through three years of relentless drought.

Not a drop of rain fell, the crops failed, and even the mountain grass withered away, leading to widespread starvation in the village.

The first to succumb to hunger was the Zhao brothers' own mother.

Back then, Zhao Dabiao, Zhao Erhu, and Zhao Sangou were strapping young lads, at an age where they were growing fast and eating plenty—each consuming more than two adults combined.

A strong lad could eat his family into ruin.

In no time, the Zhao household was destitute.

Their father, desperate to feed his sons, went to the mountains to dig for roots and tragically fell to his death in a ravine.

Learning of their father's death, the three boys' mother, overcome with grief and unwilling to eat, starved during a bitterly cold winter night.

The orphaned children survived on the charity of the village, eating meals provided by various families.

But as they grew, they harbored no gratitude towards the villagers. Instead, they resented the entire community and exacted their revenge with impunity.

One day they'd steal chickens from one family, the next day ducks from another, and then they'd be off stealing sows from yet another household under the cover of darkness.

Even now, the three of them still believed that the villagers had callously ignored their mother's plight in her final moments.

Yet, how could they have known that during those years of famine, it was far easier to save their mother than it was to save three nearly grown boys!

"Old cripple! I'm picking on you! What are you gonna do about it!?"

Zhao Dabiao advanced and viciously tipped the wheelchair over, sending it tumbling.

At that moment, several nearby households, alerted by the commotion, came to gawk over the fence.

Seeing it was the Zhao brothers stirring up trouble, they began to gossip.

"What in the world is happening? Why are these three thankless brutes picking on Old Shen?"

"Word has it that it was Old Shen's son, Shen Yong, who struck Zhao Dabiao! Now, these ungrateful wretches are not only demanding Old Shen repay the debt and cover the medical expenses, but they've gone too far—they've even thrown Shen Yong into a dog cage!"

"They're truly devoid of humanity. We never should have rescued them in the first place! Should've just let them starve!"

"Ah, let bygones be bygones! Why dredge that up now? The urgent matter is figuring out how to help Old Shen! If this keeps up, Old Shen is sure to be tormented to death by these bullies!"

Amidst the villagers' heated discussions, a cry suddenly pierced the air from halfway up the mountain.

"Dad! Mom! I've returned!"

"I've returned—turned—turned—"

The call reverberated across the mountain range!