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墨書 Inktalez
"Uncle, please give us the ball," a few children timidly shouted from outside the wall.
Wei Fan looked at the colorful ball, and his anger surged. He kicked the ball far away and shouted, "Get lost! Who told you to play in front of my house?"
The children were frightened and began to cry loudly as they ran home to find their parents.
Before long, the children's parents came knocking at the door.
"Wei Fan, the kids don't understand. Why do you have to yell at them?" neighbor Old Zhang said with a blank expression.
"It's in front of my house; I can do whatever I want!" Wei Fan retorted defiantly, "That's how it is!"
Old Zhang's face darkened, but he held back his anger, saying, "Fine, fine, I concede."
After they left, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up inside Wei Fan. These people were afraid of him, which made him feel that he wasn't completely worthless; he felt like he had regained a sense of existence.
From that day on, Wei Fan became even more irritable. He even started to pick fights intentionally, confronting anyone who displeased him. The villagers knew he was unstable and had a bad temper, so most chose to back down.
"Can't provoke him? Then just avoid him," they whispered among themselves.
·····························
Unwilling to give up on treatment but unable to afford medicine, Wei Fan turned to the cedar trees left behind by his parents. However, since his parents' death was sudden, the ownership of these trees had not been properly divided and still belonged to both brothers jointly.
At that moment, he couldn't care less about that; survival was more important. One morning, Wei Fan took an axe and headed up the mountain.
He looked at the sturdy cedar trees and calculated in his mind, "These trees can sell for at least three or four thousand yuan; that should be enough for my treatment for a while."
Just as he was getting into it, he heard hurried footsteps behind him.
"Brother, why didn’t you say anything before coming to chop down the trees?" his younger brother Mu Fan panted as he rushed up the mountain, followed closely by his wife Juhua.
"I’m chopping my own trees; do I need to report it to you?" Wei Fan replied without turning around, swinging the axe with increasing force.
"This tree was left to us by our parents; you can't make decisions on your own." Mu Fan's tone was gentle.
Wei Fan stopped what he was doing and turned to glare at his brother. "What? Now you think you're tough enough to meddle in my affairs?"
"Brother, that's not what I meant..." Mu Fan quickly explained. "I just think we should discuss it as brothers. If we're going to cut it down, it should be shared equally."
"Shared equally?" Wei Fan scoffed. "I'm the eldest son. Since our parents didn't divide it while they were alive, it must belong to me!"
Juhua wasn't pleased with that. "Eldest Brother, you can't say that..."
"What does it have to do with you?" Wei Fan snapped, turning sharply towards Juhua, his eyes flashing with anger. "We're brothers talking; you have no right to interrupt!"
"Don't be so fierce; my wife isn't wrong," Mu Fan defended, stepping in front of his wife.
Wei Fan raised the axe. "I'm cutting down this tree today, and let's see who dares to stop me!"
Juhua stood her ground and argued back. "Eldest Brother, if you need money for your illness, you can cut half first; the rest belongs to us, and you can't touch it."
Wei Fan stepped closer to Juhua. "I'm cutting it all down today; if you have the guts, go ahead and report me!"
Seeing his brother's agitation, Mu Fan hurriedly stepped forward to grab him. "Brother, calm down; let's talk this out."
"Talk it out?" Wei Fan shook off his brother's hand. "You all look down on me! Just because you think I'm sick, you think you can bully me!"
"We've never thought that way..."
"Never?" Wei Fan pointed at Juhua. "Doesn't she know I need money for treatment?"
Juhua said defensively, "Eldest Brother, we need to clarify things first; once that's settled, you can cut down the tree later."
Wei Fan laughed bitterly as if he had heard a joke. "I'm about to lose my life; why should I care about your concerns?"
With that, he raised the axe again and continued chopping at the tree.
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