Qian Luo seemed a bit surprised by what he said and was momentarily stunned.
But before he could say anything else, suddenly there was a commotion coming from inside the house, and faintly, sobs could be heard.
Qi Shifeng immediately put down his wine glass and strode towards the house.
Qian Luo also cursed under his breath and quickly followed.
Sure enough, the inside of the house was in a complete mess. Youyou was standing in the corner, looking blankly at Qian Chao in front of him.
Qian Chao was crying hysterically at a three - or four - year - old kid.
"Why do I, as the older sister, have to give in to my younger brother? Today is supposed to be my birthday party, and all these gifts are mine."
As she shouted, she pushed over the rack beside her.
The rack was originally used to hang clothes and wasn't very heavy. With a push, it fell over and left a dent on the wooden floor.
Qi Shifeng rushed over first, picked Youyou up in his arms, and carried him away from the "storm" center.
"Are you hurt?"
He first cared about his son's well - being.
Youyou shook his head and whispered to him, "Dad, what's wrong with sister Chaochao?"
Actually, Qi Shifeng had heard something about this.
Qian Luo's second child was a son, and the two elders of the Qian family were extremely happy.
The old people had feudal thoughts and always had a preference for sons over daughters. So even though they loved Qian Chao, they couldn't treat the two children equally.
Moreover, as the second child grew older, the balance became more and more tilted.
They would say many unfair things to Qian Chao, such as:
"You're the older sister. You should give in to your younger brother. Give this toy to your brother first. He'll give it back to you tomorrow."
"You're the older sister. You're older than your brother. The older one should give in to the younger one. Why are you being so unreasonable, kid?"
"Look how well - behaved your brother is. You're older than him but less sensible. Eating one less bite won't kill you."
"Your brother is so well - behaved and obedient. He's really grandpa and grandma's darling."
...
Qian Chao was growing up and could understand what these words meant.
She had been doted on by her parents since childhood and of course couldn't understand what her grandparents were saying.
"So what if I'm the older sister? This toy is originally mine. I don't want to play with it tomorrow. I want to play with it now."
"Who says the older one has to give in to the younger one? I just won't be sensible."
"Brother is well - behaved. Then why is he still snatching from me? This is the candy my friend gave me."
"He's your darling. Then what am I?"
...
Qian Chao was good at and brave enough to resist.
Just like today, she and Youyou were playing when her younger brother was suddenly brought over by the nanny and wanted to join.
It was fine for him to join, but he kept snatching the toys from Qian Chao's hands.
Finally, Qian Chao exploded and pushed her younger brother to the ground.
This scene happened to be seen by her grandparents, who immediately rushed over to protect their precious grandson.
They also shouted at Chaochao, saying that she was unreasonable and that on such a grand occasion, she was embarrassing them and didn't know how to share at all.
Chaochao was wearing a princess dress and her face was full of courage.
"It's not that I don't know how to share. This is originally mine. Only when I'm willing to give it away can it be called sharing. If I'm not willing, you're just morally kidnapping me."
"You're being biased but still saying all these high - sounding words. It's really quite ridiculous."
The grandparents felt embarrassed after being accused like this and directly slapped Qian Chao.
"You little girl, you're just spouting nonsense. How are we being biased? You're so sharp - tongued. I don't know who you take after."
This was originally meant to shift the blame.
Who would have thought that Qian Chao let out a scream and shouted, "I can take after anyone, but definitely not you. You're being biased!"
Her face was bright red from the slap, but she actually endured the pain and didn't cry.
Qian Luo didn't expect his parents to hit Qian Chao and immediately stepped forward to stop it.
"Mom and Dad, what are you doing? No matter what, you can't hit someone."
"And what's wrong with Chaochao? Today is her birthday after all, and all these gifts are for her. It's just that you've spoiled Yangyang too much."
Qian Luo didn't have a preference for sons over daughters. He treated both children equally, and even favored Qian Chao more.
Because she was his first child and he had taken care of her more since childhood. They had had a relationship of seven or eight years.
His relationship with Qian Yang was only three or four years, so it couldn't be compared.
When the Qian family's parents saw that Qian Luo was actually siding with Qian Chao, they got even angrier.
But then, seeing Qi Shifeng was also there, they immediately held back what they were going to say.
They told someone to pick up Qian Yang, who was sitting on the ground crying loudly.
"Good grandson, don't cry. We don't want those things. Grandpa and grandma will buy you better and prettier ones."
"We won't play with sister or dad. They're all little villains."
...
After the people left, Qian Luo squatted down and said to Qian Chao, "Baby, grandpa and grandma just don't know how to express themselves. They don't mean any harm."
"I don't know, but I don't want to talk to them now. I'll never talk to them again. They only side with my younger brother."
Qian Chao ignored Qian Luo's words and sat down angrily on one side, her little face scrunched up.
Qian Luo naturally stepped forward to comfort her.
Qi Shifeng didn't want to get involved in other people's family affairs and didn't want Youyou to see all this, so he picked him up and left first.
On the way home, Youyou finally couldn't help but ask him, "Dad, why is this happening?"
"What?"
Qi Shifeng asked patiently.
"Why does sister Chaochao hate her younger brother so much? She said that grandpa and grandma have a preference for sons over daughters. What does 'preference for sons over daughters' mean?"
Youyou lived in a simple environment and there were no little girls in the family, so he naturally didn't understand what this term meant.
Qi Shifeng thought for a while and said, "It means something bad."
"Do her grandpa and grandma also know that it means something bad?"
Youyou asked worriedly.
He was so innocent that he thought maybe it was because grandpa and grandma didn't know the meaning of this term that they behaved like this.
Qi Shifeng stroked his son's head and said, "Maybe they do."
"Does it have to be like this if there's a younger brother? I heard that mom also has a younger brother. Did mom cry like this when she was a kid?"
Youyou finally asked the question he was most worried about.
Actually, he could feel at that time that Qian Chao was unhappy and throwing a tantrum because grandpa and grandma were biased towards her younger brother.
He felt a bit sad at that time. Why was this happening?
If adults were all like this, what about mom when she was a kid?
Mom also had a younger brother. Did mom have her toys snatched by her younger brother and get scolded by adults when she was a kid?
Qi Shifeng was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
He remembered the stab in his chest.
The Xu family really had a preference for sons over daughters. Especially Zhang Qiu. After her son died, she wanted to destroy her daughter too.
Because she thought that since her son was gone, why should her daughter still be alive?