mesbooks Chapter 464: Removed from the Family Tree
Chapter 464: Removed from the Family Tree
Maowa's words startled both Lao Huang and Zeng Lijuan. Lao Huang sensed that something was amiss.
He glanced at Zeng Lijuan, and their eyes met as she looked at him.
Zeng Lijuan immediately hugged Maowa and asked, "Your name is Huang Zedie, how can you say your name isn't Huang Zedie?"
Maowa still retains some of Huang Xiaochuan's stubbornness from when he was a child: "My name is Fan Jiawei, not Huang Zedie."
Old Huang's head buzzed.
Zeng Lijuan was also confused. She quickly asked Maowa, "Who told you your name is Fan Jiawei?"
Maowa was still young and didn't realize that his grandparents' expressions had changed. He broke free from Zeng Lijuan's grasp and started jumping around on the bed, busy playing, without responding to Zeng Lijuan's words.
Old Huang patiently sat down on the edge of the bed and took Maowa's hand: "Maowa, be a good boy. Grandpa is asking you a question. If you tell Grandpa, I'll take you to the zoo. But little kids can't lie, right?"
Upon hearing that he could go to the zoo, Maowa immediately snuggled into Lao Huang's arms and nodded earnestly to him.
"A child who lies is not a good child!"
Old Huang patted his grandson's face: "You're such a good boy!"
Once his grandson calmed down, Old Huang asked him, "Little Mao, Grandpa's asking you, what's your real name? Fan Jiawei or Huang Zedie?"
Maowa is over two years old. He's been called Fan Jiawei since birth, and he readily recited his name: "My name is Fan Jiawei. My mom says I share her surname!"
Actually, Fan Yingrong did tell Maowa before he came that he had changed his name to Huang Zedie, but the time was too short and Maowa was too young to remember the new name clearly, which made Fan Yingrong's clever idea completely useless.
After learning his grandson's real name, Old Huang was so angry that his face turned ashen. Zeng Lijuan never expected that her second son and his wife would act so rudely, treating her and Old Huang like air. Did they even care about their parents?
Changing one's surname is not impossible under special circumstances.
If Fan Yingrong is the only son in her family, then the two families can discuss and agree on the child's future, and then change the plans, since they already have two grandsons.
The problem is that Fan Yingrong has an older brother! And her brother's family has a son, which means there is no issue of the family line ending, so this approach is very inappropriate.
The in-laws didn't even bother to inform us; that shows they don't respect us or Lao Huang.
The son also kept it from him, which is called disloyalty and unfilial piety, and extreme disrespect for his parents.
Since ancient times, the Chinese people have regarded the inheritance of their surnames as a very important matter, which is why ancestral halls and genealogies have been passed down from generation to generation.
In ancient times, the extinction of an heir was a very serious matter. From emperors to commoners, everyone took it very seriously. They would often adopt a close relative from the same clan to continue the family line. For a family to lose its lineage was a very serious mistake, and the clan head would have to go to the ancestral hall to kneel and kowtow to the ancestors to beg for forgiveness.
Take the three Huang brothers as an example. Their names were not originally what they are now. According to the Huang family genealogy, which states that "Dao Yan Shan Shui, Ze Bei Cang Sheng" (meaning "the way extends to good water, benefiting all living beings"), the three Huang brothers should have been of the "Shui" (water) generation. However, Huang Dahai was born in an era when navigating the seas required a helmsman, and feudal dregs were unacceptable. In addition, when Huang Dahai was born, Old Huang and Zeng Lijuan were sent to the countryside for labor because they were intellectuals, so they dared not use the "Shui" generation name set in the genealogy to name their son.
They used "Dahai" (meaning "sea") as their name, since it has the water radical. Huang Erhe (meaning "two rivers") was the same. When it came to Huang Xiaochuan, the character "Chuan" (meaning "river") actually implied the meaning of water. That's how the three brothers got their names.
Now that everything is back on track, Old Huang naturally attaches great importance to his grandson's name. The descendants of the "Shui" generation are the "Ze" generation, so Huang Zemian and Huang Zeji both have the character "Ze" in their names. Unexpectedly, his second son and daughter-in-law, those two unfilial children, changed the name of their second grandson, including his surname. How could Old Huang, who values tradition, accept this?
He immediately told Zeng Lijuan, "Have that bastard Huang Erhe come to my study."
After saying that, he went to the study. When he came out of the room, he stumbled and almost tripped, which startled Zeng Lijuan. She quickly asked him if he was alright.
Old Huang didn't respond to Zeng Lijuan. After steadying himself, he went straight to the study. After decades of marriage, Zeng Lijuan knew that Old Huang was extremely angry at this moment.
Zeng Lijuan was also very angry. She carried Maowa to her second son and daughter-in-law's room and knocked on the door.
He called out, "Erhe, come out here for a second!"
The couple were discussing how to ask their elderly mother to let Huang Xiaochuan and the others stay in Shanghai when they heard that Zeng Lijuan had come looking for them. Fan Yingrong immediately told Huang Erhe to go there right away.
Opening the door, Huang Erhe asked Zeng Lijuan, "Mom! You were looking for me?"
Zeng Lijuan couldn't lose her temper in front of Maowa, so she suppressed her anger and asked Huang Erhe, "Tell me, what's Maowa's name?"
Huang Erhe was taken aback, but he still stubbornly insisted, "Huang Zedi!"
Zeng Lijuan really wanted to slap her son, but she held back.
"Who is Fan Jiawei?"
Upon hearing his mother mention the name, Huang Erhe realized that his secret about Maowa's name had been exposed. His face underwent a series of dramatic changes, turning from red to orange to red to green to blue to purple, and he was extremely embarrassed!
Zeng Lijuan asked coldly, "I'm asking you a question! Speak!"
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Fan Yingrong overheard the conversation between the mother and son at the doorway. She knew the situation was bad and immediately became anxious.
Huang Erhe smiled awkwardly, scratched his head, and said, "Mom! It's a new society now. It doesn't matter whose surname you take. Anyway, he's your grandson, that can't be wrong."
Zeng Lijuan glanced at Huang Erhe, ignored him, and put Maowa on the ground. She pointed into the room and said, "Good boy, Maowa! Go inside and find your mother. Grandma has something to do, but she'll come and play with you later."
After Maowa went inside to find Fan Yingrong, Zeng Lijuan said to Huang Erhe, "You can tell your dad about this later. Come on! He's already waiting for you in the study."
With things having come to this, Huang Erhe had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow his elderly mother to the study to see his father.
Enraged, Fan Yingrong gave Maowa a good spanking as he walked towards her. The inexplicable beating left Maowa bewildered at first, then he burst into tears. Zeng Lijuan naturally heard the crying, but she gritted her teeth and pretended not to hear it, without turning her head. However, she was completely disappointed in her second daughter-in-law.
How can you educate a child well if you make a mistake, don't reflect on your own actions, and instead take your anger out on the child who doesn't understand?
Upon entering the study, Huang Erhe saw Old Huang with a calm expression, but the atmosphere in the entire study was extremely oppressive.
Huang Erhe looked at his elderly father sheepishly: "Dad!"
Old Huang looked at his second son without a trace of emotion: "I'm asking you, why did you agree to let Maowa change his name?"
Old Huang pointed directly to the problem: if Huang Erhe didn't agree, the name absolutely couldn't be changed.
Huang Erhe fell silent; he dared not speak.
Old Huang slammed his hand on the table with a loud "Bang!"
"Say something?"
Seeing that Lao Huang was so angry, Huang Erhe's eyelids twitched in fright, and he quickly tried to persuade him, "Dad, don't be angry. It's my fault for not telling you and Mom beforehand."
At this point, Zeng Lijuan also said indignantly, "You've always been soft-hearted since you were little. Your father and I thought we'd send you to the army to toughen you up and change your personality, but we didn't expect that not only did you not change at all, but you even developed a habit of being easily influenced?"
When Lao Huang heard Zeng Lijuan say this, he couldn't help but think of the incident when Huang Erhe got married. The old and new things came together, making him even angrier at his son. The ancients said that one should marry a virtuous wife. This unfilial son was blind to have chosen such a wife.
There was no point in saying anything more now, and Old Huang didn't want to waste any more words with his son.
He said, word by word, "You go back now, pack your things, and get out of here with the wife you blindly picked up, you son of a bitch."
Originally, Lao Huang wanted to keep Maowa, but after thinking it over, he decided against it and hardened his heart: "Take Maowa with you. In the next couple of days, I will choose a day to burn incense and paper money to apologize to the ancestors of the Huang family and remove your name from the family genealogy. From now on, we will go our separate ways. Your mother and I will pretend that we never had you."
"Dad!" Huang Erhe hadn't expected the consequences of this matter to be so serious.
Seeing that Huang Erhe was standing still, Old Huang sneered, "Don't tell me you want to stay here any longer. It's fine, if you don't leave, we will."
Huang Erhe quickly stopped Lao Huang, then looked pleadingly at his elderly mother, Zeng Lijuan: "Mom! I was wrong, please talk to Dad!"
When it comes to matters of principle, Zeng Lijuan has always stood on Lao Huang's side.
She hardened her heart and said, "Don't call me Mom. Your father and I don't have a son like you. You and your two sons surnamed Fan, get out of here."
At this moment, Fan Yingrong was standing at the door of the study with Maowa, listening to the commotion inside. She hadn't expected that the matter of letting Maowa take her surname would escalate to such a serious extent. She was already regretting it. If she were really kicked out, everything here would have nothing to do with her anymore.
She'd only had two good days! She couldn't bear to part with them!
But she felt guilty and didn't dare to go in. At that moment, she was complaining that her husband was useless and couldn't even say a word of apology.
Seeing Huang Erhe keeping his head down and remaining silent, Old Huang turned and walked out of the study. He happened to see his second daughter-in-law and Maowa. He wasn't one to hold a grudge against his daughter-in-law and grandson. He glanced at the mother and son expressionlessly and then left.
Zeng Lijuan followed Lao Huang out of the study. When she saw Fan Yingrong, a hint of disgust appeared in her eyes. She glanced at Maowa, who called her "Grandma," but hardened her heart and ignored him, chasing after Lao Huang.
After Lao Huang and Zeng Lijuan left, Huang Erhe seemed to have lost all his strength and slumped onto the stool in the study.
Fan Yingrong, feeling utterly disappointed, went in and gave Huang Erhe a good beating while complaining about him.
"It's all your fault, you can't even speak properly."
Suddenly, Huang Erhe, unable to contain himself any longer, roared, "Enough!"
The sudden shout startled Maowa, who burst into tears. Fan Yingrong was also taken aback; in her memory, this was the first time Huang Erhe had ever been so angry with her.
After she came to her senses, she ignored the wailing Maowa and started tearing at Huang Erhe.
"You surnamed Huang? How dare you yell at me? I'll fight you to the death! No one has ever dared to bully me like this since I was a child."
Finally, Huang Erhe, unable to bear it any longer, stood up and pushed the unruly Fan Yingrong to the ground. He then went back to his room to pack his luggage, as he was too ashamed to stay there any longer.
The housekeepers all tacitly kept themselves out of the way; they didn't want to, and dared not, get involved in their employers' affairs, lest they get themselves into trouble.
So when Huang Erhe left with Fan Yingrong and Maowa, there wasn't a single person from the family to see them off, which was completely different from when they arrived.