What's going on?

  Zhai Wang quickly walked towards Er Gou's home.

  The onlookers saw Village King approaching and hastily made way for him, clearing a path. Village King had his hands clasped behind his back, his face gloomy, as he strode through the crowd towards the steps, arriving in front of Wang Cai. He bent down, pulled up Wang Cai, and asked: "Uncle Wang, what's going on? Tell me about it. Don't worry, speak boldly, speak loudly, I want to know what happened!"

  Wang Dacai wiped away his tears and began to speak.

  Originally, Er Gou and his brother had agreed to take turns providing food for their parents. When it was Er Gou's turn, he refused to provide the food. Wang Cai asked him for it, but Er Gou used the excuse that the division of property between them was unfair and refused to give the grain. Wang Cai got angry and scolded his son for being heartless. The two of them cursed at each other for a while, until Er Gou pushed Wang Cai to the ground and continued cursing. Wang Wen came to mediate, but Er Gou said that even if the king himself came, he still wouldn't give in - no one could do anything to him!

  Wang Wen is also a close relative of Wang Cai, so he ran to find Zhai Wang. Xue Er told him that Zhai Wang had gone to San Jun's house on business and was probably drinking there. So, Wang Wen hurriedly ran to San Jun's house to invite Zhai Wang over.

  The village chief turned to Wang Cai and said, "Look at everyone, look at Er Gou. Everyone is waiting for the village chief to scold Er Gou, then let Er Gou apologize to his father and hand over the grain. But unexpectedly, the village chief not only didn't scold Er Gou first, but instead loudly questioned Wang Cai: "I think this matter is your fault! You are completely wrong! Do you know where you went wrong?"

  Wang Cai was shocked and opened his mouth wide: "I, I, I originally had no property, the division of the house is fair, where did I go wrong? I'm not wrong!"

  "Are you still muddled? Don't you know your own mistakes even now?" the village chief said loudly.

  Where is Wang's confusion? The audience doesn't know, the audience just feels that they have been confused by Wang.

  "What's wrong with me?" Wang Cai protested.

  "You're absolutely absurd! You were wrong to give birth to an unfilial son, yet you still don't know your mistake! After giving birth to this unfilial son, you didn't drown him in a urine pail, which is another mistake on top of the first one! You keep making mistakes without realizing them, how absurd are you?"

  As soon as Zhai Wang's words fell, the confused audience suddenly came to their senses and burst out laughing.

  The village chief didn't look at Er Gou, nor did he scold him. He asked the onlookers: "You all tell me, when your parents who gave birth to you and raised you get old, who will they rely on?"

  "By our children!" everyone exclaimed loudly.

  "Right! Rely on your children! Otherwise, why is it said that raising children is for old age? Isn't it?"

  "Yes!" everyone echoed in agreement.

  "Raising children to resist old age! Children do not fulfill their filial duties, and they even lay hands on their parents. This is an unforgivable thing! As the saying goes, 'The eaves of a house drip with water.' I tell you all, if you don't show filial piety to your parents today, who will take care of you when you're old? Even if you have no children of your own, when you're old, you'll still rely on your nephews and nieces! Can it be that just because you have no children of your own, you don't show filial piety to your parents? What do you all say?"

  "Not allowed!" Everyone responded to the teacher's question like students, and their enthusiasm was mobilized.

  "Ah, fellow villagers! As the saying goes, 'The two elderly ones at home are living Buddhas; why bother going to Ling Shan to pay respects to the World-Honored One?' Some of us don't treat our parents with filial piety, and in order to seek peace of mind, we go to worship gods and Buddhas. Think about it, is worshipping gods and Buddhas useful? Will they offer protection? If we can't even respect the living Buddhas right before our eyes, what's the use?! Can the spirits have higher moral character than the living Buddhas? Moreover, crows repay their mothers' kindness by bringing them food, and sheep kneel to nurse from their mothers. Even these animals know how to repay their parents' kindness! When our parents grow old, if we don't fulfill our duty to care for them, aren't we worse than those animals?! Tell me, is what Er Gou did right?!"

  The village chief scolded the two cowards!

  "Not true!" Everyone was very excited and began to accuse Er Gou one after another.

  Er Gou saw that he had offended everyone and said, "Zhai Wang, I didn't say I wouldn't support my parents! It's just that my father is biased against me. He still has some grain, it hasn't reached the point of having no rice to cook, but he insists on forcing me to give him grain. He came to make trouble in order to humiliate me."

  The village chief knew that Erdou wanted to save face, so he went along with him and said: "Is that right? I also made a mistake. I didn't thoroughly investigate before holding a public criticism meeting for you, which was my fault. However, I know you, Erdou. You're just not making an effort! Now that the land has been distributed to individuals, who can you blame? In the past, when we were working collectively, you complained that I didn't assign good work to you and said I was holding you back, even your wife couldn't find a job. But now, the land is yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. If you can't make a success of it and can't even find a wife, who can you blame? Your life is going well, but can you blame your parents for giving birth to you at the wrong time? Alright! I don't want to talk about past matters anymore. Erdou, let me tell you, I've never been biased against you. If you have opinions about me, that's your business. I won't hold it against you how you treat me, but your parents are the ones who raised you, so take care of them! Today, in front of everyone, make a statement: will you support them or not? If you'll support them, then give grain to your parents today. How about that?"

  Er Gou nodded: "I'll take care of it. I'll give them food today."

  Zhai Wang burst out laughing: "I know this Second Gou, he's not a bad guy at heart. Everyone, let's be more enthusiastic in the future and introduce him to someone, okay?"

  Everyone exclaimed in unison: "Good!"

  "Disperse! Go back, do what you need to do! It's the masters', if there's nothing to do then go home and sleep with your wives!" The village chief said this, and everyone dispersed in laughter.