Stepmother and Stepchild

Once upon a time, in the Thang Long region, there was a famous and wealthy merchant named Gia Binh. He owned a lot of land but still often traveled to trade everywhere. Gia Binh married a girl in the village and had a son named Gia Nghia. Unfortunately, when Gia Nghia was born, his mother passed away.

Gia Nghia was loved and cared for by his father. He was sent to school to learn manners early by his father. Mr. Gia Binh sent him to a famous teacher in the area to teach him manners. When Gia Nghia was 8 years old, to facilitate his business. Partly, Mr. Gia Binh thought of getting married to have someone to take care of the family, partly he wanted to have more children to make the family happy. Mr. Gia Binh married a girl named Hai Lan, an old acquaintance in the village who was introduced to the two families.

Mrs. Hai Lan gave birth to Mr. Gia Binh two beautiful daughters. When the family was settled, Mr. Gia Binh went to work again. He often went away, leaving his second wife at home to take care of everything.

When Mr. Gia Binh gave Mrs. Hai Lan the right to manage the family, she became autocratic. Because Mr. Gia Binh had to go away many times, sometimes for a whole year before returning, Mrs. Hai Lan had to do all the housework. Although she had two daughters, when she looked back at Gia Nghia, who was always loved by his father whenever he was home, she became angry and wanted to find a way to kick Gia Nghia out of the house. In front of Mr. Gia Binh, she always treated Gia Nghia well, but when Mr. Gia Binh went on business, she became a different person.

Mrs. Hai Lan forced Gia Nghia to do housework and assigned him farm work. Because he was a good boy, Gia Nghia only knew how to listen to his stepmother and started going to school to do farm work. To force him to work harder, his stepmother did not let Gia Nghia go to school anymore and forced him to do all the hard farm work. On top of that, every day his stepmother always found excuses to criticize and curse Gia Nghia.

One winter, Mr. Gia Binh had to go on a business trip and expected to return home after a year. The stepmother had become extremely domineering. Apart from her two daughters, she was always annoyed with everyone in the house, especially Gia Nghia. During the plowing season, the stepmother found an excuse for all the servants in the house not to go to work in the fields and forced Gia Nghia to do all the farm work in the family. She also found an excuse that the family was in trouble and cut down on Gia Nghia’s meals and clothes.

Gia Nghia is a sensible person who wants family harmony so he only knows how to obey his stepmother. He alone works hard to do all the heavy farm work.

That year, because the winter was harsher and colder than usual, the monsoon blew strongly, making it difficult for Mr. Gia Binh to do business, so he had to return home early.

Speaking of Gia Nghia, he was so exhausted from working that he fell down in his field. The villagers saw him and called the servants to take him home.

Just then, Mr. Gia Binh returned home and saw his son’s clothes were torn, his face pale, and his lips were dark. He angrily shouted and asked, and the villagers told him the story. He angrily asked the servants why they let him go to work in the fields. At first, the servants were afraid and did not dare to say anything. But under Mr. Gia Binh’s pressure, all the family members agreed to tell him the truth.

After Mr. Gia Binh learned the whole story, he was furious and decided to chase his second wife away and disown her. His second wife and two children cried and cried, making him even angrier and sending someone to chase all three of them out of the house.

Gia Nghia, who was being taken care of by the maid, woke up. Hearing that his father was planning to kick his stepmother and her three children out of the house, Gia Nghia asked to explain to Mr. Gia Binh.

Gia Nghia said: Father, please reconsider everything. Before, I was the only one working at home, so it was hard, but I could help the maid. My two younger siblings and my stepmother also had a comfortable life. At that time, I was the only one who suffered. But if your mother chased my stepmother away, all three of us would suffer, and you would also suffer, so I really couldn’t feel at ease.

The stepmother heard what Gia Nghia said and cried even louder, hugging Gia Nghia tightly. Because of his son’s words, Gia Binh thought about not sending his stepwife away.

From then on, the stepmother changed her mind and considered Gia Nghia as her own son. She did not dare to be arbitrary, and always treated everyone in the house, including the servants, well. Mr. Gia Binh also did not go far away to trade. Mr. Gia Binh’s family lived happily ever after. As for Gia Nghia, he also tried hard to study, passed the imperial examinations, and became a high-ranking official in the court.