There were five people in our family. Dad bought 10 crabs. But when they were steamed and served on the table, only 4 were left. Grandma naturally dropped one into her own bowl, leaving mine completely empty like a sick joke. Before I could even pout or feel wronged, Mom, who had just gotten off work late, marched up and snatched the crab right out of Grandma's bowl with her fork and handed it to me. She glared at her and said, "At your age, do you really deserve the best meat? Here's a leg, suck on it yourself." 01 I look exactly like my mom, but my personality is as soft as my maternal grandpa's. Whenever I came home crying after being bullied, Mom would sigh, wondering how I managed to skip a generation and inherit Grandpa's temperament. "Chloe, don't be scared. Mom will teach you. If a boy bullies you, kick him where it hurts. If a girl bullies you, punch her in the chest. Works every time." She would crouch in front of me, patiently teaching me how to retaliate swiftly and ruthlessly. Sitting nearby, my dad, Mark, would shift uncomfortably, crossing his legs tight, and soon make an excuse about needing a smoke to escape to the porch. I would stare at my mom in innocent confusion, not quite understanding how she could use such a beautiful face to drop eight F-bombs in a single sentence. It wasn't until I saw her and my maternal grandmother getting drunk and trading dirty jokes that I learned what the phrase "runs in the family" truly meant. Mom was at her wits' end with my absolute inability to toughen up. She would sigh and tell Dad that one day she’d have to find me a six-foot-four lumberjack to protect me. Fortunately, my younger brother, Leo, stepped up to fill that role early. At barely eight years old, he was already unusually tall, clearly destined to be a big, tough guy. But Leo was energetic and mischievous. Mom and Dad worked and traveled a lot, so they didn't always have time to watch him, and with my soft personality, Leo wasn't exactly intimidated by me. That's when Dad's mother—my paternal grandmother—chimed in. She said she had plenty of free time to help raise the kids and actively volunteered to move in. My parents thought it would be a great opportunity for us to bond with her, so they didn't refuse. So, the year Leo was seven and a half and I was twelve, Grandma officially moved in with us. Leo and I didn't have many memories of her. Aside from visiting her for a few days during the holidays, we hardly ever saw her. But Dad had told us many stories about her life, explaining how hard things were for her when she was young, and reminding us to always love our grandmother. So, I was genuinely looking forward to her arrival. But I was sorely disappointed... "What is this? Why is there such a huge difference between Chloe's room and Leo's?" She hadn't even put her suitcases down before she toured the whole house, hands behind her back. She pointed at my bedroom and asked Dad: "Why does a girl need a room this big? Look at poor Leo, stuck in that little space..." Saying that, she crouched down and asked my brother, who was bouncing a soccer ball, if he wanted to trade rooms with his sister. Leo didn't say a word. He just rolled his eyes at her, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the front door. "I'm meeting my friends for soccer. Dad, you entertain Grandma yourself!" His attitude made Grandma furious. Even from down the street, we could hear her screaming inside the house about how my mother had raised a disrespectful brat. "Listen to me, you need to toughen up. Just ignore Grandma, you hear?" At the convenience store, Leo bought a Popsicle, broke it in half, and handed me a piece. "At her age, she's still playing that sexist 'boys are better than girls' garbage. Totally delusional." I held the Popsicle, taking a bite, not really knowing how to respond. After a long pause, I just squeezed out, "She's our grandma. Surely she won't be that bad." "Whatever. I'm just going to have to keep a closer eye on you, otherwise she'll sell you out and you'll be happily asking if she got a good price." Leo sighed helplessly. Standing almost as tall as me, he reached out and pinched my nose. "You're such a pushover." "Ugh, stop! Show some respect, I'm your older brother, don't pinch my nose!" I chased him playfully in the sunlight, angry but laughing, while he dodged me with a grin. I thought the room-swapping comment was just a minor hiccup. I never expected it to be just the beginning. 02 Mom reacted to the room-swapping complaint by cold-laughing and pretending she didn't hear it. No matter how many outdated, old-school traditions Grandma cited, it was useless. If Mom ignored it, Dad—the ultimate devoted husband—would never agree to it either. As for Leo, the fact that he didn't actively argue with her face-to-face was already the peak of his respect for his elders. And then there was me. For days, Grandma couldn't stand the sight of me. But she didn't dare say anything in front of my parents. Instead, she would corner me in secret, talking about how back in her day, girls were put to work in the fields by age seven. She told me that once I finished middle school, I’d be going back to the country with her to do manual labor. It gave me nightmares for days. I dreamed of angry cows and sheep chasing me, asking why I hadn't cut the grass for them yet. Leo noticed I looked exhausted and asked what was wrong. I hesitated, genuinely scared, but eventually told him. He didn't say anything. But that night, he snuck into Grandma's room wearing a creepy mask and played ghost noises on his phone. It scared the old woman so badly she slipped, fell hard on her tailbone, and had to be rushed to the ER for X-rays and a cast. Before my parents could double-team him with a spanking, Leo sneaked into my room, crouched by my bed, and said: "You know, you'd rather have nightmares for days than just tell me. You might as well stop being my older sister and just be my little sister." "Come on, call me 'Big Brother' and let me enjoy it." Before I could snap back at him, Mom threw the door open, her face dark like a storm cloud, and hauled him out by his collar. Then came the soprano roaring: "You little punk! You're getting too bold! First you make your grandmother fall, and now you're making your sister call you 'Big Brother'?" "If I don't keep you in check, you're gonna start acting like you own this house!!!" Then came the smack smack sounds of a spanking. Leo was tough—he didn't let out a single cry. A few minutes later, he even provoked Dad, saying, "Didn't even hurt." So Dad rolled up his sleeves and tagged in. I hid behind my door, trying to step out and stop them several times, but Leo kept waving me back. He mouthed silently: [I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. Don't get involved, or that old witch will hold a grudge and make your life hell when she gets back.] I nodded, crying. But after a few minutes, I couldn't hold it in. I ran out and told my parents the whole story, cause and effect. They were stunned, but after hearing me out, they didn't say much. While Dad was putting an ice pack on Leo's backside, he turned to me: "Chloe, all those things I told you before... I didn't mean you have to just take whatever Grandma dishes out. Girls from her generation had it rough, working the fields at eight or nine was normal, but that doesn't mean it applies today." Mom took over: "When your dad and I were kids, the hardest thing we ever did was maybe feed the neighbor's chickens a few times. Ignore your grandmother. Quitting school to do manual labor? That's total bullshit!" When Mom gets fired up, her language belongs in a dive bar, but beneath the crude words was nothing but fierce love for me. I wiped my tears, nodded, and promised them I wouldn't listen to Grandma anymore. To me, the incident was over. But it left a massive knot in my mom's heart. When Grandma got discharged from the hospital, Mom bought her a smartphone and taught her how to use Facebook and TikTok. Whenever Mom had free time, she would send Grandma videos. They were all highly targeted clips with titles like "Gossiping Old Woman Bitten by Dog," "Mean Grandma Hit by Grocery Cart," or "Karma: Falling Flowerpot Hits Toxic Elder." Grandma didn't know how to block people, so she spent every day with a dark scowl, watching videos of people her exact age suffering horrific accidents because of bad karma. "Don't be scared of her, Chloe," Mom said gently while helping me wash my hair in the tub. "Old folks like your grandmother are paper tigers. One match and they go up in smoke." "Next time she dares to talk trash to you, I'll have your dad boot her right back to her hometown so she can relive her glorious childhood of farm labor." 03 Maybe my family's protectiveness was a bit too obvious, because Grandma never made those kinds of comments to me again. But her dislike for me was very real. Walking home from school, I often saw her chatting with the other elderly ladies in the neighborhood. Whenever my name came up, she would complain that my parents spoiled me, saying I was too pampered and didn't know my place, and that I'd suffer terribly when I got married. I didn't understand why, as a woman herself, she felt the need to project such a malicious future onto me. But I had promised my parents and Leo that I wouldn't take her words to heart. So I walked up to her naturally and said, "Grandma, I'm hungry." She jumped, sending peanut shells flying from her lap as she stood up. "Oh, Chloe... why... why are you home so early?" "It's Friday, we get out a period early." I smiled at her. "Grandma, I'm hungry." "Listening to you talk, I thought Chloe had turned into a complete delinquent, but she's just the same sweet girl as always!" Mrs. Henderson, one of the neighbors chatting with her, rolled her eyes at Grandma. "If I hadn't watched this kid grow up, I'd have thought you were talking about someone else's daughter." "Exactly. If you said that about the Smith kid or the Johnson kid, I'd believe it, but Chloe? Give me a break." The other ladies chimed in, shutting Grandma down. Her face looked awful. She couldn't take it for more than a minute before making an excuse and hurrying inside. "Chloe, tell your mom to keep a closer eye on her mother-in-law," Mrs. Henderson called out to me. "We all know your family, we know you're a good kid. But strangers don't! She's out here running her mouth every day, spilling the family's business like a leaky bucket!" "Okay, I'll tell Mom!" I said goodbye to the ladies and hurried upstairs. I dropped my backpack and started my homework, planning to tell Mom when she got home later. Dad also came home early that day. He was carrying a large styrofoam cooler and mysteriously called Leo and me over to look. "Wow! These crabs are huge!" Leo picked up two massive Blue crabs, holding one in each hand to play with. "Dad, let's not eat them yet. Let me play with them for a couple of days." "You little punk, if you play with them for two days they'll be dead and rotting. You can play with them for a bit right now." "Awesome! Then we can eat rotten crab!" "You little brat!" I gently poked a bubbling crab with a chopstick, smiling as I listened to them bicker. Grandma poked her head out of the kitchen, saw the cooler of crabs, and looked incredibly moved. "Mark, how did you know I was craving crab lately?" "Huh? You like crab, Mom?" Dad scratched his head. "I never heard you mention it. I would have bought more. There's only 10 here." "That's plenty, plenty!" Grandma came out and carried the cooler into the kitchen. "That's more than enough!" Without the crabs to play with, Leo huffed and went back to his room. I didn't have much to say to Grandma, so I went back to mine too. It wasn't until the rich, savory smell of steamed seafood filled the entire house that we finally came out and sat at the dining table. "So big!" Leo drooled looking at the plate. Grandma smiled and served him the two biggest ones. Then she gave Dad two. But when it came to me, the plate was empty. "Mom?" Dad paused with his fork and looked at her. "Where's Chloe's?" "What's the rush? Don't you see I don't have one either? The rest aren't done steaming yet." Grandma took a bite of her green bean casserole. "Big crabs take longer to steam. We have to wait for the others, or we'll get food poisoning." That made sense, so Dad didn't say anything else. But as we ate, hearing the crack crack of Leo breaking crab shells made me feel a little left out. "I'll let you have one to satisfy your craving, look at you pouting." Suddenly, a bright red crab appeared in my bowl. Leo bumped my arm. "But I get to pick your biggest one later!" "Okay." I smiled and picked up the crab, but just as I was about to crack the shell, Grandma snatched it away with her tongs. "Why are you taking his? There's barely enough to go around as it is. What kind of older sister acts like this?" I was stunned. I watched helplessly as Grandma dropped the crab back into Leo's bowl and pressed it down into his rice. Instantly, the crab was covered in sticky white rice. My heart gave a sharp twinge, and my eyes welled up. "What are you doing?! I wanted to give it to her! Mind your own business!" Leo slammed his fork down and stood up, furious. "Leo Evans!!!" Seeing Leo about to start swearing, Dad got angry. "She is your grandmother! Do not speak to her like that!" "Just because she's old doesn't mean she's great! Why does she get to bully my sister?!" "...Grandma might not know how to express it, but she doesn't hate your sister. Didn't you notice her bowl is empty too?!" That argument shut Leo down. It was true. Grandma hadn't eaten a crab either. Snatching Leo's away didn't necessarily mean she was targeting me. So I swallowed the lump in my throat, rubbed my eyes, and kept eating my rice. Leo didn't say a word. He picked up his dropped fork, walked over to Grandma, muttered a stiff "Sorry," then went to the kitchen to grab a clean fork. Dinner resumed, but the atmosphere was incredibly oppressive. Dad tried to give me the crab from his bowl, but I refused. I looked at Grandma and said quietly, "Grandma hasn't had one yet. Give it to her first." Dad patted my head and praised me for being so mature. And just like that, the crab went into Grandma's mouth. Even after dinner ended, the steamer pot in the kitchen was still humming. I figured saving the remaining four crabs for a late-night snack with Mom wasn't a bad idea, so I didn't bring it up. But late into the night, after Mom had showered and was sitting on the couch with a face mask watching Netflix, the crabs still hadn't appeared. I couldn't describe how I felt. My eyes just burned, and I wanted to cry. "What's wrong, Chloe? Did your brother prank you again?" Mom waved me over. "Don't cry. As soon as I take this mask off, I'll go beat him up for you." "Sniff... Mom..." I buried my face in her shoulder. "Why doesn't Grandma like me?" "Huh? Her?..." Mom pulled me onto her lap and stroked my hair. "Because she's brain-damaged. She suffered when she was young, so now she wants to tear up everyone else's umbrella. She's crazy, just ignore her." "Today she..." Hugging Mom's arm, I told her exactly what happened. Hearing this, Mom ripped her face mask off and marched me right into the kitchen. "Crabs, huh? Well, Mom's on her period so I shouldn't eat much seafood anyway. You can eat all four of them, kiddo." She smiled and opened the fridge. "We won't give any to that little brat. They're all yours." I smiled through my tears and nodded vigorously. But we turned the entire kitchen upside down and couldn't find the remaining crabs. Logically, there should have been six left. Yet aside from a lingering seafood smell in the air, there were zero crabs. Mom took a deep breath, grabbed my hand, and marched to Grandma's bedroom door, knocking loudly. The heavy, rhythmic pounding reflected exactly how impatient Mom was. Leo poked his head out of his room, signing to me to ask what was wrong. I shook my head and told him, "The crabs are missing." "What? You STILL haven't eaten?!" Leo sprinted out of his room, completely baffled. "It's been like six hours! How have you not eaten yet?" "..." I didn't answer. I just hung my head in silence. 04 "What are you doing this late?! I'm trying to sleep!" Grandma opened the door, her face dark. "I don't keep the same crazy hours as you people." "Oh! I thought you were hiding in your room eating in secret and were too scared to open the door!" Mom rolled her eyes, pushed past her, walked into the room, and sat down, crossing her legs. "Where are my crabs? Mark bought crabs and I haven't seen a single leg. Where did you hide them?!" "Who said they were for you? Mark bought those to respect his mother!" "Please. You've probably never even seen a crab in your village, why would he buy them for you?" Mom tossed her hair, her expression full of absolute disdain. "Stop changing the subject. Where are my crabs!" "You!" Grandma choked on her rage, rolled her eyes, and aimed her guns at me. "Well aren't you something, Chloe. I stop you from stealing your brother's crab at dinner, so you go crying to your mother behind my back? You don't even—" "I said stop changing the subject! WHERE ARE THE CRABS!!!" Mom slammed her fist on the table, stood up, and towered over Grandma. "I'm asking you a question! Dare to say one more word about Chloe and see what happens!" The room was packed with gunpowder. Grandma glared at me venomously and shut her mouth. I took a step back, feeling a chill run down my spine. I didn't understand why Grandma was looking at me with such pure hatred. Was it just because I asked about the food that was supposed to be mine? Leo stepped in front of me, glaring back at her. "Let me guess, you only served four crabs on purpose just to mess with my sister and make sure she couldn't eat, right?!" "What kind of grandmother are you? Even Mrs. Henderson next door treats us better!" "YOU!!!" Grandma clutched her chest and collapsed onto the floor, wailing, "I'm so old and I have to suffer like this! I don't want to live anymore!!!" She was making so much noise that Dad, who was up in his second-floor office, got startled and hurried down to see what was going on. Seeing Dad, Grandma found her savior. She immediately grabbed him and demanded he mediate. "Crabs? Why are we fighting about crabs again?" Dad was confused and looked at Mom. "Did Leo complain to you? He was the one out of line this afternoon, you can't just listen to his nonsense." "Does your son look like the kind of kid who complains when he loses?! It was your daughter!" Mom impatiently kicked the bedroom door. "Your wonderful mother lied to Chloe's face, telling her to wait for her food, and now it's almost the next day and she hasn't had a single bite!" "No way. Mom!" Dad looked at Grandma in disbelief. "Didn't you say you'd bring them to her room later? Where are the crabs?!" "Yeah! Where are they!" Mom crossed her arms and sneered. "Where did you hide them? If you love them so much, why don't you take them back to your farm and plant them in the dirt? Maybe you'll grow a whole crab tree next spring." 05 The pressure was entirely on Grandma. The glaring eyes were practically burning holes through her. Seeing that Dad wasn't defending her, Grandma sat on the floor and started wailing again: "Why am I even alive?! Interrogating me over a few stupid crabs! Oh, Mark's father, why did you have to die so early?!" When old people decide to be utterly unreasonable, it's incredibly draining. But Mom's temper was notoriously stubborn and fierce. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Leo. The smart kid instantly got the memo. He dragged a huge basket of snacks from the living room cabinet, set it on the desk, and pulled me down to sit beside him, eating chips while watching Grandma cry. At first, Dad wanted to say something, but after catching the suppressed, violent rage in Mom's eyes, he wisely kept his mouth shut. So, in Grandma's bedroom, the four of us sat in a row on the bed, each holding a bag of snacks, munching away while watching Grandma weep on the floor. "Here, crab-flavored sunflower seeds. Eat these first so you don't starve." Leo handed me a bag, clicking his tongue in awe at the wailing woman on the floor. "This is my first time seeing an adult throw a literal tantrum on the floor up close. Really expanding my horizons here." Hearing this, Mom laughed. "Well, you got a free show. Hurry up and thank your grandmother." Dad and I stayed silent, chewing our snacks and waiting patiently. We waited for about four or five minutes. Grandma finally ran out of energy to cry. She sat on the floor, glaring at us. "Done crying? If you're done, let's talk about the crabs." Mom spoke lazily. "If you can't explain it clearly, you can go back to crying. I'm in no rush." Lying on the floor, Grandma gritted her teeth in pure hatred. She suddenly scrambled up, pointed at Mom, and screamed: "So what if I just didn't want you two eating them?! I gave the rest of those crabs away to the neighbors, and I made sure not to save a single bite for you!" Then she turned and pointed a wrinkled finger at me. "Such a manipulative little schemer at this age! Running your mouth and complaining! Let me tell you something—where I grew up, a useless little thing like you would have been thrown in the river and drowned the second you were born!!" The sheer malice in her words was terrifying. I shrank back, shivering in absolute fear, almost dropping my bag of snacks. "You motherf—!!!" Mom lunged off the bed straight at her. "How DARE you say that to Chloe!" Mom wasn't a big woman, but according to her, she used to be the toughest girl in her high school. She was never afraid of a fight, routinely taking on six people at once. So, from the moment she lunged to the moment she tackled Grandma onto the bed, pinning her down, the rest of us were in total shock. Dad reacted the fastest. He rushed over, grabbed Mom, and physically peeled her off Grandma: "Sarah, calm down, calm down! Two more punches and you'll actually kill the old lady!" "Yeah, Mom! Going to jail for manslaughter isn't worth it!" Snapping out of his shock, Leo chimed in: "I'm weak, I'll take the assault charge! Let me get revenge for my sister!" Saying that, he tried to dive onto the bed to claw at Grandma. Luckily, Dad had quick reflexes and snagged Leo by the collar, hauling him back. Otherwise, there was no telling how badly Grandma would have been beaten. Honestly, I never expected things to escalate like this. I watched in a daze as Dad played human shield, blocking Mom and Leo, who had both transformed into ferocious dragons. "I don't want to live!!!" Grandma, who had been pushed down, wailed even louder, rolling around on the floor. "Beating me over a few crabs! Just let me die!"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "440345", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel