one hundred

For the past ten years or so, Er Ya has never dared to look her grandparents in the eye; their faces are blurry in her memory.

If I had to describe my impression, it would be that he was a fierce and menacing figure.

But at this moment, she stared straight at Old Lady Zheng, who had slid off the gate and fallen to the ground, with only one thought in her mind.

It's really ugly.

Why are her family members so ugly?

Also, her grandmother wasn't as tall, imposing, or fierce as she had imagined. She was thin and small, as light and frail as a sapling, easily pushed over.

It was as if some invisible shackles had broken off from Er Ya's body. For the first time, she realized that her grandmother was nothing special.

Zheng Nanle then got up, grabbed a handful of wood ash that had been prepared beforehand, and pressed it onto the wound on Old Lady Zheng's forehead. She stood up, moved her feet, and trampled all the pebbles on the ground into the soil.

"mom!"

Old Master Zheng and Old Master Zheng belatedly realized what was happening and, putting down the bamboo tube in their hands, rushed towards Old Lady Zheng.

Old Man Zheng's facial muscles twitched, and his cloudy eyes looked at Zheng Nanle.

Zheng Nanle looked up and met Old Man Zheng's eyes without flinching.

Old Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran through him.

Those eyes were calm and indifferent, devoid of any emotion, like a deep, ancient well, cold and icy.

He realized once again with perfect clarity that this girl was not Er Ya, and had no feelings for them whatsoever.

He was clever and cunning; his wife and children couldn't outwit him.

This is too dangerous. This granddaughter that Er Ya split off from is extremely dangerous.

"You!" Old Master Zheng was furious. "Er Ya, how could you do this? She's your grandmother! Do you want your grandmother to die?"

Zheng Nanle withdrew his gaze, looked down at Zheng Laoda, tilted his head in confusion, "Uncle, I don't understand what you mean. What did I do? I was just sitting on the threshold, doing nothing."

As she spoke, she smiled at Grandma Zheng, who was lying on the ground, "Grandma, how could you be so careless as to fall down like that?"

Old Master Zheng searched the ground but couldn't find the pebble that had tripped Old Lady Zheng. However, his intuition told him that Er Ya had done something to make his mother fall.

"Then how could you put wood ash on your breast?" Zheng Laosi questioned again. "Dr. Tang said that applying wood ash to wounds carries a risk of infection. If you really bump your head, you should go to him for disinfection."

"Didn't someone in Hongshan Village just hit their head, smear some ashes on it, and die?"

Zheng Nanle looked even more innocent, and said blankly and confusedly, "But when I woke up, there was wood ash on my head. I thought wood ash was the best medicine for treating wounds."

Zheng Laosi felt a lump in his throat.

Even though they knew that Er Ya was seeking revenge, they had already done the first thing, so they couldn't say that she was doing the fifteenth.

Er Ya felt extremely happy.

Knowing full well that applying wood ash to such a large wound could be fatal, they simply left her on the bed and let her suffer, even though she had a high fever at the time.

Why be so cruel to her?

Zheng Laoda nudged Zheng Laosi, “Why talk to someone as cold and heartless as her?” Zheng Laoda wanted to say that there was nothing to say to someone as cold and heartless as her, but then he thought that Er Ya was cold and heartless, so what were they?

He changed his mind and said, "Take Mom to see Dr. Tang."

“No, please,” Zheng Nanle leaned against the door and said casually, “It’s not a serious injury, why do you need to see Dr. Tang? The money in our family doesn’t grow on trees, let Grandma rest, she’ll be fine in a few days.”

Zheng Laoda and Zheng Laosi were startled.

After Er Ya fell into the water, they wanted to take her to Doctor Tang for a checkup, but Old Lady Zheng immediately scolded, "She's just a little girl, why is she so precious? It's not a serious injury, just put some ashes on her and it'll be fine. The money in our family doesn't grow on trees."

Did she hear everything at the time?

Zheng Nanle naturally didn't hear it, and Er Ya, being unconscious, also didn't hear it. These words were spoken by Zheng Nanle imitating the tone of Old Lady Zheng. Seeing the unnatural and evasive expressions of Zheng Laoda and Zheng Laosi, Zheng Nanle understood what was going on.

"Uncle and Fourth Uncle, why don't you take Grandma to bed? It's so unfilial to leave her lying on the cold ground like this," Zheng Nanle urged.

“Er Ya, it was our mistake that we didn’t take care of you after you fell into the water. Please let your grandmother see a doctor, for the sake of your elderly grandmother and your deceased father.” Zheng Laoda took a deep breath and pleaded with Zheng Nanle.

No matter how many faults Old Lady Zheng may have, she is still the mother who gave birth to him and raised him.

Old Zheng then said, "Eldest son, fourth son, take your mother to see Doctor Tang. Er Ya, come here, let's have a talk."

“Alright, Grandpa.” Zheng Nanle straightened up, walked past the unconscious Old Mrs. Zheng and the squatting Zheng elders, crossed the courtyard, and walked towards Old Mr. Zheng.

As I passed the kitchen, I glanced at it from the side.

When Zheng Nanle's aunt and fourth aunt, who were hiding at the kitchen door, met his gaze, they gave him a fawning smile and quickly shrank back, one tending the fire and the other making pancakes, pretending to be very busy.

Zheng Nanle withdrew his gaze and followed Old Man Zheng back to his room.

After that, she went to the cabinet and rummaged through it for snacks, as if she knew the way well.

Old Man Zheng watched expressionlessly. Old Woman Zheng had hidden the snacks in different places several times, but no matter where she hid them, some would disappear every day. Old Woman Zheng knew that hiding them was useless, so she gave up.

However, at night, while feeling sorry for him, she secretly ate with Old Man Zheng.

In the countryside, peach crisps and pastries are considered high-end and rare commodities. Using them to entertain guests or as gifts is a matter of great prestige. Grandma Zheng kept these snacks well hidden, only taking them out to entertain distinguished guests or when her eldest grandson, youngest daughter, and youngest son came home.

Normally, she and Old Man Zheng are reluctant to eat.

However, the snacks that she and her husband had been secretly saving up were eaten without any mercy by that debt collector, and Old Mrs. Zheng was heartbroken.

Rather than end up in that debt collector's belly, it's better for her and the old man to eat it.

But after she did that, the snacks disappeared.

Zheng Nanle hid it in a different place, which was completely contrary to the natural order.

But there was nothing she could do; Zheng Nanle hid it very well. She only knew that Zheng Nanle had hidden the snacks there when she smelled the lingering fragrance while rummaging through things at certain times.

Holding the snacks, Zheng Nanle returned to the table and sat down. While eating a peach shortbread, she asked, "Grandpa, have you decided what to use to buy Grandma to see Dr. Tang?"

She is your grandmother.

“Mmm, I don’t deny that she is.” Zheng Nanle chewed with a crunching sound.

Grandma Zheng wrapped the peach shortbread tightly in oil paper and then put it in a tin box. It didn't spoil or get damp even after being stored for quite a while.

Old Zheng took a deep breath, knowing that he couldn't appease Er Ya without drawing blood today.

"Go back to your parents' room," Old Man Zheng said. "That room was meant for you anyway."

Zheng Nanle didn't say anything meaningless like, "You know that the room should belong to Er Ya," but just smiled and shook his head. "No, Grandpa, you said it yourself, that room should belong to me. To trade something that should belong to me is too insincere of you."

Zheng Nanle smiled, her voice as clear as a bell, like a little girl being coquettish, but how could Old Man Zheng dare to actually use those words to be coquettish? He hardened his heart and said, "Thirty."

Zheng Nanle picked up the green candied winter melon and nodded with a grin, "Grandpa, this is more like a sincere attitude. But you're only thirty years old now. Grandma's life isn't that worthless."

"Fifty."

Zheng Nanle raised an eyebrow, "Grandpa, Grandma has been with you your whole life, is she really that unimportant?"

Old Zheng closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. "One hundred."

Zheng Nanle glanced at Old Man Zheng, knowing this was the limit, and said cheerfully, "Grandpa and Grandma have such a good relationship, here's a hundred yuan, give it to me now."

Old Zheng went to the cabinet to get the money.

He didn't hide it from Zheng Nanle. The fact that Zheng Nanle could find the bankbook and hide the snacks so well that even they, the owners, couldn't find them meant that if she wanted to, she could hide the money in the same way.

There's no point in avoiding her.

Taking the hundred yuan, Zheng Nanle smiled and reminded him, "Grandpa, what belongs to me should be returned to me, right? That outbuilding doesn't get any sunlight."

Old Zheng clenched his fist.

Inside the kitchen, the eldest son's wife and the fourth son's wife kept glancing at the door of Old Mrs. Zheng's room. When they saw Zheng Nanle walk out of the door, they quickly looked away and focused on their work.

The fourth son's wife lowered her voice: "Er Ya came out smiling, didn't her father-in-law scold her?"

The eldest daughter-in-law said softly, "Do you think your father-in-law can keep her in check right now?"

As she spoke, she became suspicious.

Is Er Ya really not possessed by a ghost?

It's so creepy.

She banished the supernatural thoughts from her mind, daring not to think about them further.

Less than half an hour later, Old Lady Zheng was carried back by Old Master Zheng and Old Master Zheng, with a layer of gentian violet applied to her head.

She was awake, groaning in pain.

But there's nothing you can do about the pain; in this day and age, you just have to endure it.

Old Mrs. Zheng was injured and had to take leave to rest. After breakfast, Zheng Nanle went to the back mountain as usual, with his hands tucked in. When he returned home at noon, he found his eldest daughter-in-law carrying Old Mrs. Zheng's bed sheet, muttering under her breath, "That old hag, always causing trouble for others."

I overheard the Zheng family chatting and learned that Old Mrs. Zheng wanted to go to the toilet in the morning, but because of a headache, she fell to the ground. She barely managed to crawl back to bed, but she didn't have the strength to get up and urinated on the bed.

Old Zheng wasn't one to suffer in silence. Smelling the urine in the room, he naturally called his two wives to wipe Old Mrs. Zheng's body, change her clothes, and wash the bed sheets.

Zheng Nanle's lips curled into a smile.

That evening, the Zheng family washed up and rested. Old Man Zheng took off his shoes and lay down on the bed. Old Woman Zheng stared blankly at the ceiling and asked, "Husband, are we just going to put up with Er Ya like this? If Er Ya never gets married, are we just going to support her like this for the rest of our lives?"

Old Zheng didn't say anything.

In the middle of the night, Zheng Nanle smelled a floral fragrance.