Chapter 79 Not Standing High Enough◇

Compared to the bitter cold of Liaodong in April, even the air in Kyoto seems sweet... The next day...

April in Kyoto, compared to the bitter cold of Liaodong, even the air seems sweet...

The next morning, several families woke up early as usual. Some were busy cleaning the house and buying things for their new home, some were thinking about how to make some money, and some were looking at the blue sky of Kyoto and reminiscing about the past...

Zheng's mother and her friends all got up before daybreak, changed into new clothes, washed up, and didn't even have time to eat breakfast. Together with Zhou Jin, who had taken leave from the military camp early in the morning, they drove a mule cart to Wandou Hutong on the western edge of Kyoto, where Zheng's family now lived.

Zheng had been missing her parents' home for a long time. If it hadn't been for the fact that the whole family had settled down yesterday and it was already dark, Zheng would have wanted to go back yesterday.

…

The small courtyard where Zhou Jin's family currently lived was located on the western edge of Kyoto, about thirty miles away from Zheng's family's home on the western side of the mountain. To prevent the family from starving on the road, Zhou Jin had bought a dozen or so freshly steamed meat buns on their way here, so they could eat them while walking...

But Zheng Shi couldn't eat. The closer she got to her parents' home, the more guilty she felt.

Originally, her family's conditions were quite good compared to those in Kyoto, but because their house was raided, her parents were worried that she and the children would suffer on the road, and that without help, they would not be able to reach Liaodong.

Before her family was exiled, they sold most of their belongings to collect around 3,000 taels. After paying the jailers and the yamen runners responsible for escorting them, they secretly gave the rest to her parents-in-law...

To raise the money for the bribes, her family even sold the yard in the heart of Kyoto where they had run the escort agency for decades. As a result, the agency couldn't continue in the past few years, and the family had no choice but to move to a remote place like Xishan, rent a hilltop, and make a living by planting fruit trees...

As a result, because of her weakness, not only did all the money go into the pockets of her parents-in-law, but she also made her child suffer with her, forcing her son Jin to pick up a knife and fight them at a young age...

After more than two years of hardship, when Zheng thinks of her former cowardly and incompetent self again, she wants to give her former self a few slaps in the face to wake her up!

Wake up, you fool!

…

"Mom, do you miss grandpa and grandma too much? We will see them soon, don't be sad!"

Zhou Ying, who was beside Zheng, was the first to notice that something was wrong with her mother. Seeing that her mother was crying, she hurriedly expressed her concern in a soft voice.

Thanks to the careful care of Zheng and her brothers and sisters over the past few years, little Zhou Ying had never suffered any hardship. As a result, she had successfully grown into a gentle and sweet little girl, always speaking softly, just as Zhou Jin wished.

Zhou Jin, who was driving the cart in front, Zhou Yu, who was sitting next to him, and Zhou Li, who was leaning against the mule cart and silently reading his homework with his eyes closed, all looked over with concern when they heard their little sister say that their mother was sad...

Seeing the children looking at her worriedly, Zheng wiped her tears with her sleeves, smiled sheepishly, and said:

"Mom is fine. I just feel that your grandparents' family has been dragged down by our family over the years. I feel so ashamed and embarrassed to see them!"

"Mom, although you used to be a little too particular about the so-called Three Obediences and Four Virtues, and seemed a bit cowardly, didn't you gradually change over time? I heard from Aunt Bai that you even dared to kill a wolf to save Uncle Zelin!"

Seeing her mother sinking into self-blame again, Zhou Jin smiled and tried to persuade her.

"So, people really do grow through hardships! Mom, look, aren't you becoming more and more powerful now?"

"Yes! Mom, big brother is right! You really don't have to dwell on the past. Grandpa and his family helped us back then, so we should repay them double in the future. If you keep feeling guilty, Grandpa and Grandma will be even more distressed when they see you..."

Zhou Yu also hurriedly followed suit to persuade him.

Zheng felt better after hearing this, but she was still a little depressed.

In order to distract her mother's attention, Zhou Jin continued to playfully say:

"Mom, please tell me and Ayu how you killed that wild wolf. When Aunt Bai told me, I was shocked! Alas! It's a pity that we were not there at the time and didn't see your heroic figure when you saved people! Haha!"

"Don't listen to your Aunt Bai's nonsense. It wasn't your mother who saved your Uncle Zelin!"

Zheng hurriedly explained:

"It was your uncle Zelin who was pounced on by the wolf while trying to save mother. The wolf even tore off a large piece of flesh from his arm. He was about to be bitten to death by the wolf!

Mother was also very anxious at the time. She couldn't just watch her savior get mauled to death by a wild wolf, so she picked up the hatchet that your uncle Zelin dropped and chopped the wild wolf twice..." Zheng said.

"It wasn't just two cuts!" Zhou Li, who had been sleepy, suddenly became energetic when talking about her mother killing wolves.

"Brother, sister, you two were not here at the time, and Ah Ying was protected by others so no one dared to let her see it. But I saw it with my own eyes. The wolf's neck was almost chopped off by our mother, with only a little bit of skin still attached! It was a tragic death!

When I went over, my mother was so exhausted from hacking at wolves that she was covered in blood! She was so exhausted that she couldn't even hold her knife! Uncle Zelin was so frightened by my mother's aura that he couldn't even stand up!

"You kid! What do you mean by scared by your mother? Your uncle Zelin was scared by the wolf, okay?"

Zheng was immediately anxious when he heard this, but suddenly felt that what he said seemed to make his uncle Zelin seem a little timid, so he changed his words and said:

"Actually, your Uncle Zelin isn't a coward, he's just too weak..."

Uh?! That doesn’t seem quite right…

Zhou Jin...

Zhou Yu...

They couldn't help but look at each other. How come they could sense a hint of pink...

…

The Zheng family now lived in a large courtyard with West Mountain behind them. Zhou Jin had been there once when he first arrived in Kyoto. He had met his grandparents and several uncles and told them that their family had been pardoned by Emperor Chengqian and would be returning to the capital soon.

Ever since Zhou Jin arrived that day, Zheng's mother, Lin, had been sitting at the gate of the courtyard with a small stool waiting for her every day. Today, she finally waited for her eldest daughter and her family to return...

"Mom!" Zheng got off the mule cart and knelt down in front of Lin, hugging her thighs and crying:

"Mother! The unfilial daughter is back! Woo woo..."

After hearing this, Lin couldn't hold it back any longer. She held her daughter's emaciated face in her trembling hands and looked at it for a long time. Then she also hugged her daughter and burst into tears...

"Linghui! My son! I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime!!"

The mother and son cried miserably, and when Zhou Yu and the others saw this, they also started to wipe away their tears...

"Ling Hui! Hui girl! Are you back?!"

An old man dressed in shorts, followed by three men of varying ages, rushed out of the yard upon hearing the commotion...

"Dad! Big brother! Second brother! Third brother!" Zheng heard the voices and hurriedly raised her head from Zheng's arms, then threw herself into the arms of the old man who ran over and continued crying...

…

In this way, Zheng hugged her parents and cried for a long time before both sides felt better. Lin then pulled Zhou Yu over and touched and kissed them a few times. Only then did the meeting end and everyone had the opportunity to enter the yard.

The Zheng family's courtyard is extremely spacious, with a total area of ​​about two acres. As soon as you enter the door, you will see a large screen wall made of huge stones. Looking inside through the screen wall, there are six spacious main rooms facing south, and next to the main rooms are two side rooms on each side.

Lin led her daughter and grandchildren into the house and said with a smile:

"Although this place is a little out of the way, it's spacious. I've lived here for a few years and can't bear to live in the cramped and crowded inner city of Kyoto anymore. It's so narrow that you can bump into people even when you turn around...

Look how nice it is here! Even with a dozen kids running around in the yard, it's still spacious enough! We can even grow vegetables and fruit trees in the yard, saving tons of money every year. It's also convenient to eat. It's not like in Kyoto, where you have to buy even a blade of grass!"

How could Zheng not hear that her mother was trying to comfort her, fearing she would feel guilty? Unable to resist her mother's kindness, she quickly echoed a few words.

Then he asked:

"Mom, how come I haven't seen my sister-in-law and two nephews after all this time?"

Zheng was the second child in the family. Her two younger brothers, Zheng Wen and Zheng Wu, were twins, born after their parents' death. They were fifteen years younger than Zheng, and now they were only eighteen, and neither of them had married yet...

Therefore, in the Zheng family, only Zheng Yong, the eldest brother of Zheng, got married. He married Zhang and had two sons named Zheng Ping and Zheng An. They are no longer young now. The elder one is seventeen and the younger one is sixteen!

When the Zheng family heard Zheng asking about Zhang's mother and daughter, they all felt embarrassed.

It was simply because Zheng's elder sister-in-law, Zhang, had been making a fuss ever since she heard that her younger sister-in-law and her family were coming back. She felt that once Zheng's mother and her family came back, her parents-in-law would definitely subsidize them endlessly again!

Zhang felt that she had never seen her parents-in-law behave like this. In order to save her married daughter's family, they actually sold all their belongings!

What's even more infuriating is that even her husband supports her parents-in-law in doing this. No matter how she tries, it's useless! In the end, they sold their huge house in Kyoto and gave all the money to the Zhou family. But they moved to this godforsaken place.

In Zhang's opinion, the house in Kyoto should all belong to them!

Because of this, Zhang was heartbroken for several years and couldn't recover. Just when she had persuaded herself to feel better, this family came back again!

Zhang was so angry that she found an excuse to go back to her parents' home. Before leaving, she took her two sons with her! She did this on purpose to let her sister-in-law and her family know how unwelcome they were!

…

Of course, Lin didn't dare let her daughter know about this. When she asked, she quickly said:

"Your sister-in-law had something to do at her parents' home these past two days, so she took your two nephews back yesterday...

"Haha, let's ignore them and go inside to rest for a while. Your dad knew you were coming back, so he asked someone to buy some fresh fish two days ago and put them in the water tank in the yard. He also bought a leg of lamb, and we'll stew them all for lunch tonight!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng feigned a sweet smile and said, "I've been craving the fish my father stewed for a long time. I must eat more today..."

at the same time,

Zheng Wu behind them was also busy trying to get close to his two nieces.

"Hey, Sister Yu, Sister Ying, uncle heard from Brother Jin that you like to eat fruit. The mulberries in our yard are ripe. I'll take you two to pick some later!"

"Okay!" Zhou Yu and Zhou Ying's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this, and they immediately felt a great favor for their uncle!

Zhou Wen, who was standing next to them, was furious. He also wanted his two pretty nieces to like their uncle, so he hurriedly said to them:

"The bitch in our yard just gave birth to a few puppies. They're so fat they can't even walk. It's so fun. Can my second uncle take you to see them later?"

Zhou Yu and Zhou Ying's eyes lit up even more. They immediately left Zheng Wu behind and surrounded Zheng Wen, calling him "Second Uncle"!

Puppies and the like are much more attractive than mulberries!

After hearing this, Zheng Wen winked at Zheng Wu with pride and said with a smile:

"If you like them, then when you go back, Second Uncle will give one to each of you, okay?!"

Naturally, the two girls cheered again...

Zhou Li, who was completely ignored...

Why does no one pay attention to him? Is it because he is not tall enough that the uncles can't see him?!

But he wants puppies too!

In fact, it's not Zheng Wen and Zheng Wu's fault that they can't see little Zhou Li. It's because there are too many boys in the Zheng family. Except for Zheng Shi who is already married, there is not even a single girl in the Zheng family now. Therefore, Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu's attention naturally tilts towards the sisters Zhou Yu and Zhou Ying...:::::

The author has something to say:

Small Theater:

Zhou Li: Trying to stand on tiptoe...

Zhou Jin: I wonder...A-Li, what are you doing?!

Zhou Li: Big Brother, am I not standing high enough? Why can't my two uncles see me?!

Zhou Jin: Are you possessed by Sister Zhuo?