Chapter 85: Past Events: Mother Zhang's Story

"Mother Zhang, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about this in advance because of me. We came back to the village to hold the wedding this time."

Entering the room, Qin Shuyao looked at Zhang's mother and said with a smile, which made Su Yang next to her widen his eyes.

Damn, how come I didn't know when this happened? I'm going back to the village for the wedding. Are you kidding me?

"Yangyang, really? You guys are coming back for a wedding? Why didn't you tell me in advance? Look at you, if you told me I could prepare things in advance. I haven't prepared anything yet."

Mother Zhang looked at Su Yang anxiously, with a look of reproach in her eyes. "How could you be so ignorant, child? You didn't tell me about such a big thing even after coming back for several days?"

Su Yang looked at Zhang's mother, then at Qin Shuyao. Qin Shuyao was smiling, but her eyes held a hint of triumph. Well, he had to accept this.

"Mother Zhang, there's nothing to prepare. We'll keep it simple. We can just prepare everything. We want to give you a surprise, don't we?"

Su Yang said quickly, looking at Qin Shuyao with a slightly resentful look, but Qin Shuyao rolled her eyes at her, and the smile on her lips became even more intense.

Tang Qing and Qin Shumo were not surprised at all. It was normal to hold a wedding ceremony. After all, they were already married. But when they thought about their wedding ceremony, they couldn't help but sigh. This time, in their own village, Su Yang would not recite poems again.

It was a surprise, indeed. This surprise made Zhang's mother smile continuously.

Especially since Qin Shuyao behaved so gently and sensibly, Mother Zhang was even more satisfied.

"It's better to be older. A woman three years older than you is a treasure. She knows how to care for others when she's older. Yangyang has a hard life. He's suffered a lot over the years and no one cares about him. Now you care for him, that's great."

Mother Zhang wiped away tears as she spoke, but they were tears of joy. Upon learning that Qin Shuyao was six years older than Su Yang, Mother Zhang was quite open-minded and didn't think anything was wrong. Older people know how to care for others. Rather than finding an unreasonable 17 or 18-year-old girl and pampering her every day, it would be better to find someone older who cares for you.

The small school became lively. When the children learned that Su Yang was getting married, they were all very excited. Especially after seeing Qin Shuyao, these children liked her very much. Children like beautiful people.

Qin Shuyao and Tang Qing were very curious about Mother Zhang and these children, and also about Su Yang's past.

"Shuyao, Qingqing, you two take a rest. I'll go cook for you..."

After a brief chat with Qin Shuyao, Zhang's mother quickly stood up and said with a smile, "It's almost noon, and it's time to cook." Especially for such an important occasion today, Zhang's mother had bought a lot of food in advance.

"Mother Zhang, I'll go and help you..."

Qin Shuyao said quickly. This made Qin Shumo grin, and even Tang Qing couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. She knew what Qin Shuyao had been like over the years best. She couldn't even make instant noodles properly, and she was helping with cooking. You're so funny!

"No, no, you guys sit down..."

Mother Zhang said quickly, how could she bear to let her daughter-in-law help in the kitchen right after she arrived, not to mention that she was a big star. Mother Zhang walked out of the room happily, and several older children also volunteered to help. Looking at these children, Qin Shuyao looked at Su Yang.

"Husband, can you tell us the story of this place now?"

Qin Shuyao looked at Su Yang, and so did Qin Shumo and Tang Qing. They were full of curiosity about Zhang's mother and these stories.

"Let's go for a walk outside..."

Looking at the three people, Su Yang stood up. The four of them walked out of the school and came to the top of the mountain, where they found a random place to sit down.

Sitting on the top of the mountain, looking at the village below and the school halfway up the mountain, the feeling can only be described with one word: beautiful.

"Mother Zhang's real name is Zhang Jianxiu. She used to be a volunteer teacher at Sanshan Village Primary School. Actually, she's not from our village. Her husband was Teacher Gu, the former principal of Sanshan Village Primary School. Teacher Gu was the first university graduate from our village, and it was Teacher Gu who helped found and built this school. Our village didn't have its own primary school before, so children had to climb this mountain to attend school in the next village. The round trip took three hours, and the path was incredibly difficult. The adults said that every year, children would slip and fall to their deaths from the mountain..."

Su Yang sat on the hillside, looking at the school halfway up the mountain and began to reminisce. Qin Shuyao and the other two looked at Su Yang and listened very attentively. However, the facts Su Yang confided were something they had never heard before.

"Teacher Zhang and Teacher Gu had a daughter who was two years older than me. She was very beautiful. I remember when I was little, she would always give me candy."

Su Yang smiled sweetly as he recalled the happy memories. These memories were actually very vague. After all, Su Yang was too young at the time and could only remember a few fragments. But those fragments were beautiful.

When Qin Shuyao saw the smile on Su Yang's lips, she couldn't help but laugh too.

"But when I was four years old, a landslide triggered by a mountain torrent changed everything. That landslide took the lives of many people. My parents, Teacher Gu, and his and Mother Zhang's daughter. I remember very clearly that when Teacher Gu and his daughter were dug out of the mudslide, Mother Zhang hugged their bodies and cried for a long time."

Su Yang's voice was very low, while Qin Shuyao and the other three were already secretly wiping away tears. Losing her husband and daughter at the same time, that was so painful.

"Later, Teacher Zhang buried Teacher Gu and her daughter in the back mountain, right behind the school. From then on, Mother Zhang stayed at the school and never left. In fact, Mother Zhang could have left here. Her family came to look for her several times, but she refused. She said her soul was buried here, in this school, in this mountain, and she couldn't leave. This may be her spiritual sustenance."

Su Yang's words seemed light, but the three people who were listening to the story were already in tears.

In that accident, Su Yang lost his parents and was heartbroken.

Mother Zhang was in even greater pain. Not only did she lose her lover, she also lost her child. That kind of psychological torture is simply unbearable for most people.

"Mother Zhang stayed and became the principal of this school. There used to be a few teachers here, but some retired, some left, and gradually, only Mother Zhang was left. As for the children, they were all adopted by Mother Zhang. At first, there were only one or two, but after word spread, people began secretly sending their children to the school gate. Some of these children came from families too poor to raise them, some from families that favored boys over girls, and some were disabled or sick. But no matter what kind of children they were, as long as they were sent here, Mother Zhang never abandoned them. She spent all her meager salary on these children. I was one of them..."

Mother Zhang's story has been revealed, but it's not a happy one.

Listening to Su Yang's story, Qin Shuyao suddenly understood why Su Yang would go after Lin Weiwei.

Maybe in Su Yang's heart, he felt that Lin Weiwei insulted the word charity.

In Su Yang's heart, Mother Zhang was the real philanthropist. Compared with Mother Zhang, those celebrities who treated charity as a show were ridiculous clowns, and even Qin Shuyao herself felt ashamed.

At this moment, Qin Shuyao finally understood why Su Yang cried poor even though he made so much money during college.

As a member of this family, and even the eldest son, how could Su Yang bear to let Zhang's mother bear all this alone? Su Yang earned a lot in his four years of college, but it was not much for this special family. With so many children, some of whom were sick or even disabled, the little money Su Yang earned was really not much.