Chapter 441 Encountering Bandits

"Mom, what good idea can I come up with? You can't sell our house to buy food!" Chen Zhancai muttered softly with his head down.

This almost sent Old Man Chen packing. He gasped in anger, his face flushed, and said, "You ruined our family, you've ruined it so badly, and you still want to sell the house? Do you want your mother and I to have no place to live?"

"That's not what I meant. You forced me to do that." Chen Zhancai had an expression that said it was all their fault.

Seeing this, Ruhua quickly spoke up to smooth things over, "Dad, Mom, don't worry. Zhancai is a scholar. He can find a job teaching in town or set up a small stall writing documents for others to make a living. Our family will not be unable to make ends meet."

"Ruhua, you're right." Old man Chen sighed and looked at Chen Zhancai, "Son, I can't blame you for not passing the exam. After all, you tried your best. It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

"My dear son, I was so anxious just now that I forgot that he is a great scholar."

Old Mrs. Chen's anger also subsided a lot. Instead, she felt a little happy. Her previous worries were swept away. She looked at Chen Zhancai with a smile:

"Zhancai, since you came back in Chen Zhanshan's carriage, you must have saved a lot of money along the way. Look at how much money is left in your pocket. Take it out quickly and ask your father to go to town to buy some food so that we can improve our meals."

"Mom, I..." It would have been fine if the money wasn't mentioned. As soon as the money was mentioned, Chen Zhancai immediately became depressed. He felt distressed and regretful. That was forty taels of silver!

If he hadn't been cheated, he wouldn't have been in such a state of disgrace, nor would he have signed an IOU for sixty taels of silver.

With his talent, he could easily find a job in Ningjing to make a living, and he wouldn't have to come back to be the pillar of the family and carry any heavy burdens.

As long as you gain a firm foothold, you can take the imperial examination in three years and have a good chance of passing the exam...

But now it's a mess.

If we had known this, we wouldn't have had to split up the family in the first place, and there wouldn't have been all these troubles.

Seeing his bloating, Old Lady Chen became anxious. "Zhancai, what are you doing holding back your words? Hurry up and take out the money!"

"Yes, hurry up, your mother and Ruhua haven't had a full meal for several days." Old man Chen also urged.

Chen Zhancai frowned. He knew that some things could not be told truthfully and he had to make up stories.

"Dad, Mom, there are some things I don't want to tell you. I'm afraid you'll be worried. If nothing unexpected happened, I would have come back with the money long ago."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Chen became curious and asked, "What's wrong, son? What happened?"

"Since you want to know, I'll tell you."

Chen Zhancai sighed solemnly and then started making up stories.

"Ever since I knew I hadn't passed the exam, I've been on my way home. I've thought a lot along the way. I know how hard it has been for my parents. They sold food and land to make me a great family, but I haven't been able to bring honor to my ancestors. However, I have a conscience and a filial heart. I'm going to save money and use the money I have left to buy back the land I sold. That way, my family will have food to eat and my parents won't have to go hungry anymore.

I thought it was a good idea, but when I was carrying the heavy forty taels of silver and had just walked out of Ningjing City, I encountered a group of bandits. They put a steel knife on my neck and asked me to pay for my life.

At that time, I was not afraid, without thinking, I just said, "I don't have money, but I have my life."

This money is my parents' life-saving money, how can I let them get away with it? In the end, I got beaten up."

As he spoke, Chen Zhancai raised his finger and pointed at his face, "Look, this is where those guys beat me."

Several people were stunned when they heard it.

Old Mrs. Chen hurried forward to take a look, "Oh, why is it still bruised!"

"Yes, look, there is still a cut!" Old man Chen said, pointing with his finger.

Ruhua's face was also filled with heartache. "These people were really cruel. My husband, are you still hurt?"

"How could it not hurt? It almost killed me at that time." Chen Zhancai recalled the scene of being beaten up by the shop owner and the waiter. He was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

Those two snobbish bastards treat rich people like their grandsons and want to kneel down and lick their feet.

After hearing that they had no money, they beat them like they had killed their father and slept with their wife. They were so brutal and beat them to death.

Just thinking about it makes my face burn.

In order to make his family believe him, he had to continue to talk nonsense.

"At that time, the gang beat me up and I rolled on the ground, but I just held on to the silver and refused to let go until I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I found that the silver was gone.

I was heartbroken and heartbroken. I felt ashamed to go home and face my parents, so I wanted to die.

But just when I was about to hang myself on the crooked tree, Chen Zhanshan and his men saw me. After hearing about my experience, they felt guilty and took me back with them."

When Old Man Chen heard this, his expression changed immediately, his eyes widening. "What did you say? Forty taels of silver were stolen?"

Chen Zhancai pretended to be sad and wiped away the tears he had squeezed out with great difficulty, "Yes, Dad, they were all taken away by someone."

"Oh my God, how am I going to live from now on?" Old man Chen felt dizzy and collapsed on the kang.

Old Mrs. Chen felt dizzy and almost fainted on the spot.

Ruhua was quick and swift, patting the back and soothing the old lady's temper, and finally she calmed her down.

"Don't worry, Mom. As the saying goes, there's always a way out when you reach the mountain, and there's always a way out when you reach the bridge. Even though the money is gone, at least Zhan can return safely. It's a blessing in disguise. You must be open-minded!"

After a while, Old Lady Chen finally recovered and said, "Ruhua, you are right. I hope Zhan can come back safely."

Chen Zhancai was frightened by the scene just now. He was afraid that his mother would be in trouble. If she collapsed on the kang, he would have to take care of her. If that really happened, he would have to run away from home and wander around the world, living a happy life where one person could feed the whole family.

Seeing that Old Lady Chen was fine, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Mom, I'm sorry for making you worry. As long as you're okay, I'll definitely be filial to you in the future."

"Good son, I'm fine." Old Mrs. Chen believed these hypocritical words and nodded with satisfaction. "My son is just like this, he is filial. Just for this, I am satisfied."

Old man Chen didn't want to argue at first, but when he heard the word "filial piety", he found it particularly harsh, and a surge of blood rushed to his head.

"Okay, old woman, anyone can draw a pancake. Filial piety can't be measured with words. You have to show some real talent. Don't use those empty words. Think about how we are going to live in the future!"