Chapter 64: The Dog in the Water "Don't be afraid. They can't get in."...

There was a "boom" in Lin Meiju's mind. After the excitement, she felt a sense of "what is coming will eventually come" and the dust has settled.

She knew that Shen Changfeng, who had been causing harm for thousands of years, would never die so easily.

After a brief moment of panic, she quickly calmed down. She and he had already divorced, she was free, he could no longer give her orders, so why should she be afraid of him?

Shen Changfeng looked at the person in front of him, feeling mixed emotions.

Before leaving Beijing, he had clarified the stakes involved. Lin Meizhu would have to observe a three-year mourning period for Wang Shi, during which time she would be completely unable to marry. This length of time calmed his frantic heart. He sensed that changing her heart would be a protracted battle, so he didn't rush to find her, as that might scare her away. He chose to wait and see, waiting for her to arrive. After finding out where she was, he immediately enlisted in the army at the nearest Jingzhou Guard and secured a position.

Most positions in the garrison were hereditary. His garrison's governance was lax, with many simply clinging to their positions and collecting salaries. When bandits arrived, they pretended to drive them away, but over time, the bandits grew increasingly rampant. Instead of fleeing upon seeing officers and soldiers, they would turn hostile and assault them. After sitting on the bench for the better part of a month, Shen Changfeng finally got his chance. In the dead of night, he launched a surprise attack, slaughtering two bandit leaders and capturing over a dozen of their men. He was then promoted to a minor flag officer. Within two months, Shen Changfeng had become a renowned figure among the bandits. Two days ago, the garrison's chief flag officer passed away. The captain, impressed by this brave general and, more importantly, unable to find anyone willing to work and fear death, recommended him for the position of chief flag officer, and now was his probationary period.

Shen Changfeng was extremely anxious when he came here. Whenever he thought of her, his internal organs would involuntarily churn with sourness. But when he really came to this point, he gradually calmed down and reminded himself again and again not to be reckless and not to scare anyone again.

Chen Huisheng saw Lin Meizhu's expression change again and again. The guests he had invited also looked at Lin Meizhu in a daze. He asked curiously, "Do you know each other?"

Lin Meiju sneered. It was more than just knowing each other. It could be said that they were enemies in the previous life and enemies in this life.

She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice less unpleasant, and said simply, "What can I do for you?"

Hearing the cold tone that he wanted to avoid as much as possible, Shen Changfeng felt like a thorn in his heart. He said slowly: "I, you left something behind, and I brought it to you on the way."

Before he could finish his words, a rabbit head suddenly popped out from Shen Changfeng's arms, and then two cute little rabbits emerged from under the big rabbit.

Hearing Shen Changfeng's reply, Qingsong couldn't help but roll his eyes. Two or three thousand miles! On the way? Didn't they say it was fine before? He only hated that these six rabbits couldn't speak human language, otherwise they would have called out "mother" in unison! "Grandma" would be fine too! He smiled bitterly and lifted the package in front of him. Three rabbit heads popped out. Who would have thought that there were only two rabbits when he left, but in a few months they had become a whole family? He was really scared of raising them!

Lin Meizhu recognized it as the rabbit she had raised at the palace. She had been in a hurry to leave, so she had to ask someone to ask Shen Chali to take care of it. She was reluctant to leave. She thought about how she had just shown her weakness, and she couldn't afford to lose again. She straightened her spine, pointed at the rabbit in Shen Changfeng's arms with all her might, then at the ground. Then, with an even more ferocious look, she pointed at the two people standing there, glaring at them as she stretched out her arms toward the door, swearing, "Get out!"

She also wanted to have a lively verbal fight and humiliate the person on the other side until he felt ashamed, but this hoarse voice sounded quite funny and was probably not going to help her. She had to turn her words into actions and teach the other party a lesson.

Chen Huisheng looked at his granddaughter, who was like an angry chick, pointing and gesturing with her chest puffed out and wings spread wide. He felt a little amused and a little apologetic. "Excuse me, my daughter had a high fever a few days ago, and her behavior was inappropriate. Please don't be offended..."

Lin Meizhu was dumbfounded, and almost grabbed Chen Huisheng's ear and said, "He's the bastard you said you'd never have a good death! He's a bastard!"

Chen Huisheng, unfortunately hard of hearing, asked, "Who? What?"

Shen Changfeng looked at Lin Meizhu's anxious face, then suddenly lowered his head and said, "I am Shen Changfeng."

The only sound around was the crackling of raindrops hitting the eaves.

Chen Huisheng looked at Lin Meiju, his eyes inquiring: Is it him?

Lin Meizhu nodded vigorously, gritting her teeth: That's right! It's him!

Chen Huisheng exclaimed softly, "So you are Shen Changfeng."

He suddenly remembered something, left a word and turned away: "Wait a minute!"

Shen Changfeng suddenly felt a little ashamed. Just now, Chen Huisheng had been chatting with him happily and had even said he would stay for tea and dinner. But in this situation, Lin Meizhu was clearly still furious. How could he have the nerve to stay any longer? The meal would have to be arranged another time.

He was about to call out to Chen Huisheng when he heard a frantic barking of dogs. Two vicious dogs, one black and one yellow, leaped out from the back room. Chen Huisheng followed closely behind, brandishing his cane with a whirring sound. "You murderous thief! You deserve to be hacked to pieces! You ugly bastard, worse than an animal! You monkey! You little jailer! How dare you come to me? I'll beat you to death today!"

For a moment, rabbits were jumping, watchdogs were barking, Chen Huisheng was beating people, and from time to time there were one or two terrified howls mixed with the sound of clothes being torn. The neighbors looked out to watch, and it was very lively.

Qingsong was frightened. Seeing that the old man did not restrain his strength at all, and Shen Changfeng just stood there stupidly and let himself be beaten, the most terrifying thing was that the two mad dogs were not afraid of the sword in his hands. He did not dare to really kill the dogs. He pulled the people back while snatching the cloth from the dogs' mouths. By the time they retreated to the door, the two men's clothes were torn and they looked really embarrassed.

Chen Huisheng slammed the door shut. Turning around, he saw Lin Meiju's eyes were red. When she saw him looking at her, her mouth pursed and tears fell.

Chen Hui was panting, holding onto the door latch and saying, "Why are you crying? You're such a coward!"

Lin Meiju didn't say anything, just shed tears silently.

Chen Huisheng took two steps closer, paused, and wiped the tears from her face with his rough hands. He lowered his voice, which was rare, and said, "Don't be afraid. They can't get in."

Lin Meizhu's tears burst out like a dam bursting. She hugged Chen Huisheng and cried like a child, "Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa, what should I do without you..."

It turns out that even if she was wronged, her family would stand up for her and someone would tell her not to be afraid. She had waited for this day for a very, very long time.

Chen Huisheng had heard a lot of rumors. He would scold Shen Changfeng if he heard anything about him, and would just ignore any bad things he heard about Lin Meizhu. He knew whether the child he raised was good or bad.

Ever since he learned that Lin Meizhu had settled in Hubei, he'd been telling everyone his granddaughter was promising and that he'd wait until spring to take her back home to live there. But he couldn't wait any longer. Having lived in Lingnan for twenty or thirty years, even when his wife passed away, he hadn't considered moving the family. The day after receiving this letter, he packed his bags and headed north.

It was early spring when I met Lin Meiju in Hubei.

But he didn't recognize her, far from it.

When they were about to pass each other, someone stopped him and called softly, "Grandpa."

Chen Huisheng turned around and looked again and again at the slender woman standing at the bridge. The outline was hers, the eyebrows and eyes were hers, and the voice was hers, but when put together, she was not the one he remembered.

The thin figure at the bridgehead was wearing a loose jacket and skirt, and the empty sleeves were filled with wind, like two fluttering sails.

The wind ruffled her hair, sticking it to her pale, thin face. She brushed the fine strands away from her lips, her sleeves slid down, her arms becoming smaller, her wrist bones looking awkward. She blinked, "Grandpa, it's me."

She was smiling, but Chen Huisheng suddenly felt like crying. He didn't understand how the little girl, whom he had saved so much money to avoid starving, could become like this?

In the days that followed, the two tacitly agreed not to mention anyone or anything related to the divorce.

But seeing Lin Meizhu's abnormal behavior today, Chen Huisheng understood more deeply how difficult those days were for her.

"What's the point of crying? Stop crying!"

"I can't coax you anymore! Hurry up and write a letter to ask Chuqi to come back and coax him to comfort you!"

Although his tone was angry, he did not push the person away.

Aunt Zhang heard a commotion in the front yard and rushed over to see Lin Meizhu wiping tears with her sleeve. Chen Huisheng, noticing someone coming, quickly turned away, cleared his throat twice, and called out through gritted teeth, "Da Huang, Xiao Hei, follow me!"

Aunt Zhang watched Chen Huisheng walk toward the side door, carrying a rattan stick, looking like he was about to start a fight. She asked nervously, "Madam, what's going on?"

After being kicked out, Shen Changfeng felt very upset. If being beaten and scolded could make Lin Meizhu feel better, he would be willing to hand her the whip himself. But what really hurt him was the look of disgust she gave him.

He slowly reached out, wanting to knock on the door, asking her to give him a chance to explain. However, the moment he heard the crying, he stopped.

She cried so sadly that her voice became hoarse. He could hear the grievance and sadness in her sobs, and he was the culprit.

His internal organs felt like they were being kneaded together by an invisible giant hand, causing him to ache continuously. Heat welled up in his eyes. He placed his palms against the door panel, as if this would bring him closer to her, as if this would give him silent comfort from his shame.

Qingsong's hands could not cover the several holes on his body, nor could they block the enthusiastic and curious gazes from all around. He was about to say a few words of advice when he suddenly heard a low, rumbling humming sound from the side. His face changed drastically, and he looked towards the source of the sound. Not surprisingly, he saw two vicious dogs with their teeth bared.

Most of the people living next door were old acquaintances of Chen Huisheng, including some relatives who had made a living in Lingnan with him and were returning to their homeland with him. When they learned that Chen Huisheng was leaving, they were filled with emotion. As they talked, they became homesick, thinking that they didn't know when they would die in a foreign land, and they all made up their minds to follow Chen Huisheng back to their homeland.

These five or six uncles and aunts, together with Chen Huisheng, must be more than three hundred years old. Lin Meiju was so scared that she dared not stay in Nanjing anymore after receiving the news and hurried south.

When these people saw Chen Huisheng, who was furious and looked like he wanted to kill someone, and saw two disheveled young men standing in front of the door, they quickly guessed what had happened. They changed their expressions, walked up to him together, and started to persuade him one after another.

Shen Changfeng didn't understand what they were saying, but he saw these old men standing between him and Chen Huisheng, as if protecting him and helping him retreat. They were muttering something, probably trying to stop a fight.

He was deeply moved, and he thought to himself that he would definitely thank these simple folks in the future. The sound of the gurgling water gradually became clearer in his ears, and he could faintly smell a disgusting odor. Shen Changfeng realized something was wrong and turned around. He saw the riverbank was just a few inches away. He tried to steady himself and step onto the bridge, but he didn't know who had pushed his abdomen, who had bumped his back, and who had stepped on his boots. He retreated again and again, but there was no way to retreat. With a "plop", he was pushed into the river.

Amidst the laughter, Qingsong was stunned for a moment, because this was not an ordinary river, but a sewage ditch!