Chapter 10 Bloodline Yao Zhizhi is not a biological granddaughter, there is no blood relationship...

The old man of the Yao family is ninety years old this year.

He used to be a scholar, but failed to pass the imperial examination, so he stayed in the countryside and became a private tutor.

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, various new-style schools emerged. He was full of fighting spirit and went to the county girls' school to teach.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky and happened to see the invaders entering the city.

It is not easy for a weak scholar to save a female student.

What's more, the defenders have all fled.

In the end, he and other teachers were stopped on the playground, with guns held against them, and they had to watch helplessly as young girls were raped one after another.

Some of them were stubborn and resisted fiercely. They were shot dead on the spot. Even after death, they could not rest in peace. Their bodies were humiliated by the Japanese.

Those with docile personalities survived, but were taken to their base camp and abused at will. Some died, some were injured, some became sick, and some were disabled.

This is just the tragedy of the world.

The old man was a scholar, and he was taught from a young age to help the world if he was successful.

He couldn't bear the thought that these female students would have to live in shadow and pain for the rest of their lives.

Fortunately, the Yao family had some assets and even had the ability to help friends start businesses. In order to save the country through industry, he found a way to bring back those students who had escaped by chance and raised them in his yard.

We also invited a Western doctor to treat me.

After those female students recovered from their injuries and illnesses, most of them joined the army to participate in the revolution.

Only two timid ones did not leave and stayed in the Yao family, becoming concubines of the old man.

The old man already had a wife and two concubines. During the Republic of China period, concubines were called concubines, which made things even more lively.

His first wife gave birth to three sons, and his four concubines gave birth to five sons and twelve daughters in total.

It is not easy for him to support such a large family by himself.

He also spent all his family fortune helping female students and became penniless.

He had planned to ask the friend he had funded for dividends, but the war broke out and that person moved to Hong Kong with his family and factory and never returned.

After writing several letters, he received no reply. He had a family to take care of, so he went back to his old house in the countryside and made a living by farming.

Fortunately, a typhoon hit one day, and the strong wind and heavy rain crushed the Yao family's ancestral home.

After the sky cleared up, we saw that the ancestor had hidden two boxes of gold ingots in the altar under the shrine.

He quietly went to the money shop and exchanged it for the current currency.

The whole family hid in Yaowangzhuang and survived until the founding of New China.

However, New China only allows monogamy, and the old man couldn't bear to part with his concubines, no matter how hard he tried.

Keep dragging it on.

In the end, fearing that it would affect his grandson's promotion, he gritted his teeth and let them all remarry, while their descendants remained in the Yao family.

The one in the army now is Yao Jingzong, the son of his first wife’s youngest son.

Yao Jingzong is 51 years old this year. He joined the army at the age of 14 and participated in the Long March at the age of 15. He performed outstandingly during the War of Liberation and later participated in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, with outstanding military achievements.

Because he was stationed in Northeast China for a long time, he rarely returned home.

During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Yao Jingzong was afraid that he would never return, so he sent his wife and children back to the countryside. At that time, his wife was already pregnant.

Later, Yao Jingzong returned alive and took his wife and children away.

The Northeast is too far away from here, old man, you must hold on for a few more years.

Just hold on until Yao Zhizhi and Yao Jingjing are both married.

By then everything will be a foregone conclusion and no one can do anything about it.

Thinking so, Yao Erdan gathered around the old man's bed, calling him "Grandpa" affectionately.

So much so that in the second half of the night when everyone else was asleep, he was the only one who was still alert and vigilant.

He kept praying in his heart: "Grandpa, please live well, please."

*

Yao Zhizhi did not go to the clinic with them. There were too many members of the Yao family, and it was not their generation's turn to serve them.

She was thinking about the next arrangements when Yao Taotao got angry with her elder sister and ran over to sleep with her.

Late at night, when everyone was asleep, the two sisters gathered together and whispered to each other.

After turning off the lights, Yao Zhizhi fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan and said, "Second sister, I fell into the water last time and I can't remember some things clearly. Can you tell me about it?"

"What do you want to know?" Yao Taotao likes being with Fifth Sister the most now, probably because she is attracted by the rebellious spirit of Fifth Sister.

She raised half of her body, ready to help her sister answer her questions.

The original body had no memories left, so Yao Zhizhi hurried to fill in all the information about the Yao family.

"It seems that our grandfather was born to the old master's concubine?"

"Yes, it was a female student that the old man saved. She had been raped by a beast and wanted to commit suicide by jumping into the river after being rescued. The old man took pity on her and kept her as his concubine."

"Is this considered repaying kindness with enmity? For Grandma."

"I don't think so. In their era, having three wives and four concubines was normal. I heard that the grandmother treated them all very well and there were no conflicts."

"That's right, it's good enough to survive in troubled times."

"Yes, in fact, having a large population also has its advantages. It's like scattering a handful of seeds randomly. In the end, a few outstanding seedlings will emerge. Grandma's little grandson is the most outstanding one."

"You mean the one in the army?"

"Yes, you were still young at that time and didn't see him. I saw him once. In 1953, he came back to pick up his wife and children. He was quite a man. Oh, and he had a daughter who was born in the same year as you, with just one birthday."

"Really? What a coincidence?"

"Yes, call her Yao Jingjing. She is one day older than you. If the old man can't make it this time, they should come back. When you meet her then, you have to call her sister."

"Just call out the name, it's just one day away."

"I don't have any objections, but I'm afraid my parents will find fault with you."

"I'm not afraid."

"Haha, Zhizhi, I like you like this. Oh, your cowardly look before really pissed me off. This is the best now."

"Being a coward will make people bully you. Instead of that, I'd rather bully others."

"Haha, that's right, that's the way to think. By the way, do you have a solution for my elder sister's problem?"

"Yes, if successful, we can kill three birds with one stone."

"Zhizhi, you are amazing. Tell me about your plans later. It's getting late today. Go to bed. You still have to go to the commune to see the old man tomorrow."

"Um."

Yao Zhizhi soon heard the sound of even breathing, and her second sister fell asleep.

But she was not sleepy at all, and she kept going over in her mind how she should remedy the situation if any emergency occurred.

The next morning, she received the gift package for signing in, and after dinner, she went to the commune clinic with her second sister.

When they got there, the ward was already packed with people. As the fourth generation, and from the concubine's branch, they could only squeeze in the corridor and wait.

It is obvious that although Tai Nai was not dissatisfied with the four concubines when she was alive, her descendants were very disgusted with the other four.

Especially in the current social environment, they will say that the other four branches are the products of feudal dregs and feudal remnants.

Fortunately, we are all poor farmers, otherwise we would probably be criticized.

Only after everyone from Grandma's branch had left did it come to the second concubine's branch's turn. Yao Erdan was from the fourth concubine's branch, so Yao Zhizhi and the others had to wait until the second-to-last wave before they could enter.

The wait lasted for more than an hour. Fortunately, Yao Zhizhi was smart and brought the back issues that Li Jing gave her.

She read over and over again those reports opposing arranged marriages by parents.

We need to learn how journalists use words and construct sentences, how they start from small things and expand to bigger things.

Finally, with the main theme that deep-rooted bad ideas must be eliminated, he briefly mentioned a few examples.

All of this is to prove the benefits of free marriage.

Yao Zhizhi was watching with great interest when her second sister pushed her and it was their turn.

The fourth concubine gave birth to a son and three daughters. One daughter died in childbirth, one daughter died of illness, and one daughter was beaten to death by her husband's family.

So there was only one son left, and the only son was infertile, so they had to replace him with Yao Erdan.

Two years ago, the fourth concubine and her only son passed away one after another, leaving only the Yao Erdan family, who had no blood relationship with them, in this entire branch.

So this branch of theirs is actually dead in name only.

Yao Erdan and Wang Fang led their five daughters in.

The old man has woken up, his eyes are cloudy, like the car window glass after a storm, which can never be wiped clean.

The couple talked to the old man and then asked their five daughters to come and pay their respects to him.

The first four were fine. The old man didn't react much and just watched with a faint expression.

When it was Yao Zhizhi's turn, the old man somehow forced himself to sit up.

Yao Zhizhi thought the old man was about to die and had some last words, so she quickly gave him a hand.

Unexpectedly, the old man became even more excited. He held her arm and opened and closed his mouth, but it was impossible to tell what he wanted to say.

He was nearly ninety years old, his teeth had long fallen out, his cheekbones were sunken, and his masseter muscles had atrophied. In Yao Zhizhi's eyes, he was like a stranded fish looking for water to drink.

Yao Zhizhi quickly reminded: "Second sister, bring a bowl of water."

Yao Taotao had good eyesight and had already brought a bowl of boiled water.

Yao Zhizhi took it and carefully fed it to the old man.

The old man took a sip and turned away. He didn't seem thirsty, so Yao Zhizhi put down the bowl.

The old man continued to pull her hand, mumbling something inaudible.

Yao Zhizhi really couldn't understand, so she had to accompany him patiently.

So when the next group of people came to visit the old man, she was still sitting in front of the bed.

The old man didn't even look at them, he just stared at Yao Zhizhi, muttering something.

Yao Zhizhi suddenly became a thorn in everyone's side.

Some people murmured that she must have often sought favor from the old man.

Others were still thinking about the legendary story of gold ingots hidden under the shrine, and always thought that the old man might have hidden some good things and wanted to leave them to Yao Zhizhi.

Otherwise, why would he keep holding her hand?

She's not my granddaughter, there's no blood relationship, okay?

A group of people whispered to each other, and soon the news reached the ears of the eldest grandson of the great grandmother's branch.

Yao Jingye is the production team leader and the tacitly recognized young and middle-aged leader of the Yao family.

He is tactful and doesn't like to offend people.

After hearing the younger generation's imitation, he just smiled and said, "That means the Erdan family has a connection with the old man. There's nothing to be nervous about. As for the gold ingots, there are none. Our Yao family has relied on farming for a living over the years. We are truly poor and lower-middle peasants. Don't go out and talk nonsense and look for trouble."

When the younger generations heard this, they thought it made sense.

Even if they really hid something, once it was discovered, they would be labeled as backward elements.

"But uncle, it's really strange. Why is Yao Zhizhi so close to my great-grandfather?" The speaker was the daughter of Yao Jingye's younger brother.

Yao Jingye smiled and said, "Aren't you going to talk about it anymore? It's fate. Okay, go back. I'll go check it out later."

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