Chapter 12 Hu Dali's face was naturally covered in pockmarks...

Hu Dali was born with a face full of pockmarks. He was ugly and thin, unlike his older brother Hu Datian, who was strong and burly. Hu Dali was lazy and loved to eat, so people called him Hu the Pockmarked. He was over thirty years old when he finally found a wife who had killed her husband. Although she was domineering and shrewish, he didn't dare to talk back and could only smile awkwardly and say, "What are you saying? Your older brother is still watching."

This Liu was truly vulgar and uncouth. Hu Datian, who was listening from the side, felt his ears burning. Although he was a farmer, he knew a little about etiquette. Seeing Liu speaking so unrestrainedly in front of outsiders, he finally couldn't hold back and adopted the authoritative demeanor of an elder brother to reprimand Liu: "There are guests here. If you two want to make a scene, go back home and make your scene."

Looking at Hu Datian's stern face, Liu was still somewhat intimidated by her older brother and dared not point at Hu Dali and curse anymore.

Hu Datian said to Liu, "Sister-in-law, we owe Afu a great debt of gratitude to this lady. Otherwise, Afu would probably be gone. You two should quickly kowtow to the lady twice."

Only then did Liu notice Wei Yin. Wei Yin had only casually put on a dress when she went out that night. After a whole night of fussing, her hair was messy, her clothes were wrinkled, and there were patches of mud and dust all over her face. She looked quite disheveled, but that did not hide her charming beauty. When she turned her head and saw her husband staring at her with a dazed look, her bitter resentment rose again.

“Brother,” Liu said, “you know that although Dali is a bit unreliable, my Afu is an extremely obedient child. He was watching the lanterns on the street with Dali, how could he have disappeared?”

After a pause, Liu glared at Wei Yin: "In my opinion, it's highly likely that someone couldn't have a son, and seeing that my Afu was well-behaved and clever, and would be successful in the future, they kidnapped Afu, almost causing him to drown. Fearing a death, they pretended to save someone and sent the child back. Now they even dare to come to our door asking for thanks. Brother, why don't we tie up this woman and hand her over to the authorities, so her husband's family can see what kind of vicious heart she has!"

Wei Yinren was dumbfounded; it was the first time she had ever met such an unreasonable woman.

Hu Datian's face flushed red as he listened to Liu's utterly shameless lies.

Everyone in He Village knows that his nephew, Afu, is spoiled rotten and unruly. He always spouts vulgarities he learned from Liu Shi when he sees his elders. He started school at the age of five or six, but he still can't write his own name properly.

Liu seemed oblivious, wearing a self-righteous expression: "Brother, don't be fooled by this woman. You and Dali should tie her up quickly. We'll send her to the authorities at dawn tomorrow. Her husband's family will naturally be in the wrong, and they might even have to compensate us some money."

She gave Hu Dali another wink.

Hu Dali thought about his wife's words and felt that this was a good deal. He immediately agreed, "Brother, what Afu's mother said is right. Afu is my lifeblood. Even if I am useless, I will not lose the child. I remember now! I think I saw this woman on the street. She kept secretly looking at my Afu. Now that I think about it, she probably had this in mind."

"So it's true?" Liu was now beaming with pride. "Why didn't you say so sooner? If I hadn't been so sensible, I would have been fooled!"

"Enough!" Hu Datian shouted. "Dali, don't let your wife embarrass herself here. This lady is from the He family. Who would want your Afu?"

"The He family mansion? Which He family mansion?" Liu was taken aback.

"Which He family is still in Huangzhou City?"

"Could it be the residence of the top scholar...?"

Liu was so frightened that her face turned pale. Only then did she notice that although Wei Yin's clothes were disheveled, the material was of excellent quality, something that even wealthy families rarely possessed.

The He family is a prominent family in the desolate state, with many officials produced over the generations. The eldest son of the He family was the top scholar in the imperial examination just a few years ago, and now he serves as an official in the capital. Even the prefectural governor has to address the old master of the He family as a junior. If this woman in front of him is still some kind of favorite in the He family...

She thought about what she had just said and immediately regretted it so much that she wanted to bite her tongue off.

Hu Dali was so frightened that he didn't dare to look around anymore and hid behind his elder brother Hu Datian. He angrily cursed Liu Shi, "It's all your nonsense, you wretched woman! Let me tell you, if the He family investigates, you'll have to go and beg for forgiveness yourself. Don't drag me and Afu into this!"

Liu wanted nothing more than to bite her cowardly husband, Hu Dali, to death.

Hu Datian looked at his spineless younger brother hiding behind him, sighed, and waved his hand helplessly: "You all shut up. Dali, go and fetch a doctor to take a look at Afu. Sister-in-law, go to the kitchen and cook a bowl of ginger soup for Afu and this lady to ward off the cold."

After the couple went out to work, Hu Datian rubbed his face, feeling exhausted. He apologized to Wei Yin and was about to boil water for her to make tea when Wei Yin quickly stopped him.

Hu Datian felt ashamed, so he stood on tiptoe and rummaged on top of an old, somewhat shaky cabinet against the wall. After a while, he pulled out a box containing food and handed it to Wei Yin.

"Madam saved my son Afu, but has been treated so abruptly. We have nothing to offer her, only some sesame candy for the New Year..."

This is a very rough-made snack, which is a coarse flour cake with some honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds on the outside.

For poor families, however, it was a rare treat.

Just as Hu Datian was about to let Wei Yin try it, he heard his youngest son's voice again from behind: "Father."

Ah Hu pushed open the door and looked in this direction. Hu Datian frowned: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Ah Hu glanced at Wei Yin beside him, and finally whispered to Hu Datian, "Ah Hu really can't sleep. I want to see if my older sister will come to play with me. By the way, Father, why did you scold my older sister in the yard the night before last and not let her come to play with us? If my older sister heard it, she would be sad."

Hu Datian's expression changed drastically, and he almost dropped the candy box in his hand, but luckily he managed to hold it steady.

He realized there were strangers standing next to him, and immediately reprimanded Ah Hu sternly: "Don't talk nonsense, go back to sleep."

He then turned to Wei Yin and explained, "Madam, the child is still half asleep, please ignore what he is saying."

Hu Datian's attempt to cover up his true intentions did not escape Wei Yin's notice. At that moment, she heard Lu Hun's young voice reminding her, "It's almost dawn, we have to go."

After Wei Yin left, only the father and son remained in the room. Ah Hu stared at his father with wide eyes, afraid of saying the wrong thing again.

Hu Datian sighed, patted Ah Hu's head, and earnestly instructed, "Good Ah Hu, Ah Zhu is gone... You must never mention her outside again, understand?"

Ah Hu was too young to understand much: "My older sister is still here. Didn't she come to play with me, my second sister, and my second brother that night?"

"Anyway, you're not allowed to mention it again! If your father hears it again, he'll beat you." Hu Datian was very annoyed.

Ah Hu shrank back in fear, not daring to ask any more questions, and quickly ran back to the inner room.

Hu Datian sat down alone by the bed and picked up his pipe to smoke again.

As the smoke rose, he also saw the various strange phenomena that had occurred in the house since Ah Zhu's death. Sometimes he would hear crying outside the window while he was sleeping, and sometimes strange noises would come from the children's room. But every time he went to check, Ah Hu and his siblings were sleeping peacefully, and there was no one there.

At first, he didn't take it seriously, thinking he was just overthinking it.

But it wasn't until Ah Hu told him that Ah Zhu came back to play with them one night that he began to suspect that Ah Zhu, who had died, had returned to haunt them...

He had been watching over Ah Hu and the others with bated breath these past few days, fearing that Ah Zhu would come back and do something else, but he never expected that she would set her sights on Ah Fu...

Hu Datian stared painfully at the sky outside the door, which was gradually brightening. Azhu was his most sensible child, who helped him manage the family and take care of his younger siblings. If there had been any other way to survive, he would never have married his daughter to the River God to pray for rain.

But he really had no choice...

He couldn't just stand by and watch his whole family die in this drought!

Liu brought in the ginger soup she had just cooked. She saw Hu Datian squatting alone by the bed, smoking silently. She frowned and asked, "Brother, what's wrong? Where is that lady?"

"She's gone." Hu Datian's voice was muffled.

"Why did she leave so quickly? I wanted to personally escort her back to the He family. This would have been a great opportunity to speak with them..." she said regretfully.

"Stop worrying about such nonsense and think about your son first!" Hu Datian suddenly raised his face: "That lady said that Afu went to the river in front of the stone house to drown himself, do you know that?"

The ginger soup in Liu's hand clattered to the ground, her face instantly turning deathly pale: "Wh...what?"

When Hu Datian came to find the couple, he was in such a hurry that he didn't explain clearly, only saying that Afu had fallen into the water.

Hu Datian was in a state of turmoil: "You know about what happened when Azhu went home and made a scene with Ahu and the others. I'm afraid... Azhu did this to Afu too..."

"Oh dear!" Liu hurriedly grabbed Hu Datian: "Ah Zhu is here to take revenge on our family! Brother, what should we do? You have to think of something! We can't let Ah Fu be harmed by her! How can this little girl be so ruthless? She doesn't even spare her own young cousin..."

Hu Datian covered his face: "It's not her fault, it's my fault. She hates me, so she can take my life, but why did she have to target Ah Hu and the others..."

Liu was so anxious, pacing back and forth in the room, that she didn't even care about the broken ginger soup bowl on the floor. After a while, her small, triangular eyes suddenly lit up: "Brother, if this continues, Afu and Ahu will be killed by her sooner or later. Listen to me, go and find a master to take her away!"

Hu Datian was incredulous and angrily retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about?! Azhu is just a child. Besides, if it weren't for Azhu praying for rain, you and Afu would have starved to death long ago. If you dare to harm her, then don't acknowledge me as your elder brother, and don't expect me to support your family in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Liu dared not say anything more, but her lips pouted in dissatisfaction.

"Alright, don't worry. Ah Zhu hates me, her father. At most, she'll come and take my and Ah Hu's lives. I'll never let Ah Fu get hurt." Hu Datian waved his hand and instructed her cryptically, "You and Dali must never tell anyone about Ah Zhu. If the villagers find out, they'll spread the word about our family."

Liu was speechless, but then advised, "Brother, don't blame yourself. If it weren't for the rain, how many of us in the Hu family would have survived? Blame it on the weather this year, which is much worse than in previous years. I heard that in the places with the worst drought, people have already starved to death. I'm telling you, what's more important than survival?"