Chapter 34: Human life must be paid with human life
It was already dark, there was no light in the woodshed, and the dim light was barely enough to make out a person's silhouette.
Liang Jinyu fumbled to pour hot water into the wooden basin, and called Liang Dingfang, who was practicing boxing outside, to come in and soak his feet.
"My feet are not cold." Liang Dingfang came in and said.
He had just finished a set of boxing and his body was still warm.
"You have to soak your feet even if it's not cold. Come here quickly." Liang Jinyu forced, "Mom said that soaking your feet more often is good for your health. Don't dawdle, the water will get cold soon."
Liang Dingfang walked over reluctantly and found a wooden stake to use as a stool.
"Hiss~ Sister, this can even perm pig hair." Liang Dingfang lifted his foot immediately after just one touch and refused to put it down again.
Liang Jinyu tried it and was also burned badly.
"Then let's wait for it to cool down for a while." Liang Jinyu said guiltily.
Wang was reluctant to give up firewood, so every time Liang Jinyu wanted to boil water she would be scolded. But it was too cold that day, and if she didn't boil water she couldn't wash her feet with ice water.
Of course, you can also do the same as Wang and others and wash it only once every ten days or half a month.
But Liang Jinyu has loved cleanliness since she was a child, and she couldn't stand it.
"Sister, where should we go after we get the household registration certificate?" Liang Dingfang asked in a low voice.
Liang Jinyu had thought about this question countless times. In her previous life, she just wanted to find a place where no one knew her and her siblings and spend the rest of her life in peace.
But in this life, Liang Jinyu doesn't want to hide anymore.
"Return to Beijing." She said without hesitation, her voice gentle but firm, "Our Liang family has been loyal for generations, and we shouldn't have ended up like this."
Liang Dingfang raised his head in surprise, but his eyes gradually became gloomy and dark: "Sister, I have said it before, people can die, but they cannot die in vain! The lives of 38 people in the Liang family should not be lost in such a mess. Someone has to seek justice for them."
Liang Jinyu was silent for a long time, and suddenly said, "The water is cold."
*
The next day.
"She's awake, Chunniang is awake." Chen Dani came out of the house holding a bowl of water.
Liang Jinyu pushed open the door of the pig pen and asked, "Did you drink the water?"
"Drink it up, drink it all." Chen Dani turned the bowl upside down, leaving not a drop of water.
"There's a bowl of porridge in the room. I'll take it to her later." Liang Jinyu said, grabbing a handful of carrot leaves from the dustpan on the shelf and throwing them on the ground.
The chickens and ducks in the yard immediately gathered around and ate most of the food in a short while.
The porridge has been kept warm in the pot and is still warm.
Liang Jinyu took a spoon and was about to ask Dani to pass it over, but when she turned around, she saw Chunniang had actually stood up.
"Why don't you lie down for a while?" Liang Jinyu put down the bowl and asked Dani to go into the room to get a coat for Chunniang.
Chunniang's face was pale, and her lips were bloodless. Seeing Liang Jinyu lowering her head in shame, she said, "Liang, I——"
"Call me Jinyu." Liang Jinyu interrupted her.
Chunniang looked embarrassed, her thin body was swaying and about to fall, and there was a large black spot on her forehead, which was wood ash.
"They are not here. Drink some porridge and go back to sleep for a while." Liang Jinyu moved a chair for her and served her the porridge.
Chunniang took it with flattered hands, feeling a little flustered, as she didn't expect Liang Jinyu to be so nice to her.
Liang Jinyu had so many trivial things to do every day that she had no time to chat with her.
"Just put the bowls on the stove after you finish eating. I'm going to get busy." Liang Jinyu said hello and went out.
When she came home after washing two buckets of clothes, she found the yard clean and tidy, without even a speck of chicken poop.
"I told you not to wash, but you just wouldn't listen. If you faint later, I won't be able to drag you away." Chen Dani complained in the kitchen.
Liang Jinyu walked over curiously, and Chunniang just came out with a basin of dishwashing water.
Seeing Liang Jinyu, Chunniang hurriedly explained, "I saw that the dishes were not washed, so I washed them."
Liang Jinyu nodded and turned aside to let her pass.
Chen Dani trotted over and gestured exaggeratedly, "My mother, she works like she's risking her life. She sweeps the house, then the yard, then the kitchen. She wants to take the pot off the stove and clean it all over again. She's really risking her life."
"Jinyu, I've hung up the clothes for you." Chunniang shouted in the yard.
Chen Dani curled her lips: "Did you see that? He's eager to show off and tries so hard to please. He's definitely a master of otaku fighting!"
"Really?" Liang Jinyu turned around and looked at Chunniang in the yard, thoughtfully.
Chunniang was very busy for the whole day and was very busy.
According to Dani, she is like a spinning top that can't stop.
Even Chunniang took over the dinner, which included three dishes and a soup, both meat and vegetables.
Wang ate with great satisfaction and kept praising Chunniang as a virtuous daughter-in-law. Then she turned around and said that Liang Jinyu was a lazy woman and that it would be a disgrace to the Chen family to marry her for eight generations.
Liang Jinyu ignored it. Since she married into the Chen family, she has never felt as relaxed as she did today. She was in a good mood at the moment.
After dinner, Liang Jinyu rolled up her sleeves to wash the dishes.
Chunniang came over immediately and said with a smile: "Leave it alone, Jinyu. I will wash it."
Liang Jinyu really took a step back and stopped intervening.
It was not yet completely dark and they were the only two people in the kitchen.
Chunniang wiped her forehead with the back of her wet hand, her breathing was a little labored, and the fatigue on her face was obvious.
"Bang!"
The bowl in her hand suddenly slipped to the ground and broke into two pieces.
Chunniang's face turned pale instantly and she stood there stiffly, forgetting to react.
"Are you looking for death? What are you doing? Why did you fall?" Wang came over cursing.
Liang Jinyu didn't think much about it, and pulled Chunniang aside. She picked up the broken pieces and said, "It's nothing. I just broke a bowl."
Chunniang looked at her in surprise, her lips moving, but in the end she said nothing.
Wang came in and started cursing Liang Jinyu, but was persuaded to leave by Chen Laifu when she was about to attack him.
"Even if you want to show off, there's no need to rush. No one will feel sorry for you if you get sick." Liang Jinyu said calmly, rolling up her sleeves and adding a ladle of water to the pot.
Chunniang's eyes were slightly red, and she clutched the corner of her clothes and said timidly, "Thank you."
The moon is above the willows, and the cold wind is rustling.
The shabby windows creaked in the wind and the room was as cold as an ice cellar.
"Sister." Liang Dingfang called out in a low voice tentatively.
"Hmm?" Liang Jinyu responded, pulling the quilt towards him, "Can't sleep?"
Liang Dingfang rubbed against her, the familiar smell made him feel at ease: "Sister, where can we get so much money?"
"Well, I haven't thought about this yet." Liang Jinyu said truthfully.
Liang Dingfang rested his head on her arm, thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I do have an idea."
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"You can sell me. I can read and I know martial arts. Rich families like book boys like me the most. At least I should be able to sell for a dozen taels."
"continue."
"You can use this money to pay the down payment. When you make money from selling the food, you can redeem me."
Liang Jinyu turned her body away. In the dark night, she couldn't see Dingfang's face clearly, but they were very close to each other and she could hear his breathing.