"Uncle Lu, what are your plans for the future? Yesterday, my mother and I discussed that since you've come to Shiligou, why don't you settle down here? I like Asong too, and he's still in school. If we live too far away, it might be inconvenient."
The Lu family members are of good character. Although their third daughter-in-law, Mo, seems like a greedy person, with Granny Chen keeping an eye on her, she probably won't cause any major trouble. There are all sorts of birds in a big forest, and she can't expect everyone to be perfect, but she should still be careful in her daily life.
What?! A school?! The Lu family was shocked! Even the usually composed Lu Dingtian suddenly stood up!
The third son's wife screamed, "School? Lu Song is going to school?!"
The expressions on the faces of Old Mrs. Chen and Old Mr. and Mrs. Lu's faces were simply incredulous, but what Mrs. Qin said must be true, so several pairs of eyes turned to Lu Song.
Lu Song: Uh, he hasn't had a chance to say it yet! I've been running around with Da Wa these past few days, taking a few days off, and I completely forgot about it!
But he also understood that this matter was of great significance to his family. He quickly straightened up and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, I've been going to school with Da Wa and the others for a while now. It's just that I'm not very talented and can only recognize some characters. So now I'm studying while also helping Da Wa with his business."
The Lu family wouldn't listen to the child's claim that he wasn't very talented. What they cared about was that their child was treated equally by the Qin family and was even sent to school? This was even better than what his own parents would do!
With tears in her eyes, Zhang stepped forward and bowed deeply to Qin San Niang and Liu Shi. "Qin Niangzi, Liu Auntie, you saved Song'er's life. From now on, he will be like your grandson! In the future, let him run errands for Da Wa. Let him do all the dirty and tiring work."
As a mother, Zhang hoped her son would be by her side and that he would study hard and succeed. However, she also knew that Song'er disliked studying, and their family had fallen on hard times and simply couldn't afford to send him to school. Now, her son could not only continue learning to read and write but also learn martial arts and even participate in business. The Lu family's eldest son and his wife felt that their child was doing much better under Qin Niangzi's care than they had taught him themselves.
Qin San Niang laughed and said, "That's great, I really like Asong. But sister-in-law, I can't take away someone else's love. When my own mother comes, I have to step aside. But Asong still needs to go to school and learn to read. As for doing business, it depends on his wishes. If he still wants to follow Da Wa, I think Da Wa would be more than happy to oblige."
Lu Song hurriedly expressed his willingness, looking anxious as if he was afraid of being prevented from coming along! His interruption eased the atmosphere considerably.
Knowing that he could settle down in Shiligou, Old Man Lu felt much more at ease. It seemed that Madam Qin could still speak to the village head. He was just waiting to settle down and live a peaceful life.
Having resolved their major concern, the Lu family continued to recount what had happened since their separation.
Only then did Qin San Niang and the others learn that shortly after they separated, they encountered bandits and torrential rain in succession, and the Lu family had been separated from their clansmen for some reason.
Then, last year on the Lantern Festival, Lu Song was abducted. The Lu family searched for him, traversing half of Jiangzhou. Unexpectedly, half a month ago, their youngest granddaughter was also abducted. Fortunately, this time someone saw where the child had gone. Following that person's directions, and with the Lu family traveling at breakneck speed, they finally found her just before she was sold to Jieyufang.
Hearing them recount their experiences along the way, Liu also shed tears, never expecting that the Lu family would encounter such things.
She couldn't help but look at her own daughter. If it weren't for Third Sister, they probably wouldn't be much better off, right? They might not even be as fortunate as Old Lady Chen, whose family is still thriving!
Qin San Niang, however, keenly noticed the suspicious points: "Uncle Lu, why was Lu Song abducted? And how was Shao'er abducted afterward? Also, where did Lu Zhaodi, who was with your family before, go?"
It's no wonder she had doubts, because neither Granny Chen nor Old Man Lu, nor even the three Lu brothers, were careless people. On the contrary, apart from Madam Mo, the others were all very shrewd and cautious, so it was really inexcusable for them to make two mistakes in a row.
Old Mrs. Chen sighed, "To be honest, this is all my fault! I shouldn't have taken in Lu Zhaodi. It's one thing to take her in, but I treated her like my own granddaughter. I never expected that she would scheme against my own granddaughter."
In the past year since losing her grandson, whenever she thought about it, she felt extremely guilty towards her son and daughter-in-law, towards her grandson, and towards her ancestors.
Qin San Niang was also surprised when she heard this, but when she thought of the child's eyes, she understood.
Old Mrs. Chen didn't intend to hide it. She had been holding this in for a long time. Even though her family knew it was an accident, she was still filled with self-blame. She even stopped disciplining her third daughter-in-law who was causing trouble. After calming herself down, she started chatting with them.
After listening to Old Mrs. Chen's story, everyone realized that all these things were caused by Lu Zhaodi.
The Lu family said that Zhao Di was initially quite kind; they were all relatives, and their father was the village head, so it wasn't wrong for them to take care of the orphan girl. But for some reason, the villagers learned that Qin San Niang had left them five taels of silver before she left, and gradually, much resentment arose. There were all sorts of rumors circulating behind their backs. Some felt that the Lu family had so much silver, yet they didn't share it? Besides, everyone had contributed to getting the silver from the Qin family; some even said that Old Man Lu lacked the virtue of a village head…
Later, they encountered bandits outside Dingzhou. The people of Lujia Village, who were not convinced of Lu Laohan's leadership, completely fell apart and were thoroughly defeated by the bandits. They were scattered and disappeared. A few who were closer to the Lu family stayed together and continued on their way. However, after Dingzhou, they settled down in different cities.
Originally, the Lu family had also set their sights on a village not far from Dingzhou. The village was almost deserted, and they, a group of refugees, would have a place to stay, saving them the trouble of finding a house. The land there was also quite fertile, so as long as they worked hard, they wouldn't have to worry about not being able to survive.
However, Old Man Lu knew that he would have to register his household properly with the government in order to live there permanently! The Lu family went to the county government office to wait for the assignment, thinking that they would secretly give the clerk in charge of assigning the household some tea money, and they should be able to get a village they liked.
"And then what happened? Zhao Di must have caused trouble again, right?" Wu Chunhua couldn't help but interject. Zhao Di's mother, Zhao Juhua, was no good! Several families almost met their end at that wicked woman's hands! She was furious!
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