Chapter 69 Chapter 69 The Final Surprise
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Chen Yu, Lao Duan and the children had been visiting relatives all day. They were exhausted and had just closed their eyes and were not yet asleep when they heard someone knocking on the door.
I turned on the light and checked the time on the clock: 11:52.
Who is it? Knocking on the door in the middle of the night, disturbing my sweet dreams.
Old Duan put on a coat and went to open the door. As soon as he opened the door, Chen Shou, who was leaning against the door, staggered and fell on him.
"Old Four?"
"Sister, brother-in-law."
Chen Shou rubbed his nose and stood up straight. As soon as he opened his mouth, he smelled a strong smell of alcohol.
After all, he is an elder in his fifties or sixties, but he still doesn't look serious at all. It's understandable that he wants to have a few drinks during the New Year, but why does he want to run to someone else's house and knock on the door in a daze?
Chen Yu turned on the light in the outer hall and glanced outside with a slightly disdainful look on his face: "Why are you not sleeping so late at night? What's the matter with coming to my house?"
The north wind was biting, and after being blown all the way here, Chen Shou became a little more conscious.
"I miss my mom," Chen Shou pointed upstairs timidly, like a child who had been wronged, "I came to talk to my mom."
The light in the bedroom on the second floor was still on, and he just saw a figure walking by, so he was sure that the old lady was still awake.
Chen Shou lived in a daze for decades, with no house, no money, no wife, and no children. While Chen Fu and Chen Lu ran to Chen Luo all day long to show their courtesy, he came only a few times and brought very little.
A basket of eggs, a bag of noodles and a red envelope of 500 yuan?
Chen Yu originally thought that he had no interest in the compensation and house that the family shared, but she didn't expect that he had his own means of fighting for the property.
"My mother is probably still watching TV upstairs. Do you want me to go up with you?" Chen Yu asked.
"No, I can go up by myself."
The biting cold wind made his nose red, and a thin layer of frost formed on the fur collar near his neck. When he entered the room, the hot air made him cough twice. Worried that he would pass the cold outside to the old lady, Chen Yu poured him a cup of hot water to warm his hands and asked him to wait downstairs before going upstairs.
Chen Shou quickly finished the glass of water, then put the glass down and walked upstairs without even looking at her.
"mom."
He is still the same as when he was a child, he hasn't changed at all.
Chen Shou was a loser with a weak temper. His two older brothers, Chen Fu and Chen Lu, looked down on him and often bullied him at home.
When in front of others, Chen Shou never complained or resisted, but behind others' backs, he would run to his parents and wag his tail to beg for mercy.
Just like a puppy that has been beaten all over by a bad guy, it doesn't need to bark too loudly, just showing its wounds can attract their sympathy and preference.
Besides, he was originally the youngest child in the family. When he was young, all the resources in the family were used to support Chen Fu and Chen Lu, so naturally the training for him was much lax, so the old man would be more partial to him, at least to make him feel more comfortable.
Unexpectedly, after decades, when the old man was no longer around, he still wanted to use this trick to win the old lady's favor.
"Old Four? It's almost midnight, why are you here?"
"I missed you and wanted to come and talk to you."
"Did you drink again? You reek of alcohol."
"Yeah, I just had a drink with them at my brother's house."
"Why is your face so red? Why do you look unhappy?"
"No, it's okay..."
Chen Shou suffered a great injustice today, but he didn't say anything. He was waiting for the old lady to discover it herself.
Drinking at Chen Lu's house tonight was supposed to be a happy thing, but once we drank too much, the atmosphere started to feel a little off.
First, Chen Lu said explicitly or implicitly that the old lady had left the house to him, and said that he had neglected it before and would take better care of Chen Shou in the future. Then Chen Fu also said that if he had any difficulties, he could tell him, and that even though the old lady would have to keep the money with him for safekeeping, she would definitely share it with him.
One has a house, one has money, but what about me?
That's right. I have never been as ambitious as them since I was a child. I can't make any money and I can't go to the old lady to persuade her. It's my fault that I don't get anything.
But why? Why should I depend on them from now on?
Since you want to give yourself a share of the family property, why does it have to go through their hands?
Chen Shou was already enduring it at the time and didn't want to show his unhappiness, but Chen Fu and Chen Lu took advantage of him and even started discussing the issue of dividing the house and the money in front of him.
One said that his son was short of money for his business and asked if he could lend him some after the compensation was received; the other said that brothers did not need to be so distant with each other and he could give him as much as he wanted, and just give him one or two houses, not for himself but for the next generation, that is, his parents’ great-grandchildren.
Just like when the older generation was asked to judge a case in the village, they all felt that they got too little and that they should get more, but the old lady had already divided up all the property, so they had to use the excuse of "brothers" to pull each other to see if they could gain more benefits for themselves.
I totally forgot that I had a younger brother who got nothing...
"Mom, I also want to honor you and bring you here to live, but you are so young and incompetent, and you don't have any money... I don't want to bring you here to suffer with me."
"If I had studied hard when I was young, and if I had been able to pass the college entrance examination like my brother, you wouldn't have to live in my sister's house today. I would have let you live in an apartment with an elevator. Alas, it's too late to say anything now."
"Mom, I am incompetent. I can't let you live a good life. Woohoo, I am an unfilial son..."
After yawning, Chen Luoshi squeezed out a few tears with difficulty.
To be honest, she didn't think there was anything wrong with her current life.
During this period, the eldest son and the second son sent a lot of things to the family, including home appliances, furniture, and all kinds of new clothes and food. They were not at all short of the little things from the youngest son.
As long as he doesn't come to her for money like before, she will be living a good life.
But at this moment, she couldn't chase him away, so she could only pat his back and coax him like a child: "Okay, okay, it's okay, Mom is living a good life now. Mom doesn't ask you to be successful, just live a good life."
"Alas, Mom also wants to leave something for you, but you know the situation of your two brothers... I am old, and your father is gone. They will soon come to me, how can I not give them anything?"
"But they will definitely not ignore you. Just ask them for help. We are all family. They will be able to help you to some extent."
Downstairs, Xiao Duan was unable to sleep because of the groaning noises of Chen Shou upstairs, so he thought about getting up to get some water to drink, but he didn't expect to see that the kitchen light was still on.
Chen Yu was making a hangover-relieving soup inside, and Lao Duan was helping her.
"Mom, why are you cooking soup so late at night when you're not sleeping?"
Quickly stirring the frangipani in the bowl, Chen Yu replied, "Your uncle will probably have to sleep here with us tonight. He drank too much, and some soup will make him feel better."
Even though they were not that close, Chen Shou had always been nice to them since they were young. Moreover, even for the old lady's sake, she had to take care of him more.
Drinking the water in the cup, Xiao Duan asked in a low voice: "Mom, don't you want to ask grandma for something?"
"What do you want?"
It was only when Xiao Duan got older that he realized how important housing and money were. Moreover, Nanguan Village was not demolished, and his family still owed tens of thousands of foreign debts...
"What do you want?" Lao Duan helped peel the onions and asked him.
"Look, my grandma gave all the house and money to my uncles, so we..."
"That's your grandmother's stuff. She can give it to whoever she wants," Chen Yu said calmly after beating the eggs and pouring them into the pot. "It's not like we don't have any at home. It's not time for us to ask for things from others."
After Chen Yu got married, she never asked for a penny from her family, nor did she want a penny.
Her parents raised her, so it was her duty to take care of the old lady in her old age. Even if the house in the old courtyard was not demolished and she did not get any money, she would bring Chen Luo to live with them.
This is called filial piety.
"When our house is demolished, our family will be able to get a lot of money and a house, so we can't wait to ask for it."
In fact, the old lady couldn't be considered partial. At least when her family had no money to pay off the debt before the New Year, it was the old lady who secretly gave her 10,000 yuan to help her solve her urgent problem.
Although it is not as valuable as the compensation or the house, it is enough for her.
She knew that a daughter who was married off was like water spilled, so it was only natural that she would not get any share of the family property.
Old Duan nodded in agreement: "This person should not be too greedy, and be content with what he has."
After adding a building to his house that could not be demolished, he finally realized that one must learn to be content, otherwise one will suffer in the future.
He also felt that there was nothing wrong with the old lady doing this, as at least it would allow her to enjoy some filial piety from her children in the last part of her life.
After all, for the elderly, the care of their children is much more important than mountains of gold and silver.
*
On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Lu asked his son to drive him to Chen Yu's house and wait. Around eight o'clock, Chen Fu's family had packed up and were waiting downstairs, waiting for him to help the "old lady" of the family come downstairs.
Today is the day to go back to the village to sweep the graves.
On this day in previous years, Chen Yu and Chen Luo would go first, and the three brothers would arrive one after another when it was almost time for lunch, and they would usually leave after a short while.
It's nothing like this year, where four generations of the family go back to the village in an orderly manner to burn incense to their ancestors.
We drove to Qinghe Village, got off the car and walked two miles north. After climbing over the small earthen slope, we saw the wisps of green smoke wafting out of the ancestral graves and the cries of those filial sons and grandchildren.
Qinghe Village, Qingping Village and Qingyao Village are close to each other, so the ancestral tombs in the villages were originally placed together.
From a distance, the huge plot of land was covered with two-foot-high mounds of earth. I hadn't been here for a long time, and many of the mounds were buried just this year. There were still a few willow sticks stuck in front of the tombstone, and the mourning hat tied on it was also covered with dust.
"Dad, in two years, will we have to dig up this ancestral grave?"
"That's not called stealing, that's called moving."
"There are so many graves. Where should we move them to?"
"Go further east and you'll probably reach Luoping County, which is about six or seven miles away from the ancestral graves of Nanguan Village and Beiguan Village."
"The Qingyao Village is quite miserable. The village was not demolished, but the ancestral graves were moved away first."
"Hush! Stop talking nonsense. It's not good if others hear you."
Walking towards the ancestral tomb, both sides were filled with people coming to burn paper for their ancestors. Some were crying with their faces covered, while others were kneeling on the ground talking to the stone tablets. Everyone's expression showed their grief for their loved ones.
Normally, older people are not allowed to enter cemeteries for fear of being disturbed by unclean things, or of being saddened by the sight and having too many thoughts, so their descendants usually do it on their behalf.
But Chen Luo still insists on visiting the graves of the Chen family's ancestors every year, and personally adds a handful of soil behind the tombstones of Grandpa Chen and his ancestors.
They folded the paper money, placed fruits and steamed buns on the table, then knelt down and kowtowed to the ancestors one by one, and finally burned the paper money...Listening to the wailing of their children and grandchildren, Chen Luo, who was leaning on a crutch, couldn't help but shed a few tears.
It has been a long time since I saw my sons cry so hard. My filial daughter-in-law and promising grandson also cried louder than each other while crawling on the ground. It really looked like what happened.
"Dad! My dad! You have a miserable life. You left before you could enjoy happiness..."
"My dear father, you must bless our family over there, say more good things to the King of Hell, and give my mother a dozen more years of life."
Not only do they usually show filial piety to Chen Luo, but now they are also singing a filial piety drama in front of the stone tablets, as if whoever's family member cries the loudest and shouts the highest is the truly filial one.
On the other hand, Chen Yu, who came alone, didn't say much. She just wiped her tears quietly and burned paper money one by one.
Old Duan took Little Duan and the others to their ancestral grave to burn paper today, so she came alone and of course she couldn't be as filial as her brothers at home.
But she was too lazy to show it. She came to burn paper because Grandpa Chen raised her. Rather than being filial, she felt more resentful and dissatisfied.
When the paper was almost burned, Chen Luo did not leave in a hurry, but let her grandson support her and walked towards the south.
Unexpectedly, she really guessed it right. She thought that the Shen family would come to burn paper earlier, and sure enough, she ran into those people from the Shen family here.
"Old Shen? You guys are here pretty early~"
"Oh my dear sister, it's not too late for you to come home!"
"Didn't I tell you last time that you just need to wait outside? Just let the kids take care of the paper burning."
"I'm talking nonsense. Didn't you come in too?"
After two or three months, Chen Luo looked much more energetic than the last time we met, and her face had become a little rounder.
It is said that wealth nourishes people, but I didn’t expect that before the wealth came, she was already “nurtured”.
Look at this outfit, it must cost hundreds of dollars, right? The hot water bottle in my hand to keep out the cold seems to be a high-end rechargeable product, and even the crutches that used to cost more than ten dollars have been replaced with more expensive materials.
Tsk tsk ~ Her children finally know how to be nice to them.
After a while, the three brothers of the Chen family and Chen Yu also came over to greet Shen Wanshan and Shen Shansheng. They were all very forgetful, as if the village case last year had never happened, and they were still chatting with them enthusiastically.
However, Chen Shansheng and Wang Dongmei felt very uncomfortable and just responded politely.
Pulling Chen Luoshi to walk in front, Shen Wanshan asked in a low voice: “How are the boys treating you now?”
"That's it," Chen Luo said casually, stretching her sleeves. "They replaced my 32-inch color TV, bought me a few clothes worth several hundred yuan, and also replaced all the things upstairs."
Shen Wanshan curled his lips, “It’s not good that the guys are willing to spend money on you.”
"No matter how good it is, isn't it still for my money and my house?"
They were all old foxes, so Chen Luoshi didn't say those empty words to him. "If our village hadn't been demolished, I wouldn't have been able to get the money and the house. I guess I wouldn't know where to eat right now."
Shen Wanshan didn’t say anything, but just nodded.
Now that she knew what was going on, he could rest assured.
"I heard that you want to give the house to the third brother?" Shen Wanshan asked again.
"How do you know?"
"My Miao Miao has such a big mouth, she can find out everything." Shen Wanshan snorted, "Her ears are almost growing to your doorstep."
Turning back to glance at Shen Miao who was following at the back, Chen Luoshi said, “Your Miao Miao is smart and clever, she will definitely not be bullied in the future.”
She stood up and sighed deeply, then continued, "Don't worry, I know who treats me well. I was just talking about the money and the house. If I really want to give them, it will never be the turn of these three."
Ever since she hired someone to solve a village case last time, she has been completely disappointed with her sons.
In the past, she still believed in the saying "raising children is a guarantee for old age", but now? Oh, please don't tell such jokes.
"I came to you today because I want you to do me a favor." Moving closer, Chen Luo lowered her voice a little more.
Shen Wanshan: “You said?”
"I want you to accompany me to make a will in a few days. I saw on TV that if you make a document before you die, you can give the family property to whoever you want."
Chen Luoshi didn't know much about the will, she had only seen it on TV, and she couldn't ask anyone openly, so she had to find Shen Wanshan and ask him for help.
She didn't want her property to be divided equally among her four children after her death, nor did she want to see her children fighting over her property before she died, so she wanted to make a will in advance.
"Will..." Shen Wanshan hesitated, "I don't understand this either. How about I ask someone first? When I find out what the situation is, I will ask you to go together."
"middle."
After thinking about it, Shen Wanshan asked tentatively: “Are you planning to give it all to Xiaoyu?”
Chen Luo smiled knowingly.
After Mr. Chen passed away, it was Chen Yu who took me in and took care of me for more than ten years. Even when he knew that his house was going to be demolished, he never asked me for anything. Even when he knew that his family had foreign debts, he never thought of asking me for help.
She is a good child and her husband, Lao Duan, is someone he can rely on.
Because they had taken care of her for more than ten years, she was willing to give all her property to her.
Of course, I can’t let her know now. I have to wait until I die, and then someone else will tell her.
"Nothing left for the kids?" Shen Wanshan asked again.
Chen Luoshi: "Why keep them? If you have the ability, just earn it yourself. You have already raised them, do you still have to support them for the rest of their lives?"
When the two families were about to come out of the cemetery, they suddenly heard someone shouting from behind.
"Uncle Shen? Is that Uncle Shen?" The man who came was an errand boy. Seeing that Shen Wanshan looked familiar, he said, "Someone is injured over there. They can't be sent to the hospital for the time being. Can you go over and help take a look?"
Shen Wanshan looked in the direction the man pointed, it was not close. So he raised his chin towards Shen Miao, "Miao Miao, go over and see what's going on."
Shen Miao: “Okay.”
Following the man as he walked quickly towards the north, Shen Miao briefly asked him about the situation.
In fact, he didn't know what exactly happened. It seemed that someone fell and was injured, and the people who were traveling with him were calling for help everywhere. The man thought that the Shen family from Qinghe Village would also come to burn paper today, so he helped to call people.
After walking for almost two miles, I finally saw someone asking for help.
Shen Miao was originally very nervous, worried that it would be difficult to save people today without the medicine box, but when she saw the injured person, she instantly had the idea of "not saving the person".
Wei Dongqiang? Liu Dilai?
Oh, how could it be this couple?
However, the ones who were injured were not the two of them, but Yan Hui who fell to the ground.
When Shen Miao arrived, Yan Hui was leaning weakly in Wei Wenkai's arms, her lips were frighteningly white, while Wei Dongqiang and Liu Dilai were standing aside, looking at the two of them nervously.
There were quite a few people burning paper around, they were all from Qingping Village, and when they saw that it was the Wei family's business, they were too lazy to care and just pretended that they didn't see anything.
It was the people of Qingyao Village who saw that the injured person did not seem to be from his family, so they helped to call people from the Shen family.
"Xiaohui, Xiaohui, are you okay? Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."
"It's okay, I just have a stomachache. No, no, no, don't move me, let me, let me rest for a while..."
At first glance, it was hard to tell where Yan Hui was injured, but her complexion looked very bad, and she would tremble in pain if she moved the slightest.
Seeing her sweating in pain, Wei Wenkai felt heartbroken.
In order not to make him worry, Yan Hui tried hard to force a smile, but the more she tried to pretend that nothing was wrong, the more Wei Wenkai blamed himself.
He couldn't hold her, and couldn't stand up, which made him very anxious. So he raised his head and yelled at Liu Di again: "Mom, can't you stand Xiaohui? Can't you have a few days of peace during the New Year?"
Suddenly, a basin of dirty water was poured on her. Liu Dilai almost jumped up two feet high on the spot: "God is my conscience, how can I dislike her? She is not feeling well, so you can't blame your mother!"
Liu Di felt wronged. She was also scared when she saw Yan Hui fall down. Although she did have something to do with it, she definitely didn't intend to hurt Yan Hui so much that she couldn't get up.
"Where did you hit her? Look at how hard you hit her. She can't even get up!"
"I didn't hit her, I just bumped into her accidentally." Liu Dilai felt a little guilty, but she still refused to admit her mistake.
"Just now you said you didn't dislike her," Wei Dongqiang also frowned, "If you really want to tolerate her, why did you bump into her?"
Liu Dilai: ???
What's going on? You and your son are both helping an outsider, right?!
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