Mojing, the city that never sleeps
A few days later, early in the morning, a carriage left Mojing and headed for the cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
Zhang Shutang has decided to live in a small city in the south.
She had heard people talk about the scene in the small town. Although it was not as prosperous as Mojing, it was stable and leisurely.
Once my father was exiled, all his property was confiscated and all the servants in the house were dismissed.
Even Lan Yao and the other two who had lived with her in Zhuyuan before said goodbye to her and returned to their hometown.
Zhang Shutang thought she would leave alone, but unexpectedly, Xiao Zhi came to find her the day before she left.
Xiao Zhi was born in Mojing and never left after growing up. She didn't expect that at this time, Xiao Zhi would insist on staying with her and continue to take care of her.
Previously, Xiaozhi's father was addicted to hibiscus, but he successfully quit with persistence.
After personally experiencing the horror of Furong Pian, the man has reformed himself, apologized to the mother and daughter, found a job in the city, and lived a stable life again.
Xiao Zhi, who had experienced the relapse of her father's drug addiction, never believed that such peaceful and beautiful days would come back.
She was grateful for Zhang Shutang's kindness and knew that after Zhang Gusheng's downfall, Zhang Shutang became helpless and needed someone's company the most. So she sincerely sought her parents' consent and decided to stay by her side to take care of her.
At least she would wait until Zhang Shutang really settled down in another place before considering coming back.
Before leaving, Zhang Shutang decided to say goodbye to his mother first.
If a prisoner in the city is sentenced to exile, all recent prisoners will usually be escorted away at a specific time on a regular basis.
On the day Zhang Gusheng left Mojing, Zhang Shutang was waiting in the dark early, wanting to see him off for the last time.
At that time, she was staying near the city gate and was recognized by the guards around the prefect.
The prefect found her and told her that during the trial of the case, it was Zhang Gusheng who asked him not to summon her to the court.
He didn't explain the reason, but as a father himself, the prefect knew what he was thinking.
Now that the supporting evidence has been found, as long as he confesses all his crimes and explains all the other things that have not been found out, there will be no need for Zhang Shutang to appear again to make accusations.
If you don't appear in public, you naturally don't have to accept the pointing and criticizing of the onlookers.
Zhang Gusheng didn't want his daughter to bear even a small part of the blame, so until the knife was hanging over his head, he was still thinking about her.
Zhang Shutang looked towards the direction of the empty city gate. She still remembered clearly the back of her father as he left. She felt half comforted and half sad in her heart.
She knew that her father loved her, but why did he have to put on such a cold expression when they were face to face?
Originally, Zhang Shutang felt that she had no face to see her mother again, but in a trance, she thought of what her father had said at the gate of the government office.
Perhaps he also hoped that he would not keep everything in his heart.
At least I can talk to my mother's tablet by her side.
As for the guilt of sending my father to a cold and bitter place with my own hands, I can only repay it when I see my mother in the underworld.
So before leaving Mojing, the last thing Zhang Shutang had to do was to go to the grave and bid farewell to his mother.
The servants had long since left. On the way here, Zhang Shutang arranged for the people in the nearby charity cemetery to come and sweep his mother's grave regularly.
Xiao Zhi took out a piece of clean cloth from the bamboo basket and said, "I'll clean the madam's grave first."
"No, I'll do it myself." Zhang Shutang was used to cleaning his mother's grave himself every time he came to pay his respects.
When my mother was still alive, she often told me that since she was a child, if there was even a little bit of food on the edge of the bowl and chopsticks, she had to wipe it off before continuing to eat. When she grew up, she was a clean child and no one needed to worry about her.
At that time, Zhang Shutang found it funny when he heard it. How could being clean be considered a virtue that was often mentioned? Could it be that he didn't have any other shining points?
But it was not until now that her words came true. She really had nothing to make her mother proud.
Over the years since her mother passed away, she often came to visit her mother, and each time she would clean the front and back of the tombstone herself.
Many times, she would talk about interesting things in the city that she heard others talk about while she was in Fangfei Garden, or about the recent situation of her family.
Looking back now, it seems that I haven't been to my mother's grave since I decided to push my father out.
She first picked some long-leafed branches from the nearby trees, dusted off the dust on the front and back of the tombstone, and then wiped the surface carefully with a cloth.
Next comes the altar, which is flat, so just one pass over the entire piece of cloth is enough.
When she touched a certain spot, a strange touch made her stop.
She had wiped the altar countless times, so it was impossible for her to remember it wrong. It was just that this place was a little different from before. Zhang Shutang carefully looked at the stone slab that seemed strange.
Xiao Zhi was standing by, about to take out the incense, candles and offerings from the bamboo basket. Seeing her hesitation, she asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"
"Something seems to be wrong..."
Zhang Shutang knocked on it a few times and realized that the stone slab had been loosened and became very easy to lift. He felt it with his fingertips and found the key point, and lifted the stone slab directly.
She could see the entire situation below clearly. A pit had been dug out in the originally solid ground, and inside it was a medium-sized box.
"What is this?" Xiao Zhi came over, just curious about why someone would hide something in front of a tomb.
"Let's take it out and have a look first." Zhang Shutang frowned and stretched out his hands to press against the top of the box, wanting to take it out directly, but because it was too heavy, he only moved a small position and it was impossible to lift it up.
"I'll help too." Xiao Zhi stretched out her hand, and the two of them worked together to barely move the wooden box out.
When it was placed on the ground, I could feel the soft soil around it pressing down.
The box was locked, but the lock was open. Zhang Shutang took it off and put on the buckle. When he saw what was inside, his eyes suddenly opened.
It was a whole box of gold bricks, and at the very top was an unsigned envelope.
But if something appeared here, she would not be unaware of who left it.
She couldn't help but think of the last words she said to Zhang Gusheng when he got off the carriage at the government office gate.
I want to come and see my mother in person. So this is what it means.
He still couldn't let go of the fact that he was alone and helpless, so he did all these things in secret.
Zhang Shutang felt mixed emotions as he slowly picked up the letter, pulled out the paper inside and slowly unfolded it.
A familiar handwriting appeared before my eyes. It was the same elegant and flowing style that I had praised many times before.
"Tang'er,
In the worst case scenario, when you see this letter, I will no longer be in this world.
The money in the box is for your future living expenses. In addition, I have opened several accounts in your name in other local banks.
Don't worry, this money is your mother's dowry and the profits from the pottery factory. It's absolutely clean. You and your eldest sister will each get a share.
Please accept it. Think of it as the last thing I can do for you as your father.
Live a good life in the future, and this money will be enough to start a small business to support yourself.
Remember, take care of yourself.
"Father Zhang Gusheng's last words"
After Zhang Shutang read the last word, her fingertips holding the letter were shaking. She never expected that her father would plan this for her.
If I had the chance, I really wanted to ask him in person, is it true that he really has no hatred towards me at all?
It is impossible for a person to have no grudge against someone who pushed him into the abyss and made him unable to get out of it, even if the person is his own flesh and blood.
But at this point, these are just her fantasies.
Perhaps she will always be confused about this for the rest of her life.
Zhang Shutang suppressed the tears in the corners of her eyes. Perhaps this was her father's intention, wanting her to hold on to what she wanted.
Even if it's negative.
Xiao Zhi looked up and said, "Miss, you have never done anything wrong. Although you did not stand up in the government office that day, the people in the city all know that someone handed over the complaint."
"Everyone knows there is this person, even though their identity is unknown, they are all grateful in their hearts."
Zhang Shutang shook his head: "But for me, it's more terrifying than doing something wrong."
"Since you think it's not wrong, then why worry about it? You're about to start a new life. You should focus on the future. There will be more people who like you in the future."
"Then I'll open a tavern in my new place. Or, since you like storybooks, I can open a bookshop."
Xiao Zhi always thought that Zhang Shutang was a good person, but there was something she didn't understand, which was that this person really thought too much.
Good or bad, useful or useless, it’s like humans have a brain that is born to think.
There's no need to worry about so much. Just let her find something to do on weekdays. Maybe it will make her feel better.
"Will it really be different?" Zhang Shutang turned his head.
Xiao Zhi nodded: "Of course, I'm still here with you. Miss, just forget about Mo Jing's affairs. The rest of your life is what's most important."
Zhang Shutang wanted to try to do what she said: "From now on, I'll trouble you."
After paying homage to her mother, Zhang Shutang kowtowed a few times, returned to the carriage, took a last look in the direction of Mojing, and finally set off to leave the place where she had lived for many years.
The carriage slowly drove away in the woods outside the city.
But what Zhang Shutang didn't know was that under a big tree in the distance, there was a figure standing there for a long time, silently watching her leave.
*
When he returned to the training camp this time, the first thing Ding Can noticed was the several message alerts that appeared on his mobile phone.
It came from a private chat box, and it was actually sent by Yu Fu, the socially anxious guy.
In the past, she was the one who sent a series of messages to annoy Yu Fu, but she didn't expect that this time he would take the initiative.
Yu Fu mentioned in the message that the method provided by Xia Jialian was useful.
Last night, he tried all night and finally found some clues at a higher level on the intranet.
But it couldn’t be explained clearly online, so I was asked to take some time to visit the dormitory management office after I came back.
Ding Can was also curious about what he had found, but she still had to finish today's training first, so she swiped to the summary interface.
In the blank space at the top of the title, she quickly typed a few words: On the feasibility of the relationship between hostile forces
She wrote a long and eloquent article of 800 words, without even a single extra punctuation mark. After finishing her diary and calling it a day, she took the teleportation cabin downstairs.
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