While the eldest branch of the Song family was living a vibrant and fulfilling life, trouble was brewing at the old mansion.
This afternoon, Jiang Yongshou from the Jiang family returned from town and, without even going home, hurriedly went to the Song family's old house.
I don't know what they said at the old house, but I heard that when Jiang Yongshou came out of the Song family, Li Guixiang fainted, the second daughter-in-law Zhang cried her heart out, and even Song Sanhai and his wife looked worried and kept saying that they couldn't go on living like this.
The villagers loved to join in the fun, and they quickly found out the truth.
Recently, many villagers have gone to the town to look for work. They travel in groups of several and go to the town every day to inquire about jobs.
But jobs in town are hard to find, even people in town are hard to find, let alone people in the village.
They went out at dawn and returned at dusk every day, all covered in dust and dirt.
Those who left the village could either become shop assistants or long-term laborers for wealthy families, or, if they were desperate, simply sell their entire family with a contract and spend the rest of their lives as slaves to their masters.
Among the people who went to town was Song Erhai.
Since Song Dahai separated from the family, the Song family has been living off their savings. Neither Song Erhai nor Song Sanhai are good at working. Even when digging for wild vegetables in the mountains, they are not as efficient as a woman.
Song Erhai idled away his days, doing nothing in the village. When he heard that some villagers had recently gone to town to find work, he went with them with great interest.
But after searching for so many days, I still haven't found a satisfactory job.
They complained that it was too tiring or that the pay was too low. At least other people, no matter what, even if they were doing manual labor, could bring home a few coins every day, which was better than having nothing.
Song Erhai was all talk and no action, believing himself to be superior to others.
"What a loser! He only earns a dozen or so copper coins a day for hard labor. I don't care about that."
Those who had come out of the village with him saw his condition and refused to work with him anymore.
But a few days later, people noticed that Song Erhai seemed to have become rich. When they ran into him on the street, he held his head high and looked very arrogant.
When asked where he made his fortune, Song Erhai refused to say.
"I've met a benefactor. You guys? Ha, you'd better just obediently go and do your hard labor."
At the time, everyone was envious, but when they came back today, they happened to pass by a tavern and saw Song Erhai being kicked out by the waiter.
"You dare come drinking without money? Beat him up!"
As he spoke, a group of people rushed out of the store and began punching and kicking him.
At first, Jiang Yongshou and his companions did not dare to step forward to stop them. After those people went back, they wanted to go up and help, but soon another group of people who looked like thugs came.
"Song Erhai, when are you going to pay back the money you owe us?"
Song Erhai fell to the ground, his face bruised and swollen: "I...I have no money."
"No money? Fine, then leave your hand here!"
As they spoke, those people drove the person away.
Jiang Yongshou and his companions were terrified and secretly followed behind, discovering that the group had entered a gambling den.
Although Song Erhai was not a good person, they were from the same village, so Jiang Yongshou still mustered up the courage to enter the gambling den and inquire about the situation.
After asking, I found out that Song Erhai had gambled here and lost money. He had no money to pay back, so now he was being asked to pay with one hand.
"Aunt Guixiang, they said that if we don't pay back the money, they'll cut off one of Erhai's hands. You'd better think of something quickly."
"How much...how much did you say?" Li Guixiang asked in a trembling voice.
"Ten taels of silver."
Upon hearing this, Li Guixiang couldn't catch her breath and fainted.
Ten taels of silver may not be much to a wealthy family, but for the villagers suffering from disaster, it would take a lifetime to earn that much.
The Song family got into a fight.
Even if we did have that much money, it would all belong to the whole family. Why should we give it all away for a good-for-nothing like Song Erhai?
Song Sanhai and his wife disagreed.
Life is already tough enough; if we spend all our family's money now, we really won't be able to survive in the future.
Zhang cried uncontrollably, "Sanhai, that's your second brother... How could you... how could you be so heartless!"
Chen, Song Sanhai's wife, couldn't stand it anymore: "Second sister-in-law, it's Second Brother who's in trouble now, not us Sanhai. The money in the house belongs to everyone, not just you two. Now that Second Brother has caused trouble, why should we suffer along with him?"
Zhang Shi usually bullies her because she has a son who works in town, but today she finally got her revenge.
“We have a whole family to support. If we give all the money away, what will we eat and drink? Second sister-in-law, you have to think about me, Sanhai, and the children!”
"But...but if we don't pay, Erhai will lose his hand..."
"Doesn't your sister-in-law know what kind of person your second brother is? Perhaps it's a good thing to teach him a lesson this time. Besides, isn't Xiao Rui still in town? Why don't you go find him?"
Chen's words struck Zhang's heart like a knife, and she wanted to refute them but couldn't find the words.
Upon hearing Chen mention her son, she immediately wiped away her tears: "No, no, we can't involve Rui'er in this!"
Madam Chen scoffed, "Second sister-in-law, what kind of juncture is this? Didn't you just say that if we went late, Second Brother's hand would be gone? Now you're not willing to do it anymore?"
Zhang cried even louder. Song Sanhai tugged at his wife's sleeve and shook his head.
"Let's wait until Mother wakes up before we talk about it."
Hearing the commotion in the main house, the Song family children were too frightened to make a sound. Song Sanya, who was old enough to understand, had already figured out what had happened from what they had just heard.
Her eyes were red, she wiped away her tears, opened the door and ran out.
The Song family is in a mess right now, and nobody cares about her. Song Sanya left the old house and ran straight to Song Dahai's house.
The three members of the eldest son's family had just heard about this when they saw Song Sanya rushing over in a hurry, and immediately kneeling down before Song Dahai.
"Uncle, uncle, please save my father, please save my father..."
Song Sanya cried and kowtowed at the same time. The house was all muddy, and her forehead was scraped and bleeding in no time.
Song Dahai stepped forward and quickly helped Song Sanya up: "Get up quickly, let's talk things out."
Song Sanya knelt on the ground and refused to get up: "Uncle, I know how good my father is to you, but... but if we don't take care of him, his hand will be chopped off! My father is your own brother, you won't just abandon him, right?"
"You reap what you sow. The cleanest way is to just chop them off. If chopping off your hands isn't enough, then chop off your legs too," Song Ning sneered from the side.
Liu Yuelan: Her face was filled with horror.
"Er Ya, how can you talk like that?" Song Dahai still gave her a slight reminder.
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