Chapter 15 If you have the guts, say what you just said again in front of me!
The yamen runner left after reading the official document, without any worry that the Su family would escape.
In North Vietnam, ordinary people needed a permit to go anywhere. Those without a permit would be treated as refugees, a fate no better than being exiled.
Su Da closed the gate like a puppet, blocking out the outside world.
Looking back, the Su family members standing in the yard all had pale faces and blank eyes.
The sudden bad news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking the Su family beyond their wits’ end. The joy in the family for days was gone at this moment, leaving only a suffocating depression.
After a long time, the woman's sad crying was heard.
The entire Dahuai Village was also in turmoil and noisy.
The news that the Su family was implicated by a high-ranking relative and that the entire family was going to be exiled spread throughout the village in an instant and spread outward at an extremely fast speed.
At that moment, all the villagers who heard the news gathered outside the gate of the Su family courtyard, talking loudly about it. Some sighed, some sympathized, and some even gloated and took advantage of the situation.
"Oh my! Normally, if someone in a family was caught stealing and taken to the government office, it would be a huge deal! But now the entire Su family has been exiled! They have to spend the rest of their lives in a bitter cold place thousands of miles away! That kind of place is not for human beings!"
"Isn't it? I heard that many of those who were exiled never made it to their destination and died along the way! The Su family, with their entire family, not only are the elderly lame, but they also have four little kids. Oh! It's so difficult! Even if the whole family can make it to the place of exile together, from now on, they will be criminals."
"Everyone says being an official is good, being an official is good. A humble family entering the government is like a carp leaping over the dragon's gate. While your family status may be elevated, the dangers behind this glory are invisible to ordinary people... Let's go back to Old Man Su's family. This time they suffered an unexpected disaster."
The gossipy woman next door to the Su family stepped outside and deliberately sneered loudly towards the courtyard, "What did I say back then? Their newborn cub is a disaster! Hey, the old shrew of the Su family is still insisting on blaming me! Now it's come true, right? Everyone, tell me, right after she was born, there was an avalanche that almost buried the entire Dahuai Village, and just after she was one month old, she caused a disaster at home and the whole family was exiled! Isn't this a disaster? You, the Su family, should continue to treat her as a treasure! Let's see if you and your family can make it to Yongzhou in good health——"
The tightly closed courtyard door of the Su family suddenly opened, and a basin of dirty water was poured over the gossipy woman's head and face.
As the chatterbox woman screamed, everyone who had been talking around her stopped talking and looked towards the door.
Old woman Su was holding a wooden basin in her hand, her face was cold and her eyes were red, and her eyes looked cruel and murderous as if she wanted to eat someone.
She looked coldly at the jumping woman and slammed the wooden basin to the ground. The loud thud seemed to hit people's hearts, making them jump. "Didn't I tell you? If I hear you scold me, Tianbao, again, I'll tear your stinking mouth off! My entire Su family has been exiled anyway, so being alive is a blessing! I'll die with you and have an extra person to take with me. It's not a loss! If you have the guts, say what you just said again in front of me!"
The cruel ones are afraid of the violent ones, and the violent ones are afraid of the desperate ones.
The gossipy woman was afraid of death no matter how much she cursed. Seeing that Old Lady Su was about to get serious, she was so scared that she quickly hid behind the crowd. She couldn't stand it and kept shouting to save her face, "Old bitch! Don't think I'm afraid of you! As we are neighbors after all, I won't bother with you today!"
Old Mrs. Su sneered, spat on the ground with disdain, turned into the house and slammed the gate shut again.
After this incident, no one else dared to continue standing outside talking and rubbing salt into the wounds.
Be careful not to say something wrong accidentally and make the other person angry and rush towards you to fight you, and then even if you die, your life will be wasted.
At this time, all the Su family members had returned to the main hall.
The fire in the brazier had gone out. The cold air inhaled into the nose was so cold that it made the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys ache, but no one had the heart to light the fire again. They sat there numbly, as if they had lost their souls.
Because of Tianbao's arrival, the family's situation began to improve a little. Hope was born again and the whole family was full of anticipation, just waiting for the coming spring, when everyone would work together to live a prosperous life.
I don’t seek great wealth and honor, but I do seek a simple and stable life.
Now spring has not yet arrived, but they have already received a document of exile, which determines their fate for the rest of their lives.
Exile!
They are charged with crimes, and from now on, they are criminals! They can only stay in exile until they die of old age, and even after death, they cannot return to their roots!
Their children and their future generations can only stay in that place and become rootless duckweed!
All their aspirations and hopes were gone, and their future was filled with darkness and despair.
Old Mrs. Su walked into the main room, her eyes were red as blood, and she couldn't suppress her resentment even if she gritted her teeth.
She slapped the old man's back hard, tears streaking her face. She swallowed her bitter water and growled, "What kind of relative is that to you? Ah? What kind of relative is that? I didn't get any of their success when they were on the rise! And now when something goes wrong, they want me to take the blame! Aren't they the Su family, a noble family? Don't they look down on poor relatives like us? Why don't they cut off ties with us? Leeches only suck blood, but that family sucks lives! They want to kill me, wuwuwu! How are we, the Su family, going to survive!"
Old Man Su's face was pale and he said nothing, letting the old woman beat him.
Now that things have come to this, they can only accept their fate.
Su An and the other three little kids were so frightened by the scene that their faces turned pale. They huddled in their parents' arms, trembling in fear.
"Dad, Mom, what is exile? Will we die?" Little Su An clung to his father's arms, his little hands clutching his father's clothes tightly in fear.
Su Wen and Su Wu were even younger, and they cried with their mouths grimacing in fear.
Su Da hugged his son, his eyes were red, his teeth were clenched, and his voice was blocked and unable to speak.
Su Er's family of four also huddled together, at a loss.
In the end, it was Old Lady Su who calmed down first. She wiped away her tears, hugged her quiet little granddaughter, and took a deep breath. "The official document has been issued. There's no point crying. As long as we're still breathing, we must live well! Big brother, second brother, go to the town government office to be exiled! Yuelan, Daxiang, pack up the important things. We have to leave today. Otherwise, if the higher-ups investigate, we'll be guilty of a more serious crime!"
After a pause, her expression turned cold again, and she glanced around. "Just listen to those nonsense people say. Tianbao's surname is Su, and she is a member of my Su family! Whoever dares to believe those nonsense, don't blame me for settling the score later!"
"Mom, you don't have to use the killing stick to intimidate me. We know!"
"Humph, I just don't believe it! What a bullshit disaster star! If our Tianbao is the disaster star, I will bear all the disasters alone!"
One sentence shakes people's hearts.
The Su family's eldest and youngest immediately responded in a resounding voice, "Let's carry it together!"
Liu Yuelan's eyes were blurred with tears as she stared at her mother-in-law, and the pain in her heart was gradually replaced by gratitude.
As long as the mother-in-law is there, the family has a backbone. No matter where we are or what the situation is, the family will not fall apart!
At this moment, she suddenly felt that exile was not an insurmountable difficulty!
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