Ye Ting instinctively clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes immediately reddening: "Husband..."
"Did you give all the money to your family?"
“I only have one older brother, who is in poor health, and my nephew is still young. If it weren’t for my brother, my sister-in-law definitely wouldn’t be able to stay here…”
Zhang Xiangliang didn't want to listen anymore. He went into the house, sat there for a while, and then frantically opened all the drawers and cabinets to get the wooden box containing the money.
There wasn't a single copper coin inside the wooden box!
"Mrs. Ye, you... you won't leave us a single penny? What are we going to eat? What are we going to use? What if we have a child? How are we going to raise it?"
Zhang Xiangliang wanted to cry but had no tears.
For some reason, he quickly went to the next room.
Sure enough, the next room was clearly visible, with four clean corners.
To prevent moisture, several hundred kilograms of grain were placed on a wooden frame supported by stones, but not a single grain of fine or coarse grain remained.
Only a few potato chunks remained.
Undeterred, Zhang Xiangliang began rummaging through drawers and cabinets again. Sure enough, the thick cotton quilts his mother had given him were gone.
He collapsed to the ground, looking at Ye Ting in despair.
Ye Ting huddled in the corner, crying, "We had blankets, so I gave them the extras..."
Is it superfluous? The money that Aunt Zhang saved from every penny, the quilt that even her own brother didn't have, is it superfluous?
Zhang Xiangliang wanted to curse her, but he didn't know where to begin. He buried his head in his hands and burst into tears.
A man's grief is like that of a wolf who has lost its cubs.
Hearing Zhang Xiangliang crying, Sister Lin from next door peeked over the wall. Zhang Xiangliang didn't say why, he just cried loudly and sadly.
She listened for a while, then climbed down the ladder and ran quietly to Aunt Zhang's house.
When Aunt Zhang heard that Zhang Xiangliang was crying, her heart felt like it was being ripped out. Her eldest son had always been honest and kind, and he wouldn't cry like that unless he was pushed to the limit.
She cried even harder than her son. Zhang Xiangshan grabbed a stick and said with red eyes, "Mother, I'll beat this woman to death with this stick, otherwise my brother will definitely die at her hands."
Aunt Zhang grabbed him, crying, and said, "You bastard, you can beat her to death and you don't have to pay with your life? Liang'er is my son, and you are my son too! If anything happens to either of you, it will be like tearing my heart out!"
"What can we do? Just watch her drive my brother to his death?"
“What can we do? He’s just not good enough and won’t divorce her. What can we do?” Aunt Zhang’s sadness was replaced by anger and frustration when she thought about Zhang Xiangliang’s refusal to divorce her. “If he’s willing to suffer, let him suffer.”
She started crying again as she spoke.
Because of this woman, the land her family had cultivated for twenty years belonging to the landlord Wang was also taken back.
Now they can only rent land from the landlord Li, and they have to pay 80% of the rent every year. After paying 80%, what can they possibly lose?
That woman not only cut off the Zhang family's livelihood, but also the future of the second son and daughter.
Originally, the family farmed the landlord's land, saved some money, and were able to buy a few acres of land. Their lives were gradually getting better and better.
Now look what's happened; they've ruined the future of their second child and daughter.
Aunt Zhang felt sorry for her eldest son one moment, and for her second son and daughter the next, and cried until she fainted.
Yin Jin'an and Jiu Tian stayed in the county town for three days. Because it was snowing, Yin Jin'an also wanted to find out some information about the Jade Dragon Kingdom. So, when they had almost spent the money for the deer, the two of them rode back.
It was already November 19th, and the distinguished guests from Xingqing Prefecture had been staying at Shenglong Inn for five days.
These days, all I see is Ma Chenyang sweeping the yard and buying groceries; no one else comes and goes in that yard.
The guests from the capital couldn't help but seek out Zhang Xiangliang again, but Zhang Xiangliang said he really couldn't remember anything else, only these things.
Those people stopped asking him, but Ye Ting, every day after he finished work, would nervously ask him, clutching the hem of her clothes, "Has the important person left yet?"
Zhang Xiangliang knew what she was thinking and said coldly, "Don't overthink it. The reward is definitely gone, and there won't be any more in the future."
"Why?"
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. They gave me the reward money, they must have something in mind. They might even want to kill Jin Yi and Jiu Tian. I will never take a reward that goes against my conscience. Even if there is a reward, I will not give it to you.”
"..."
Ye Ting wanted to say, what does it matter to us whether they live or die? One is a mentally challenged cripple, and the other is a beggar. If they die, who will avenge them? Besides, we didn't say we were going to kill them.
But she didn't dare say it aloud.
Zhang Xiangliang saw the sewing basket on the table, which contained some ordinary cotton thread. Ye Ting had used scraps of cloth mixed with paste to dry a lot of stiff cloth on the cutting board and made several pairs of shoe soles.
The soles of the shoes in the basket were not Zhang Xiangliang's shoes.
His feet aren't that small.
But I couldn't help asking, "Whose shoes are these made for?"
“I made a pair of single-layer shoes for Xiaowei. Spring is coming in a few months, and his feet grow quickly, so the shoes will wear out quickly.”
"You're so kind." Zhang Xiangliang's words weren't meant as a compliment, but Ye Ting didn't realize it.
She explained, “I used to make shoes for my brother and nephew. Only I knew their foot sizes. I made them early so they wouldn’t be without shoes in the spring.”
"I don't have any single-layer shoes to wear either," Zhang Xiangliang said. "I can't very well ask my mother and sister to make them again, can I?"
"I'll make your shoes after my brother and Xiaowei's shoes are finished."
When Zhang Xiangliang saw that her hands had developed chilblains again, he closed his eyes and pretended not to see them.
The silver has been given to you, the grain has been given to you, the firewood has been chopped, and the charcoal has been burned.
The money was given to her family.
The grain was sent to her maternal family.
Charcoal was given to the bride's family.
The cotton quilt and cotton clothes were given to the mother's family.
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