Old Ding was so anxious that he saw stars. He ran out of the gate and felt dizzy. He staggered a few times and then fell to the ground. Yellow liquid spilled out and soaked his crotch, and the liquid flowed down his trouser legs and onto the ground.
Meng followed out and saw the situation and called out to Lao Wu at the top of her voice. Lu told her hesitantly that Lao Wu had gone out and she didn't know where he had gone.
In a fit of rage, Meng grabbed her and slapped her hard several times without giving her any explanation!
Old Ding lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up. The fifth brother was away, and the third brother, along with the second brother and his wife, had gone to Fang's village to work as a laborer and would not be back until the evening. When Liu and Gao heard they had lost money on the grain deal, they thought they had lost everything and were terrified. Furthermore, the old man had stinked so much that neither of them wanted to be around, and they just kept wailing.
Meng had just gotten angry and slapped Lu a few times. She had used too much force and her waist was aching slightly. She didn't dare to pull Old Dingtou hard anymore, so she yelled at Liu and the others, forcing them to pull Old Dingtou up.
Old Ding was still Old Ding after all. After calming down, he glared at Meng and the others and yelled, "Why are you panicking? What are you afraid of? It's just a matter of paying for the shipping costs. Why are you still afraid of the food? It's not like we've lost everything. Just do what you need to do!"
Mrs. Meng pounded her chest, still feeling the pain. She figured it wasn't just about the shipping costs, what about the triple interest she'd been hoping for? With the triple interest, she'd lost nearly five hundred taels of silver! Now, after all, the family had less than ten taels of silver left.
At that time, Old Dingtou wanted her to use the remaining money to buy food. Now she wanted to say the same thing to Old Dingtou, but she opened her mouth, didn't dare, and swallowed it back.
Old Ding was very good at comforting himself; he had it all figured out without anyone else's persuasion. If he brought the grain back, maybe next year, if the village chiefs couldn't grow any, he could sell it to them at a higher price, at least recouping some of his losses. With this thought in mind, he drank herbal medicine all day, and it even cured his diarrhea.
Early the next morning, Lao Dingtou ran to the village entrance to wait for the boss. He went there several times, from morning to afternoon, but he didn't wait for the boss. Instead, he waited for Tu Yidao and others.
Tu Yidao and his men saw Lao Dingtou when they entered the village, but they didn't know he was Lao Wu's father. Tu Yidao and his men first went to find his eldest aunt Tu Pozi. Tu Pozi heard that Lao Wu owed a debt to the gambling house from gambling, so she hurriedly led them to Lao Dingtou's house.
When Mrs. Meng heard that Lao Wu owed the gambling house 150 taels of silver, she was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out. But she quickly realized that Lao Wu had not returned since he went out yesterday, and it turned out that he had run away because of his debt.
When Lao Wu ran away, she started to cheat: "Go find whoever owes you. If you find me and have money, I'll pay you back. If you don't have money, I'll pay you back with my life. You can kill me or chop me up!"
"He's not a baby who's still nursing. I can't take care of him for the rest of his life!"
Liu ran to the village entrance and called back Old Ding. Old Ding was even more ruthless than Meng. He pointed at Lu and her two daughters and said, "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. These are that beast's wife and daughter. If you can't find that beast, tie up his wife and two daughters and sell them to him to pay off his debt."
"It's impossible to get a penny from me unless you take my life!"
"Alright, old man, your words will do." Tu Yidao nodded to his men and said, "Let's go. The monk may escape, but the temple cannot. Let's go find the person first. If we can't find him, we can tie him up later. Let's go!"
After they left, Old Ding glared at Meng: "What a good son you gave birth to!"
She knew that Meng had died unjustly, and that it was the father's fault if the son was not well educated. How could she be blamed for this? But she only dared to say this in her heart. She had offended her family because of the grain business, and she knew that Old Ding was angry, so she had to endure it.
Old Dingtou still went to the village entrance a few times a day to look out, hoping that the eldest brother would come back every day.
The second son's wife, Fang, was originally going to come back to make trouble for the division of the family business, but she didn't expect this to happen. The second son begged her to wait and see, so she had no choice but to put it aside for the time being.
Old Ding waited anxiously. Ten days later, at dusk, when the weather had turned cold, the eldest son returned, distraught and like a beggar. He came back alone, without even a grain cart in sight. As soon as he entered the yard, he knelt on the ground, called out "Dad" in a sorrowful voice, and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
This made Old Ding very anxious. He pinched the old man's philtrum and yelled at him to bring some hot soup. After the old man woke up, he took the bowl and drank the hot soup in big mouthfuls, then started howling again.
"Dad, it's over, our family is over, it's all over!"
"What happened? Why are you howling? Tell me straight away!"
Old Ding's blood pressure was almost uncontrollable. Mrs. Meng had collapsed in her chair, her head buzzing. She had a strong foreboding premonition in her heart, but she still pricked up her ears hoping to hear a miracle.
"The food was...robbed by bandits! Even the car was taken!"
"What?"
"What?"
Old Ding's body swayed a few times, and then he fell to the ground with a thud.
He fell down, and Meng got up in a flash. She didn't bother to care about Old Dingtou, but grabbed the eldest brother who was trying to help him up and asked anxiously, "What's going on? Tell me clearly. Where are your uncles? Where is their food?"
"What are you still asking?" The boss slapped his thigh, "We were all robbed! We woke up and were all robbed!"
"Oh my God, how can you be so blind..." Meng pounced on Old Ding who was carried onto the bed and started wailing at the top of her lungs.
She thought it was all over now. The money was no longer important. Losing her own money was just a matter of course. What mattered now was the house. She knew her brother and sister-in-law well. Her family was large and powerful. Although she had given birth to six sons, one had disowned her, one had been away for over ten days and still hadn't returned, and another was working in the county town. If things got out of hand, her family would be unpopular in the village. What was she going to do?
"Wang's father, wake up! This is terrible! I'm afraid we can't save our house. My sister-in-law said..."
Old Ding woke up slowly. After hearing her words, he opened his mouth, wanting to say something but unable to speak. Suddenly, the corner of his mouth twitched several times, and his mouth tilted to the right and could not return to its original position.
Just when Meng's back injury had healed, Old Ding had another stroke. This time it was a real stroke. He was paralyzed on one side of his body, his mouth and eyes were crooked, and he needed someone to help him eat, drink, defecate and urinate. He couldn't leave his eyes alone.
The news about Old Ding's family spread throughout the village the next day. After Old Five ran away due to gambling debts, everyone knew that his family's grain was robbed by bandits. Some said that they deserved it because they were greedy for money, while some sympathized with his family. Ding Youtian felt something was wrong after knowing this. Where did the bandits come from when the world was peaceful?
He was just wondering when Lao Liu came. Zhang Mazi learned from Ding Pingshun that Lao Ding had suffered a stroke, so he sent someone to bring him a message and gave him two days off.
Lao Liu was capable and good at attracting customers. Furthermore, given Jian Ning's relationship with Ding Youtian, Zhang Mazi showed him some concern. He had come to deliver the deposit for the order, and previously, he had asked Ma Fuquan to bring it. Ma Fuquan hadn't been to the county government office recently, so he brought it over on his return.
Ding Youtian asked him to tell him in detail about the grain robbery. Lao Liu only knew that the grain was robbed by bandits, but he didn't know how it was robbed.
"Fourth brother, you are doubting... Eldest brother is not that kind of person. He doesn't have that courage."
"Of course I know he doesn't have the courage, but that doesn't mean others don't have it. Listen to me..." He explained to Lao Liu, who nodded and left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
