Chapter 87: The Old Man Who Spends Money, the Intimate Peach (Two Chapters in One)
As soon as he finished speaking, two dark and strong men appeared from nowhere, standing on Lu Niu'er's left and right, just like the legendary Heng Ha Er Jiang. They scared all the old wives, middle wives and young wives so much that they took a few steps back. Not to mention saying anything sour, they didn't even dare to look at Lu Niu'er for another second.
Seeing the atmosphere was getting tense, Zhao Shiqing immediately came out to play the good cop: "Don't be afraid, aunties, they are all my grandfather's guards, they are one of our own. With them around, the thieves won't dare to enter the village, and we can sleep peacefully at night."
Everyone thought so, but at the same time they envied the daughter-in-law for having a good father.
How can a father who is both rich and loves his daughter not be your own?
I wonder if this rich dad still needs a daughter?
An auntie quietly asked Shuanzi's grandmother, "Why do I remember that my daughter-in-law was a child bride?"
Shuanzi's grandmother said hurriedly, "Stop talking nonsense! It's true that the young bride was raised in the Shi family since she was young, but she's not a child bride. Look at which child bride can live such a comfortable life? Which daughter-in-law doesn't weave to support the family? The Shi family is not like that. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law occasionally weave a few pieces of cloth to earn money to buy flowers for themselves. Besides, you can see that this old man is rich and powerful. How can a daughter of a wealthy family be a child bride?"
The aunt thought the same thing: "Comparison is the thief of anger. I just came out for a short while this morning and my bastard husband starts complaining about being poor. If I don't weave any less cloth, he'll starve to death. I can't bear to think about it. If I keep thinking about it, I'll feel like I can't go on living like this."
At this moment, the crowd suddenly burst into exclamations, and the two hurriedly asked the people around them what was going on.
"Oh, this is incredible. Just now, the little girl at that time asked Lu Niu'er to take people to the place where the peddler had been. The peddler said that he would be paid 20 taels for the guide. Adding the 80 taels he had given earlier, it just makes up the whole amount. Listen, this is 100 taels, 100 taels of silver, not 100 copper coins. My Lord, Lu Niu'er has become rich all of a sudden.
His parents died too early. If they had died yesterday, they might have jumped out of their coffins out of joy at hearing this news. What a pity! They would have probably been reincarnated by now and wouldn't be able to make it back. What a pity!"
Zhao Shiqing followed Lu Niu'er and the two burly men. Xiao Zhen thought about it and followed them silently.
Under the old ginkgo tree, only Zhen Wuduo was left performing a solo.
Among the five "mores" of Zhen Wuduo, one of them is the large number of women.
As an old white dragon who changed his name to escape and recuperate, and was still able to trick a good girl into willingly marrying him at the "advanced age" of 34, Zhen Wuduo mingled with the women with almost no effort, making the aunts and ladies laugh like morning glories.
"Ladies, I can tell from the first glance that you hold a special status in this village. You must be aware of everything that happens in this village, big or small."
The aunts suddenly became energetic. The only thing they didn't know was that the damn peddler must have dozed off that day and didn't notice that a new peddler had come to the village, so he suddenly lost a hundred taels of profit.
The aunts sighed and felt hopeless.
Zhen Wuduo's words made them regain their confidence, and they straightened their backs and their eyes lit up.
"Oh, brother, you're right about everything. There's nothing in this village we don't know."
Zhen Wuduo picked up a few silver ingots and tossed them around in his hands. The aunts and the ladies' eyes followed the silver ingots, sometimes up to the sky, sometimes down to the ground. Their eyes were brighter than those of the female warriors playing with flower spears on the stage.
Zhen Wuduo smiled and said, "Tell me about the doctor named Yang who used to live in the Shi family. Oh, and his grandson."
This time, Shuanzi's grandmother finally got the first chance to speak.
Shuanzi A-nai: It’s really not about making money. I really know that. Of course, why not make money if there is money to be made?
"I know that Doctor Yang's grandson is called Xiao Qiu, and your granddaughter calls him Brother Little Lamb. The child can't read, so she thought the Yang in Doctor Yang was the same as the Yang in Little Lamb.
Xiaoqiu didn't go to school in our town, but went to a private school a hundred miles away. She asked for a letter of recommendation from a gentleman through the relationship with the son of Chen Lizheng. The money used to cover her expenses was all given by your good son-in-law.
Doctor Yang felt very embarrassed for this. Think about it, it was Dalang Shi who saved the lives of the grandfather and grandson. Later, he let them recuperate at home. Now he paid and used his connections to send his grandson to school. Anyone with a conscience would know that they should repay kindness, right?
So, after Xiaoqiu went to school, Dr. Yang started to treat Xiaonan's eyes.
I heard from the old woman that Doctor Yang originally treated high-ranking officials in the capital, but later left the capital for some reason and traveled around with his grandson. If he had not been seriously injured in the accident, he might still be traveling around.
Ever since Doctor Yang treated the little girl's eyes, the Shi family has worshipped Doctor Yang like a god. Doctor Yang likes to eat braised pork, so your girl goes to Wong Chuk Village to buy meat every now and then. She is a good cook, and Doctor Yang said that the braised pork she makes is as good as the one made by the royal chef in the palace.
However, Doctor Yang is not easy to deal with. Apart from the Shi family, he only gives some respect to Chen Lizheng. If you see him in the village and say hello to him, he will ignore you and look up at you.
When Grandma Shuanzi said this, another aunt finally interrupted and said, "Yes, yes, that's right, Doctor Yang is so arrogant that he looks down on us country folk.
Once, my youngest child had a sore on his leg and asked him to treat it, but he refused, saying he didn't treat that kind of thing. Bah! He just treated people differently based on their condition. In the end, we had to ask Doctor Gao from town to cure it.
Another aunt joined the ranks of those condemning Doctor Yang: "That's right, that old man Yang looks down on people. I had a stomachache and asked him to see me, but he said he doesn't treat women's illnesses. Pah, as if he wasn't born from a woman's belly. Isn't it just that he thinks we are poor and not as rich as the Shi family?"
The other aunt has a different approach. All your fire is directed at Dr. Yang, but I won’t. I am independent and different. This is the real me!
"That little grandson of Old Man Yang is not a good guy either. Back then, when they fell into the river, and Dalang of the Shi family went to rescue them, the head of our family also went to lend a hand. Even if it's not a big favor, it can be considered a small favor. Let's not talk about Old Man Yang's eccentric personality. His little grandson looks gentle and knowledgeable, but he is not a good person either.
On that occasion, Yang Qiu came back from school and the door of Shi's house was locked. I happened to pass by the door and saw that he was bringing a stranger with him, so I kindly asked him, who is this person and why did he come back with you?
But he ignored me completely and didn't even glance at me. But when I walked away, he caught up with me and asked me why there was no one at the Shi family?
Not to mention that he had been to school, even Lu Niuer, who ran around the village, would call me "Auntie" when he saw me, but Yang Qiu didn't even call me by name. He just came up to me and asked as if I owed him something.
This kind of child, even if he studies hard and passes the imperial examination, is not a good person. Do you think this is true?
I kindly told him that Shi's family had gone out of town to seek medical treatment for their daughter.
Guess what he said?
He said it was impossible and accused me of lying.
Am I someone who would lie to a child?
If the stranger who came with him hadn't apologized to me on his behalf, I would have slapped him in the face and taught him a lesson on behalf of his grandfather.
Zhen Wuduo frowned. "The Shi family locked up. When did you say that happened? Did the Shi family never come back since then?"
The aunt was stunned for a moment, then slapped her thigh and said, "That's right, that's right. Since then, I haven't seen the Shi family, nor have I seen Old Man Yang, let alone that Yang Qiu!"
Zhen Wuduo pointed at Grandma Shuanzi and said to Niqiu, who was standing beside him instead of Zhao Shiqing, "Count out sixty taels for this big sister of mine."
Then he pointed at the aunt who had been turned down by Doctor Yang for her leg sore: "This girl is right. A few dozen taels."
Then he pointed at the maverick aunt and said, "What this girl said is very useful. Count fifty taels."
Happiness came too quickly. The three aunties hadn't even thought of their acceptance speeches when Loach's black little claws had already held the silver in front of them. There was no other way. Thieves all had quick hands, not to mention that Loach had practiced martial arts since he was a child, so he counted the silver much faster than Zhao Shiqing.
Zhen Wuduo asked again: "Has anyone seen Yang Qiu since then?"
Everyone looked at each other, and after thinking carefully, their impression of Yang Qiu still remained on the time when they saw Shi Jia Dalang hiring a mule cart to pick Yang Qiu up at the village entrance. Yang Qiu's school was more than a hundred miles away from Zhuxitang. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, the school would be closed, and Shi Jia Dalang would go to pick him up a day in advance. Shi Jia's young wife would go to Huangzhu Village to buy meat. Whenever Yang Qiu came back from school, there would be a fragrant smell coming from Shi's house, making the children drool. Some children even said that they wanted to be exchanged with the blind boy of Shi's family and become their child instead.
But all these things happened before Lao Shi's family left. To be honest, Auntie Maverick was the last person in the village who had seen Yang Qiu, so she deserved to get fifty taels for nothing.
Everyone felt sorry and wondered why they didn't go to Lao Shi's house that day. If they had gone, the fifty taels would have been theirs.
And there was Grandma Shuanzi. At that time, I often saw her running to Shi's house. The two old widows got together and didn't dislike each other.
If they had known this day would come, they would have gone to Old Shi's house to chat with Mrs. Shi, and they would have been able to get the sixty taels today.
At this moment, Zhen Wuduo looked at Auntie Maverick again: "Sister, you said Yang Qiu came back with a stranger. Do you remember what that person looked like?"
The maverick aunt thought without hesitation: "I don't remember what his face looked like, but he looked like a scholar. Oh, and when he apologized to me on behalf of Yang Qiu, he called himself Yang Qiu's teacher. I guess he was the teacher in the school."
Zhen Wuduo gave a thumbs up and said, "Sister, you have a good memory. Loach, give me another five taels of silver!"
Fifty taels plus five taels makes fifty-five taels. Although it is not more than the sixty taels that Shuanzi's grandmother has, it is a huge sum of money for a farmer's family. If they live frugally, it is enough to last them for ten years!
The maverick was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. She had her parents, Li Wenpo, who delivered her, and her mother-in-law to thank for her life today. Without her mother-in-law, there would be no husband. Without her husband, she would not have been able to marry in Zhuxitang, would not have passed by Lao Shi's house that day, would not have met Yang Qiu, and would not have received the fifty-five taels. Oh, why did she pass by Lao Shi's house that day? Now she remembered. So she also wanted to thank her chickens. She had gone there to look for chickens that day.
However, Aunt Maverick was unable to give her acceptance speech because the crowd was going wild!
Zhen Wuduo announced that they would stop here today. The older sisters, middle sisters and younger sisters still had to go home to spin and weave. As an elder brother who cared about the sisters, he would not waste their precious time. All the sisters who came today would receive a silver ingot. Since this elder brother did not bring any gifts when he came to Zhuxitang, this silver ingot would be a keepsake for the sisters.
The Zhen Wuduo of the moment before was a little old man, a rich little old man, a foolish old man with a lot of money;
Zhen Wuduo at this moment is - the old boy who gives away money, the immortal of the South Pole, and the intimate peach!
As for the silver ingots each person received, it was just a keepsake, and it was truly a keepsake. Nowadays, most families don't use silver, they use copper coins. Even if they have silver, it is broken silver. Who would be willing to spend such a beautifully cast silver ingot? It must be kept.
The troops were divided into two groups. On one side, Zhen Wuduo sat among the flowers without getting a single leaf on him. On the other side, Zhao Shiqing followed Lu Niuer to point out the place. They walked in front, followed by Xiao Zhen.
The hillside that Lu Niuer mentioned was actually not that close. You had to pass through a large bamboo forest at the west end of the village to get there.
While passing through the bamboo forest, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhao Shiqing's mind: this place must be far away from home, because there are no large bamboo forests near her home.
She was stunned. Of course this place was far away from her home, and she hadn't seen any bamboo forests near her home. But this was something she already knew, so why did she suddenly have such an idea? It was as if she didn't know it before, and it was because of the bamboo forest that she guessed that this place was far away from home.
Could it be...
Could this be her past memory?
Yes, she was just a blind child at that time. She couldn't see and could only rely on hearing and smell.
Zhao Shiqing stopped, closed her eyes, and felt the difference in the bamboo forest.
She heard the autumn wind blowing and the rustling of bamboo leaves, and she smelled the dampness of the earth and the fragrance of the bamboo leaves.
Yes, her hearing and sense of smell are stronger than most people. Even if she can't see, she knows she is in a bamboo forest with her ears and nose.
So, back then, she judged that this place was far away from home based on the bamboo forest.
The sudden thought was not what I was thinking at the moment, but came from the thought of a blind little girl ten years ago.
But how did she get here?
He couldn't have walked here by himself, a little blind boy, he doesn't have that ability.
Could it be that she was being held hostage?
Yes, it must be!
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