The woman cried as she spoke, “I’ve been married into their family for almost twenty years. At first, we were quite well-off, with plenty to eat and drink. But who would have thought that this old man would become obsessed with growing flowers? Can an ordinary family like ours afford to support that?”
Because of his flower-growing ways, the family's life has become increasingly difficult. They've sold everything they could, and now they're so poor they can barely afford to eat. My son's arranged marriage has been called off because of this spendthrift grandfather.
My son was threatening to kill himself over this, and this old man still has the leisure to sell flowers here? How is he possibly going to sell any?
After hearing what the woman said, everyone began to sympathize with her and instead criticized the old man.
Yan Qingqing looked at the woman, who not only had a mean expression on her face but also eyes full of calculation. Although she was crying, she was all bark and no bite, not even shedding a single tear.
The old man remained silent as she berated him, finally sighing and saying, "So what do you want?"
The woman rolled her eyes and said, "Give up the house you're living in now for your eldest grandson's wedding. You don't want your Zhang family line to end, do you?"
The old man stared at the woman for a long while before saying, "Alright, I'll give it to you."
After saying that, the old man squatted down on the ground dejectedly, while the woman walked away with her head held high, looking as triumphant as a victorious rooster.
As the crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, Yan Qingqing was in no hurry to leave. Instead, she got off the carriage and walked up to the old man, carefully examining the flowers he had planted.
Yan Qingqing looked at the flowers the old man was selling, including peonies and roses, all of excellent quality, and asked, "Grandpa, how much are your roses?"
The old man looked up at Yan Qingqing. Finally, someone who recognized her value! Too bad it was too late. So he said, "Take it all if you like. If it's not enough, I have more in my yard—oh, no, I don't have a yard anymore."
Yan Qingqing looked at the old man's empty eyes; he must have given up hope of life.
So he smiled and said, "I have several dozen acres of wasteland at home, and I'm thinking of planting some flowers and plants, but I lack a craftsman who knows how to grow them. I don't know if you would be willing to do so."
Yan Qingqing suddenly remembered that the piece of wasteland her family had bought was still idle. She had originally planned to plant apricot trees all over it, and then turn it into a scenic spot where people could enjoy apricot blossoms, drink apricot wine, and eat apricot blossom pastries. Yan Qingqing had made all the plans, but things didn't go as planned. The fruit tree shop didn't have that many seedlings, and most of the trees this year had already been bought by Yan Qingqing's family.
In addition, I've been so busy lately that I've actually neglected that piece of land.
Seeing this elderly woman selling flowers today suddenly gave her an idea: you don't necessarily have to plant trees, you can also plant flowers.
Upon hearing Yan Qingqing's words, the old man's eyes lit up with hope, and he cautiously asked, "Is what you're saying true? Are you really planning to plant flowers? Are you really willing to take this old man in?"
Yan Qingqing nodded firmly, and the old man burst into tears. After wiping away his tears, he said, "Okay, as long as you can provide me with three meals a day and give me a place to live, my life will belong to you from now on."
After finishing his sentence, Old Zhang thought for a moment and said to Yan Qingqing, "If it's convenient for you, Madam, could you come back with me for a visit? I still have a few precious varieties in my yard, which are being wasted there. It would be good to transplant them to your yard."
Yan Qingqing's eyes lit up upon hearing this; she had gotten a great deal! So she had A'da drive the car back to Old Man Zhang's home.
After the carriage twisted and turned, they finally arrived at Old Zhang's house. It was a small alley with three dilapidated old houses, but the courtyard was quite large. As soon as Yan Qingqing and the others arrived at the door, a pile of old clothes suddenly flew out of the door. Immediately afterwards, they heard a mean and domineering voice from inside saying, "You didn't even find anything of value. What has this old man been doing all these years?"
"You good-for-nothing! I told you to coax his money over long ago, but look at you now, you have nothing but this dilapidated house."
Then a man's timid voice said, "Oh dear, didn't the old man use all his money to help us? Where would he get any more money? Luckily, my wife, you were quick-witted and got the house back for that old man. We can sell it later and it'll be worth a few bucks."
The woman continued, "Let me warn you, this house is one I fought tooth and nail to get back, and any money from selling it will be mine. Also, that old man is absolutely not allowed to live in our house."
The man readily agreed and joined in cursing Old Man Zhang.
Yan Qingqing guessed that the man who spoke must be the old man's son. The old man wasn't so sad that his daughter-in-law was unfilial, but hearing his son say the same thing really hurt him.
But the old man walked into the courtyard expressionlessly, as if it were a habit.
The two, who were cursing each other, fell silent as soon as they saw Old Zhang, like a rooster being choked. However, the woman was the first to react and said, "Old man, you promised to give the house to your grandson, you can't go back on your word."
The old man glanced at the silent, disdainful man standing to the side and said, "From now on, we have no father-son relationship."
The man frowned upon hearing Old Zhang's words but remained silent. The woman, overjoyed, exclaimed, "Old man, you said it yourself, so you can't go back on your word later!"
Then why did you come back today?
Old Zhang said, "A lady who loves flowers is willing to take care of me in my old age, but on the condition that I take these flowers with me."
At this moment, Yan Qingqing led A'da into the courtyard and saw the mess. Fortunately, the flowers in the other half of the courtyard were still intact.
The woman's eyes lit up when she saw Yan Qingqing's attire. She rolled her eyes and said, "If you want these flowers, you can give me two taels of silver. These flowers were carefully cultivated by the old man."
Yan Qingqing glanced at the flowers. Two taels of silver was indeed not much, and these flowers were worth far more than two taels of silver, but Yan Qingqing could not give the silver to this kind of person.
So he said, "Oh ho, you've got quite the nerve. You dare to ask for two taels of silver right off the bat. I just felt sorry for this old man, and the flowers smelled nice. I was thinking that the chickens and ducks I raise at home smell too bad, so I thought cutting them up would help mask the stench. Since you all like them so much, you can keep them for yourselves."
I don't want this old man anymore either. Since this courtyard belongs to him, it's only natural for him to live here. Now that the county magistrate is strict in his jurisdiction, he absolutely will not allow such a great act of filial impiety to happen.
"If anyone dares to kick him out, I'll report her to the authorities!"
Yan Qingqing's words left the woman stunned. Finally, she stammered, "It's just a few broken flowers. Take them if you want, but make it clear first that you have to take this old man with you."
Yan Qingqing snorted coldly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but in her heart she was thinking, "Little brat, trying to play these tricks on me, doesn't he know his own limitations?"
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