A-Mian saw a thin, pale face emerge from behind the forest, with greasy, curly, messy hair and a foul stench wafting towards her.
"You, you, you, don't come any closer..."
She was terrified and ran tremblingly behind Adou.
"What are you afraid of... I'm not going to eat you," the voice was hoarse and reeked of alcohol, "tsk... it hasn't been long and you don't even recognize your father? How unfilial..."
He stumbled and crawled two more steps, like a ghost, and went forward to pick up an apple that was on display, taking a big bite.
A-Mian looked closely and saw that the man was limping on one leg and looked ten years older, but she could still vaguely make out that he was her father.
Her fear turned to anger. She snatched the apple back, stood up, and said, "This isn't for you!"
Father Lu let out a harsh laugh, "A-Mian, I heard everything just now. You've made money. I've raised you all these years, it's time for you to repay me..."
"I'd rather throw the money into the water than give it to you!" Ah Mian was furious, breaking off a tree branch and wildly hitting people. "You're not allowed here! Get out of here!"
At this moment, Father Lu seemed to feel no pain at all, still leaning against the grave mound with a smile on his face, "Little A-Mian has grown up, she's become capable, she doesn't need her father anymore... Give me some copper coins, your father is about to die... Haha... She'll be joining your mother soon... If you don't give me any, I'll go to your husband's house to ask for them!"
Ah Mian was no longer the same person she used to be, and she wasn't easily intimidated: "At this rate, you wouldn't get there even if you climbed for three days and three nights!"
“I had people carry me there and said… Your son is unfilial… He doesn’t even care about his own father and father-in-law…”
After A-Mian got married, Lu's father became a complete loner. He idled away his days, eventually even pawning the house deed. He would wake up during the day to buy wine and drink, and at night he would either lie unconscious on the roadside or wander around this place and fall asleep. He stopped going to the gambling den, because he had never won big, and when he was drunk he often couldn't even see the cards clearly. After losing too much, he lost interest.
In his hazy state, he felt that Xiao Amian seemed to have grown taller and was probably doing quite well.
"No one will lift you up; you'll see who cares about you."
Father Lu sighed strangely, “...Then just let me die. When I’m found out all alone, I’ll break your backs. Hmph...If your husband finds out you sneaking out like this in the middle of the night, he’ll definitely beat you to death.”
This reminded A-Mian that time was of the essence.
She hurried to burn the remaining joss paper, while her father, seeing her, stood by and made sarcastic remarks: "The person is gone, what's the point of spending this money? You might as well give it to me... Little A-Mian, give me the money, I'll do the ancestral rites for you in the future..."
After burning the paper money, Ah Mian hesitated because her father was there. She had so much to say to her mother, but now she could only say, "Mother, we are all fine. If you need anything down there, just tell me in a dream. I will come back to see you again."
As they were talking, Lu's father suddenly convulsed, shaking like a leaf. He curled up into a ball and uttered incomprehensible cries of pain: "Ghost...ghost...the ghost is coming!"
"Dad, scaring me like that won't work. I'm not a three-year-old anymore." A-Mian packed her things, then suddenly had an idea. "Also, you're not allowed to steal any of these offerings while I'm gone. I put laxatives in them. Don't blame me if you get sick from eating them..."
"Really, really—ah!"
The next second, Lu's father was lifted up like a rag and then thrown somewhere in an arc with a "thump".
Amian stiffly turned her neck. The person in front of her had a cold, iron-like face, sharp eyes, and a fierce look in them. "Lu Amian, don't you have something to say to me?"
He walked step by step to her. "Am I that bad to you? If you had told me, would I have stopped you from coming to pay your respects? Would you have needed to leave without saying goodbye, sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night? What kind of person do you take me for? Or do you think that no matter what you do, no one else will be sad?"
A-Mian had never seen Meng Chijian so terrifying. Unlike when he was angry and wanted to punish her, he even seemed extremely calm, just staring into her eyes for a long time.
Ah Mian stammered, "I... I was thinking of going back right away, and it's... it's nothing, I didn't run away from home... I... I saw you were asleep..."
“Don’t be afraid. I have no right to interfere with you. I’m not even half as important as your Adou. You’re willing to bring it to see your mother, but you’re not willing to tell me.”
Meng Chijian's tone remained completely unchanged: "It was just me meddling in other people's business. Once it's light, you can go wherever you want."
It's going to be thrown away.
Ah Mian felt as if she had been struck by lightning, filled with remorse: If only she hadn't sneaked out at night, or come quietly during the day, or...
She wiped her eyes hard with her sleeve. She didn't want to argue in front of her mother's grave, nor did she want her mother to worry. She just responded softly, "Oh."
Ah Mian slowly pulled up the weeds. As dawn approached, she saw Father Lu lying on the grass, fast asleep. "Good wine..."
She sighed, mounted Adou, and began her journey back to Qingshan Village.
Meng Chijian remained silent and followed behind for a while before disappearing without a trace.
As soon as A-Mian returned to the Meng family home, she saw Meng Jing with tears in her eyes: "A-Mian, where have you been? Third Brother was so worried and angry last night! Why didn't you tell us where you went?!"
"I...I didn't think that much." A-Mian knew she had made a big mistake, and didn't dare to look up at her. She obediently went to pack her luggage.
Meng Jing said again, "What are you doing?! It's good that you found it and nothing bad happened. Don't do this again, you..."
“I will come to see you again. I still owe your family a lot of money…” A-Mian said in a low voice, “Your third brother is angry. I’m going to go out and hide for a couple of days.”
Meng Jing exploded like a firecracker, "How could he do such a thing! You have nowhere to go, yet you still say such things! No, I'm going to tell Mother, and she'll just kick him out!"
"No, otherwise he'll be even angrier!" Ah Mian took several deep breaths, barely managing to calm herself down: "I made a mistake, I'll think of a way."
Meng Jing was extremely anxious: "What can we do?! A-Mian, I don't want you to leave! Who will braid my hair if you leave?"
Amian said, "There must be a way."
She was in a state of confusion. She had just received several sets of clothes, but then realized that they were all bought by Meng Chijian. She shouldn't take advantage of him and take them away, so she took them out.
Then she went to look at the plump hens in the coop. These couldn't be taken away either, and she told Meng Jing to take good care of them.
Finally, Ah Mian looked around, put away her mother's old wedding dress, went to the woodshed to retrieve the hidden silver and copper coins, and packed them into a small bundle to carry on her back.
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