Chapter 69: Village Affairs
Ye Zhen didn’t know the sales situation in the supermarket. She was eating mulberries at her grandmother’s house.
Grandma Ye's home is in Qiaoxi Village, where the terrain is flat and there is a lot of water. There are mulberry trees and lotus ponds all along the way.
It is the season when mulberries are ripe, and the trees are full of red and purple fruits. There is an old mulberry tree in Grandma Ye's yard. The fruits have fallen to the ground in a layer, and are still densely packed under the mulberry leaves on the tree.
Little Brother Ye held the basin and did not even need to climb up the tree. He could just stand on the ground and pick the mulberries. The purple mulberries were full and the fruits on the old trees were big and sweet, as thick as an adult's little finger. Little Brother Ye picked a handful and put them directly into his mouth. They were so sweet.
Grandma Ye greeted her daughter and son-in-law with a smile. Grandma Ye's house was originally an old-style house with green bricks and blue tiles. The floors were paved with flat-cut wood, which creaked when stepped on. When Ye Zhen was a child, he lived in his grandmother's house and often ran around on the upper floors, causing the lower floor to rustle and fall dust.
Grandma Ye gave birth to two sons and two daughters. My eldest uncle and aunt worked hard outside, and my grandmother took care of the children. They earned some money and built a new house next door. My youngest uncle had good grades and worked in Hai City after he was admitted to university. Later, he married a local and settled there, usually only coming back during the Chinese New Year.
During this festival, my aunt was preparing dinner, and Aunt Ye and Mom Ye were helping to light the fire and wash the vegetables.
During the conversation, Ye Ma thought of the person she had just seen and couldn't help asking:
"Isn't the one in front of our mom's house Huang Guangzong's? Why do I see Xu Qiang's family cleaning up there?"
"Yes, I want to ask too." Aunt Ye also leaned over to ask, obviously very curious.
In front of Grandma Ye's house, there used to be two old houses. The one in the front had half collapsed and was covered with vines and thorns. Ye Zhen had played there when he was a child. It was eerie inside and there was a coffin inside.
Every time he saw the pitch-black coffin in Grandma Ye’s yard, he couldn’t sleep at night. All kinds of rural horror stories emerged in his mind. After so many years, Ye Zhen still had a deep impression of it.
Later, Huang Guangzong opened a floor tile store in the county. In those years, the real estate industry was developing rapidly and the profits from building materials were quite high. Perhaps he was making money, so he returned home, demolished the two old houses, and built three-story houses. He decorated them beautifully inside and out, replaced the furniture and appliances every once in a while, and also renovated the yard to make it grand.
There are two big stone statues at the door, which are quite majestic and spectacular. In addition, he bought houses in the county and the city, and parked several cars in the yard. He is very wealthy.
Aunt Huang was very proud those days and walked around the village every day to show off. Not long after the new house was built, she held a grand banquet in the village.
Ye Ma still remembers that they came to have the house-warming wine at that time. Aunt Huang and her husband entertained the guests with loud voices. The table was rich in dishes, and many people were amazed.
Someone asked Aunt Huang:
"Lanhua, you two have finally come to a happy ending after all the hardships you've endured. Your son is so successful that he built a nice house for you to live in."
Huang Lanhua suppressed her pride, tried hard to suppress her laughter, and waved her hands:
"Well! It's all the same. My son works hard too. He's going to open a second branch soon. He's very busy lately."
This statement makes people even more jealous and envious:
"That must make a lot of money, right?"
Huang Lanhua pretended not to care: "It's all hard-earned money."
"Didn't your son buy a house in the county? Why didn't he take you to live there?"
Some people couldn't stand the other person's smugness and asked deliberately.
Everyone knows that Huang Lanhua's son has a bad temper. Not to mention others, the two old people will be beaten if they provoke him.
Before he became rich, Aunt Huang's son was idle and hung around the county every day. He ignored his wife and children, and left everything to his parents.
From time to time, I would come back to ask the old couple for money. They ran a small shop selling condiments and children's snacks. It was not a big shop and they didn't make much. In addition, they also farmed a few acres of land and worked hard.
Huang Lanhua was a person who would not bear being beaten. As soon as her son came back, she would ask about his well-being and nag him a lot. Suddenly, she would slap him in the face. She would not dare to tell anyone about the beatings because her son was the most important to her after all.
The parents are so cowardly that they are afraid of their son and dare not take care of their daughter.
When Ye Zhen was a child, he lived in his grandmother's house for a period of time and saw exactly what kind of life this family lived.
Some relatives from the same family wanted to help teach their son a lesson, but were stopped and scolded by the couple, who blamed them for meddling in other people's affairs and kept praising their son.
Well, they themselves don't care, how can outsiders interfere?
The sound of being beaten was heard from behind, but no one cared.
At best, if the beating is severe, you can help by saying something, but what good is that? You should still be beaten.
Later, her son became rich in business, and Huang Lanhua felt proud of herself. Her son made money, and no one in the village would say that he was a second-rate person who had to rely on his parents for support. This kid son would never beat her again, right?
Huang Lanhua heard someone teasing her deliberately, and her face looked a little unnatural. Could she say that her son disliked her nagging? She stayed in the county for a few days and was driven back by her son.
Will she say that after this banquet is over, the whole family will take them away, leaving her alone to look after the house?
"Well, my son is busy too. There must be someone to clean these two houses in the countryside, right? There are so many new furniture here. What if they are stolen?"
I don’t know if anyone believed Huang Lanhua’s words. Anyway, today is someone’s happy day, so jokes should be kept within limits.
The excitement of that day was still fresh in my mind. Today, the house changed hands. Ye's mother also asked:
"What about the family?"
At this point, Aunt Ye's eyes were complicated. I don't know what she was thinking about. She gritted her teeth:
"Not only have Aunt Huang and her husband not been able to enjoy their old age, but they also have to help their son clean up his broken business! Aunt Huang is gone."
She died last year. She is now alone in the big house. Not only is there no one to take care of her as she is old, but her son has taken the whole family away, leaving her behind alone. Her children have never called her, let alone come back to visit her often.
It seems like the children were born and raised in vain.
Just last year, I fell ill and not only was there no one to take care of me, but I also went out to the toilet in the middle of the night. I didn’t pay attention to what was under my feet and fell to the ground when I came back. I couldn’t shout for help, and no one could come.
The winter night was so cold. I tried to crawl back up little by little, and I didn’t know how long I had been lying on the ground in the cold.
A few days later, the old man's husband and son came back. They called outside for a long time but no one opened the door. The son was cursing, but the old man didn't dare to say anything, for fear of angering him and getting slapped. When they opened the door, they saw Aunt Huang lying on the ground.
My body was frozen. How far was the toilet from the door? It was just a few meters around the corner. I crawled for several hours but couldn't get back.
Later I heard that the old man had broken his waist and was completely exhausted. He died on the ground in pain and cold.
This incident has made Aunt Huang's children's reputation extremely bad. All the relatives will curse them when they see them. Even if Aunt Huang has many faults, it is not a reason for her children to treat her like this.
Perhaps they still had a little bit of shame, so the family rarely came back afterwards.
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