Chapter 14
Chen Qing had been living in the family for five years and had never met any of their relatives. It had always been just him and Aunt Sun in the house. When someone suddenly appeared who looked like Aunt Sun's relative, Chen Qing was stunned.
"What brings you here today?" Grandma Sun was not agitated. She called Chen Qing to her side and said, "This is my eldest brother from my maternal family. You can call him Uncle, Qing."
Chen Qing looked at the person in front of him, who was dressed in indigo blue, of medium height, and had a somewhat pointed face. It was easy to tell at a glance that he had a bad temper. Chen Qing glanced at Aunt Sun and felt that the siblings did not look alike.
Seeing Sun Da Niang's displeasure, Chen Qing simply nodded to Sun Kang: "Uncle."
"Is this the husband you bought for Meng Tao for three taels of silver?" Sun Kang's gaze at Chen Qing was not friendly. Chen Qing had often experienced this kind of gaze five years ago, being treated like a commodity.
"Yes, his name is Chen Qing." Aunt Sun blocked Sun Kang's gaze from Chen Qing. "What brings you here?"
Sun Kang retorted, "Can't I come to see you if there's nothing wrong?"
Grandma Sun found it amusing: "I remember when I was going to observe mourning for Meng Dali, you told my sister-in-law and mother that if I insisted on wearing mourning clothes, they would sever ties with me. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"
"That happened so many years ago, why are you so vengeful?" Sun Kang was a little embarrassed. "Don't married women all rely on their parents' families for a living?"
Grandma Sun straightened her back: "Meng Dali has been dead for over twenty years. In those twenty years, I raised Meng Tao alone. I didn't rely on my family at all. I don't know what your basis is for saying that."
Sun Kang, feeling guilty, vented his anger on Chen Qing: "What kind of husband are you? When the elders come to visit, you can't even pour them a glass of water?"
Chen Qing opened his eyes wide, and Aunt Sun pulled him back: "There's no need to put on airs in front of the younger generation. Just tell me what brings you here today?"
“That’s right.” Sun Kang originally wanted to appeal to Sun Da Niang’s family ties, but Sun Da Niang’s attitude clearly showed that she wouldn’t speak properly, so he just said it directly, “I heard that Meng Tao died in battle, and the imperial court gave him ten taels of silver as compensation.”
Grandma Sun wasn't surprised at all. Her family was the kind of people who wouldn't get up early for nothing and were only interested in profit. But she never expected them to be so shameless as to even be after Meng Tao's compensation.
"Yes, what's wrong?"
Sun Kang then revealed his true intentions: "As you know, your nephew Sun Wei is of marriageable age this year and has already found someone he likes, but he wants a dowry of ten taels of silver. You know your family is struggling financially..."
"Using money from the dead to hold a wedding, do you think Sun Wei will dream of my son's death on the battlefield on his wedding night, and then be unable to have sex for the rest of his life!"
Chen Qing felt a pang of pain when he heard what Aunt Sun said. He tugged at her sleeve and said, "Mother, don't be angry."
"You! How can you speak so rudely!" Sun Kang pointed at Grandma Sun's nose. "How can you curse your own nephew like that?"
"Don't blame others for saying hurtful things if you do ugly things!" Granny Sun was trembling with anger. "Get out, get out of my house."
“Sun Cui! Don’t forget, even if we’re broken, our bones are still connected by tendons! We’ll always be family.”
"Go to hell, get out! You're not welcome in my house!" Aunt Sun grabbed a broom that was lying to the side and made a move to hit Sun Kang.
Chen Qing quickly stopped Granny Sun, fearing that the two of them would hurt her if they fought, so Sun Kang quickly jumped away.
Chen Qing never expected that Sun Kang would be so shameless. Instead of leaving their house immediately, he walked to the basket they had just carried down the mountain and picked up the chicken, saying, "You haven't been filial to your mother all these years. Consider this chicken your compensation to her."
After saying that, he picked up the chicken and was about to run away. Chen Qing chased after him without thinking. He and his mother couldn't bear to kill a chicken for a year or two, so how could he let someone his mother didn't like take it away?
Sun Kang didn't expect that the husband he had bought would dare to chase after him. Although Sun Kang wasn't particularly tall, he was a man who had worked in the fields for many years. Chen Qing was also short, so he easily shook off Chen Qing.
Chen Qing chased after them again, pulling and tugging until they reached Zhou Yuan's doorstep.
Sun Kang was getting really annoyed by Chen Qing's tugging, and thinking that he was just a bought husband, just a prostitute, and that he was being so petty, he stopped and wanted to slap Chen Qing across the face.
Before his raised hand could even fall, it was firmly restrained. The person was much taller and bigger than him, and their hands were like iron clamps, making it impossible for him to struggle.
Chen Qing took the chicken back from his hand and ran behind Zhou Yuan. He was still panting, and his face was red from the exertion. Chen Qing's face wasn't very fair; he must have gotten a tan from running around outside recently. In contrast, his neck was much whiter, and you could see some blue veins on it. Zhou Yuan looked away and asked him, "Are you alright?"
Chen Qing shook his head: "I'm fine."
Zhou Yuan then looked at the middle-aged man he was carrying: "Stealing from your house in broad daylight?"
"Bullshit! What's wrong with me taking a chicken from my sister's house? Who are you? Let me go right now!" Sun Kang struggled but found he couldn't budge the man; the man's grip was as strong as an ox's.
Sun Kang felt utterly humiliated and cursed a lot. Zhou Yuan got annoyed and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Qing: ...
Grandma Sun, having calmed down, chased after him from her yard, saying, "Let me tell you, Sun Kang, you won't take a single thing out of my house!"
She struck Sun Kang with a stick: "Get out!"
Zhou Yuan casually threw the man down. Sun Kang, seeing how tall and strong he was, ran away before spitting out the dirt in his mouth.
Chen Qing helped Grandma Sun up: "Mother, are you alright?"
Grandma Sun nodded and patted Chen Qing's hand: "I'm fine."
Zhou Yuan helped Sun Da Niang with her other arm and back into the yard. Chen Qing was still carrying the chicken, so he quickly put it down and poured Sun Da Niang a glass of water. He watched her drink it before he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mother is alright." Grandma Sun took a deep breath.
There's not much to say about her family. Back then, in order to help Sun Kang get married, her family didn't give her any dowry but accepted two taels of silver from Meng Dali and married her off to Luohe Village. Actually, it wasn't a marriage; she preferred to think that her family sold her for two taels of silver.
Fortunately, Meng Dali was an honest and kind person, and her parents-in-law were also kind. However, her parents-in-law passed away too early. The year she became pregnant with Meng Tao, her parents-in-law passed away one after another, leaving only the three of them.
When Meng Tao was five years old, Meng Dali had an accident. She was a widow with a five-year-old child, and life was almost unbearable. At this time, her family came and told her to leave Luohe Village without explanation, saying that they had found a family for her and that they would give her two taels of silver.
Grandma Sun did not agree. She insisted on wearing mourning clothes for Meng Dali. Her family said that they should sever ties.
During those years, no matter how hard or tiring it was, she gritted her teeth and persevered. But when Meng Tao was ten years old, he suddenly fell ill. The treatment emptied all of the family's savings, but it still wasn't enough. Meng Tao was lying in the clinic waiting for money to save his life. She thought that five years had passed and her family should have calmed down, so she wanted to borrow some money to buy medicine for Meng Tao.
She will always remember that day when it was raining heavily, and her family mocked and ridiculed her, driving her out of the Sun family home in the pouring rain.
She persevered through countless hardships. For the next ten years or so, she had no contact with the Sun family whatsoever. Yet today, Sun Kang had the audacity to come to her door and demand Meng Tao's compensation!
"Mother, will they come back to cause trouble again?" Chen Qing watched Sun Kang leave with a worried expression. The thought of his peaceful life being disrupted made him anxious.
"What are you afraid of? They're not going to come to our door and kill us, are they?" Aunt Sun stood up. "Thank you, Zhou Yuan. Will you have dinner at home tonight?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "It's alright, I won't eat. I'm afraid someone will try to take my money."
"Huh?" Grandma Sun was still a little confused and looked at Chen Qing.
Chen Qing quickly waved his hand: "I didn't."
Zhou Yuan then slowly said, "I gave him a ride back earlier, and he paid me; the other day I accidentally ate his cornbread and gave him steamed buns in return, and he paid me back. I think he's the kind of person who likes to keep track of everything, and I don't want to take advantage of you for a meal, right?"
Grandma Sun: "Huh?"
Chen Qing: ...
In the end, Zhou Yuan didn't eat at home either; instead, Sun Da Niang delivered the meal to him after Chen Qing had prepared it.
Chen Qing divided the whole chicken into four pieces, and the rest were salted. The weather was too hot, so salt was the only way to slow down the spoilage, but it still had to be eaten as soon as possible.
Tonight, Chen Qing chopped up a quarter of the chicken and a large chicken leg, used the chicken fat rendered from the chicken to sauté the chicken, then added soybean paste, which every household has, along with some spices, and water to simmer it slowly. During this time, Chen Qing also washed a few potatoes, picked a handful of green beans from the vegetable garden, and then put them all into the pot to stew.
The potatoes were soft and tender, the green beans were fragrant, the free-range chickens were chewy, and even the soup was thick and sticky, making it extremely appetizing.
Grandma Sun brought back some fresh corn, crushed it, mixed it with other flours to make a paste, and stuck it to the side of the big pot.
Chen Qing's stomach rumbled; tonight's meal was even more lavish than what they had eaten during the Chinese New Year.
Grandma Sun carried a bowl of chicken to Zhou Yuan's house. It was a big basin, and even a few pieces of flatbread couldn't cover the big chicken leg on top.
Zhou Yuan came out to greet her, and Aunt Sun said, "Aqing's personality is both good and bad. Sometimes she's very stubborn, so don't mind her."
Zhou Yuan held the same bowl as before. He remembered that this was the second time Aunt Sun had told him these things.
“I just feel that I’ve settled down in the village, and our two families are neighbors. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, so I don’t think it’s necessary to calculate everything so clearly.”
Grandma Sun smiled and said, "That makes sense. It's just that Aqing is a quiet person, so he naturally has a lot on his mind. He always avoids suspicion. You know, there's always gossip around a widow's door, and we have two widows in our family."
At this point, Aunt Sun became somewhat saddened: "After the one-year mourning period is over, I still want to marry Aqing off. When that time comes, please remember to help me choose a good family for Aqing."
Zhou Yuan: ...
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