Chapter 66
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Qing saw the lanterns of the county town for the first time.
He had stayed in the backyard of the security escort agency in the county town for a period of time before the Lunar New Year, and this time, in order not to spend extra money, he moved back to the backyard of the security escort agency.
As night fell, the county town was bustling with activity. Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing's hand tightly, afraid that the crowd would separate them.
Each lantern was exquisite in its own way. Chen Qing was not tall, and he could hardly be seen unless he squeezed to the front. Zhou Yuan simply picked him up and let him sit on his shoulders, just like before.
Li Xin was a bit taller than Chen Qing, and couldn't be seen from behind. He glanced at Qi Shuning, who was even thinner than him, rolled his eyes at her, and then desperately pushed forward. He hadn't married a tall man, so he could only work hard himself. After all, it was his own choice.
The lanterns were exquisitely crafted, with layer upon layer that were breathtaking. Each layer seemed to tell an extraordinary story, and Chen Qing was completely captivated by them.
There were also people guessing lantern riddles at the lantern festival, but none of them could read, so they didn't bother to erase the riddles. Now it was Qi Shuning's turn to show off his skills.
Li Xin wasn't really interested in riddles, but Qi Shuning took his hand and gave him money to guess them. If he guessed all the riddles correctly, he could win the grand prize, a Xiuyan jade hairpin carved with trumpet creeper flowers.
Qi Shuning thought the hairpin matched Li Xin well, so she solved all the riddles.
When Qi Shuning received the Xiuyan jade hairpin, she took it and carefully inserted it into Li Xin's hair bun. The boy's hair bun was very simple, and only a jade hairpin was needed for all the decorations.
Li Xin said reproachfully, "I don't like it," but her cheeks turned bright red.
Qi Shuning said with a smile, "Although I am not as strong as my older brother, I am better at studying. In the future, whatever you want, I can use my literary talent to give it to you."
Zhou Yuan's face darkened after hearing his words, and he tapped him on the head: "Who are you calling uncultured!"
They were laughing and chatting all the way to the lantern festival. Perhaps because of the jade hairpin, Li Xin was quite gentle all night, which made Qi Shuning a little uncomfortable. After he said it, Li Xin's face darkened and she slapped him on the back.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed, and the New Year celebrations are over. The escort agency is about to resume operations. Zhou Yuan is now like a hands-off manager, with all matters handled by designated personnel. Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi were assigned to a neighboring county on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month to deliver a shipment.
When Zhou Yuan was sixteen, someone came to him and talked about Sun Wei.
At Zhou Yuan's suggestion, the people at the gambling den took the matter to heart. Sun Wei still owed the gambling den money and, being incorrigible, always thought he could win back his losses in the next round, so his debt to the gambling den kept increasing. The Sun family was unaware of this matter. His previous sole proprietorship was all stolen from his home. He had been desperate before, so he set his sights on Sun Da Niang, but unfortunately, he met Zhou Yuan and had to give up.
During the Lunar New Year, the gambling den's business was even better. After Sun Wei lost all his money again, the gambling den's thugs broke his leg and carried him to the Sun family's door. When Grandma Sun saw her eldest grandson beaten like this, she couldn't believe that her usually obedient child would go to a gambling den. But the fingerprint on the document was something she couldn't deny.
Sun Kang was so angry that he jumped up and down. The wife of the second son of the Sun family started to make a fuss about dividing the family property. The old lady Sun was so angry that she fell to the ground. The house was in chaos. In the dead of winter, she fell to the ground and no one helped her up. She was frozen to the point of paralysis.
Sun Kang's husband felt sorry for his son and gave all the family's savings to the gambling den, but it still wasn't enough. The gambling den staff knew not to push him to the brink and only said that they would come to collect money every month from now on.
Neither family wanted to take care of the paralyzed old lady Sun. She was usually the backbone of the family, but once she collapsed, everyone disliked her. In the end, under the village chief's guidance, it was agreed that each family would take care of her for a month, and no one could escape it.
Zhou Yuan nodded after learning about it and expressed his gratitude to the visitor.
After listening, Chen Qing frowned: "But what if they go and cause trouble for Mother?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "Don't worry, I'm here."
As expected, they all guessed the shamelessness of the Sun family.
An old woman who was already paralyzed was no longer of any use and was a burden to them. After Sun Wei's incident, the three brothers, who had been arguing, finally sat down together to calmly discuss the old woman's situation. The three brothers worked together to search through the old woman's house. Apart from a few old silver bracelets, there was nothing of value. The brothers did not trust each other and all thought that the old woman was biased and had already given the money to others.
They became even angrier when they couldn't find anything of value, feeling that Old Mrs. Sun was a burden.
They didn't have the guts to kill the old lady with a packet of medicine, but they really didn't want to keep this burden, so they thought of Granny Sun, who was already married.
The three hit it off immediately, and the next day they wrapped Grandma Sun in a blanket and carried her to Luohe Village. They were all her children, so why should the old lady only need them to support her?
When Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing returned home, they heard a commotion in Grandma Sun's yard. Chen Qing quickly ran home and found the three Sun brothers blocking Grandma Sun's way, with the paralyzed old lady lying in the yard.
Grandma Sun blushed and kept cursing the two brothers.
"Your mother has always favored you since you were little. Now that your mother is paralyzed, do you remember me?"
"Do you remember when I borrowed money from you, you said you'd cut ties? What? Did you just take that as a fart?"
Sun Kang, his old face completely unconcerned, said, "Your mother raised you; even if we break bones, the tendons are still connected. You can't escape this fate."
"Pah!" Aunt Sun pointed at Sun Kang, "You withheld my dowry when I got married, you said we weren't family when I wanted to treat Meng Tao, and you even came to my door and injured my Aqing. I haven't even had time to calm you down in jail, and now you're causing trouble at my house again!"
Chen Qing squeezed in front of Granny Sun, grabbed her hand, and then glanced at Granny Sun, who was lying on the ground as soon as she entered the room. She was dressed in thin clothes and only wrapped in a blanket.
He thought for a moment, then went inside to get a blanket and covered her with it. It would be really bad luck if she froze to death in this yard.
Grandma Sun's face was covered in tears and snot, but Chen Qing only glanced at her and didn't think anything of it. She had persecuted his mother so badly and even wanted to sell him. If it weren't for Zhou Yuan, he wouldn't know what would have happened to him after being sold. Chen Qing couldn't feel any sympathy for her.
Zhou Yuan stood behind Chen Qing. He had gone home first before Chen Qing arrived, and then stood next to Grandma Sun.
His gaze was sharp, like that of a hawk, as he looked at the three Sun brothers: "Take your people and get out of my mother's house."
Sun Kang had always been intimidated by Zhou Yuan, but now, hearing him call Sun Da Niang "Mother" and seeing him protecting Chen Qing and Sun Cui, he finally understood the relationship between them.
Sun Kang's heart was pounding.
A standoff ensued in the courtyard, and many onlookers gathered, craning their necks to see what was happening. But out of respect for Zhou Yuan, no one dared to say anything.
"Are you getting out or not?!"
"Why should we! Several families should support her together, so Sun Cui can't escape either!" Sun Laosan retorted stubbornly.
"Cough, cough, Cui, Cui." Grandma Sun's throat seemed to be choked, and the sounds she made were intermittent.
Grandma Sun couldn't bear it after all, so she moved closer to Old Mrs. Sun and said, "You were the one who said we would never see each other again, you were the one who said we would cut off all ties. Am I wrong for not taking care of you now?"
"Hehehe, Cui, Cui." She couldn't move anymore, her whole body was twisted. Sun Cui thought for a moment, then grabbed her hand.
“I’m a widow, and Aqing is married. I can’t support you. Go back with your son.” Granny Sun tried to break free from her hand.
But Grandma Sun held her hand tightly, as if she wanted to pull Grandma Sun's hand under the quilt, but her movements were too difficult, so it took her a long time.
Grandma Sun felt something being stuffed into her hand by Old Mrs. Sun. With her last bit of strength, Old Mrs. Sun whispered, "No, no, don't say it."
Her voice was barely audible: "Wrong, wrong."
Grandma Sun withdrew her hand: "I won't leave you here."
“Sun Cui!” Sun Kang pointed at Granny Sun, “You have to stay today, whether you like it or not.”
Grandma Sun was facing off against Sun Kang and no longer paid attention to the old lady Sun on the ground.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan immediately planted the knife in the ground, the scabbard making a clanging sound upon contact with the ground: "Is that so?"
Just as things were about to escalate into violence, Old Mrs. Sun let out a wail. Before anyone could react, Old Mrs. Sun on the ground suddenly began to breathe rapidly, struggled a few times, and then stopped moving. Old Mrs. Sun, who had always wanted to live a dignified life, died on the ground just like that.
A strong-willed woman throughout her life, she suffered a desolate old age and regretted her actions on her deathbed, but it was all in vain. This was the life of Old Mrs. Sun.
The three Sun brothers seemed relieved and turned to leave, not even bothering to collect the body of their grandmother. Zhou Yuan stopped them, saying, "You think you can just leave like that?"
Sun Kang retorted, "The person is already dead. Anyway, Sun Cui has experience in organizing funerals, so what's wrong with organizing one again? You can even make money organizing funerals."
This was like stabbing a knife into Granny Sun's heart. Everyone knew that Granny Sun had held funerals for her parents-in-law in her early years, then for her husband not long after, and just recently for her son.
Hearing these words, Chen Qing, who always preferred to hide behind Zhou Yuan, was so angry that his hands trembled. He walked up to Sun Kang and punched him in the face.
Chen Qing was quite strong, and his attack came unexpectedly. With one punch, Sun Kang's front teeth were about to fall out. By the time the Sun brothers reacted and were about to attack Chen Qing, Zhou Yuan's knife was already drawn.
His face was full of ferocity, and a long knife gleamed coldly: "I said, take your men and get out of here."
Zhou Yuan had military merits, so even if he killed someone, he would not have to pay with his life; this was the court's reward for him.
The two Sun brothers got up and lifted their grandmother up. Sun Kang's words had reminded them that they had achieved their goal. They no longer needed to support a paralyzed old woman, and they could even collect money from gifts after holding a funeral.
As if afraid that Granny Sun would regret it, they carried the body away and ran, attracting everyone's attention along the way.
After the farce ended, Aunt Sun finally saw the paper that Old Lady Sun had forcibly stuffed into her hand. It turned out to be a ten-tael silver note.
Grandma Sun felt incredibly ironic. She had refused to give her money when she came to borrow it before, saying that her daughter was born to sacrifice for her brothers, but now that she was about to die, she gave her the money.
Didn't Old Mrs. Sun ever consider that she was also a daughter? Why would she persecute a girl to this extent?
Chen Qing gently hugged Aunt Sun, and Aunt Sun stroked Chen Qing's hair: "Mother is alright."
Zhou Yuan stood in front of them, silently keeping them company.
But this matter won't end there. Sun Kang and his gang have already lost the battle today. If Aunt Sun wants to sue them, she can definitely put them in jail.
The imperial law states: Those who fail to diligently support their parents shall be punished with fifty strokes of the cane and imprisoned for three months.
Zhou Yuan pulled Chen Qing's hand, rubbed his fingers, and said to Aunt Sun, "Mother, the Sun family will be punished."
Grandma Sun was already in tears, not for the old lady Sun, but for the difficult years she had endured.
On the seventh day after Old Mrs. Sun's death, Old Mrs. Sun, dressed in mourning clothes, beat the petition drum and accused her own brothers of abandoning their mother, which led to Old Mrs. Sun's death. She also brought a group of witnesses with her.
After all, the Sun brothers hadn't thought about these things when they did things, and they weren't familiar with the law. In the past, they only cared about the immediate situation. They used to have Grandma Sun to give them advice, but now they didn't understand anything and thought it was just a private family matter. So people from both villages saw how the three brothers tortured and abused Grandma Sun.
Some villagers from Luohe Village, who were there to watch the spectacle, exaggerated the story, saying that the old lady only had a thin blanket to keep warm in the dead of winter, and that long-term abuse led to her death.
The magistrate immediately sent men to arrest the three Sun brothers and bring them to justice. According to the law, they were given fifty strokes of the cane and imprisoned for three months.
From then on, with the government officials watching over them and the gambling den's thugs guarding them, the three Sun brothers could no longer cause any trouble.
Grandma Sun did not exchange the ten taels of silver notes. She kept the notes and from then on, apart from sharing the surname Sun, she had no further connection with the Sun family.
The year ended just like that. Grandma Sun wasn't affected at all. She didn't go to Grandma Sun's funeral, nor did she plan to get a memorial tablet for her. When people die, they return to dust. She believed that her life would get better and better from now on.
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