Chapter 75
Aunt Du then said, "If you go any further north, you'll find the Northern Barbarians. They have troops stationed there. Our town is the only way to get to the garrison. Zhou Chuang just loafs around in town all day."
"That day, we happened to run into the garrison changing shifts. Nobody knew that the general who came to change shifts was a young man, and quite handsome at that. Zhou Chuang was an old man who was disrespectful and had designs on people. They happened to be resting in town and stayed at Zhou's inn, along with a portion of their military pay."
"They didn't raise a military flag, so Zhou Chuang didn't know his identity. He drugged the man in the shop and was caught red-handed by the commander. The commander then took him to the yamen, but it turned out that the county magistrate was in cahoots with Zhou Chuang and even wanted to kill the commander."
"They all thought that the young man was weak and incompetent, even if he became a general, but they did not expect that he had actually been on the battlefield and had been stained with blood. He fought his way out of the county jail and then acted swiftly. The county magistrate was dismissed and exiled, and Zhou Chuang was beheaded and his family property confiscated."
Upon hearing what Aunt Du said, Chen Qing inevitably thought of what Zhou Yuan had told him earlier: that there was also a lieutenant general on the battlefield. Could this be the one?
Zhou Yuan looked at him: "It should be the one who was with us on the front lines before. His surname is Chen, and his name is Chen Zixi."
When Zhou Yuan went to the capital last time, he visited General Xiao again. General Xiao talked about the reorganization of the army and mentioned that this Deputy General Chen had come to the northern border. He also said that if Zhou Yuan wanted to join the army again, he could arrange it, but Zhou Yuan politely declined.
After leaving Aunt Du's house, Zhou Yuan led his horse and walked slowly with Chen Qing. Chen Qing said, "He just died like that?"
“Evil people will be punished by Heaven,” Zhou Yuan said. “Although it’s a bit of a pity that we didn’t get our revenge ourselves, life always has regrets, doesn’t it?”
Chen Qing nodded: "I just have some mixed feelings."
“I know Aqing is feeling very conflicted today. Take a bath tonight, get a good night’s sleep, and we’ll go home tomorrow after we’ve finished taking care of things for the fathers.”
"Um."
Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing helped each other onto the horse and rode back to the inn at full speed. They asked the waiter for bathwater and borrowed the kitchen to steam an egg custard for Chen Qing.
In Xiaxi, people usually crack eggs into boiling water and drink egg drop soup. Chen Qing loved to drink it when he was little, but because eggs were scarce, he only drank it once or twice, so now he can't stand the taste of egg drop soup at all.
Chen Qing ate a bowl of steamed egg custard, took a hot shower, and nestled in Zhou Yuan's arms. He couldn't fall asleep for a while, so Zhou Yuan simply let him get a little tired until he could barely move a finger, and then he slowly drifted off to sleep.
This was the first time in over a decade that Chen Qing had dreamt of his father and stepfather.
They were dressed in clean and tidy clothes, and the younger brother stood behind the older brother, smiling gently at him.
They didn't say a word, but their eyes held a thousand meanings.
Chen Qing waved to them. He saw his father approach him and put his hand on his head. Chen Qing gently rubbed his palm, and then he saw them disappear.
After they left, the sky seemed to blaze with light again, and a star fell into his palm.
When Chen Qing woke up, it was already broad daylight. Zhou Yuan was awake and looking at him.
"What did you dream about last night? Your tears have soaked my clothes." Zhou Yuan pulled him over and let him lie on his body.
Chen Qing shook his head and hugged his neck: "I forgot, but the dream seemed very warm, like I was soaking in hot water, it was very comfortable, I don't think I've ever slept so well before."
"That's good, but you have to get up now." Zhou Yuan hugged him. "Today we're holding a funeral for Father and the others."
"Okay, get up."
Today, Meng Qi led his men from the escort agency to accompany Du Feng on a business trip, with Meng Shuanzi by their side.
Aunt Du booked the entire banquet for them, including tables, chairs, benches, and even a professional funeral service with musicians and singers.
Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan had a black cloth wrapped around their left arms, a custom of funerals in Xiaxi Prefecture.
Everyone in the village except the Chen family came, which was equivalent to a free meal, and they didn't need to give anything. The villagers didn't really know Chen Qing anymore, they only remembered that Chen San's family had a son who ran away. They didn't expect him to come back to hold a funeral for his parents.
Everyone praised Chen Qing for his filial piety, but some were also afraid of Zhou Yuan standing next to him, so after greeting him, they sat down to the side and waited for the banquet to begin.
Chen Qing seemed to have matured a lot since this trip. He had learned how to make small talk, although he spoke haltingly. He was trying his best to be a good son and to hold a grand funeral for his father and uncle.
"Thank you everyone for coming," Chen Qing said, his voice choked with emotion. "Thank you."
Although these people didn't offer any help or kick us when we were down back then, we were just neighbors, and that simple relationship was enough.
After entertaining the villagers, Zhou Yuan glanced around and didn't see Meng Shuanzi. He didn't know where he had gone. Meng Qi had searched everywhere but couldn't find him either. Chen Qing had left him some food, even though they might not be used to it.
After everyone finished the banquet and Zhou Yuan paid the bill, Chen Qing looked at the house, and those childhood memories that had been forgotten returned.
When no one played with him, he would run around the house or sit next to his stepfather and embroider with him.
There are many, many more things.
Before they left, they told Aunt Du that they wanted to let them stay in the house, but Aunt Du refused, saying that there was enough room in her house. Later, Chen Qing thought that if Du Feng moved in, the Chen family might cause trouble after they left, so it was better to avoid trouble.
After discussing it with Zhou Yuan, Chen Qing decided to demolish the house and resubmit the deed to the government office, so that the land would no longer belong to their family.
“Aqing, once you demolish the house and hand over the deed, this place will no longer be considered your home.”
Chen Qing nodded: "My home is in Luohe Village."
Zhou Yuan gently rubbed his headscarf: "Then let's finish this and go home. We've been away for quite a while, and Mom must miss you."
Without further ado, the rest of the caravan had already left with their goods, leaving only Meng Qi, Meng Shuanzi, and Zhou Yuan to accompany them.
They came to demolish the house right now. There were no more of Chen Qing's belongings in the house. Over the years, they had thrown away all their things. The house was empty, with nothing left.
Chen Qing took the first swing of the hoe and struck the front wall. He was quite strong, but the house didn't budge. Zhou Yuan took the hoe from him, swung it hard, and the yellow soil fell to the ground.
Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi also started working, and in no time the house that their father and uncle had worked so hard for half their lives was razed to the ground.
Chen Qing stood there watching, the dust of the loess settling on him.
"I hope Father and Uncle won't blame me."
Zhou Yuan nodded: "They won't blame you."
Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi finished up the rest of the work, while Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan went to their father's and uncle's graves.
They had become one with this yellow earth. Chen Qing scooped up a handful of yellow soil in front of his father's grave and put it into his pocket.
They went to the poplar tree again. Chen Qing wanted to break off a branch to take with him, but the poplar tree was too tall and he couldn't reach it. So Zhou Yuan used the dagger in his hand to cut off a piece of bark from the poplar trunk.
It was also put into Chen Qing's purse.
This was his most important purpose in coming here: to take his father and his younger father back to Luohe Village.
Looking at the house that had become ruins, Chen Qing took a deep breath, took his family and left. From then on, he was far away in the mountains and never came back.
Back in town, Chen Qing felt a bit tired, so Zhou Yuan told him to rest well, saying that he was going out with Meng Qi and the others and might be back late, and told him to eat dinner by himself first.
Chen Qing figured they were probably going to talk about escorting goods, so he slept even more soundly.
Zhou Yuan and the others returned very late, it was already dark when Chen Qing finally saw Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan had some yellow dust on him, but Chen Qing didn't pay much attention to it, since the sandstorms were so strong here that it was common to have some sand on your body.
Chen Qing simply ordered the waiter to bring over the food he had ordered, and he ate with Zhou Yuan, asking, "Are we going back tomorrow?"
Zhou Yuan nodded: "You're reluctant to leave?"
"No." Chen Qing took a bite of the pancake. "I want to go home, I miss my mother."
“On the way back, we don’t need to rush. I want to take you to see the capital. Since we’re already out here, and we were in a rush on the way here, we can take our time on the way back and see everything. We may not have this opportunity again.”
Chen Qing nodded: "Okay, I'll do whatever you say."
He also had his father and stepfather in his purse. They had never even left Jieshi Town. It would be nice to be able to go out with them for a trip.
"Alright, our first stop is the capital. I'll take you to eat at Tian Ji Restaurant in the capital."
Chen Qing moved closer to him and hugged him: "Zhou Yuan, thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?" Zhou Yuan hugged him.
“If it weren’t for you, I might not have had the chance to come back.” Chen Qing rested his head on Zhou Yuan’s shoulder.
“I believe that even without me, you can definitely do what you want to do.” Zhou Yuan kissed the corner of his mouth. “The first time I saw you, I felt that you were very attractive.”
Chen Qing turned his head to look at him. He remembered that the first time he met Zhou Yuan was when he learned of Meng Tao's death, and Zhou Yuan met him in the same way.
“You were such a small person, carrying your mother home on your back, step by step, so steadily. I knew then that you were a very strong person.”
"The next time I saw you, you were carrying two full buckets of water, steadily walking up the mountain path. I felt that you were like the most resilient reed in the mountains, no matter what, you could live well."
Chen Qing smiled and said, "Back then, I had just finished cleaning the chicken coop and still smelled of it. You helped me up."
Zhou Yuan laughed, "I had forgotten that. I only remember what you look like."
It turns out that at that first meeting, he wasn't the only one who was attracted to her.
"Alright, I'll go get some hot water. Let's wash up and go to sleep. We're heading back tomorrow." Zhou Yuan put him down, had the waiter clear away the food, and then brought back hot water.
While washing up, Chen Qing asked again, "What did you guys do this afternoon?"
Zhou Yuan paused for a moment: "It's nothing, nothing important."
After hearing this, Chen Qing didn't ask any more questions and climbed into bed after taking a shower.
After Zhou Yuan finished tidying up, he hugged Chen Qing and kissed his hair and lips. Chen Qing, who had slept all afternoon, was now drowsy again.
Zhou Yuan let him go after seeing that he had fallen asleep, allowing him to sleep next to him, since it was still very hot at night.
As for what he did in the afternoon, he took Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi to beat up a few people from the Chen family. Of course, they beat them with sacks over their heads. After beating them, they ran away. Even if the Chen family suspected them, they would have already left by the time they came looking for them.
The next day, after they packed their luggage and prepared to leave, a young man blocked Meng Shuanzi's horse with his arms outstretched, carrying a bundle on his back.
Chen Qing, Zhou Yuan, and Meng Qi all looked at the newcomer in surprise, wondering how Meng Shuanzi had managed to hook up with a guy right under their noses. No wonder Meng Shuanzi wasn't there that day.
"No, why are you bothering me? I didn't do anything to you."
That young man still blocked Meng Shuanzi's horse, shouting, "You heartless bastard!"
"Wow." Chen Qing looked at them.
Provoked by him, Meng Shuanzi grabbed the man's hand, helped him onto the horse, and then whipped the man away.
Zhou Yuan and Meng Qi followed behind, but not too closely. Chen Qing, bursting with curiosity, asked Zhou Yuan, "What's going on?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head: "I don't know."
"He can't really take the person away, can he?"
Zhou Yuan shook his head again: "I don't know."
Chen Qing glared at him, clearly disgusted: "How come you don't know anything!"
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