Chapter 8
Through the open window, Chen Qing saw two furtive figures enter their yard. Without even putting on his coat, Chen Qing got off the bed and found the wooden stick he had placed behind the door.
As orphans and widows, they needed to keep something for themselves, but they hadn't used it in the five years since Chen Qinglai came, and the surface of the wooden stick was covered with a layer of dust.
When there was no noise outside, Chen Qing didn't dare to leave his room rashly. But when he heard them open his mother's door, Chen Qing dared not hold back any longer, fearing that they might do something harmful to his mother.
He quietly opened his door and saw the two furtive people opening his mother's door. Chen Qing swallowed hard, grabbed the stick in his hand, and slammed it down on the head of the one who was slightly behind.
The man yelled and turned to look at Chen Qing.
It's Chen Si.
After Chen Si and Meng Zhuzi lost their jobs with Zhou Yuan, they felt guilty and embarrassed after being intimidated by Zhou Yuan. So they went to town to drink and carouse, but were kicked out because they had no money.
The two men harbored resentment but had no way to retaliate against Zhou Yuan. Today, seeing Zhou Yuan delivering things to Chen Qing's family reminded them of the funeral they had previously held and the fact that when Zhou Yuan came before, they knew that Chen Qing's family had received Meng Tao's compensation, which must have been a considerable sum of money.
The two had a few drinks tonight and decided to do something on a whim, so they came here. They didn't expect Chen Qing to be so vigilant. Before they could get anything, they were stunned by a blow from Chen Qing's stick.
Chen Si realized what was happening and reached out to snatch the stick from Chen Qing's hand.
Chen Qing was breathing heavily. As Chen Si dodged over, Chen Qing struck him on the head with all his might.
Chen Si was knocked on the head twice by Chen Qing, and after drinking, he collapsed against the wall.
When Meng Zhuzi saw that Chen Si had fainted, he suddenly had an unusual courage in his panic. He tried to snatch the stick from Chen Qing's hand. Chen Qing realized his move and immediately ran into the yard with the stick in his hand.
In his extreme panic, he forgot that he could shout for help. He gripped the stick tightly, and the closer Meng Zhuzi got, the more he was forced to retreat step by step.
"I'll kill you!" Meng Zhuzi gritted his teeth and seized the opportunity to move towards Chen Qing. Chen Qing had nowhere to avoid it and planned to die together with Meng Zhuzi. But in an instant, his back felt like it had hit a wall.
Chen Qing was so frightened he almost jumped up, only to see Zhou Yuan standing behind him, holding the knife that had killed people.
Chen Qing gasped for breath, the wooden stick slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a dull thud. He could no longer muster any strength and collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.
He didn't fall down, and Zhou Yuan helped him up, but Chen Qing's legs were already weak and he couldn't stand up, so Zhou Yuan let go and let him slowly sit on the ground.
The moonlit night was silent, and the bright red blood flashed before Chen Qing's eyes. He let out an uncontrollable "Ah!" and then fainted.
When Meng Zhuzi saw the gleaming knife in Zhou Yuan's hand and Zhou Yuan standing at the door like a demon, he tried to run out, but Zhou Yuan chopped him down with a chop to the neck, and he then passed out.
Grandma Sun came out dressed. When she saw Chen Qing lying unconscious on the ground, she quickly took out Chen Qing's coat from the room and wrapped him up.
Zhou Yuan ignored the two people who had fainted; his gaze was fixed on Chen Qing's feet. In his panic, he hadn't even put on his shoes. Although Chen Qing had cleaned his yard very well, Chen Qing's feet were still dirty.
"Auntie, are you alright?" Zhou Yuan asked in a deep voice.
Grandma Sun shook her head: "I'm fine. Aqing was alert last night, and nothing happened. I guess he was just trying to steal money."
She looked down at Chen Qing, who had fainted on the ground, and panicked again: "Qing, how is Qing?"
Zhou Yuan bent down and checked Chen Qing's breathing: "He must have been too scared and fainted. He's fine."
Grandma Sun was also frightened, but she was much more composed than Chen Qing. She first found a rope at home and asked Zhou Yuan to help tie up the two men. Then she tried to move Chen Qing back to the room.
But her back was bad; although Chen Qing was very small, she still couldn't lift him back.
After Zhou Yuan tied up the man, he saw that Granny Sun was holding her waist and couldn't move Chen Qing on the ground at all.
"Auntie, let me help you?" Zhou Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was a little hoarse.
"Oh, thank you very much." Grandma Sun rubbed her lower back. "I'm getting old, and even someone as small as Aqing can't move anymore."
Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and effortlessly lifted Chen Qing from the ground. Chen Qing's weight seemed as light as lifting a basin to him.
Grandma Sun walked beside him and lifted the curtain of Chen Qing's room.
Zhou Yuan placed the person on the bed, not daring to look at him for long, and very politely left the room. Aunt Sun covered Chen Qing with a quilt before following Zhou Yuan.
Looking at the two people who were tied up, Granny Sun frowned, not knowing what to do.
Zhou Yuan came to her rescue: "I'll take these two people to my place. Tomorrow I'll also say that they're resentful because I didn't let them come to work, and they've come to cause trouble."
Grandma Sun nodded vigorously: "Thank you, thank you."
Chen Qing is, after all, a widow. Even if these two people were only trying to steal money today, once they entered this courtyard, Chen Qing would be unable to clear his name no matter what.
Zhou Yuan stepped forward and said that the two people were going to his house, thus distancing himself from Chen Qing and allowing Chen Qing to hold his head high in the village.
Zhou Yuan carried one person in each hand back to his home. Before the two woke up, Zhou Yuan tied them to a tree not far from his home with a rope.
He didn't even go back to his own shed, but instead dragged his knife and stood guard beside the two men.
Chen Qing was caught in a nightmare.
What he saw was a sea of blood.
Chen Qing's father died at the hands of thieves.
Although their family was poor, the three of them lived a happy life. The father and the stepfather were not liked by the grandmother, so they separated from the family early on. The stepfather did needlework, and the father farmed. Their income was barely enough to support the three of them.
But accidents often happen unexpectedly. A local bully, drunk, broke into their house and tried to assault the younger brother. The younger brother, trembling with fear, clung to Chen Qing and hid. In the struggle with the bully, the younger brother was stabbed to death, and the splattered blood stained the area Chen Qing could see.
The younger brother was not a tough man to begin with, and after his husband died, he was completely lost. When his grandmother heard about this, she wanted to stand up for his family, but the bully's family had some influence and said they would settle the matter by paying five taels of silver.
The weak-willed younger brother finally stood up a bit and said he didn't want money, he wanted to seek justice for his husband, and he wanted to go to the county government to file a complaint. However, he was stopped by his grandmother and his eldest uncle's family. His grandmother's family had accepted money from the bully's family and beat up the younger brother who wanted to file a complaint. The last bit of courage that the younger brother had mustered was also crushed.
The two of them were kicked out of their home, and the younger brother took care of them. Perhaps life was too hard, or perhaps he felt guilty towards his deceased husband, but he couldn't think straight and jumped into the river to commit suicide.
Last night's events brought back long-buried memories for Chen Qing. In his nightmares, he saw his father's last bloody image before his eyes.
The next morning, Aunt Sun originally wanted to go with Chen Qing to ask Zhou Yuan about his plans, but Chen Qing still hadn't gotten up by the time it was fully light, so she went by herself.
Just as Zhou Yuan was about to leave, he planned to take Chen Si and Meng Zhuzi to report to the authorities.
Chen Si and Meng Zhuzi woke up at dawn, and the first thing they saw when they opened their eyes was Zhou Yuan sitting next to them, still holding that knife in his hand.
Chen Si and Meng Zhuzi were terrified and kept begging for mercy while tied to the tree.
Zhou Yuan saw that they were awake and then said, "You were resentful because I fired you, so you came to my house in the middle of the night to steal some of my things, but I was very vigilant and you were caught red-handed."
Chen Si and Meng Zhuzi nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes."
"It has nothing to do with anyone else, right?" Zhou Yuan wielded the long sword, which gleamed with a chilling light, with effortless ease.
"Yes, we held a grudge."
“That’s right. Come with me to see the official.” Zhou Yuan walked up to them. “If I hear any rumors, you know what the consequences will be, right?”
"We know, we know." The two nodded quickly. "We definitely won't talk nonsense."
Zhou Yuan then untied the ropes binding them, but tied their hands, intending to take them to the county government office to report to the authorities.
When Aunt Sun arrived at Zhou Yuan's door, Zhou Yuan nodded to her, and Aunt Sun felt relieved. However, she was still worried about Chen Qing, who hadn't gotten up yet, so she turned around and went back home.
After returning home, Aunt Sun went straight into Chen Qing's room. Seeing that Chen Qing's face was flushed, she reached out and touched his forehead and found that it was burning hot.
Chen Qing was disoriented, as if he was terrified, and kept calling out "Dad," clearly suffering from a nightmare.
Grandma Sun quickly chanted "Amitabha" and grabbed Chen Qing's hand: "Aqing, Aqing, don't be afraid, Mother is here, Mother is here."
Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes: "Mother?"
"Hey, Mom's here, don't be afraid."
Chen Qing hummed in response, tears still glistening in the corners of his eyes, "Mother." He looked as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"Alright, alright, Mother's here, don't be afraid."
As Grandma Sun listened to his heart-wrenching cries, she gently patted Chen Qing's shoulder, and soon Chen Qing peacefully fell asleep again.
Chen Qing slept all morning, but his body temperature didn't drop at all.
There is no village doctor in Luohe Village. If the villagers have any ailments, they just go to the mountains to find some herbs to eat. Over the years, Aunt Sun and Chen Qing have been in good health, so they have never kept any medicinal herbs at home.
Grandma Sun wanted to go up the mountain to find medicinal herbs, but she was worried that something might happen to Chen Qing if he was home alone. So she went to Aunt Liu and asked her if she had any medicine at home.
Aunt Liu quickly went back into the house and found some herbs: "This should be for reducing fever. What's wrong with Chen Qing? How did he suddenly get sick?"
Of course, Aunt Liu couldn't be told what happened last night; Aunt Sun only said that Chen Qing had caught a cold.
Grandma Sun took the herbs and hurried home. Chen Qing still had a fever; his face was flushed, and his eyes were swollen. She didn't know how long he had been crying in his sleep.
After decocting the medicine, Aunt Sun found a handful of millet. They usually couldn't bear to eat fine grains, but today Aunt Sun cooked him a fragrant millet porridge and steamed some egg custard.
Zhou Yuan was carrying a bag of medicine in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he walked to Chen Qing's door.
Grandma Sun happened to be in the yard and saw him, so she opened the door for him: "How did it go?"
Zhou Yuan nodded and handed the medicine packet to Aunt Sun: "This medicine was prescribed in town."
Grandma Sun took the medicine packet, paused for a moment, and then looked at Zhou Yuan: "What's this?"
Zhou Yuan remained calm: "When I first joined the army, I was attacked by the enemy for the first time, and I was so scared that I fainted. When I woke up, I had a fever. I thought he was timid and would probably need it."
Grandma Sun quickly said, "Thank you so much. Aqing still has a fever, and the medicine hasn't brought it down."
"It's still burning?"
Grandma Sun nodded, feeling that Zhou Yuan was like a timely rain: "I'll give you the money for the medicine later. I'll go and brew the medicine for Aqing first. Thank you so much."
Zhou Yuan then took out a silver coin from his pocket: "This is the compensation money those two gave me. Please accept it."
"Huh?" Granny Sun was a little confused, holding the silver coin helplessly. "How can I accept this?"
But Zhou Yuan had already disappeared without a trace.
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