Chapter 34 Mediation
"It's New Year's Day, who's there?" Erya yelled, "Stop banging on the door!"
Their front door has been in disrepair for a long time, so don't break it.
"I'll go take a look." Lu Qinniang slipped on her shoes, picked up the stick next to her and went out.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan also got off the ground and told the three girls: "Don't go out."
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he felt that his strength seemed to be recovering little by little.
When he went out, he saw Tiezhu next door, a strong boy, hugging Lu Qinniang and crying sadly.
"Okay, I'll go with you to take a look, don't cry." Lu Qin's mother said.
She heard Xiao Yan's movement behind her, turned around and said, "His parents are making a fuss at home, I have to go over and take a look."
"I'll go with you."
"What are you going to do?" Lu Qiniang asked, "Just the trivial matters between the couple."
She felt that it was a waste of General Po Lu's talent to intervene in the couple's fight.
How could Xiao Yan care about those bullshit things?
"I'm a man." Xiao Yan said, "I can help persuade Tiezhu's father."
Lu Qi Niang: "Okay."
She actually couldn't imagine what Xiao Yan and the blacksmith who cursed every other sentence could have in common.
The two followed Tiezhu out the door. The snow on the ground was almost above their ankles.
Lu Qiniang was worried that Xiao Yan might not be able to walk steadily, so she reached out and grabbed his arm with a grip as strong as an iron clamp.
Even though Xiao Yan was a grown man, he felt that this power was so solid and yet... painful.
But he didn't say anything and let her hold him.
As Lu Qin's mother walked away, she said to Tiezhu, "You're already a grown man. You can't just cry when you see your parents quarreling. If your father hits your mother, you have to stop him."
Tiezhu sobbed and said "hmm".
Xiao Yan couldn't help but glance at him.
I really didn't realize that he, who helped Arya "beg for money to bury her father", was so strong, but ended up being so crybaby.
After arriving at Tiezhu's house, Zhao the blacksmith was indeed beating his wife Xiao, who was kneeling on the ground, with a broom.
There was a pair of children, about seven or eight years old, huddled in a corner, not daring to make a sound.
Xiao hugged Zhao the blacksmith's thighs, crying heart-wrenchingly and begging for mercy repeatedly.
"That's enough." Lu Qiniang let go of Xiao Yan and stepped forward to snatch the broom from Zhao the blacksmith's hand. "It's New Year's Day, and you're making such a fuss. Aren't you afraid that the neighbors will hear it?"
"I can't even make ends meet, what else do I have to fear?" Zhao the blacksmith gasped, his chest heaving with anger. "Abandoned mother, go home for the New Year. Today I will beat this bitch to death!"
"Let's talk it over nicely." Lu Qiniang pushed him aside and pulled Xiao up from the ground. "She gave birth to three children for you. Even if she didn't have any credit, she worked hard. If there's anything she did wrong, just tell her nicely."
Xiao Yan looked at her silently.
He originally thought that Lu Qiniang would be filled with righteous indignation and beat up Zhao the blacksmith to vent her anger on Xiao.
But I didn't expect that she would actually... be reasonable?
He looks down on men who beat women.
"This life is really unbearable!" Zhao the blacksmith, such a burly and tall man, actually squatted on the ground, holding his head in his hands and crying loudly.
Xiao Yan: "..."
Well, he knew that Tiezhu was Zhao the blacksmith's biological son.
"Stop howling," Lu Qiniang said to Xiao, "It's New Year's Day, and the kids are watching. How did you provoke him?"
Xiao Yan heard a sense of disappointment in Lu Qinniang's tone.
He had a vague feeling that the Xiao family might be in the wrong.
As expected, Mrs. Xiao cried and said, "Abandoned Mother, I can't do anything. That's my mother! She said that my brother can't find a wife, and she will die with her eyes wide open. She's so sick that she can't make it for a few days. How can I watch her die without closing my eyes?"
Lu Qiniang took a deep breath and asked, "Didn't you ask your husband if he gave her the money?"
"I didn't just give her a little. I saved up twelve taels and three qian of silver with great difficulty. Not a single cent was left. It was all given to her family! I want to divorce her, I want to divorce her!" Zhao the blacksmith suddenly broke down and shouted.
Lu Qiniang couldn't help but pat Xiao's back twice, "Why are you so confused! Tiezhu wants to get married! You're only concerned about your mother's family, while your mother only cares about your brother. Has she ever thought about your life or death?"
Xiao cried bitterly.
Blacksmith Zhao insisted on divorcing his wife. Xiao begged him desperately, and the children cried loudly.
The room was cold and empty.
Lu Qiniang took turns persuading both sides, and finally persuaded them to stop making trouble. She then asked Tiezhu to follow her home to get a piece of mutton.
"During the Chinese New Year, adults and children must eat dumplings," she said.
She couldn't say anything more.
Even a fair judge cannot judge family disputes.
Xiao Yan originally thought that he could help, but later found out that he was so tongue-tied.
He didn't even know who to say good things about.
In the past, he would have thought these were trivial matters.
But now, from these people's perspective, the pain is real and difficult to eliminate.
A dozen or so taels of silver can bring ruin to a family.
"...Don't worry. The three children are already grown up. Blacksmith Zhao can't divorce his wife. Xiao is easily influenced by him, so she will continue to support her family. Blacksmith Zhao can only keep the money to himself and keep it a secret from her."
Divorce is a losing situation for everyone in the family.
So even though life is like this, we have to make do with it.
After Lu Qiniang returned, she said to Erya, "I don't want to be with you and Tiezhu anymore. Life is hard with a foolish mother-in-law."
Erya rolled her eyes and said, "I never thought that it was you who always praised Tiezhu."
Lu Qiniang said, "You have to check the pen before buying a pig, but the Zhao family can't do that."
In the new year, it’s time for the eldest and second daughters to get married. I hope both daughters’ marriages go smoothly.
The family stayed up all night to celebrate the New Year. Lu Qiniang sat on the kang and fell asleep leaning against the wall.
She is too tired.
The things she did in a day, going up and down the mountain, inside and outside, were things that others could not finish in ten days.
Erya wanted to call her, but Xiao Yan said, "Let your mother rest for a while."
Erya snorted, recalling her past grudges. "You haven't told me why you went to find the Third Young Master of the Yun State Mansion. Do you know him?"
"Um."
"You even caused my mother to scold me. My mother told me not to mention it again," Erya muttered, "You're already feeling very uncomfortable because she said you were an old acquaintance and pretended not to know you. Tell me the truth, is it really an old acquaintance, or are you trying to make a connection?"
Xiao Yan: "...It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that I got you into trouble. It's my fault."
Erya didn't expect that he would apologize to her, and she felt a little embarrassed for a moment.
Daya said, "He must be an old acquaintance. He used to be... General Po Lu as well. Entering and leaving the Duke's Mansion is not considered a disgrace to the Duke's Mansion."
"Alas," Arya sighed, "This is the closest I've ever been to being rich. It's a pity that you have no money now."
She really wants to marry a rich man!
Mother is worried that she likes Tiezhu, how is that possible?
Would she throw herself into a family where everyone would be in turmoil just for a few dollars?
"Being rich doesn't necessarily mean being happy." Xiao Yan said sincerely.
He had never lacked money before he fell into trouble.
But he didn't think that life in the past was more solid than it is now.
"But without money, you will definitely not be happy." Erya said, "You don't understand."
She no longer wanted to worry about money.
She hoped that her family could live a prosperous life, without having to worry about food, clothing, and money, and that they would not be without money to treat illnesses when they fell ill...
She never wanted to repeat the pain her mother went through when she was sick.
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