Even if they are twins, they are of different genders. If someone who doesn't know them well were to see them, they probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart!
“What are we going to do! My uncle and my younger uncle keep pressuring us. They won’t let us off the hook once they find out Qingzhai is gone… Chaojin, what are we going to do…”
"Mother, there's only one way left." Tongsu suddenly spoke, her face cold as she looked at the frail woman, saying each word clearly, "Tell them that the one who died was your daughter, Xia Chaojin. And the one who is alive is me, I am Xia Qingzhai!"
Xia's mother was stunned.
The quilt was as thin as paper, and there was a faint light outside the window. It was not already daylight, but rather the heavy snow was falling heavily as night was about to end, and the lonely village was shrouded in a cold atmosphere.
Footsteps approached hurriedly through the snow.
"Hurry! Xia Qingzhai was coughing up blood last night. Old Liu from the village entrance, who studied medicine for a few days, said that Xia Qingzhai wouldn't make it to this morning."
"Brother, that's called—Hu Jue, right?"
"That's right! There are only two women left in his family. Can he give his wealth to women? That would make him an outsider! Xiahe is gone, but his brothers, that is, us, are still here!"
“Go and call the villagers here, so they can also be witnesses.”
The speakers were two burly men, who, with their sons, hurried to a dilapidated old mud house in the center of the village. Before they even went inside, they heard a series of mournful cries coming from within.
"My son... wake up... my son..."
Their eyes lit up, and they hurriedly pushed open the door, putting on a mournful expression, and asked anxiously, "Sister-in-law, what happened?"
The room was cold and still. A child who looked about twelve or thirteen years old lay on the bed, his eyes closed, still dead.
That must be Xia Qingzhai, right? Is he really dead?
Sitting by the bed was his younger sister, Xia Chaojin, who looked almost exactly like him. She held his hand, head bowed, tears streaming silently down her face, which was as pale as paper.
Xia's mother lay beside the bed, crying her heart out.
As soon as the door was opened, the sound of crying rang out. Soon, most of the villagers from Xiajia Village arrived, braving the freezing weather to comfort Xia's mother inside and outside the house.
"We have to make sure the child's funeral is taken care of, sigh."
“The villagers will help us. Back then, our village suffered a lot of bullying. It was only after Xia He became an official that other villages stopped robbing us. Mrs. Xia, you and your child were left behind by him, and we will take care of you.”
"That's right, don't forget, there's Xia He's older brother Xia Wei and younger brother Xia Li! They won't abandon you, will they?"
Upon hearing their names mentioned, Uncle Xia and his younger brother, who were acting as hosts to the villagers, coughed and said to Xia's mother, "Yes, sister-in-law, both our families will take care of you."
"But now that Qingzhai is gone, the assets of a family without heirs must be confiscated according to the law. How about this, you entrust your things to us for safekeeping, and when the girl grows up and is ready to get married, we will take them out and give them to her as her dowry."
The two spoke with absolute certainty, but the surrounding villagers, well aware of their greedy nature, looked on with disbelief.
Entrusting it to someone for safekeeping? That's practically robbery!
Wait until the Xia family girl grows up, then use it as her dowry? What a joke! Where would we even have any to show off then!
Uncle Xia and his younger brother had another son added to their family this year, and they were quite proud of it, mocking Xia He for only having one son and that his family was not thriving.
If you have a son, you'll have to help him get married and build a house in the future. There are plenty of places to spend money. Xia He's assets have already been spent, so where would he get any more to give as a dowry for the Xia family's daughter?
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