The next day, it was a sunny day, and the Zhou and Cheng families were driving two cars towards the outskirts of Beijing.
Zhou Xiaozheng left guards and two aunts from both families to take care of the safety.
Zhang Guoqing was driving behind Cheng Lao's car. A solemn silence filled the car. Zhou Jiao tightly grasped Zhou Xiaozheng's hand, hoping to give him some strength.
Gazing out the window at the distant mountain peaks, she was consumed by thoughts. Last night, she had returned home and taken the lead in seeing off Old Lady Cheng. By the time the Lin family man had moved on to the Zhou family's home to chat, it was already late at night.
Facing the two wooden boxes she had brought back, she couldn't fall asleep all night. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would see Gu Ruyi's well-maintained face, smiling.
Born into a wealthy family? Peel off this layer of skin, and what's left?
The truth had been hidden for so long, and the letter her grandmother left behind contained no mention of what had happened. Did she already know the truth and not want the hatred to continue into the next generation, or was she also being kept in the dark?
She probed Old Lady Cheng a few times. The sadness and grief in those eyes, which had seen through the vicissitudes of life, made her heart tremble. What more was there to ask?
Arriving at the foot of the mountain, the group walked to a small mountain hut. This was where Zhou Jinyu and Gu Mingzhu had once rested in hiding. Across the mountain was the Zhou family's ancestral tomb.
The hut was very simple. Old Mrs. Cheng must have had it maintained over the years, keeping it tidy. Sadly, there were no signs of life left. Death, like clouds, vanished from the world.
Old Mrs. Cheng had asked someone to prepare incense, candles, and paper money early on, and now two baskets were placed in the room.
The group took a break, and Zhou Xiaozheng and Zhang Guoqing rejected everyone.
The father-in-law and son-in-law each carried a basket on their shoulders. The mountain road was rugged, so everyone pulled each other forward.
It's not the right winter for worship, the valley is freezing cold.
The group walked for more than three hours, stopping and resting, and finally arrived at the remote Zhou family ancestral tomb.
There was no impressive tomb complex as imagined, only some grave mounds covered with trees and weeds.
Hundreds of years of glory of the Zhou family have turned to dust. I wonder if the ancestors of the Zhou family will die with regrets.
Not far away, I could see that Zhou Xiaozheng was already kneeling on the ground with his head touching the grave that had just been tidied.
Seeing his slightly shaking shoulders, Zhou Jiao wiped the tears from her face, and she and Zhang Guoqing knelt down behind him.
I could hear Mrs. Cheng's heart-wrenching cries, and Mr. Cheng's words, the children were all back, and he was sitting in front of the grave muttering that Zhou Jinyu and his wife had finally gotten what they wanted, and finally had a little pearl that looked exactly like them.
Zhou Jiao bit her lips hard, looked up and stared at the figure in front of her, staring at the bright red name on the tombstone.
She swore to repay blood with blood! Soon, she would be able to personally inform the two elders.
Old Cheng looked at Zhou Xiaozheng and Zhou Jiao kneeling in front of him, then raised his head and wiped the tears from his face.
In an instant, he saw Zhou Jiao's dark eyes staring at the tombstone, her lips bleeding from biting her teeth, but there was no tear on her face except for tear marks, her calmness was terrifying.
He closed his eyes and sighed, it seemed that something must have been discovered at that time.
What a bad fate! Something terrible is going to happen.
Old Cheng stood up, helping his wife to her feet, and pointed at the offerings in the basket. The family only knew how to kneel, so his wife had to do it herself. As the sun was setting, he beckoned his eldest son, Cheng Sijin, to help.
Zhou Jiao picked up the paper money and stuffed it into Zhou Xiaozheng's hand. She didn't say anything to persuade him, but leaned close to him and burned the paper money silently.
No matter how cold the ground is, how can it dispel the hatred deep in my heart? No matter how strong the wind is, how can it blow away the sadness in my heart?
After burning all the paper money, the father and daughter leaned against the tombstone and stared at the grave silently.
Seeing that everyone had packed up, Zhang Guoqing quietly watched over Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter.
He sighed, stepped forward to help Zhou Xiaozheng and his daughter up, and said softly, "Dad, I'll come with you from now on. We'll come often to accompany grandpa and grandma. Can we go back now? Aunt and grandma are old."
"Let's go. I'll come back next time to tell the two old people the good news." Zhou Xiaozheng curled the corners of his lips and said solemnly.
They went down the mountain avoiding the path they came from and went down the other side of the mountain. It was already dark when they returned to the capital.
After a quick meal, Cheng Lao and Cheng Sijin took Zhou Xiaozheng to the Cheng family's house, leaving Mrs. Cheng at home to accompany Zhou Jiao.
In the Cheng family study, Zhou Xiaozheng had a calm expression on his face, drinking tea with his head down.
Elder Cheng waved at his eldest son, and after he left and closed the door, he asked directly, "Did something else happen back then? Did Gu Ruyi's family get involved?"
Zhou Xiaozheng looked up at him suspiciously and asked, "Uncle, why do you think her family is meddling in this? Didn't my aunt tell us everything about what happened back then?"
Old Cheng stared at him for a long time, shook his head and said, "Something's wrong! Very wrong! Jiaojiao's expression was wrong on the mountain! You're not right either! Tell your uncle, did that family do something else? Even if we have a huge hatred for them, you can't do anything rash. Do you understand? What are they? A pile of broken tiles. If you have any problems, don't do anything. Leave it to your uncle, and I will definitely satisfy you."
"Uncle, you're really overthinking it. Why would we attack them? Jiaojiao finally came home, and I'm busy at work and with the kids, so who would care about them? Besides, so many years have passed, what can we possibly find out? I'll go back to our old house in Jiangnan and look for clues. Now I'm stuck in the capital every day, and there's nowhere to investigate even if I want to."
Zhou Xiaozheng immediately refused. There were many things he didn't want others to know too much about. That was his mother's family, and only by taking matters into his own hands could he quell his hatred.
"Really? Have you read today's newspaper?"
"I've seen it. Is there anything special? Wait... you don't think that the incident at the Gu family has anything to do with me, do you? Haha, you know what, Mrs. Lin really suspects me. No wonder she didn't stay in the nursing home last night and hurried home to treat our family to dinner. I was wondering why she behaved so abnormally?" Zhou Xiaozheng said with a sneer.
Old Cheng muttered, "Is it just a coincidence? Or did their family offend someone?"
Zhou Xiaozheng said nonchalantly, "Who knows? They're not good people anyway, so they must have offended a lot of people. My mother-in-law even wanted the Gu family to visit my house today. What's even more interesting is that she actually told Jiaojiao that she's the only child and will need the Gu family's help in the future, so that she can interact more with those little brats. Help? It would be better to say that she needs my help because of something."
He said these words on purpose, intending to let Old Man Lin hear them and see if there was anything more ridiculous than this.
Gu Ruyi, who always regarded himself as a smart man, actually said this to Jiaojiao. I really don't know if he is getting old and confused, or if he treats his Jiaojiao as a fool?
After saying so much, Mr. Cheng didn't notice anything unusual. He chatted with Zhou Xiaozheng for a while, and when he saw him say goodbye, he didn't try to keep him and got up to see him out.
After watching him leave, Mr. Cheng put his hands behind his back and slowly walked to the study.
Cheng Sijin followed closely behind, closed the door, and asked in a low voice: "How is it? Any progress? Do you want me to do something?"
"Why did you do that? Xiaozheng said I was overthinking it."
"Dad, you said that brothers fight like tigers. If anything happens to Brother Zheng, can I stay by your side and watch?"
Old Cheng frowned and thought hard for a while, then shook his head and said with a smile: "I guess it really wasn't Xiaozheng who did it. Jiaojiao just arrived and he wasn't in the mood to do this. Besides, he wouldn't resort to such tricks."
Cheng Sijin thought about it, picked up a pen and wrote the words "Zhou Jiao" on the paper, then nodded to Mr. Cheng.
Just as Mr. Cheng was about to shake his head, the image of Zhou Jiao staring calmly at the tombstone suddenly flashed through his mind. He froze for a moment, then frowned at his eldest son.
"Dad, don't ignore her just because she's young. Think about it, ever since she came into the compound...how did she entertain everyone that night?
She must be closer to our family than the Lins. But think about it, was there anything unusual about her that night? Was there any discrimination? Everyone avoided Gu Ruyi, but she took the initiative to bring it up with a smile, her demeanor more natural than anyone else's.
Today, she even bit her lip, but do you think she's abnormal? Xiao Wu has been staring at her closely. He should know his wife better and know that she is not calm at all. She is very good at controlling her emotions, just like Brother Zheng.
"Also, have you forgotten that Zhou Jiao is the best at using public opinion? Forgot about the old Zhou family in Northeast China? This method is just like what she did! I just wonder why she was so quick to act after arriving in Beijing?"
Elder Cheng thought for a long time and said to Cheng Sijin, "Don't jump to conclusions. Wait a few days and you'll know if she did it. Don't interfere, just watch from the sidelines and help her clean up if she finds anything she missed. I don't think she would let her father interfere if she did it."
Cheng Sijin nodded. He was now very curious about what had happened back then that made the father and daughter remain silent.
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