Chapter 193 The Road Ahead is Difficult
The people of Liantang Village followed behind with high spirits and victorious faces, as proud as roosters that had won a fight.
Scholar is nothing!
If you dare to mess around, I will beat you up!
Aunt Wang wanted to smooth things over with Qin Fangci and improve their relationship. She took the opportunity to lean over to Qin Fangci and whispered, "Mother-in-law, you're just too kind. I think you should teach that old hag a lesson. Capture her, throw her in jail, and let her feed the rats. See if she dares to look at you sideways again."
"According to you, anyone who has ever looked askance at me should be thrown into jail and fed to rats?"
Aunt Wang choked, shooting herself in the foot. She laughed dryly, "That's right, that's not what I meant. Mother-in-law, please be magnanimous. I was just saying it casually. Don't take it to heart."
"I don't usually take things personally, but if I do, I don't usually bring it out."
After saying this, Qin Fangci walked forward.
Aunt Wang wanted to chase her again, but Yuan, still unsatisfied, was bumped on the shoulder and took two steps back. She smacked her lips and said, "Oh, I didn't squeeze you, Aunt Wang. My mother is afraid of the heat. Don't get so close when you talk to her. Be careful not to burn her."
Aunt Wang was embarrassed, but she didn't dare to act wildly with the Li family anymore.
Li Laosan covered his arm with a bloody mark from the bite, and Wang was blowing on him with a caring look on her face?
"It's okay, you have thick skin. Just go back and apply some medicine." Li Laosan grinned and comforted his wife.
Qin Fangci took one last look in the direction of the four Xu family members, including the grandmother and grandchildren.
Xu Shuangyan was trying hard to help her grandmother up, her two younger sisters were crying helplessly beside her, and Zhang Lizheng was frowning as if he was instructing his son something.
A storm seems to have subsided temporarily, but the scars left behind will take time to heal.
She turned around and saw Hu Dalang and Hu Hui, who were holding the old village chief's arms, leading the way in front. Her son and daughter-in-law surrounded her, and the villagers of Liantang Village greeted each other and followed.
The setting sun stretched their shadows very long, blending them together, and they moved towards Liantang Village in a mighty procession.
The Dongshi Village behind him gradually returned to its usual tranquility, but the discussion about Xu Xiucai would probably be the most sad topic among the villagers for a long time to come.
In the dilapidated courtyard of the Xu family, a deathly silence enveloped the area. Only the suppressed painful groans of Xu's mother and the low, helpless sobs of Xu Shuangfeng and Xu Xiaomei could be heard.
Xu Shuangyan stood there, as if all her strength had been drained away, until her sister Xu Shuangfeng timidly tugged at the corner of her clothes, and she suddenly came to her senses.
The sky really fell.
Her father was arrested, her reputation was ruined, and she was no longer the daughter of a scholar.
Grandma's jaw was dislocated and she was going insane. The pillar of the family had completely collapsed, leaving only the three helpless girls...
"Sister..." Xu Shuangfeng's voice was filled with tears, "Dad... Will Dad ever come back? What should we do?"
Xu Shuangyan took a deep breath and forced herself to suppress the new wave of soreness in her eyes. Now was not the time to cry, and crying would be useless.
She looked at her grandmother who was still slumped on the ground, her eyes full of resentment but twisted with pain, and then at her sisters who were huddled together in fear. An unprecedented heavy pressure gripped her, but at the same time, a desperate determination also grew in her heart.
She can't fall. If she falls, this family will be really finished.
"Shuangfeng, help me get grandma into the house." Xu Shuangyan's voice was surprisingly calm, with a hint of hoarseness that didn't match her age. "Little sister, stop crying. Go to the kitchen and see if there's any cold water. Bring me a bowl."
Xu Shuangfeng, moved by her sister's calmness, tried to hold back her tears and joined her younger sister in helping. The three half-grown girls struggled mightily to help the struggling and sobbing Xu's mother into the dimly lit room, where she lay on the kang.
After settling her grandmother down, Xu Shuangyan walked to the gate of the courtyard and looked at the villagers of Dongshi Village who were pointing and talking outside.
There was sympathy and curiosity in those eyes, but more often than not, there was a sense of alienation and subtle contempt from those onlookers.
She straightened her thin back and slammed the gate shut, blocking out the prying eyes.
Zhang Lizheng didn't completely abandon the matter; after all, the incident occurred under his jurisdiction. About half an hour later, he asked his eldest daughter-in-law to bring half a bag of coarse grains and a small can of lard, and also brought a doctor to examine Xu's mother's chin.
The doctor skillfully reattached Xu's mother's jaw, but warned, "The old lady is suffering from a combination of impatience and trauma. She needs to rest and recuperate. She must not get angry or else she will develop a chronic illness and have difficulty speaking or eating in the future."
As soon as Xu's mother's jaw was able to move, she began to cry and curse hoarsely, cursing the Li family for being cruel, cursing Qin Fangci for not having a good death, cursing God for being blind, and cursing her son for being stupid... Her voice was unclear, but full of endless resentment.
Xu Shuangyan listened silently, neither agreeing nor dissuading as she had done before. She simply carefully collected the food sent by Zhang Lizheng's family, then went to the kitchen to light a fire and cook a pot of thin porridge.
After coaxing her two frightened sisters to sleep, Xu Shuangyan sat beside her grandmother's kang, listening to her heavy breathing after she finally fell asleep exhausted, and opened her eyes wide in the darkness.
She was thinking about her family's land and house...how could she keep them? If someone in the clan had any ideas, or if the villagers wanted to curry favor with the Li family, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be driven out and divide up their meager property.
Relying on relatives? Xu Shuangyan sneered inwardly. When Dad was a scholar, those uncles and aunts would still greet him with a smile. Now that Dad is a prisoner, they can't wait to hide. Who would want to be stained by this filthy smell? It's good enough if they don't add insult to injury.
The only solution now was just like the thought that flashed through her mind during the day - she must find a live-in son-in-law as soon as possible!
Only with a man in the family can the family establish itself and maintain this last place to settle down.
But finding a son-in-law...how easy was that? Her family was now disgraced, destitute, with a bedridden grandmother and two young sisters. Who in any family with a decent future would want to marry into such a pit of hell?
Her mind quickly flashed through the people in and out of the village who were too poor to marry, those who were physically disabled, and... some who also had a bad reputation and could not find a good marriage.
Every choice seemed to lead deeper into the quagmire, but she had no better path.
Xu Shuangyan bit her lower lip so hard that it almost drew blood.
She couldn't just complain like her grandmother, nor could she just cry like her sisters. She had to take action and seize every opportunity.
If she went to Li Yulan again, it would only disgust the Li family, so she could only try to make Zhang Lizheng more sympathetic to them.
Village Chief Zhang probably didn't want her to bring back a wolf in human skin from outside to disrupt the village. Perhaps, for the sake of their fellow villagers, he would know of a suitable candidate? Even if it was just a glimmer of hope.
Xu Shuangyan's eyes were extremely firm.
The road ahead is difficult, but she has no choice.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
