From then on, the lives of the old man's first wife, his two sons Hai and An, and his daughter Rong fell into a state of decline.
When my mother was alive, Hai, An, and Rong not only did not have to work in the fields, but they also had good food and clothing, and An even went to school for a period of time.
But their mother passed away, and Zhou Zhen became their stepmother. The three brothers and sisters of Hai Hai experienced firsthand what it meant to have a stepmother and a stepfather.
After the birth of his youngest son, Jian, Old Man Gui, under the influence of Old Lady Gui, stopped allowing Jian'an to continue his studies, saying he wanted to save the money to support Jian's education.
The old man was reluctant at first, but the old woman said, "The night before she gave birth, she dreamed of a doll with golden light coming towards her."
The old lady insisted that this was a precious son sent by God to them, and that he would definitely become the top scholar and a high-ranking official in the future.
I don't know what the old man was thinking, but he believed the reasons given by the old lady without a doubt.
He also felt that the child, still in his infancy, was a promising student, and would achieve great things and become the pride of the family.
In this way, An lost the opportunity to study and started working in the fields.
After so many years, the harvest from each field was not small. However, while the old man's family lived a good life, the eldest son Hai and the second son An's wives and children could not even have enough to eat, and they even had to sell their grandson.
Not to mention that there is an old lady as the stepmother, and the reason for the deliberate quarrel is also closely related to the old man.
After all, bringing honor to the family and making it a farming and scholarly home has been the old man's lifelong dream.
He believed that his eldest son, Hai, and the second son, An, were not good students. Only his youngest son, Jian, was a good student and was praised by his private school teacher, who said that his youngest son was a promising talent.
It was this praise from the private school teacher that made him more determined to send his son Jian to study. He placed high hopes on his youngest son, hoping that he could pass the imperial examination and become an official, so that their family could improve their status.
But for farmers, studying is a very expensive thing.
Moreover, Jian had been studying since he was seven years old and continued to study until he was thirty. During those twenty-three years, he had spent countless money. Not only had all the family savings been spent, but most of the grain produced from the land had also been converted into money to pay Jian's tuition, buy books, and make friends with classmates.
Just a few days ago, Jian asked his wife Zhou Meiqi to bring a message from the town, saying that he and his classmates would go to Qingshan Prefecture to study under a master, concentrate on studying for a while, and be sure to pass the exam next year.
The old man and the old lady heard from their third daughter-in-law that their son would pass the exam tomorrow, and they were so excited that they couldn't contain themselves.
But Zhou Meiqi's next words disappointed the two of them completely. He went to the provincial capital to ask for ten taels of silver.
After Zhou Meizhen moved in, the old man and the old woman took out all the money in the house. They only had a dozen or so taels of silver left, which was still a lot short of the goal. The crops in the fields would not be harvested for another two months, and they did not want to delay their youngest son's studies.
When the old man was worried about the marriage for his youngest son, the old lady again proposed to sell the two grandsons. He rarely said anything against it.
In the past, if the old lady had mentioned selling her grandson, he would have either beaten her or scolded her harshly. No matter how poor the old lady's family was, they would never have thought of selling their grandson.
But the youngest son needed ten taels of silver for repair, the second son had a broken leg and couldn't work, and the family needed one more person to feed. If the family didn't have the two little ones, the saved food would be enough to feed the second son. Moreover, the second son's wife would get sick faster without the burden of the two little ones.
After recovering from the illness, he naturally went to work in the fields. With this, there was an extra labor force in the family, and he was not so tired.
Besides, I don’t lack grandchildren, so it doesn’t matter if I have one or two less.
It was with this idea in mind that when the old lady and the third daughter-in-law Zhou Meiqin were discussing selling the two Mingyu brothers, he used the excuse of going to work in the fields and did not stay at home until mealtime.
But what he didn't expect was that he was called in before dinner time today. He was already very angry, and when he heard the villagers talking about his family selling his grandson, he became even more furious.
He walked into his yard, drove away the crowd of onlookers, turned around and shouted at the old woman, "There's so much work to do in the fields, why did we come here? This will delay us for a long time. Go, women have so many things to do at home."
From the moment Meng Yue saw the old man appear, she noticed this old man with a weathered face and seemingly amiable appearance.
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