Chapter 14 Are you going to sell me out? Are you going to sell me out?
The Su family lived a secluded life and knew nothing about the rumors outside.
Uncle Su, who was most likely to tell them, had always been unwilling to pay attention to gossips, but Zhang was guilty and it was too late to hide it from him, so how could she tell him this?
Madam Wei and Zao'er would go out from time to time, fetch water to wash clothes, or pick vegetables and wash rice, but they felt that the villagers looked at them strangely, and seemed to have a bit of sympathy.
After buying the paper from Uncle Su, Su Fengzhang's urgent need was solved. He had originally planned to go to the county town to buy it himself in a few days, but Uncle Su bought a large stack at once, which saved him a lot of trouble.
This paper cannot be used right after you buy it. The paper sold in bookstores is usually a large sheet, which you have to cut yourself. Su Fengzhang got the hang of this job quickly and even cut out some flavor.
Su Lanzhang and Su Huihui were helping on the side. Su Huihui was smart, but Su Lanzhang was a little impatient.
When he nearly scratched his brother's finger for the third time, Su Fengzhang stopped and said, "Lan Zhang, Huihui's help is enough. Why don't you go out and play for a while?"
Su Lanzhang didn't know that he was being disliked, but he was still reluctant to leave: "Second brother, I'll stay and help you. Anyway, there's nothing to do outside, and I can't go out."
Aunt Bai was afraid that the two children would cause trouble everywhere, so she was especially strict with her more naughty son and usually did not allow him to go out and play.
"How about this, you help me deliver this to my cousin Ci Zhang." It was a book called "Relative Four-Character Words". Su Ci Zhang had mentioned before that he regretted not paying enough attention when studying and not knowing many words. The Su family had two copies of this book, so he wanted to give one to his cousin.
"Okay then." Seeing that there was a task for him, Su Lanzhang reluctantly left the room.
Seeing him walk out the door with the book in his arms, Aunt Bai quickly called out, "Sanlang, where are you going?"
"Go and give the book to cousin Ci Zhang." Su Lanzhang waved the book in her hand, and Aunt Bai didn't stop her.
Su Lanzhang ran to Uncle Su's house and saw Su Cizhang packing his luggage as soon as he entered. He had to go to the county town to work tomorrow.
"Cousin, my brother asked me to deliver this." Su Lanzhang was not familiar with him and was a little timid.
Su Cizhang smiled when he saw it was the "Relative Four-Character Poem" and took it with some joy: "Erlang is really thoughtful, even asking you to make a special trip. Come, have some candy."
Su Lanzhang was also happy after being stuffed with two candies: "Cousin, I'm going back now."
Zhang heard the noise and came out, just in time to see this scene. She frowned and said, "Ci Zhang, you didn't even know to give your brothers and sisters some candy. Could it be that their family is short of a piece of candy?"
Su Ci Zhang felt a headache when he heard this. He couldn't understand his mother anymore. She had never been so fussy when his uncle was alive, but now she would even talk about a piece of candy.
"Mom, Erlang gave me a book. This book should be worth at least ten cents, right?" Su Ci Zhang said.
Zhang pursed her lips and said nothing, but she was still muttering in her heart that there were a room full of books over there, so giving one book was nothing. Only this silly boy in their family was so happy.
Su Ci Zhang ignored him. After all, his father was the one who made the decisions on important matters at home, so he didn't have to listen to his mother.
If he were to say, it would be the best thing that Erlang was willing to study and take the imperial examinations. Studying depends on talent. Take him, his brother, and other children in the clan and village. They all gave up after a few years of studying and could barely recognize a few words.
Su Lanzhang ran outside, peeled off the candy wrapper, and put one in her mouth. It tasted sweet and delicious.
The way back was not as rushed as when he came. He was in the mood to stroll around and grab a handful of green grass that had just sprouted.
As he strolled along, he saw the children from the village playing on a small slope. When they saw him, they pointed and whispered to each other.
Su Lanzhang stopped and wanted to go over and play with them. He walked over a few steps and asked loudly, "Hey, what are you playing?"
The five or six children all looked at him. One of them was the chubby grandson of Mrs. Wang, who had inherited her gossip: "Are you the youngest son of the Su family? I heard that you were raised by a young woman."
Even though Su Lanzhang was still young, he knew that this was an insult. His expression suddenly changed: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Wang Tiezhu raised his head and said, "Did I say something wrong? Isn't your mother a servant to someone else?"
Su Lanzhang's eyes suddenly turned red and she turned around and wanted to go home.
The group of children rushed over and surrounded him: "Don't leave yet, we have something to ask you."
Su Lanzhang was suddenly a little scared when surrounded by them. She shrank back and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
"I heard that your family has run out of money and is about to sell those two servants. If the money is not enough, they will sell your mother as well. Is this true? How much can your mother be sold for?" Wang Tiezhu asked curiously.
Children's malice is direct and unscrupulous.
Su Lanzhang was so angry that his whole body was shaking. He pointed at him and cursed, "Nonsense, nonsense, you are all talking nonsense."
Wang Tiezhu snorted coldly: "I'm not talking nonsense, everyone says so."
A dark-skinned little boy next to him also said, "Yeah, they've started pawning things to make a living. They'll have to sell themselves off in a few days."
"Maybe selling your mother wasn't enough, and they're going to sell your sister too."
"My mother said that your mother is old and probably won't be able to sell for much money. But your sister is young and good-looking, so she can sell for a good price." Fatty Wang sniffed and added, "You are also good-looking and can sell for money."
"I told you not to talk nonsense!" Su Lanzhang finally couldn't stand it anymore, rushed up and punched the fat boy.
The fat boy from the Wang family was also a weakling. He burst into tears after being punched.
When Su Lanzhang saw him falling to the ground and crying, she was frightened and quickly turned around and ran away.
Aunt Bai saw Su Lanzhang rushing in at full speed, and immediately frowned. She shouted outside, "Why are you running so fast? Be careful not to fall."
Looking at his brother who was panting heavily, Su Fengzhang frowned and asked with a smile, "What happened? Which dog in the village chased you?"
Su Lanzhang was originally filled with anger, but when she returned home, she became worried. Her second brother had been using sand to teach them how to write these days. Could it be that the family really had no money?
Su Lanzhang knew since he was a child that he was different from his elder and second brothers. Sometimes Su Dianli would frown when looking at him and his sister, as if he thought they were troublesome. He did not respect his elder brother or indulge his second brother at all.
Su Fengzhang had originally just asked casually, but seeing his troubled expression, he felt strange and asked seriously, "What happened?"
Su Lanzhang walked slowly to his side, looked at his sister standing beside him, and finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Second brother, will my family sell my aunt?"
Su Fengzhang's face darkened: "Who told you that?"
"Will he? Will he sell me and my sister too?" Su Lanzhang asked again.
Su Huihui cried out in surprise, with a hint of panic on her face.
"Of course not. You are my biological brother, Huihui is my biological sister, and your aunt is your biological mother. Even if our family is struggling to make ends meet, we will never sell our relatives. How would we be different from being an animal by doing this?" Su Fengzhang said firmly.
Su Lanzhang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as her second brother didn't agree, even if her mother was tempted, she would not sell her out.
Su Fengzhang pulled him in front of him, frowned, and asked, "Where did you hear that nonsense from? Could it be from my second uncle's family?"
"No, it's not my second uncle's house." Su Lanzhang explained quickly.
"I met some kids on the way back, and they told me that." Su Lanzhang felt relieved now, and added, "I told you, they must be talking nonsense."
After saying this, he hesitated for a moment and asked again: "Really? When I was in the government office, Mrs. Zhang next door sold their concubine, and Mr. Zhang didn't scold her."
"Do you believe me or someone else?" Su Fengzhang asked.
"Of course I believe in Second Brother." Su Lanzhang said with a smile, and took out the candy he had treasured. "Second Brother, here's some candy."
"This is the only one you have? What will happen to Huihui if you give it to me?" Su Fengzhang teased again when he saw that he had let go of the matter.
Unexpectedly, Su Lanzhang bit the candy in his mouth into two pieces with a crunch, spit out half and handed it to his sister: "Huihui, I'll give you half of the one in my mouth."
The candy was wet and had melted into a ball. Su Huihui actually reached out to take it.
"Okay, eat it yourself." Su Fengzhang pushed his hand back helplessly and put his piece of candy in his sister's palm, "Huihui, you eat it. Second brother doesn't like candy."
"Second brother, why don't you like candy? You even fought with us for it during last year's Chinese New Year." Su Lanzhang was restless while eating the candy.
"I used to like eating it, but now that I'm grown up I don't like it anymore." Su Fengzhang said with a smile. He really didn't like eating candy that much. The candies in ancient times were crudely made and indeed not that delicious.
Su Huihui then stuffed the candy into her mouth and squinted her eyes with a smile: "It's so sweet, thank you, second brother."
Everyone was having a great time here, but suddenly the door became noisy, with the sound of women yelling and children crying coming in continuously.
Su Lanzhang realized something and his face changed: "Oh no! I just punched that fat guy and they came looking for me."
Su Fengzhang frowned and walked out, and sure enough, he saw a lot of people standing in the yard.
Leading the group were Wang Po and Wang Xiaopangzi. They were followed by a person, probably Wang Xiaopangzi's mother. She looked a little timid, with her head down and not daring to speak.
There were not only the three of them, there were also many villagers around, who probably heard the noise and came over to watch the fun.
Mrs. Wang was a notorious hot-mouthed and aggressive woman in the village. She was now shouting at the top of her lungs, "Mr. Su, look at this! Look at how you beat my grandson! This little bastard you raised is truly terrible! What's wrong with calling him a bastard? Isn't he a bastard? How dare he hit someone? He's so young and yet he dares to hit people. Will he kill or burn people in the future?"
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