Chapter 143: Kite String in Hand
Lu Mingchao was calm and natural.
She had murderous intentions towards Sun Zhiye, let alone Xie Yan.
Xie Yan did not comment, but just held Lu Mingchao's hand tightly.
Wanting to kill but not killing is not a sign of cowardice but a sign of rationality and self-control.
"Ah Yan, I want to meet the old maid who used to work for the Cheng family."
"On the ninth day of May that year, she went to various clinics to collect abortion pills. It was definitely not without reason. In the county hall, she was extremely stubborn and refused to admit it. Was it just because of the deep affection between the master and servant in the past?"
The wind started to blow, and the howling north wind blew against the doors and windows of the shops on both sides of the long street.
"good."
Xie Yan's voice was lost in the howling of the wind.
Lu Mingchao couldn't help but curl up his lips and reveal a smile of appreciation. When her Ah Yan had a cold face, there was indeed a bit of indescribable reserve and dignity, which made her look particularly proud.
The winter wind is as fierce as a tiger, and all the birds are in hiding.
The cold wind howled incessantly without any sign of fatigue, and the bare trees swayed gracefully in the cold wind.
I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Lu Mingchao just felt that the wind in Lianhua Town was colder and stronger than that in Changhe County.
Taoyuan Lane, Lianhua Town.
The alley is narrow and cramped, with the walls on both sides closely connected. The sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard, and the scolding and gossip of neighbors can also be heard.
The winter sunlight seems weak and tepid, hardly reaching the scorching heat of summer. It is powerless to penetrate the darkness of the alleys, and even more unable to melt the thick ice and snow on the brick and concrete roads.
Xie Yan held Lu Mingchao's hand and walked carefully.
When he reached the door of the old maid who used to work in the Cheng family, he knocked gently on the door.
"Who is it?"
The door opened slightly, followed by a slight creaking sound. A middle-aged woman with a rather stern face appeared in my sight. She wore a rough and slightly worn headscarf, which covered her messy black hair. Her eyes moved around, flashing with a shrewd light.
She is the old maid's daughter-in-law.
After seeing the exquisite, clean and noble clothes of Xie Yan and Lu Mingchao, a sly, flattering and sincere smile suddenly appeared on his face, "Whose nobleman and beautiful wife are they?"
"Come in quickly."
The middle-aged woman greeted us warmly with a smile on her face.
The yard was not spacious. An honest, hunchbacked man was chopping wood under the eaves. When he saw Xie Yan and Lu Mingchao, he held the axe awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
The middle-aged woman gently pushed the man and said, "Dad, why are you standing there like an idiot? Why don't you go make a bowl of sugar water for the gentleman?"
The man seemed to have just woken up from a dream and nodded in panic.
"Don't bother." Lu Ming opened his red lips and said softly.
A quick glance shows that this family lives a very tight life.
The middle-aged woman's smile was still as bright as ever, without any change.
Lu Mingchao stated his purpose directly.
The smile on the middle-aged woman's face collapsed instantly, and her eyebrows, eyes and lips drooped.
Lu Mingchao didn't care much. He put two taels of silver into the woman's hand. He looked puzzled and said calmly, "My eldest sister-in-law is a good thrifty person and my eldest brother is a simple, down-to-earth man who is willing to endure hardships. How come they are living in poverty?"
"Is it a bad year, or is there some kind of disaster?"
There was a hint of concern in Lu Mingchao's voice, without even a trace of contempt or sarcasm, as if he was just chatting about real family matters.
The middle-aged woman weighed the small change, and her expression instantly changed from the cold winter to the warm spring when all the flowers are blooming. "You are kind-hearted."
"The most important thing is not the bad harvest, but the blood-sucking leeches that stick to you and you can't get rid of them."
For the sake of the two taels of silver, the middle-aged woman was in a much better mood and said a few words, "Mother-in-law is old, but she always clings to the family's money. We, the child's father and I, are very filial to her, so there is no problem."
"But what makes people uncomfortable is that my mother-in-law doesn't just manage money. She saves up the money we work so hard to earn and gives it to her unpromising nephew. This really makes people feel uncomfortable."
"As for me, I sew, wash, and cook for others every day. My eyes are almost blinded by fatigue, and my hands are frozen like steamed buns and are about to rot. My wife is the same, she does all kinds of dirty and hard work. But in the end, all the money she earns goes into the pockets of my mother-in-law and her nephews, and we can only live a tight life and make do with our lives."
"This shabby yard that the nobles despised was only saved by me and the child's father with knives to our necks."
"According to my mother-in-law, it would be more reasonable to give this yard to her family."
The resentment in the middle-aged woman's voice almost overflowed.
Lu Mingchao sighed as if he felt the same way, and said quietly, "My sister-in-law has been wronged, but filial piety is the key, so she can't even speak out her grievances easily."
"This is so pitiful. Even as an outsider, I can't help but feel sorry for my sister-in-law after hearing this."
"Mrs. Yang is so worried about her nephew, why doesn't she just work and earn some money herself? Instead, she uses the hard-earned money of her eldest sister-in-law and eldest brother to help support her family."
"I heard from people in Lotus Town that Old Lady Yang is very skillful and efficient at her work."
"You were doing well in the Cheng family, why did you suddenly quit? If Old Man Yang could make some extra money, your sister-in-law would have more money."
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman looked at Lu Mingchao as if he were a flower, and the smile on her face became much more kind.
"That's right. When you are a daughter-in-law, filial piety comes into play. You can't fight back when you are beaten or scolded. You can only swallow your anger. No matter how big the injustice is, you have to swallow it with broken teeth and blood. After being a daughter-in-law for many years, you will become a mother-in-law."
"To be honest with you, mother-in-law resigned from the Cheng family on her own."
"At that time, my mother-in-law was determined not to work for Mr. Cheng's family and said that the Cheng family was a pile of shit. My child's father and I tried to persuade her many times, but she just wouldn't listen. So we just let her do what she wanted."
Lu Mingchao's eyes flickered slightly, as if he was a little surprised. "How could it be?"
"Old Lady Yang was protecting the Cheng family father and daughter in the county government hall. All the onlookers praised the deep love between master and servant."
The middle-aged woman sneered and said, "Maybe the idea of letting the toad eat the swan's flesh has come back to life."
"No matter how tainted Master Cheng's daughter is, she is not worthy of the nephew of my mother-in-law's family who is addicted to drinking, whoring and gambling."
Lu Mingchao's eyebrows twitched.
A toad wants to eat swan meat?
After thinking for a while, he said, "I can help the poor but not the emergency. I can help the poor but not the gambling. Gambling is a bottomless pit. Even if Mrs. Yang has a lot of money, it can never fill it."
"My eldest sister-in-law said that a toad wants to eat swan flesh. Could it be that Old Lady Yang has thought of letting Cheng Zhi marry her nephew?"
"How dare you to covet the daughter of the master's family."
"Since my sister-in-law said that, I suspect that Old Lady Yang may not have resigned from her job on her own."
"Did you do something wrong and got caught by the master?" the middle-aged woman asked subconsciously.
Lu Mingchao remained silent, but his expression became more and more reserved.
"It cannot be said. It cannot be said."
"Today I wanted to ask Old Lady Yang whether she bought abortion pills for Cheng Zhi, but I didn't expect to hear about my sister-in-law's suffering."
A pleasant surprise