Chapter 6, Section 6: Pure Wealth
The weather in July was scorching hot; even in the morning, the heat was enough to make people feel irritable.
The Cheng sisters carried Cheng Jiantong, who was lying on a stretcher, into the village, followed by a group of people dressed in cadre uniforms and police uniforms. They marched in a grand procession toward the Cheng family home, attracting a large crowd of villagers.
"What happened? Why is Cheng Lao Er's eldest daughter back? Isn't she serving in the army?"
"She probably knows that her father fell off the mountain and is unconscious, so she may have come back to prepare for his funeral."
"Cheng Jiantong is perfectly fine, why are you making funeral preparations?"
"Who knows? I don't think things are that simple."
"It's very simple. Cheng Jiantong used to deliver mail alone for more than 20 years without any problems. This time, he went to deliver mail with Cheng Laoda's son and fell off the mountain. I think it's probably that Cheng Chunfu had bad intentions and pushed Cheng Jiantong off the mountain to take over Cheng Jiantong's job as a postman."
Everyone in the village knows that Cheng Yiguo, the patriarch of the Cheng family, and his wife Huang Cuizhi are notorious for their preference for sons over daughters.
Cheng Jiantong's wife only gave birth to two daughters and no sons. Cheng Yiguo and Huang Cuizhi, the elderly couple, always treated Cheng Jiantong's family with disdain and often bullied and mistreated Wan Shuhui and her two daughters when Cheng Jiantong was not around.
Even when Cheng Jiantong was at home, the elderly couple openly favored the eldest and third wives who had given birth to their son. They would give all the best food, drinks, and household items to these two wives, and they would make Cheng Jiantong give half of his salary to the elderly couple every month, which would then be used to subsidize the eldest and third wives.
If Huang Cuizhi hadn't cried, made a scene, and threatened suicide, Cheng Jiantong could have gotten a job in the county after he was discharged from the army and could have lived off government-subsidized grain rations in the county town.
Huang Cuizhi was afraid that Cheng Jiantong would go to the county and live a good life, and then he would abandon his brothers and sisters and his elderly parents. She forced him to come home and married him to Wan Shuhui, who had the best temper in the surrounding area. For many years, she had been controlling the couple and made the whole Cheng family live a good life with no worries about food and clothing.
It can be said that the rest of the Cheng family only enjoy their good life because they have sucked the blood of Cheng Jiantong's family.
After all, Cheng Jiantong's job as a postman was a cadre position in those days, and his monthly salary gradually increased from thirty yuan to forty yuan. In an era when one yuan could buy several kilograms of grain, even if Cheng Jiantong gave half of his salary to Cheng Yiguo and his wife every month, it would be enough to support the entire Cheng family.
Many elderly people in Qingshui Village usually envy Huang Cuizhi for having such an obedient son as Cheng Jiantong and a daughter-in-law who is easy to manage. She can keep half of the second wife's money and support the whole family, living a very comfortable life.
The young people felt that having a mother like Huang Cuizhi was a tragedy for Cheng Jiantong. It was true that he handed over half of his salary, but after handing over so much money every month, he still allowed his parents to bully and control his wife and daughter. No wonder Cheng Ying, a young girl, became so fierce at such a young age. Later, she even threatened to kill herself to force Cheng Jiantong to write a letter and enlist in the army.
If Cheng Ying hadn't joined the army and written back every month to nag her parents, they probably would have found a way to marry her off to some widower, sick, or ugly man when she turned eighteen, in exchange for a high dowry to use for their grandsons.
When Cheng Ying returned this time, she brought so many cadres and police officers with her, and it looked like a big fuss was about to break out at the Cheng family's house. Everyone lost their will to work in the fields and flocked to the Cheng family's house to join in the fun.
In the Cheng family's old house, the members of the eldest and third branches of the family gathered in the living room, listening to Cheng Yiguo speak.
Cheng Yiguo, a thin man with a slightly hunched back, sitting at the head of the eight-immortal table in the living room, smoking a pipe, stared viciously at Cheng Chunfu, who was kneeling under the ancestral tablets in the living room. "Your second uncle has been a mail carrier for over twenty years without ever causing any trouble. You went with him on one trip, and your second uncle fell off a cliff and became paralyzed on one side. Chunfu, you said that Dahuang accidentally bumped into your second uncle, causing him to fall down the mountain. Do you think I'm stupid?!"
Although Cheng Yiguo was indeed sexist, he was still clear-headed when it came to important matters. In particular, Cheng Jiantong was the most obedient and hardworking of his four children. Even if he disapproved of Cheng Jiantong for having two daughters, he couldn't help but speak up for him, since Cheng Jiantong had contributed a lot of money to the elderly couple over the years.
More than half a month has passed since Cheng Jiantong fell off the mountain and was found and rescued by Miao people living in Ayishan, and then sent to the county hospital for treatment.
On the day Cheng Jiantong fell down the mountain, Cheng Chunfu ran back alone and said that his second uncle had accidentally fallen down the mountain. He went to the village brigade secretary and asked everyone to help find Cheng Jiantong. Unexpectedly, before they even set off, Cheng Jiantong was brought out by a group of Miao people dressed in Miao clothing.
When Cheng Chunfu saw that Cheng Jiantong had fallen and was seriously injured, covered in blood but still alive, Cheng Yiguo was clearly flustered. Seeing Cheng Chunfu's expression, Cheng Yiguo knew that something was amiss.
These days, he has been riding the village's oxcart back and forth to the county hospital to take care of his son, and has no time to deal with Cheng Chunfu's affairs.
Now that Cheng Jiantong has completed his surgery and is in stable condition, the doctors at the hospital said he can be discharged and go home to recuperate. Only then did Cheng Yiguo have time to deal with this matter.
Cheng Yiguo was a veteran of the War of Resistance against Japan. He had a ruthless and murderous aura and a particularly volatile temper. When he was young, he would often beat and scold his wife and children. In his old age, his temper became much milder and more mellow. The descendants of the Cheng family were all afraid of him.
程纯富小时候没少干偷鸡摸狗的事情，每回他干了坏事，村里人告到程家来，他爸妈舍不得揍他的时候，都是他爷爷往死里揍他，揍完又给他糖吃，给他零钱用，他对这个爷爷是又爱又恨。
In an era when most people were starving and thin, Cheng Chunfu, his younger brother, and two cousins from the third branch of the family were all well-fed and plump because they relied on the blood of the second branch of the family.
Cheng Chunfu, in particular, was the fattest of the brothers. As the eldest grandson, he was favored by his parents, Cheng Yiguo and his wife, since childhood. At the age of 22, he was only 1.75 meters tall, but weighed about 250 kilograms. His face was so fat that his eyes were squinted into slits, and he would pant when he walked.
Cheng Yiguo had indeed considered that Cheng Jiantong would be retiring in a few years, and he wanted to give his postman job to the children of his first and third wives before he retired.
Cheng Yiguo had only mentioned it casually, but he never expected Cheng Chunfu to lose his temper and do such a heinous thing.
No matter how good his grandson was, he had caused his own son's death. Cheng Yiguo suppressed his overwhelming anger and wanted to hear how Cheng Chunfu would try to justify himself.
Stared at by Cheng Yiguo's gloomy gaze, Cheng Chunfu trembled uncontrollably. Just as he was about to speak in a defensive tone, someone rushed in from outside and shouted, "Brother, come out quickly! Cheng Ying is back! She's brought her father, along with leaders from the county committee office, the county revolutionary committee, the armed forces department, the county post and telecommunications bureau, the county public security bureau, and other county and commune leaders, as well as more than a dozen police officers. They're coming to your doorstep soon. I think this girl is going to cause trouble!"
The one who shouted was Cheng Yiguo's cousin, who was usually close to Cheng Yiguo and shared similar views. They were both chauvinistic men who acted like bosses at home and thought they were the boss.
He saw Cheng Ying return at the village entrance, and then saw a group of cadres driving up behind her. He had a bad feeling and quickly took a shortcut to warn them in advance.
Cheng Yiguo, Cheng Chunfu, and the rest of the Cheng family felt a chill run down their spines and a sense of foreboding. They all headed into the courtyard.
Cheng Chunfu remembered his cousin's fiery temper since childhood and felt a sense of foreboding. He quickly hid behind his grandmother and said, "Grandma, that shrew Cheng Ying brought so many people back. Who knows what she'll do to me later? Grandma, I'm your most beloved grandson. You have to protect me!"
Huang Cuizhi could tell from his expression and actions that what her husband had just asked was probably true.
She was both angry and helpless. She was angry that her beloved eldest grandson had gone so far as to harm her own son. Although she had never liked her second son, he was the most filial of her four children, and she never intended to let her son die.
Unfortunately, Cheng Chunfu had already done such a thing, and given Cheng Ying's ruthless temper, who knows what trouble she might cause in a moment? She didn't have time to scold Cheng Chunfu, so she shielded him behind her, saying, "I'll settle the score with you later!"
Not long after, Cheng Ying and Cheng Xue carried Cheng Jian into the Cheng family compound. Wan Shuhui stood beside them, and behind them followed county officials, commune officials, police officers, brigade officials, villagers, and others, all of whom entered the compound.
Huang Cuizhi watched as the Cheng sisters placed the now-conscious Cheng Jiantong in the center of the courtyard, carefully helping him to half-lie down in the rocking chair that Cheng Yiguo usually sat in.
A forced smile appeared on her wrinkled, thin face as she called out, "Yingzi, you're back! Why didn't you write to us beforehand so we could pick you up? You came back so quietly, carrying your dad back from the hospital and bringing so many leaders to our house—what's going on? Your dad only had surgery a short time ago, and you're already letting him leave the hospital. Is that appropriate? You still don't consider your elders at all."
Huang Cuizhi was illiterate, but she was very shrewd. Her words were a way of subtly and overtly criticizing Cheng Ying for being unfilial and a notoriously selfish and rebellious woman in the village.
The villagers who gathered around had various expressions.
Cheng Ying has been known as disobedient and unfilial in the village for many years. Although everyone knows why Cheng Ying is disobedient and unfilial, in Qingshui Village, which is relatively remote and backward and whose thinking is still very feudal and outdated, a young girl who is not filial to her elders and disobedient to her elders is considered selfish and has a serious problem with her character. She is someone that many elderly people despise.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
