Chapter 67 Grandmother 2
◎Vicious grandmother abuses her grandson◎
"I was the wife of your Zhang family who was married in a formal ceremony, but who could have known that I would meet your eldest brother, a damn short-lived man, who left us an orphan and a widow at an early age! I was only in my twenties at that time, and many matchmakers came to me and advised me to remarry! But I couldn't bear to leave Jicun..."
Of the two men and one woman standing in front of Zhang's mother, the slightly younger woman immediately retorted, "We never stopped you from getting married! We told you to keep Jicun in the Zhang family and find someone you love while you're still young. It was you who refused..."
"Jicun was only three years old back then..." Zhang's mother interrupted the woman with tears in her eyes, "I am a young widow, living alone with my child, raising him with great difficulty. Who can I tell about the hardships I went through?"
The woman retorted, "You and my eldest brother moved out after you got married. After he passed away, we wanted to take you and your son home, but you refused! My eldest brother passed away early, but who of the three sons and two daughters left in our Zhang family didn't help you raise Jicun?"
Zhang's mother didn't listen to what she said at all. She continued to cry and yell, "I got married to that short-lived ghost, but I still raised your Zhang family's child to adulthood! Now that Jicun's body is still warm, you want to drive me out! Are you still human?"
The onlookers sneered and accused: "This is too outrageous..."
The two men seemed to be ashamed and whispered: "Sister-in-law, we know it's not easy for you. Get up first, and let's talk it out..."
Zhang's mother continued to cry: "I have worked like a slave for your Zhang family for twenty years, working hard without complaint! Now I am heartbroken without my child, and you are pushing me to death..."
The two men were obviously not good at speaking and couldn't say anything after hesitating for a long time.
The woman was so angry that her face turned red. She scolded again: "Sister-in-law, please speak with conscience! You moved out after you got married. Have you ever served your parents for a day? How can you say you work like a slave for our Zhang family?"
Mother Zhang cursed with a resentful look on her face: "Isn't Jicun's surname Zhang? I am a widow raising your Zhang family's offspring all by myself. How can I not be considered as working like a slave for the Zhang family?"
The woman was so angry that her voice changed a little: "We sent you food and oil every now and then, and we paid for Jicun's studies. Even his clothes, writing brushes, inkstones, and paper were bought by us uncles and aunts! Now you have raised Jicun all by yourself?"
"Sister-in-law, tell me honestly, how has our Zhang family wronged you?"
"Before I got married, my family would cut meat every five days, and half of it would always be given to you first! You and your son ate that meat, but our family of seven ate the same amount!"
"These past few years, you always come home to complain. Do you think that your parents are giving you money without telling us? But we haven't complained at all because we feel sorry for you and your nephew! How can you confuse right and wrong like this?!"
"I see! This brother-in-law and sister-in-law are really good!"
Seeing that the crowd had changed their tone, Zhang's mother cried out again: "Jicun is the offspring of your Zhang family, he is your nephew! Shouldn't you give him a hand? I am a widow with no ability, but haven't I done enough for Jicun? Do you still want to sell me out?"
"Son! Your father abandoned us, and now you've abandoned me too...I really can't live anymore..."
The woman finally couldn't help but cursed angrily, "I really regret letting Jicun grow up with you! If you hadn't taught him to be sentimental and fussy, and if you hadn't entangled him with Miss Shi and made so many jokes, why would we worry about his marriage and raise money for him to buy a shop to add to his wealth? Now that Jicun is gone, what right do you have to occupy the shop and not return it?"
"That's the support my son left for me!" Zhang's mother screamed hysterically, and then began to cry: "I raised him with great difficulty, but I haven't even had a day of support from him! That's my son's shop, why are you taking it back?"
The woman lost all patience and said directly, "The Zhang family gave you a house and has been very kind to you over the years! Besides, the shop has not been transferred to Jicun's name yet. Do you think that you can own it just by locking it? I will go to the county government office to ask the magistrate to make a judgment and see if there is such a reason in the world!"
She turned and left. The two men hesitated for a moment and then followed the woman.
Mother Zhang cried out twice more. Seeing that they did not turn around, she quickly got up, picked up the food box and the basket and chased after them, shouting as she ran: "That is my son's shop! It is the support my son left for me! I have worked hard for your Zhang family all my life, and you are trying to force me to death..."
After the crowd dispersed, Nan Qing said to Yan Yue with emotion: "It turns out that Zhang Jicun learned to behave like that from his mother..."
Yan Yue was silent for a long time. Just when Nan Qing thought she had some deep insights, she asked, "Does this count as the top beam being crooked and the bottom beam being crooked?"
*
After dinner, Zhou Lin gossiped quietly with Yan Yue, saying that Mr. Jiang, who usually didn't like to go out, did not return home all night after entertaining the ghost guests in the teahouse the night before. He sneaked out again last night, and even Big Black couldn't stop him.
When Yan Yue talked to Chu Zhi and Nan Qing, Chu Zhi immediately became interested and they discussed secretly following Mr. Jiang.
After dinner, Yan Yue was afraid that Chu Zhi would fall asleep, so she pulled Chu Zhi into her room to play backgammon. Nan Qing thought that the two of them were just bored and didn't want to join in. So the two of them blocked the light with the thick bed curtains and talked in low voices, like thieves.
As soon as the night watchman announced the time, Zhou Lin knocked on Yan Yue's door.
The two of them were already ready, following Zhou Lin's floating ghost shadow and catching up with Mr. Jiang from a distance.
The moonlight shines through the gaps in the clouds, casting a cool light and forming patches of light and dark on the streets. Yan Yue and Chu Zhi pressed close to the wall on the street, moving cautiously and trying their best to keep their figures hidden in the shadows.
A gust of cold wind blew by, breaking off a small branch, which fell right in front of the two of them.
The two were so frightened that they held their breath, their bodies frozen in place as if they were under a spell. They held each other's hands tightly, afraid that they would accidentally scream out.
When he realized it was just a branch, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to stare at the vague figure in the distance.
They didn't see that there was a figure standing on the high roof not far behind them. It was none other than Xiaobai who was locked up in the room by Yan Yue. Just now, Bai Chen used the evil wind to cut off the small branches to scare them, just to punish them a little for abandoning him.
On the one hand, he was curious, but he was also a little worried, so he followed to see.
When he saw Mr. Jiang encounter another shorter group of mist, and Yan Yue and Chu Zhi both covered their mouths excitedly with looks of great excitement, Bai Chen became restless again.
He also wanted to be able to see and hear ghosts like her.
Especially after learning that Qi Zhaoyang had the same ability, he felt uncomfortable. It seemed as if there was a special connection between the two of them, forming a small circle belonging to them alone, excluding everyone else.
Including him.
He hated this feeling.
Perhaps, it's time to find a way to get a drop of her blood.
The two girls ran back home. As soon as Chu Zhi entered Yan Yue's room, she said excitedly, "I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Mr. Jiang is such an honest man, but he actually met with the old lady in the middle of the night?"
Xiaobai, who was dozing on the bed, looked up in surprise: A secret meeting with the old lady?
Yan Yue saw Xiao Bai wake up, took it into her arms, and excitedly discussed: "The house where they agreed to meet is the old lady's home, right? Does this count as meeting family members, Mr. Jiang?"
Chu Zhi exclaimed, "Isn't this too fast? Meeting the family the next day? Are all older people so direct?"
Zhou Lin corrected her: "Not necessarily the next day. The old lady has come to the teahouse several times, and the two of them have known each other for a long time. It was not until they went to the City God Temple that Mr. Jiang thanked everyone and burned a few more incense sticks for the old lady, and then he went to meet his family."
After listening to Yan Yue's retelling, Chu Zhi asked with a sly smile, "Is Mr. Jiang's house going to welcome a mistress?"
Yan Yue blinked, looking a little confused: "Can ghosts get married?"
Chu Zhi asked fearlessly: "Why not? Ghosts are also afraid of loneliness and hope to have a companion!"
Zhou Lin didn't comment, Yan Yue was even more delighted: "So should we prepare for the wedding?"
The two people and one ghost planned to give Mr. Jiang a surprise. Zhou Lin went to inquire about the process of ghost marriage, Chu Zhi prepared to buy things, and Yan Yue took on the most important task - contacting the old lady's family and asking them if they were willing.
The old lady's door was locked. Yan Yue saw a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes at the end of the road, so she went over and bought a fragrant sweet potato.
The vendor talked to Yan Yue and told her that none of the Kong family members she was looking for were easy to deal with, and asked her to have as little contact with them as possible.
Yan Yue was very surprised and quickly asked the vendor the reason.
The vendor was a neighbor of the Kong family. He said that the old lady had been a business traveler with her husband when she was young and was a woman with strong opinions. Her husband passed away ten years ago, and her son took over his business and continued to do business.
A few years later, his son got married and his new wife soon gave birth to a big fat boy. But the new bride and the old lady didn't get along well, so she went out to do business with her husband, leaving the old lady alone at home to take care of her grandson.
Who would have thought that the old lady took the household allowance returned by her son and daughter-in-law, but treated her own grandson harshly! The neighbor guessed that the old lady took out her resentment towards her daughter-in-law on the child, causing the child to become weak, sickly, skinny and small.
At the beginning of autumn last year, a young couple passed by Linjiang City on their business trip and went home to visit. Unexpectedly, they saw with their own eyes the old lady forcing the children to eat dirt!
It is said that the child was already terminally ill at that time, his limbs were as thin as firewood, but his belly was swollen. If the couple had returned a few days later, they would have had no choice but to collect the child's body!
The family was in chaos. The daughter-in-law and mother-in-law almost came to blows. The shouting and cursing attracted neighbors from the whole street to come and watch the fun.
People can't help but sigh, "You can know a person's face but not his heart"! The old lady seemed to be very nice to the child on weekdays, but who would have thought that she was forcing the child to eat dirt behind his back? The child is only four years old and is her grandson, yet he is as poisonous as a snake!
The vendor added: "The old lady got her comeuppance. Her son and daughter-in-law got so angry that they stuffed the remaining dirt into her mouth. She was in her fifties, how could she endure such cruelty? She died that night!"
Yan Yue was shocked: "Is it true?"
The vendor swore, "Her son asked my wife to help with the funeral! My wife saw it with her own eyes. The old lady's belly was as big as a ball! And the funeral was extremely sloppy. They just bought a coffin and buried her hastily. How could they not feel guilty?"
Just after saying goodbye to the vendor, Yan Yue saw a couple with a child opening the door of the Kong family.
She immediately recognized that they were the family of three she met at the wonton stall the day before. The child was slapped twice for overturning the wonton bowl!
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