Chapter 56 Returning Home: "As a member of the bride's family, I'll participate again this time, however..."
Zhong Ying was fast asleep, her consciousness hazy. She seemed to feel something warm and soft touch her forehead, and soon after, she felt a gentle caress on her cheek...
Unable to bear it any longer, Zhong Ying frowned, turned over, and buried her head in the blanket.
But then she was "dug out," and a series of delicate kisses rubbed against her lips, finally waking her up.
Before Zhong Ying could question him, Li Linshi whispered, "Auntie is here."
Cao Fang had actually been there for a while. Li Linshi noticed her as she entered the courtyard and stepped out to greet her, telling her to sit and wait in the main room.
Upon seeing Zhong Ying, Cao Fang immediately stood up and said apologetically, "Yingnier, did I disturb your sleep? I even told Lin Shi not to wake you."
Zhong Ying glanced at the clock on the wall of the main room, shook her head, and said truthfully, "No, this is my usual time to get up."
Cao Fang breathed a slight sigh of relief and reached out to pick up the basket of yellow berries on the table. "These are yellow berries I picked from Ying Mountain last night. Take them and eat them. Thank you for your help to me and Ni'er these past few days."
“Ni’er is able to marry into a good family now, all thanks to you. I want to express my gratitude, but all I can do is pick some wild fruits to eat. Please don’t mind.” Cao Fang said, shoving the basket in her hand into Zhong Ying’s hands.
Zhong Ying couldn't resist her aunt's strength and had no choice but to accept it.
“Today is my daughter’s homecoming, and as a member of her family, I’m participating again,” Cao Fang said with a relieved smile. “Then I’ll be leaving. I’ve indeed been in this world for too long.”
Cao Fang's obsession was with her two children, especially her daughter. Now that Zhong Ni was married and had a husband to take care of her, she, as a mother, could finally rest easy and go on her way to be reborn.
“My child is grown up, it’s time for me to let go…” Cao Fang said wistfully.
That feeling of unease resurfaced, and Zhong Ying spoke, "Auntie—"
Cao Fang composed herself, cheered, and said with a smile, "Alright, I won't take up any more of your time. You have to go to work later, and I need to go home to wait for Ni'er and Guangtian to come back to their parents' home."
Last night, while having dinner at the Li family's house, Zhong Ying overheard Li Ming mentioning in casual conversation that, considering it was an essential custom for married women to return to their parents' home, he made a special exception for Liu Guangtian and Zhong Ni, granting their father Zhong Qiushou and younger brother Zhong Shuanzhu a day off so they wouldn't have to come to work.
Other members of the production team went to work as usual, and Zhong Ying was no exception.
After seeing Cao Fang off, Li Linshi noticed that Zhong Ying was frowning and deep in thought. He assumed she was saddened by her aunt's departure, so he stepped forward, put his arm around her shoulder, and gently comforted her, saying, "All good things must come to an end. Aunt should start a new chapter in her life."
Zhong Ying still had a furrowed brow. "I just... can't quite put my finger on it, but I just feel a little uneasy."
"Uneasy?" Li Linshi asked, puzzled.
"It feels like I've set a flag..." Zhong Ying murmured. Then, remembering that Li Lin didn't understand, she explained it to him, "It's like 'I'll go home and get married after this battle,' or 'I'll quit after this deal,' and then it ends in a 'bad ending.' 'Bad ending' means a tragic ending..."
After absorbing all sorts of new concepts, Li Linshi quickly understood Zhong Ying's concerns. "Do you think that if Auntie leaves after Zhong Ni's homecoming, it's like setting a flag?"
Zhong Ying nodded.
“No, it won’t happen,” Li Linshi reassured her. “Don’t forget that your aunt is very strong. Even if I were to go head-to-head with her, it wouldn’t be so easy for me to beat her.”
Zhong Ying thought about it and realized that it made sense. Her aunt was no ordinary woman; she was a female ghost with superhuman strength. What was she worried about?
Zhong Ying stopped overthinking, quickly washed up and changed her clothes, and went to her in-laws' "big canteen" next door for a meal.
On the other side, the Liu family was also having breakfast together. They were in separate rooms but not separate households. The wives sat next to their husbands and looked after their children as they ate.
"Guangtian's wife, when you go back to your parents' home later, take those red eggs and three catties of white flour with you. Your sister-in-law has already wrapped them up and put them in the basket on that stool over there," Lin Shuhong instructed at the dinner table. "There's not much, so tell your father not to mind."
Zhong Ni quickly shook her head, swallowed the food in her mouth, and thanked them repeatedly, "This is no small gift. Thank you, Father and Mother, and thank you, Sister-in-law."
Lin Shuhong's gaze then fell on her second daughter-in-law, and she asked with concern, "Mancang's wife, why do you look so pale? Are you not feeling well? Why don't you ask your father to tell the team leader that you can take a day off and rest at home?"
Fan Dani's face was a little pale, but she forced herself to be cheerful and shook her head, "Mother, I'm fine."
After dinner, the Liu family went to work, while Liu Guangtian accompanied his wife Zhong Ni back to her parents' home.
Zhong Shuanzhu had been waiting at the door for a while. When he saw the two of them coming, his big eyes, which resembled his sister's, lit up and he called out, "Sister, brother-in-law!"
Upon hearing the sound, Cao Fang eagerly floated over, while Zhong Qiushou remained seated in the main room.
"Okay, okay..." Cao Fang looked her daughter up and down and said repeatedly.
Whether a woman is living a good life or not can actually be seen from her face. Before she died, she was still alive, but her face showed a kind of lifeless decay. On the other hand, Zhong Ni's cheeks are rosy and her eyes are bright. She looks like she is living a happy life.
When Zhong Qiushou saw his daughter and son-in-law enter the door, he was taken aback. In a daze, he recalled Cao Fang from the past; she looked so much like her mother…
As soon as Zhong Ni got home, she skillfully rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen to start cooking. Normally, the mother would prepare the banquet for her daughter's return home after marriage, but now she had to cook it herself.
"Sister, let me help you." Zhong Shuanzhu went into the kitchen. "Dad brought out the wine and he and brother-in-law have already started drinking."
Zhong Ni frowned disapprovingly, "Drinking before the food is even cooked?"
"Or just sit there?" Even though no one else was around, Zhong Shuanzhu lowered his voice and muttered, "My brother-in-law is really like a block of wood, only answering one question at a time."
Zhong Ni smiled shyly, pursing her lips, "As long as he does a lot, that's fine."
Cao Fangpiao, standing to the side, nodded in agreement. "It's better than that man who only talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk."
Zhong Ni, having finished her chores, deftly chopped vegetables. Her gaze swept over the unchanging kitchen as she asked her younger brother, "How have you and Dad been eating these past few days? Who's been cooking?"
“We’ll just have to make do,” Zhong Shuanzhu pouted. “Dad can’t cook, so I have to do it. At least I’ve seen my sister cook when I’ve helped out.”
Zhong Ni could imagine what her younger brother's cooking would be like; it would probably be just passable. But there was nothing she could do. She was married and couldn't keep going back to her parents' house every day to cook for the elderly and the young. She had her own life to live.
Fortunately, Zhong Shuanzhu was a sensible person and didn't say anything to make Zhong Ni feel awkward. He just jokingly said, "Sis's back means I can finally have a good meal. I'm going to eat my fill!"
Zhong Ni smiled and said, "Then I'll cook more food."
There was indeed a lot of food on the table at the end. The lunch was plentiful and was almost completely eaten up. The wine jugs were empty and lying on the ground, and people were getting drunk one by one.
Liu Guangtian was the first to pass out from drinking. He was bad at talking and didn't know how to say nice things to please his father-in-law, so he could only drink cup after cup with him.
Zhong Qiushou closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, drunk.
Even Zhong Shuanzhu, taking advantage of his father and brother-in-law drinking, secretly poured a little rice wine into his own cup. He was young and it was the first time he had ever drunk something like this, so he got drunk after just a few sips.
The only person who was still conscious was Zhong Ni.
No wonder Captain Li granted them a day off; he probably anticipated this situation. Zhong Ni thought to herself, while struggling to keep her head aching as she helped everyone back into their rooms.
Zhong Ni first carried Liu Guangtian by the arm and helped him to lie down in her previous room; then she helped her younger brother, Shuanzhu, back to his own room.
Cao Fang couldn't bear to see her daughter working so hard, so she secretly helped her carry part of the weight.
Even so, helping the two drunken men back to their house left Zhong Ni exhausted. She stood there to catch her breath before helping her father back to his house.
Zhong Qiushou squinted as he watched his daughter use all her strength to carry him by the arm and support his body as they walked toward the bed. Suddenly, a wicked thought surged into his mind.
Zhong Ni had just walked to the bedside and was about to put her father down when suddenly the world spun around her and she was pinned to the bed.
Zhong Ni was shocked, and even Cao Fang, who was standing next to her, was stunned, as if she had been hit on the head with a hammer. They were all shocked by Zhong Qiushou's sudden attack and couldn't come back to their senses.
Zhong Qiushou's dark face was flushed with the redness of drunkenness, making him look like a vengeful ghost. "I've been a widower for seventeen years. Your mother owes me, so come and pay it back—"
As he spoke, one of his men ripped open the collar, and the loose button fell to the ground.
Zhong Ni's face turned pale instantly. Realizing what Zhong Qiushou was about to do, she immediately struggled violently, her voice trembling with fear, "Father! Father, are you going to ruin my good life?"
"I don't even have a good life myself, so why should you have one?" Zhong Qiushou used his male strength to suppress Zhong Ni. "Your mother is my wife, and you are my daughter. You should both be mine!"
No matter how hard Zhong Ni struggled, it seemed futile. Her cries for help went unheard. Her younger brother and husband were drunk, and everyone else in the production team was working in the fields. No one could save her… Tears streamed down her face as darkness descended upon her world in an instant.
"Ah!!!" Cao Fang came to her senses; she was practically going crazy!
Zhong Qiushou was feeling smug about his strength as a man, but the next second he was thrown away by an even greater force. Then, something like an iron clamp gripped his neck. He struggled desperately, reaching out to pull away, but he couldn't break free or grab onto anything.
Cao Fang's face was fierce, and her eyes revealed a terrifying, inhuman aura. "You old beast! You've been like this all these years. Years ago, you wanted to harm your son because you saw your brother was doing well. Now that your daughter has finally divorced you and can have a good life, you want to harm her too..."
Zhong Ni scrambled to her feet, her limbs weak, and looked at Zhong Qiushou, who was lying on the ground struggling in fear.
She couldn't see Cao Fang, so naturally she couldn't sense the gaze Cao Fang was giving her.
Cao Fang looked at her daughter. If it weren't for her presence today, she couldn't even imagine what would have happened to her daughter next!
In the fields, the members of the Tonggan Production Team worked diligently, oblivious to everything around them.
Li Lin, who was standing beside Zhong Ying to cool her down from the sun, suddenly stood up straight. He heard a sharp, indignant shout, and his heart sank. "Something's happened."
Upon hearing the sound, Zhong Ying was startled and immediately straightened up.
Li Linshi wanted to pull Zhong Ying away, but there were still many people in the surrounding fields, so he had to give up. "I'll go check the situation first."
After he finished speaking, his body shattered, scattering into countless droplets of water that merged into the soil.
Li Linshi can use water escape, while Zhong Ying uses the trick of urinating to escape.
"Dad, I need to go home and use the outhouse!" Zhong Ying shouted hurriedly, put down the hoe in her hand, and ran away.
Li Ming and Zhong Chunsheng were left looking at each other in bewilderment. It's no wonder they both subconsciously looked up, after all, they were each other's fathers.
Zhong Ying ran very fast, not stopping at her own doorstep at the village entrance, but running all the way into the village.
Li Linshi arrived earlier than her. When he saw the situation inside the house, he was shocked and immediately wanted to go forward and pull Cao Fang away.
"Lin Shi, don't come any closer!" Cao Fang said with a stern face, having calmed down by now. "I know what I'm going to do."
Li Linshi wanted to stop them, but when he caught a glimpse of Zhong Ni's collar, he quickly turned his head away and didn't go forward again.
Cao Fang still gripped Zhong Qiushou's neck tightly, even tightening her grip further.
She wanted to kill him.
Zhong Qiushou is like a sore that never heals. He can't stand seeing others do well. Zhong Chunsheng was able to cut her losses and sever ties with this brother in time, but how can her two children sever ties with this father?
Even though the old woman didn't help much, and it was her daughter Zhong Ni who raised her younger brother, in the eyes of the world, the heavy burden of filial piety still weighed on the two children's heads.
Even if Zhong Ni tells everyone what happened today, it probably won't have any impact on Zhong Qiushou. On the contrary, people will gossip about her daughter behind her back.
But if we keep this old man around, who knows when he might suddenly become wicked again and ruin his daughter's good days, or even his future good days?
Since that's the case, she removed the "wound" for the children.
Cao Fang knew what she was doing and what the consequences would be, but she still did it resolutely.
Zhong Ying burst into her uncle's house, panting heavily. The first thing she saw was Zhong Qiushou's slumped hand. Her eyes widened in shock, and she cried out, "Auntie—!"
Zhong Ni looked at her cousin, her expression instantly turning to astonishment and surprise, "...My mother?"
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The author's note: My departed loved ones are protecting me from beyond the netherworld; I cried so loudly.
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