"As I said, we're currently eating at your Zhao family's restaurant. We've finished our meal, and it's time for us to leave!"
"No, if you want to leave, go ahead and leave. Anyway, you're not welcome in my home."
After saying this, Zhao Wenhua plopped down in a chair and ignored Li Shi's words. Seeing that Zhao Wenhua was ignoring her, Li Shi rushed to Gu Changgeng's side, tugging at his sleeve and saying, "Father, I beg you, we've worked so hard to earn some money, we shouldn't leave this place like this. Even if we have to leave, we should stay here until we're old and too weak to walk before we can leave."
Li said with a mournful face.
Gu Changgeng was a little unhappy that she was holding his hand, but he knew that Li must have something she wanted his help with.
"Alright, that's enough."
Upon hearing that Gu Changgeng had agreed, Li Shi released Gu Changgeng's sleeve and stared at him pitifully with her eyes.
"Just say what you have to say!" Gu Changgeng glanced at Li Shi with disdain.
"Oh, Dad, I know, you must have a way."
"What can I do?"
"Oh, Father, you must help us! I know our family is having a very hard time right now. My second son and I have been here all this time, but we haven't earned any money at all. We've almost spent it all. Look at how our land is lying fallow! This is all our grain! We don't just want to grow some grain to feed ourselves; more importantly, we want to feed our children!" As Li Shi spoke, she cried even more bitterly.
"Alright, alright, stop crying."
"Dad, I beg you, you're the eldest, you must have a way, right? Please help us, we can't just leave like this. If you leave, how are we supposed to live? Look at the third brother and the others, they're all married, and it's just you and me left. If neither of us has anyone to take care of us, then our lives are over."
"Alright, alright, I know." Seeing his wife crying uncontrollably, Gu Changgeng was also a little annoyed.
"I know you two want to go back to the old house, but as I've said before, I won't agree to you going back! You should just stay in this village!"
"Old man, how could you do this? How could you treat me like this?"
"Shut up! If you cry again, you can go back to the old house yourself. The Zhao family doesn't support idlers!" After saying this, Gu Changgeng turned and went inside. Hearing his father say this, Zhao Wenhua could only sigh, "Sigh~"
"Wenhua, don't be sad. I believe Dad will agree to our request. Don't worry, we'll definitely be able to stay here in the countryside. When we get old, we'll go back to the old house," Li said with a smile. Zhao Wenhua shook his head bitterly upon hearing this and remained silent.
Gu Sang and Zhang Shi were very worried when they saw Gu Changgeng walk out of the house with an angry expression. They wondered if Zhao Wenhua had argued with Old Man Zhao again. Gu Changgeng looked at Gu Sang and Zhang Shi, then asked coldly, "How did it go? What did Zhao Wenhua say?"
"Boss, I'm afraid that's unlikely." Zhang Shi spoke up somewhat embarrassedly as soon as Gu Changgeng finished asking. Seeing Zhang Shi's expression, Gu Changgeng immediately became annoyed. "What do you mean, unlikely? Just tell me clearly!"
"We've made it very clear, but Wenhua just won't agree. He absolutely refuses to let us go back to the old house!" Zhang said somewhat embarrassed. "Hmph! There's nothing more to say about this. You two figure it out yourselves. I'm not involved anymore!" After saying that, Gu Changgeng stormed off. Zhang and Gu Sang shook their heads helplessly.
The next morning, Li knocked on the door, but found that Zhao Wenhua was not inside, and she did not hear Zhao Wenhua's footsteps. "Wenhua, Wenhua, it's your mother! Please open the door quickly! I know you didn't sleep all night. Please open the door quickly!" Li called out in fear.
However, all she received in response was silence. "Oh no!!!!" Li cried out in a panic. She really hadn't expected that Zhao Wenhua wouldn't answer her. Where had he gone so early in the morning?
Li stood there with a worried expression, wondering if Zhao Wenhua had gone out to play or to town. Otherwise, why hadn't she seen him all morning? He hadn't done this before, and she wondered where he had gone. He hadn't come back for so long; could something have happened to him?
And so, Mrs. Li waited in the same spot.
It wasn't until noon that Zhao Wenhua slowly came out, looking exhausted, and said, "Mom, what have you been doing outside?"
"No...nothing, I just wanted to ask, Wenhua, I haven't seen you all morning. I thought you went out, so I waited for you in your yard, but you didn't come back. Tell me, where have you been all morning?" Li said anxiously. "It's nothing, I just went for a walk," Zhao Wenhua said calmly.
"Taking a walk? What walk? I've never seen you run ahead."
"Mother, you don't understand. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean you didn't see it. Mother, you should go back and have breakfast." After saying that, he turned and left. "Oh dear!" Seeing her son's attitude, Li was very annoyed.
"Mother, don't worry. The eldest son is actually a kind person. I reckon he wouldn't do something like abandoning our family. You can rest assured!" Zhang comforted Li when she saw her depressed look.
"Sigh!" Li sighed helplessly and then went home. After watching Li leave, Zhang sighed, "Sigh, do you think the third son and his family will cause any trouble when they go back to the old house this time? Do you think we should repair our house?"
"Repair it? Let's not bother. Our house is already in terrible shape; if we repair it, who knows what these people will say about us when they see it!" Zhang said, looking at Gu Changgeng with some worry. Gu Changgeng nodded. "Yes, I think so too. In just a short while, who knows what these people will say about us? We shouldn't rush into this."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
