In the main room, Zhao's mother sat by the bed, threading clumsily under the dim oil lamp.
As the night deepened, the air in the house was filled with dullness and depression.
"Old man," Zhao's mother called softly. Her voice echoed in the empty room, sounding a little weak. "The second son's wife doesn't seem to be willing to adopt Qingyun."
She bit her lower lip and continued, "How about we just forget it? After all, forcing is not a solution."
There was a hint of helplessness and compromise in Zhao's mother's words. She knew that she could not make the decisions in this family.
The flickering light of the oil lamp stretched out Zhao's mother's shadow, casting it on the dilapidated wall, making her look so lonely and fragile.
Zhao Daqing took a deep breath of the last wisp of smoke from the pipe and exhaled with satisfaction. However, his throat suddenly felt itchy and he couldn't help coughing. A mouthful of thick phlegm fell to the ground with a "pop".
"The second brother's wife still hasn't come to her senses." Zhao Daqing shook his head and sighed. Now that the matter had been said, he could only stand firmly on the side of the eldest brother.
"She didn't think about it. Once the second son left, she, a woman with nothing to do, would be lucky enough to raise the child. How could she have the energy to support Qingyun's studies?"
"Hey... come on, family members should help each other. The eldest brother is willing to adopt Qingyun and continue to support his studies. If it were someone else, who would be willing to take on such a big burden?"
Mother Zhao thought to herself that if it were her, she probably wouldn't be willing to give her own child to someone else.
Zhao Daqing sat there, holding his pipe between his hands, tapping the table unconsciously, his brows furrowed, thinking hard about how to deal with the problem before him.
"If the second son's wife really doesn't want to give Qingyun to the eldest son, then we should split up the family and let the second branch start a new life."
After thinking deeply for a while, Zhao Daqing finally squeezed out these words. He firmly believed that Qian Chunhua would not choose to split up the family for the sake of a child.
"But what if she is really that stubborn?" Mother Zhao felt a little uneasy.
Zhao Daqing glared at his wife and said, "This is not up to her.
The second oldest is still alive, and the third oldest is at Yue's house. When we grow old, we can only rely on the eldest oldest. If we don't help the eldest oldest now, will he be willing to support us in our old age?"
He sighed, slowly stood up, hunched over, and staggered towards the bed, ready to rest.
The words that Zhao's mother wanted to refute seemed to be blocked in her throat and she swallowed them back silently.
Indeed, if possible, they would not want to go to the point of splitting up.
The departure of their second son made the two old people seem to have experienced the vicissitudes of life and aged ten years overnight.
They not only have to consider the living, but also plan for their own later years.
In the warm light and shadow of the east wing, boss Zhao Yongqiang was lying on the bed with his legs crossed leisurely, humming a light tune, his face full of satisfaction.
His wife, Li Cuihong, was carefully taking out an exquisite small cloth bag from her box.
Li Cuihong walked to the bedside happily and placed the cloth bag gently next to the pillow.
As the cloth bag was opened, a silver light flashed, and the white silver was revealed, sparkling with an alluring luster.
"Zhao Yongqiang, you are so awesome. All this money is ours." Li Cuihong counted the silver carefully while looking at Zhao Yongqiang with admiration. Her eyes were full of worship.
Zhao Yongqiang's face was filled with pride and satisfaction. "Fortunately, I am very smart. When the escort agency brought back the second brother's body a few days ago, I took the initiative to step forward and warmly entertained them.
They mistakenly thought that I was the head of the Zhao family, so they gave me the second son's pension, a full two hundred taels of silver."
"Well, with this huge sum of money, plus the thirty or so taels we saved before, our family now has a total of more than two hundred and thirty taels of silver."
After counting the silver, Li Cuihong wrapped the small cloth bag with satisfaction and planned to fall asleep with the bag of silver in her arms that night.
Since getting the money, Li Cuihong has counted it repeatedly every night.
Zhao Yongqiang caught a glimpse of the greed in Li Cuihong's eyes, and an indescribable sense of satisfaction surged in his heart, as if this heavy bag of silver was the spoils of his small family, won by his sweat and wisdom.
“With this money in hand, Qingyun won’t have to worry about his studies after he returns.” Li Cuihong thought of her outstanding son, and the future status of a student, a scholar, or even a juren seemed to be within reach, and a beautiful feeling arose in her heart.
However, Zhao Yongqiang poured a bucket of cold water on her and firmly denied her idea.
"What's wrong with you? Don't you want Qingyun to continue his studies?" Li Cuihong stood up hastily, with a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.
Zhao Yongqiang rolled his eyes at him, with a sly smile on his face, "Who said I don't support Qingyun's studies? What I mean is that we don't have to use this bag of silver, but let parents use their savings to support Qingyun."
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