Seeing that she had brought up her sad memories again, Chen Zhanliang quickly reminded her, "Alright, Cuiqin, don't stand here anymore, quickly take Qingya into the house and sit down."
"Yes, yes, hurry up and go inside."
When Mrs. Sun entered the house, she saw Da Bao and Xiao Yu unloading a full bamboo basket from their shoulders, and her eyes welled up with tears again.
"Qing'er, your second aunt doesn't know what to say to you. You've really helped our family a lot."
"Yes, how did you manage to bring so much food? We don't know how to thank you enough." Chen Zhanliang's nose also tingled with emotion.
Chen Qingqing shook her head and smiled, "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, don't be so polite with me. Back when we were kicked out and had nothing to eat, you secretly helped us. Now that you've separated your family, it's only right that I help you. After all, we're family."
"Yes, yes, we're family." Chen Zhanliang nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down his face from the emotion. He quickly turned his head away so no one would notice.
Sun wiped away her tears and grinned, "Your second aunt was right about you. You are a good child with a conscience."
Hearing her say that, Da Bao quickly chimed in, "Dad, Mom, my sister said that if you're willing, you can work at the sugar mill for ten coins a day."
"Really, Qing'er? You really want me to work at the sugar mill?" The unexpected surprise warmed Sun's heart.
Chen Qingqing nodded, "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, the sugar shop welcomes you anytime you're willing to go."
Mrs. Sun clapped her hands with joy, "Oh, this is wonderful! If it weren't for your grandma stopping me, I would have wanted to work at the sugar mill a long time ago."
“I’m willing to go too.” Chen Zhanliang nodded happily.
Chen Qingqing smiled and said, "Okay, you can go there directly tomorrow. Da Bao will arrange jobs for you."
Mrs. Sun was overjoyed, but then she suddenly remembered something and looked at Chen Qingqing, "Qing'er, I still need to ask you for a favor."
"What's wrong, Auntie? Just tell me."
"Here's what happened: the four acres of sandy land in Xishan were allocated to us. Although the land yields poor harvests every year, we don't want to leave it fallow."
Everyone in the village is eager to plant sugar beets, and I'd like to try planting some on those four acres of land too. Could you perhaps give us some seeds?
“Yes, everyone in the village has been planting sugar beets these past few days. Your second aunt and I discussed it, and if you have any extra seeds, we’ll plant sugar beets on our few acres of land too.” Chen Zhanliang nodded in agreement.
Before Chen Qingqing could speak, Da Bao interrupted, "Dad, Mom, aren't you just making things worse? My sister Qingqing bought all the beet seeds according to the land she registered for. There aren't any left now. Even if you wanted to plant them, you'd have to wait until next year."
“We just can’t make the decision, otherwise we would have signed up long ago.” Mrs. Sun smiled regretfully.
Chen Qingqing smiled and said, "Since you want to grow sugar beets, I'll ask the village head tomorrow if anyone has any leftover seeds. If they do, I'll bring them to you."
"Okay, that's a good idea."
"By the way, how's Erbao? Should we prescribe some calming medicine for him?"
"No need, Erbao is fine, he's already asleep in the west room."
"It's good that he's alright, but it's inevitable that such a young child will be traumatized by something like this. You should spend more time with him and talk to him more to prevent him from developing any lingering issues."
Mrs. Sun nodded. "Even adults would be terrified by something like this, let alone a child. I feel so sorry for him just thinking about how desperate he must have been."
"Second Aunt, you don't need to be too sad. In my opinion, let Erbao go to the academy with Chen Han from now on. We don't expect him to become anything great, but at least he can read and write."
Da Bao said, "Sister Qingqing, I asked Er Bao a long time ago. It's not that my parents don't want him to go to school, it's just that he doesn't want to study. He said that his head hurts whenever he sees a book."
Chen Qingqing smiled slightly, "In that case, let's not force ourselves. We can talk about it later!"
Sun nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Chen Qingqing got up and left.
As darkness fell, people who had been busy all day drifted off to sleep early.
Da Bao tossed and turned on the kang (a heated brick bed), unable to sleep, his mind filled with Chen Zhancai's ugly face.
To sell Erbao to a slave trader with such a heartless and cruel act is truly appalling.
This thing isn't human; its heart is utterly rotten...
He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and suddenly sat up, clenching his fists.
That bastard is worse than an animal; we have to teach him a lesson, or he'll never learn.
Thinking of this, he quietly dressed, got out of bed, and tiptoed out of the house.
He found a wooden stick in the yard and decided to go to the old house to keep watch. He planned to beat Chen Zhancai up to urinate in the middle of the night and teach him a lesson.
Upon arriving at the Chen family's old house, Da Bao saw an oil lamp still lit in the east room. He gently pushed open the gate, bent over, and went inside.
I tiptoed to the window and heard voices coming from inside.
Peeking through the crack in the window, I saw Chen Zhancai with a stern face, berating Old Man Chen and his wife.
"Father, Mother, I just don't understand. You had already agreed on everything with the slave trader. You signed the indenture, got the money, and that would have been the end of it. But why are you two dragging your feet like this? You've already got the money, and now I'm wondering where you're going to get me travel expenses."
"Oh, my good son, you don't understand, this has nothing to do with us, it's all that damned hag's fault. As long as the child is alright, that's all that matters."
But she was different; she examined it so meticulously, turning it over and over, as if she wanted to pick out some poop from its anus and taste it. I have no idea what she was trying to check.
“Yes, son, your mother is right. That matchmaker is like an animal inspector, looking at this and pinching that. If she hadn’t wasted our time, we would have taken the money and left long ago. We wouldn’t have let those bastards block our way.” Old Man Chen also explained.
Upon hearing these words, Da Bao was immediately filled with rage and wanted to rush in and vent his anger for Er Bao.
But reason told him that the time was not right and he should not act rashly.
Chen Zhancai shook his head and sighed, "Yes, this is all that brat's fault. If it weren't for her, with my second brother and sister-in-law's stubborn minds, they would never have imagined that we would sell Erbao to a slave trader, even if they smashed their heads."
Book categories, authors, and full-length book rankings
Homepage Click Ranking Recommended Ranking Favorites Ranking Temporary Bookshelf
PC version of all novels, latest updates, site map, member bookshelf
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
