The next morning, Battalion Commander Kong went to the barracks, and the children went to school. Zhou Lihua was at home alone packing her things. Suddenly, her second son ran in from outside: "Mom, give me some money, the third son has broken his head!"
Zhou Lihua was startled: "What did you say?"
"My third son has broken his head. Give me some money so I can take him to the hospital."
Zhou Lihua quickly took out all the money she had earned from selling the medicinal herbs: "Come on, I'll go with you."
The second son snatched the money away, saying, "No need, you stay home and wait. We'll be back in a bit."
"I……"
Zhou Lihua had barely uttered "I" when the second son grabbed the money and ran off. Zhou Lihua quickly chased after him, saying, "I'll go with you."
The second son ran even faster when he saw Zhou Lihua chasing after him. But Zhou Lihua was worried about her son, so she ran even faster than when the wolves had chased her last time.
Soon, Zhou Lihua caught up with the second brother. Just as Zhou Lihua was about to overtake the second brother, the second brother panicked and tripped her with his leg.
Thump! Zhou Lihua fell heavily to the ground.
The second brother said, "How could you be so careless?" and then ran away.
Zhou Lihua was running very fast when she suddenly tripped and fell to the ground… She was completely stunned. It took her a while to get up. Without even checking if she was injured, she ran straight to the hospital.
A moment later, the eldest, second, and third brothers came over from the other side. The third brother had a bandage wrapped around his head.
Seeing that the third son could walk on his own and there was no blood on the gauze, Zhou Lihua felt a little relieved: "Are you alright now?"
The third brother snorted as he looked at Zhou Lihua.
Zhou Lihua assumed that her third son was in a bad mood because he had fallen and injured himself, so she didn't think much of it.
The second brother tugged at the third brother's arm.
The third brother snorted again before turning his face away.
The second brother took some money out of his pocket: "It's alright, this is the rest of the money."
Just now, the eldest and third brothers wanted to leave all the money behind. The second brother disagreed. First, he was afraid Zhou Lihua would become suspicious. Second, he was afraid Zhou Lihua would feel bad about the expense. If Zhou Lihua felt bad, she might tell Battalion Commander Kong how much money the third brother had spent on his head injury. If Battalion Commander Kong became suspicious, they would be in trouble.
Zhou Lihua took the money, wanting to ask the third brother how he fell. The eldest, second, and third brothers had already walked past her.
After they left, Zhou Lihua realized that her knees were aching terribly. She limped home with her three sons. When she got home and took off her pants, she saw that both her knees were swollen.
In the next room, the third brother ripped the gauze off his head and threw it on the bed: "Damn it, they actually hid so much money."
Actually, Zhou Lihua didn't have much money. It was just that none of the three of them had started working yet, and Battalion Commander Kong didn't give them any pocket money, so they thought Zhou Lihua had a lot of money.
Eldest son: "Second son, write a letter to Grandma."
"good."
When Battalion Commander Kong returned for lunch, Lao San had wrapped the gauze around his head again. Seeing this, Battalion Commander Kong asked, "Lao San, what happened to your head?"
The third brother said he accidentally fell. The eldest and second eldest brothers took him to the hospital, and the doctor said he was fine and would be better in a couple of days.
Battalion Commander Kong thought it was normal for boys to bump and bruise themselves, so he just said, "Be more careful next time," and then ignored it.
The next day, the three brothers used the money they had swindled from Zhou Lihua to buy stamps and envelopes.
A few days later, Mrs. Kong received their letter.
Grandma Kong couldn't read, so she had her eldest grandson read it to her.
After Kong Dafu finished reading, Old Madam Kong slapped her thigh: "You good-for-nothing Zhou Lihua, I sent you to accompany the army so that you could serve my son and my grandson. But you've done just that, making my grandson work for you and even saving money on the side. Dafu, go to the village chief and get Grandma a letter of introduction. Grandma is going to teach that slut a lesson."
Kong Dafu had long wanted to visit the army, but he had never had the chance. "Grandma, it takes several transfers to get to my second uncle's place. You've never traveled far before, and I'm worried about you going so far away all at once. Why don't you write a letter to my second uncle?"
“Writing letters won’t do any good. Didn’t your three younger brothers say that your second uncle has been captured by that slut?”
“But the road is so far, and you can’t read, what if…” Kong Dafu looked at the old lady with a worried expression.
Grandma Kong thought about it and agreed. "Then...you go with Grandma."
"This..." Kong Dafu looked a little hesitant: "I would like to go with you, but if I go with you, I won't earn any work points."
Grandma Kong's eldest and third sons are illiterate, and her other grandsons are still young. If she wanted someone to accompany her, she could only ask Kong Dafu: "It's alright, it's just a few work points. I'll have your second uncle make up for it."
Kong Dafu was secretly pleased to hear this, but he didn't show it on his face at all: "Isn't this inappropriate?"
"What's wrong with that? It's settled then. Go and get a letter of introduction from the village chief."
"Are you really going?"
"Um."
"Oh well."
Grandma Kong had three sons; Battalion Commander Kong was the second. Kong Dafu was the eldest son's son. When the third son's wife learned that Grandma Kong was going to take Kong Dafu to see Battalion Commander Kong, she said to her third son, "Why should we only take the eldest son's son? No, our son has to go too."
"Our son is only twelve."
“Our son may be young, but he’s a smart one. No, if Dafu goes, our son has to go too.”
"Then... I'll go talk to Mother."
"Um."
The third son's wife's family was wealthy. Grandma Kong initially chose her because she liked the dowry, and then arranged for her to marry her son. Only after bringing her home did she realize she had married a shrew.
When the third son went to propose, Grandma Kong thought about it and agreed. Firstly, she felt that taking care of another child wouldn't be a problem. Secondly, if she hadn't agreed, her third son's wife would definitely have made a scene.
After the letter was sent, the three Kong brothers would often stroll around the entrance of the residential area. Their efforts paid off, and they finally got to see their grandmother.
As soon as the third son saw Grandma Kong, he rushed over: "Grandma, you've finally come. Grandma, let me tell you..." The third son felt that the letter was not clear enough, so as soon as they met, he told her everything that had happened at home in detail.
Zhou Lihua was organizing medicinal herbs at home when Old Madam Kong stormed in, leading Dafu, Xiangzi (from her third son's family), and Zhou Lihua's three sons. As soon as she entered, she yelled at Zhou Lihua, "You lowly hussy! Kneel down!"
The fourth and fifth children were helping Zhou Lihua organize the medicinal herbs. Grandma Kong yelled, and the two nearly fell to the ground in fright. After seeing who it was, the fourth child asked, "Grandma...Grandma, what brings you here?"
Grandma Kong glared at Zhou Lihua and said, "If I hadn't come, this family would have been in complete chaos. You filthy hussy, kneel down!"
In the past, Zhou Lihua would have been intimidated by Old Madam Kong's imposing manner. Now, however, she often spends time with Xiaoman, whose presence far surpasses that of Old Madam Kong. Old Madam Kong still has to yell, but Xiaoman, even sitting there silently, exudes a far greater aura than Old Madam Kong does now. Besides, Zhou Lihua is someone who has been chased by wolves.
Zhou Lihua looked at her three sons. The old lady had arrived without a word, and the three of them followed behind her... "Eldest son, second son, third son, did you call your grandmother?"
The third brother puffed out his chest: "That's right."
Zhou Lihua closed her eyes briefly. She stayed here for them, yet they sent people to deal with her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com