Chapter 137 Going to Town to Look at Houses
Village Chief Wu drank a second bowl of wine with Bai Zilin, and then he poured Bai Zilin a third bowl of wine. After Bai Zilin finished the third bowl of wine, he waved his hand with a flushed face and said, "I can't drink anymore, Uncle. You have a really good capacity for alcohol. I'll rest for a while and then we can continue drinking. I'm not drunk yet."
With a flushed face, Village Chief Wu patted Bai Zilin on the shoulder: "Okay, you rest for a while and then we'll continue drinking."
Bai Zilin nodded groggily, pretending to be drunk and slumped on the table. Village Chief Wu looked at the others and said, "Look, he's already drunk after only three bowls of wine. You all keep eating, I'll take Bai Zilin home."
Zhao Laohan stood up from another table: "I'll go see him off."
He was about to help Bai Zilin up when Village Chief Wu pushed him away, saying, "No need. I'm just going out for some fresh air. You eat yours."
Zhao Laohan sat back down awkwardly, wondering why Village Chief Wu insisted on delivering it personally, since it didn't matter who delivered it. It was strange; yesterday he accused Bai Zilin of stealing 50 taels of silver from him, and today they were acting like this.
Village Chief Wu helped Bai Zilin out of his house and headed towards the hillside. When they passed Liu Ye's house, he saw that the gate was closed, so he continued to pull Bai Zilin forward until they reached the top of the mountain. Village Chief Wu then dragged Bai Zilin to a large pit and pushed him into it.
Bai Zilin fell into the pit and struggled for a couple of moments before falling still. Village Chief Wu said viciously, "Bai Zilin, Changgui is waiting for you up ahead. Go down there and be my son's slave! If it weren't for you, how could I have lost my son and lost 50 taels of silver? Humph! Just wait to freeze to death!"
After finishing his sentence, Village Chief Wu turned and left. By the time he returned home, the banquet was almost over, and half of the guests had left. A group of old women were washing dishes in the yard. Zhao Laohan came out of the house and said, "Village Chief Wu has been sent back."
Village Chief Wu nodded with a stern face: "I dropped Bai Zilin off at his doorstep and came back. There's nothing else going on at home, so you can go back now. Thanks to you today, I'll treat you to a drink another day."
Old Zhao waved his hand with an awkward smile and said, "Okay, then I'll head back first. If anything happens at home, just call me, and I'll be there in a minute..."
As the sun set, Bai Zilin climbed over the wall and returned to the house. Liu Ye was eating: "Brother Bai, you're back. Why didn't I hear the gate open?"
Bai Zilin sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and took a bowl to serve rice: "I climbed over the wall to get in. It's too cold outside. I felt bad that you would have to go through the trouble of opening the door. Hehe, it's faster to climb over the wall."
Liu Ye didn't think much of it. She put a slice of meat into his bowl and asked curiously, "How did the funeral go? The Wu family must be very sad."
Bai Zilin nodded: "That's for sure. Granny Wu has cried herself to death several times, and Village Chief Wu is so heartbroken he wants to go with his son. Parents' hearts are truly full of love and worry. We'll go to town to look at houses tomorrow."
Liu Ye nodded: "Okay, I wonder if there will be any customers at the noodle shop today. If there aren't any, Erdan and the others will be worried too."
Bai Zilin picked out a piece of lean meat and put it in Liu Ye's bowl: "Let's see how things go. Things will be better after the New Year. The drought these past two years has been terrible for everyone. Whether you have money or not, life is hard."
After finishing his meal, Bai Zilin went to the backyard to feed the cows and then went back to his room to sleep. Liu Ye also took off her shoes and went to bed on the kang (a heated brick bed). In the middle of the night, dark clouds covered the moon. Bai Zilin climbed over the wall again and went to the village chief Wu's house without anyone noticing. He knocked the chief unconscious and carried him away into the night.
The next morning, Liu Ye and Bai Zilin went to town after breakfast. Liu Ye's newly bought house was on Lotus Leaf Street, the third courtyard on the first street.
Liu Ye took out the key and opened the gate. The two of them came into the yard: "Brother Bai, look at this yard, isn't it nice? Everything is new, and the house is even better. It's fully furnished. If we were to buy it ourselves, the furniture alone would cost a lot of money."
Bai Zilin looked around the yard and nodded with satisfaction: "It's really nice. The yard is big enough, and there are enough houses. 1, 2, 3, 4, wow, 16 rooms! Hehe, we can have as many children as we want without any problems. Hehe, Liu Ye, you'll have to work hard from now on."
Willow Leaf gave him a shy glare: "Get lost! I'll only have two for you at most. I'm not going to have that many. More people means more trouble. I'd find even my own children a hassle." (ω) Hey
She took the key and opened the door to the main house. The main house faced south and had four rooms in a row: a kitchen, a storage room, a living room, and a large living room. It was fully furnished, but no one had lived there for half a year. It was covered in dust, and there were small animal footprints on the floor, which looked like rats.
Bai Zilin fetched a bucket of water from the well and then he and Liu Ye cleaned the house. They cleaned for a whole day before finally finishing. Before sunset, the two returned to the village. When they arrived at the door of Village Chief Wu's house, they saw that Village Chief Wu's family was holding a funeral. There were people inside and outside the courtyard. Granny Wu and Wu Xincao were kneeling in front of the coffin, crying their hearts out.
Granny Wu slapped her thigh and cried, "Husband, how could you be so heartless? You just abandoned us, a widow and her orphan, and left like this! Waaah! Husband, Changgui, if you haven't gone far, please take me with you. I don't want to live anymore. Let me go with you, so our family can be reunited in the afterlife. Husband, son, my son, my husband...!"
Wu Xincao also cried uncontrollably, lying on the ground sobbing and unable to get up. Why was her life so bitter? Her older brother had just died, and now her father was gone too. How would she and her mother live in the future? Wouldn't the villagers bully them? When her father was alive, he often bullied the villagers by taking advantage of his position as village chief.
"Father, oh my father, you've left us like this, how are Mother and I supposed to live? Father, oh my father, oh my father, oh my father, oh my father."
Liu Ye looked at Bai Zilin in shock: "No way, Village Chief Wu is dead? He was perfectly fine yesterday, how could he suddenly be gone?"
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