The Little Widower (farming)

66

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Qing saw the county lanterns for the first time.

He lived in the backyard of the escort agency in the county for a period of time years ago. This time, because he didn't want to spend extra money, he lived in the backyard of the escort agency again.

At night, the county town was very lively. Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing's hand tightly, fearing that the crowd would scatter them.

Every lantern was exquisite in its own way. Chen Qing was not tall and could not be seen unless he squeezed forward. Zhou Yuan simply picked him up and let him sit on his shoulders, just like before.

Li Xin was taller than Chen Qing and could not be seen from behind. He glanced at Qi Shuning beside him, who was thinner than him. After rolling his eyes at him, he pushed forward desperately. Without marrying a tall man, he had to work hard on his own. Who could It's all your choice.

The lanterns are exquisitely made, and each layer seems to be an extraordinary story. Chen Qing is fascinated by each one.

There were also people who guessed lantern riddles at the lantern festival, but they were all illiterate, so they didn't try to solve the lantern riddles. Now it was Qi Shuning's turn to show off his skills.

Li Xin was actually not very interested in lantern riddles, but Qi Shuning held his hand and gave him money to guess. As long as he guessed all the lantern riddles correctly, he would get the first prize, which was a Xiu jade hairpin with carved It's the Lingxiao flower.

Qi Shuning felt that the hairpin matched Li Xin very well, so he finished guessing all the lantern riddles.

When he got the Xiuyu hairpin, Qi Shuning took it and carefully inserted it into Li Xin's bun. His bun was very simple, and only one jade hairpin could be used as all the decorations.

Li Xin cursed: "I don't like it." But her cheeks turned red again.

Qi Shuning said with a smile: "Although I'm not as strong as my elder brother, I can read better than him. Whatever you want in the future, I can give it to you with my literary talent."

After hearing what he said, Zhou Yuan had a dark face and hit him on the head. For a moment: "Who are you calling uneducated!"

They were laughing and joking all the way through the lantern festival. Perhaps because of the hosta, Li Xin was quite gentle that night, which made Qi Shuning a little uncomfortable. After he said it, Li Xin was very gentle. Xin immediately darkened his face and slapped him on the back.

After the fifteenth year, the New Year is over, and the escort agency is about to start work. Zhou Yuan is now like a hands-off shopkeeper, with a dedicated person to discuss everything. When Meng Qi and Meng Shuanzi were in the sixteenth year, It was arranged to go to Linxian County and send a escort.

When he was sixteen, someone came to Zhou Yuan and told him about Sun Wei.

Under Zhou Yuan's previous hint, the people in the gambling house took this matter to heart. Sun Wei still owed money to the gambling house, and he was stubborn and always thought that he could get his money back in the next gamble. After turning around, he owed more and more money to the gambling house. No one in the Sun family knew about this. His previous sole proprietorship was all stolen from home. He was somewhat desperate before, so he took the idea to Aunt Sun. On his head, he had no choice but to give up when he met Zhou Yuan.

During the Chinese New Year, the gambling shop's business was even better. After Sun Wei lost all his money again, the gambling shop's thugs broke his legs and carried him to the door of Sun's house. Mrs. Sun took a look at her house His eldest grandson was beaten like this. He couldn't believe that his always obedient child would go to a gambling house, but the fingerprints he drew could never be denied.

Sun Kang was so angry that he jumped up and down. The second daughter-in-law of the Sun family started a family separation. Old Mrs. Sun was so angry that she fell to the ground. The house was in a mess. She fell to the ground in the cold winter, and no one helped her. It paralyzed people with cold.

Sun Kang's husband felt sorry for his son and gave all the family's savings to the people in the gambling house, but it was still not enough. The people in the gambling house also knew not to push people into despair, and only said that they would come to collect money every month in the future. .

As for the paralyzed old Mrs. Sun, neither family wanted to support her. She was usually the backbone of the family, but when she collapsed, she was hated by everyone. Finally, under the auspices of the village chief, they said that the family would support her for a month, and no one could escape.

After knowing this, Zhou Yuan nodded and expressed his gratitude to the visitor.

After hearing this, Chen Qing frowned: "But will they go find trouble with my mother?"

Zhou Yuan shook his head: "Don't worry, I'm here."

Sure enough, they all guessed the shamelessness of the Sun family.

A paralyzed old lady was of no use anymore, and she was still a burden to them. Ever since Sun Wei's incident came out, the three brothers who had been quarreling finally sat together calmly and discussed the old lady's matter. The three brothers were united. They worked together to rummage through Old Mrs. Sun's house. Except for a few old silver bracelets, there was nothing valuable. They didn't trust each other, and they all thought that the old lady was partial and had given the money to others long ago.

When they couldn't find anything valuable, they became even more angry and felt that Mrs. Sun was a drag.

They didn't have the guts to kill the old lady with a pack of medicine, but they really didn't want to support this burdensome person, so they thought of Aunt Sun who was already married.

The three of them hit it off immediately, and the next day they wrapped Aunt Sun in a blanket and carried her to Luohe Village. They were all children, so why did the old lady only want them to raise her?

When Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing returned home, they heard the commotion in Aunt Sun's yard. Chen Qing hurriedly ran home. When he arrived, he found that the three brothers Sun Kang were blocking Aunt Sun, and there was a paralyzed old Mrs. Sun in the yard.

Aunt Sun's face turned red and she kept scolding the two brothers.

"My mother has been partial to you since I was little. Now that my mother is paralyzed, do you think of me?"

"Do you remember that when I borrowed money from you, you said that we would cut off the relationship? What? Are you talking nonsense?"

Sun Kangyi Zhang Laolian didn't care at all: "Mom has been kind to you in raising me. You can't escape even if you break your bones and connect your tendons."

"Bah!" Aunt Sun pointed at Sun Kang, "You cheated on my betrothal gift when I got married. , I want to treat Meng Tao, you said we are not a family, but you came to my door and injured my Ah Qing, and the prison has not put you in jail, so you come to my house to act wild again!"

Chen Qing squeezed in front of Aunt Sun, Chen Qing grabbed her hand, and then glanced at Old Mrs. Sun who was lying on the ground after entering the door. She was thinly dressed and only wrapped in a blanket.

After thinking about it, he went to the house to get a quilt and covered her body. It would be really bad luck if she froze to death in this yard.

Old Mrs. Sun's face was covered with tears and snot. Chen Qing just glanced at it and had no other thoughts. She persecuted her mother so miserably and wanted to sell herself. If it weren't for Zhou Yuan, he wouldn't have known that he had been sold. What kind of situation was it? Chen Qing couldn't feel sympathy for her.

Zhou Yuan was behind Chen Qing. When Chen Qing came over, he went back home first, and then stood next to Aunt Sun.

His eyes were sharp, looking at the three brothers of the Sun family like a falcon: "Take your people and get out of my mother's house."

Sun Kang had always been afraid of Zhou Yuan, and now he heard him calling Aunt Sun Mom, seeing him protecting Chen Qing and Sun Cui, I finally figured out the relationship.

Sun Kang's heart was beating.

There was a confrontation in the courtyard for a while, and many people came around to watch the excitement. They all stretched their necks to watch, but because of Zhou Yuan, no one dared to make irresponsible remarks.

"Go away or not!"

"Why! If we support each other together, Sun Cui can't run away!" Sun Laosan frowned.

"Cough, cough, Cui, Cui." Old Mrs. Sun's throat seemed to be strangled, and she made intermittent sounds.

After all, Aunt Sun still couldn't bear it, and approached Old Mrs. Sun: "It was you who said back then that we should never have contact with each other until we die. It was you who said that we will sever ties in the future. I won't support you now. Am I wrong?"

"Ho ho ho, Cui, Cui." She could no longer move, and her whole body was twisted. Sun Cui thought about it and grabbed her hand.

"I'm a widow, and Ah Qing is also married. I can't support you, so just follow your son back." Aunt Sun wanted to break away from her hand.

But Mrs. Sun held her hand tightly, and seemed to want to pull her hand into the quilt, but her movement was too difficult, so it took a long time.

Aunt Sun felt something was stuffed into her hand by Old Mrs. Sun. Old Mrs. Sun used her last strength and whispered: "Don't, don't, say it."

Her voice was like a mosquito: "Wrong, wrong "

Aunt Sun retracted her hand: "I won't let you stay."

"Sun Cui!" Sun Kang pointed at Aunt Sun, "You have to stay whether you want to stay or not."

Aunt Sun and Sun Kang. Facing her, she no longer paid attention to Old Mrs. Sun on the ground.

When Zhou Yuan heard this, he directly inserted the knife into the ground. The scabbard made a squeaking sound when it came into contact with the ground: "Really?"

Seeing that he was about to use force, Old Mrs. Sun howled before anyone could react. , Old Mrs. Sun on the ground suddenly became short of breath, struggled for a few times and then stopped moving. Old Mrs. Sun, who had wanted to be dignified all her life, just died on the ground.

To be strong throughout life, to be miserable in old age, and to regret at the end of life is of no use. This is the life of Mrs. Sun.

Now the three brothers of the Sun family seemed to heave a sigh of relief, turned around and wanted to leave. Even Mrs. Sun's body did not want to be restrained, so Zhou Yuan stopped them: "You want to leave like this?"

Sun Kang frowned: "People are dead. Anyway, Sun Cui has experience in organizing funerals. What will happen if she does it again? She can still collect money for organizing funerals."

This is simply a knife in Aunt Sun's heart. Everyone knows that Aunt Sun gave her parents-in-law a lot of money in her early years. After a funeral, it was held for her husband not long after, and a few days ago, it was for her son.

Chen Qing, who had always been willing to hide behind Zhou Yuan, heard his words and was so angry that his hands were shaking. He walked up to Sun Kang and punched Sun Kang in the face.

Chen Qing's strength was not small, and it was unexpected. With one punch, Sun Kang's front teeth were shaking. By the time the Sun brothers reacted and were about to attack Chen Qing, Zhou Yuan's sword had already been unsheathed.

His face was full of anger, and a long knife shone with cold light: "I told you, take your people and get out of here."

Zhou Yuan had military exploits, and even if he killed someone, he didn't need to pay for it with his life. , which was a commendation given to him by the court.

The two Sun brothers got up and lifted Old Mrs. Sun up. Sun Kang's words just reminded them that their goal had been achieved. They no longer needed to support a paralyzed old lady and receive gift money after a funeral.

As if they were afraid that Aunt Sun would regret it, they carried the body and ran away, attracting everyone's attention along the way.

After watching all the farce end, Aunt Sun saw the paper that Old Mrs. Sun had forced into her hand. It turned out to be a ten-tael silver note.

Aunt Sun only felt it was extremely ironic. She used to refuse to lend her money when she came to her house, saying that her daughter and brother were born to serve their brothers, but when death was imminent, she gave her the money.

Hasn't Mrs. Sun ever thought that she is also a daughter? Why do you persecute girls to this extent?

Chen Qing gently hugged Aunt Sun, and Aunt Sun touched Chen Qing's hair: "Mom is fine."

Zhou Yuan stood in front of them, accompanying them silently.

But this matter will not be settled like this. What Sun Kang and the others did today has been at a disadvantage. If Aunt Sun wants to sue them, she will definitely put them in jail.

The imperial law says: Those who do not support their parents with all their heart will be punished with a fifty-fifty rod and three months in prison.

Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing's hand, rubbed his fingers, and said to Aunt Sun, "Mom, the Sun family will suffer retribution."

Aunt Sun had already burst into tears, not for Mrs. Sun. For her hard and difficult years.

On the seventh day after the death of Mrs. Sun, Mrs. Sun, dressed in mourning clothes, beat the drum and sued her natal brother for abandoning his own mother, causing the death of Mrs. Sun, and brought a number of witnesses.

After all, the Sun brothers did not think about this when doing things. They were not familiar with the law. In the past, they only cared about their immediate needs. In the past, Mrs. Sun gave advice, but now they don't understand anything. They only think that it is a matter that comes from behind closed doors. , so people in both villages saw how the three brothers tortured and abused Old Mrs. Sun.

Villagers in Luohe Village who were watching the excitement made a big deal, saying that the old lady only had a thin blanket to keep warm during the cold winter months, and that long-term abuse led to the death of the old lady Sun.

The county magistrate immediately sent people to arrest the three Sun brothers and bring them to justice. According to the law, they were punished with fifty rods and imprisoned for three months.

From then on, under the supervision of the yamen at the top and the thugs from the gambling shop at the bottom, the three brothers of the Sun family could no longer make any trouble.

Aunt Sun did not exchange the ten-tael silver note. She kept the silver note. From then on, except for her surname, she had no connection with the Sun family.

This year has passed like this, and Mrs. Sun has not been affected at all. She did not go to Mrs. Sun's funeral, and she did not plan to ask for a memorial tablet for her. When a person dies, ashes return to dust, and dust returns to earth. She believes in her The days to come will get better and better.