abnabooks Chapter 45 Patience
Chapter 45 Patience
I brought the bluefish again this time.
The two rushed to Blind Man's Gorge and found Gong Ziming's house.
Gong's mother looked even more haggard, her face devoid of color, and her left arm hung limply at her sides. "He hasn't come out since the last time he went into the mountains to gather herbs."
As she spoke, tears welled up in Gong's eyes. "It's getting cold, and even colder in the mountains," she said. "That child doesn't know..."
"Auntie, what happened to your arm?" Meng Chen asked.
"I fell when I went into the mountains to look for him, it's nothing serious." Gong's mother wiped away her tears with her cracked right hand and sighed, "Ever since he came back from the city, he's been sullen. It's also my fault for being useless. We had arranged a marriage for him, but the other party thought we were too poor and backed out. The boy hasn't said a word since..."
As Gong's mother spoke, she cried, and by the end, it was impossible to understand what she was saying; she seemed to be having a fit of hysteria.
Knowing he wouldn't get any details, Meng Chen said, "Auntie, let's go find a doctor first and have your arm checked, so it doesn't become a chronic condition."
Seeing that Gong's mother was just crying, Meng Chen went to the village head, paid off the deposit, borrowed a donkey cart, and took Gong's mother to the town to find a doctor.
When the doctor examined her, he discovered that Gong's mother had broken her arm. After a long period of work, setting the bone, prescribing medicine, Meng Chen drove the donkey back to Blind Man's Ravine.
After returning the donkey cart, he left two hundred coins for Gong's mother and five hundred coins for her neighbor, asking them to help Gong's mother with cooking and medicine. He also gave the village head one tael of silver, asking him to take Gong's mother to the town clinic again in half a month.
After finishing their work, it was almost dark. Gong's mother knelt down before Meng Chen, crying, and Meng Chen quickly helped her up.
After talking for a while, Meng Chen left the walnuts he had brought before leaving with the bluefish.
By the time I got home, it was already dark.
After a good night's rest, Qingyu got up in the morning, ate breakfast, and started packing.
"Don't waste money in the city besides eating and drinking. Don't buy ready-made clothes, buy some fabric and I'll cut them for you. And shoes, the ones they sell aren't sturdy and they don't look good either. I've made you several pairs!" Qingyu kept babbling on and on, even letting Meng Chen check her handiwork.
Meng Chen looked at the cloth shoes she had made. The workmanship was indeed quite good. The stitching was dense, and the soles were not only thick, but also had words sewn on them, namely the two characters "小人" (xiaoren, meaning "petty person").
"There are many options in the city, but don't forget your roots," Old Chen reminded him.
"I can't forget it." Meng Chen took out thirty taels of silver and handed it to Qingyu.
Previously, Meng Chen had done a favor for the Di family, but although he failed, he received forty taels of silver. He also received more than ten taels of loose silver and five hundred taels of silver notes from Gao Yuanyuan.
After spending some money, Meng Chen naturally didn't dare touch the silver notes, and still had more than forty taels left.
"Brother, you've really struck it rich!" Qingyu had never seen so much money before. Her eyes widened, but she didn't dare to accept it.
"Keep this safe for me. From now on, all the money I earn will be under your control." Meng Chen said with a smile, "Once we save up some more, we'll buy a house in the county town and live there. Then we can be like Yan Long's wife, eating sweets and meat every day."
Qingyu became shy, and when Meng Chen placed the silver in her hand, she blushed and finally couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, where's our scale?"
"Our scales are large, so they're not accurate," Old Chen said.
"How will you know if you don't try?" Qingyu argued irrationally. She found a scale, weighed the fish carefully three or four times, and finally said, "It's less than thirty-one taels, probably three or five qian short. This is enough to buy several acres of farmland."
Qingyu sighed, "Learning martial arts is still the fastest way to make money, it's like robbery!"
After chatting for a while longer, Meng Chen set off.
After passing Laolongtan, Qingyu wanted to see him off again, but Meng Chen was worried and told her not to.
Back at the martial arts school, it was only halfway through the morning.
Because persimmons are difficult to carry, Meng Chen only brought some walnuts this time. He gave one portion to Teacher Du, left one portion for his roommate, and then went with Du Ren to give one portion to Li Xiang Sheng.
Seeing that it was already noon, Meng Chen simply treated Li Xiang Sheng and Du Ren to another meal. Because Li Xiang Sheng had a lot of work to do at the yamen, he didn't drink any alcohol.
After dinner, on the way back to the martial arts school, Du Ren suddenly said, "Yesterday, Madam Di sent that little maid to look for you."
"Did they say what it was about?" Meng Chen asked.
"No, not at all. Why don't you go take a look? You might be able to find some more money," Du Ren said with a smile.
Meng Chen agreed and went directly to the Di family's house.
Upon arriving at the destination, they found the Di family's gate tightly shut, and the white banners hanging on the door had long been scattered by the wind and rain.
I knocked on the door, and it was the same old man who opened it.
Meng Chen entered the main hall, where Di Shi and west Yuanlin were already there. Upon asking, he learned that the two had gone to Caiyun Temple outside the city to pray for blessings and had just returned.
However, the two of them looked rather grim, probably because Yan Zhao had come to cause trouble again.
Or rather, after a few days of peace following Gao Yuan's death, the Yan family resumed their torment of the Di family.
Meng Chen wanted to help, but this time he truly couldn't. Or rather, he couldn't help for the time being. Yan Zhao was a martial artist of the second realm, and his father was far more capable than Gao Yuan's father.
"Sister-in-law, Brother Xiyuan, did you come to see me yesterday because of the cloth shop?" Meng Chen asked directly.
west Yuanlin nodded and said, "I heard a while ago that Clerk Gao's son died, and things were tense in the city, which is why no one came to bother my cloth shop. But yesterday, that scoundrel Wang went there again with his men, and it was no use reporting it to the authorities."
Meng Chen hesitated for a moment, then accepted the tea offered by the maid, and directly asked, "Brother Xiyuan, sister-in-law, have you considered this? They're just a few scoundrels; what right do they have to block your cloth shop? Why isn't the government doing anything? Why did Brother Li tell you to wait for Yan Long to return?"
The cousins fell silent for a moment, indicating that they had discussed it beforehand.
Looking at the two of them, Meng Chen couldn't help but recall the helplessness he felt when Yan Bao came to snatch his family's land deeds.
Now, this man and woman are completely unarmed and can be manipulated at will, without being able to resist in the slightest.
After a long silence, Madam Di sighed and said, "I had considered it, but I still held onto a sliver of hope."
Di's eyes reddened again, and she continued, "Brother Meng, you are still young, and there are some things you don't understand. I haven't given the Yan family any children, and now I'm widowed. I'm a rootless person, and I need to find someone to rely on."
"Fangmei was originally engaged to me, but she was forced to marry Yan Hu; it was arranged by my uncle and Yan Long. Now that Fangmei is free and young, we should..." Xi Yuanlin stammered, finally saying, "Our Great Yu Kingdom doesn't have any laws prohibiting widows from remarrying!"
"Yes, I can't be a widow forever, can I? I've always wanted to have a child, but after several years of marriage, my belly hasn't grown at all. The neighbors all say I'm a barren hen. I've gone to see a doctor, and they said I'm not sick; it's just that Yan Hu ruined his health in his younger days." Madam Di wiped away her tears. "When Yan Hu was alive, I never did anything improper. My mother-in-law passed away early, and I never showed her any filial piety, but whenever I had free time, I would serve my father-in-law, and I never missed giving gifts to my uncles and two nephews. Now that I'm free, why does Madam Sun still want to control me? My family's land isn't generating rent, my shares in the three shops aren't generating interest, and even the cloth shop my father took over is going to be taken away. What kind of logic is this?"
After listening for a long time, Meng Chen finally understood what Madam Di was thinking. It turned out that she thought Madam Yan was targeting her because she didn't want her to remarry.
Actually, they wanted to seize her property!
Of course, although the cause was wrong, the effect was the same. Because as long as Lady Di did not remarry, she would be a member of the Yan family, and her property would naturally belong to the Yan family in the future.
"Sister-in-law, Brother Xiyuan, you've misunderstood," Meng Chen said.
"What did she do wrong?" Madam Di asked curiously. "Could it be that she wasn't trying to prevent me from remarrying?"
"Sister-in-law, Brother Xiyuan," Meng Chen said frankly, still mindful of the kindness shown to the Di family, "I've inquired. Yan Zhao or his brother are going back to Laolongtan to maintain the family business. He's after your wealth, not trying to hinder your good fortune. Behind that Wang Dingtian, the leper, is the white-robed scholar Qu San."
Upon hearing this, Madam Di seemed deflated, asking, "Really?"
Meng Chen nodded.
Di asked in bewilderment, "My family has only left behind two or three thousand taels of silver over three generations, and the annual interest is only three or four hundred taels. Their family is so wealthy, why would they want to rob even this little bit of money?"
"My family's last six mu of land was all taken away. How much is six mu of land worth?" Meng Chen said.
"This is indeed the Yan family's style..." west Yuanlin plopped down in a chair and said with a wry smile, "I should have thought of this sooner, I should have thought of this sooner."
"Sister-in-law, Brother Xiyuan, the only thing we can do now is to be patient. Wait for Yanlong to return, wait for me..." Meng Chen genuinely wanted to help, but he was also truly powerless, "waiting until I can really help."
Madam Di sighed and said, "My uncle is fair in his dealings, he... he shouldn't make things difficult for me."
There was a complete lack of confidence in her words.
The three of them had nothing more to discuss. Meng Chen drank two cups of tea and then took his leave.
They hadn't gone far when Xiyuan Garden caught up with them.
"Brother, you've had a hard time these past few days." west Yuanlin said with a wry smile, "We siblings have no one to rely on, and we don't know any martial arts masters. We haven't been able to help you much, but instead, we've caused you a lot of trouble."
west Yuanlin took out a bundle and handed it over, saying, "Please accept this small token of my appreciation."
"I haven't helped at all, I feel ashamed to accept this." Meng Chen, having done nothing to deserve such a reward, did not accept it.
"Anyway, if you don't want it, someone else will take it from you someday." west Yuanlin said with a wry smile, stuffing the bag into Meng Chen's arms. "My cousin and I are unlucky people. We can no longer support you. Our two families should stop having any dealings with each other, so as not to implicate you."
After saying that, Xiyuanlin turned and left.
Meng Chen stood there, clutching the bundle, which contained about a hundred taels of silver, yet it weighed him down so much that he could hardly breathe.