Chapter 172 Tuogu
When we arrived at the Liang family's old house, we saw white lanterns and white cloth hanging at the door.
Several people pushed open the gate and walked in. The yard was full of people. Old Man Liang was sitting on the ground in a mess, while Old Lady Liang was kneeling in front of a straw mat and crying loudly. Elder Liang and Mrs. Zhu were beside them, trying to persuade the old couple.
There was a straw mat in the yard, with a lifeless person lying on it, covered with a white cloth.
Liang Laoer rushed over and lifted the white cloth. Although the person was a little rotten, he could still tell that this was his third brother.
"My third brother, why did you leave like this? How could you leave your parents, your wife and children, and us brothers behind and leave like this?"
It is said that men do not shed tears easily, but they do so only when they are very sad. Liang Laoer almost never shed tears. How could he not be sad when he saw his third brother passed away like this?
Wenjie also knelt in front of the straw mat and cried bitterly, although he was still a child when his father went to join the army and he could not clearly remember what he looked like.
But over the years, his mother had been nagging him about his father, and he had been imagining what his father looked like in his heart. He was always looking forward to being reunited with his father as soon as possible, but who knew that what he would be waiting for was to be separated from him forever.
When Mrs. Liang saw Liang Laoer and his family coming, she suddenly stood up, ran over and beat Liang Laoer hard.
While beating him fiercely, she said with deep sorrow, "Your brother joined the army for you, and he died for you. If you had been the one to join the army, my third son would not have died. My poor son..."
In fact, all three sons were Mrs. Liang's biological children, and she had never been partial to any of them before. But ever since Liang Laoer married Liu, who could not give birth to a son, she asked Liang Laoer to divorce his wife. Liang Laoer repeatedly disobeyed Mrs. Liang's wishes, and she began to dislike this son.
Later, their family separated and the relationship was severed, and she disliked her second son even more. So she would rather it was Liang Laoer lying on the straw mat instead of Liang Laosan.
Liang Lao Er was full of guilt and allowed Old Lady Liang to beat him.
He felt that what Mrs. Liang said was right. His family had originally wanted him to join the army, but the third brother was too sensible. He thought he could hunt and earn money for the family, so he took the initiative to join the army in his place. He didn't expect that his younger brother would lose his life because of this.
Qianhuan pushed Mrs. Liang away and asked sternly, "Mrs. Liang, what's the point of blaming my father now? If it was my father who joined the army, and the person lying on the straw mat now was my father, wouldn't you feel bad? Wouldn't my father be your biological son?"
Qianhuan really couldn't understand this old lady Liang. They were obviously all her sons, so why was she so partial to them?
How could Mrs. Liang bear being pushed away? She cursed: "You little bitch, it's because of you and your mother that your father has turned away from us. Now you are pushing your own grandmother. Be careful not to be struck by lightning."
"Mrs. Liang, you may have forgotten that our two families have severed ties and you are no longer my grandmother. Also, since you dislike our family so much, why did you come to my house and cry and beg my father to give you money to pay off your precious grandson's gambling debts?"
Old Mrs. Liang was stunned by the question.
Old Man Liang yelled at Old Lady Liang, "Behave yourself and stop making trouble. Can't you tell what the situation is? Let's quickly take care of the funeral of the Third Brother."
"Have you bought a coffin for your uncle?" Qianhuan asked coldly when she saw that her uncle was wrapped in a straw mat and there was no coffin in sight.
"Ms. Chen fainted upon hearing the bad news about my third brother. The doctor said she is dying. All the money your grandmother had was given to Wenzhi to pay off his gambling debts. We don't have any money either, so how can we buy a coffin?" Mrs. Zhu answered first.
Qianhuan felt speechless as she looked at them. She quickly took out ten taels of silver and gave it to Ji Feng, telling him to go to the county town to buy a coffin and some paper money for the dead.
"Wenjie, cry if you want to. But remember to cheer up after you cry, okay? You will be the little man of the family from now on." She walked over and hugged her little cousin, trying to give him some comfort.
"Sister Qianhuan, Wenjie knows." He responded to Qianhuan while crying.
"It's bad, it's bad, my aunt is dying, she's clamoring to see my uncle, but the villagers know she has tuberculosis and won't let her leave the house."
Wen Yong ran out from the west yard in a panic.
"Mom, mom..." Wenjie immediately stood up and ran towards the west room in panic after hearing that.
Qianhuan held Wenjie, "Wenjie, don't get excited. Your mother has tuberculosis. You can't be impulsive."
The villagers also discussed, "We must not let them out. Isn't this harming us?"
"Yeah yeah."
Qianhuan said calmly, "Since we can't let him out, let's carry my uncle's body into the west room."
Qianhuan asked Wenyong to find some gauze and then made it into the shape of a mask.
Liang Lao Er couldn't help but ask, "Qianhua, what's the use of this thing you made of gauze?"
"Dad, wearing a gauze mask can reduce the chance of infection."
Boss Liang wanted to help carry it, but was stopped by Zhu.
Finally, Liang Lao Er and Liang Wenyong put on gauze masks and carried Liang Lao San into the west room together.
Liu, Wenjie and Qianhuan also followed in wearing gauze masks.
Mrs. Liang, Zhu, Wenzhi and others all stood still, they were very careful about their lives. Zhu wanted to stop Liang Wenyong from going into the west room, but her son didn't listen to her at all.
Chen's mouth was full of blood. She crawled out of the room tremblingly, threw herself beside Liang Laosan, hugged him and cried, "Husband, how could you be so cruel? How could you die before me?"
Wenjie saw his mother coming out and shouted, "Mom, Mom..."
He struggled to run over, but was stopped by Qianhuan.
Chen finally saw her son. Tears were streaming down her face and her mouth was full of blood. She said weakly, "Wenjie, my poor child, be obedient and don't come over here... Your father is gone now, and your mother is leaving too. Without your parents, what are you going to do in the future?"
"Mom, mom, I won't let you go... Mom, please don't go, don't leave Wenjie alone..." Wenjie cried loudly with tears on his face.
"Sister-in-law, don't say discouraging words. You must live well, otherwise who will take care of Wenjie in the future?"
Liu followed into the yard and watched the scene. She felt her heart aching and swollen. She couldn't help but feel her eyes turn red and began to persuade Chen earnestly.
"Second sister-in-law, I know my body. I can't survive."
Then she turned to look at Old Man Liang, knelt down and kowtowed to Old Lady Liang, saying, "Dad, now that Shigui is gone, I am also dying. I want to give Wenjie to my second brother and his wife. I beg you to help me."
Old man Liang felt very heavy-hearted as he saw his loved one die. He could see that Chen was indeed dying, so he had no choice but to agree quickly.
"Ms. Chen, Dad promises you that I will let your second brother and his wife recognize Wenjie as their son and will definitely raise him well."
"Thank you, Dad. Second sister-in-law, are you willing to be Wenjie's mother? Apart from you and my second brother, I have no one else to trust."
Chen looked at Liu. She knew that her second brother and his wife had never had a son. Her father had wanted to adopt Wenzhi, the son of her eldest brother, to her second brother and his wife, but Zhu refused to agree.
Now that she is dying, she believes that entrusting Wenjie to her second brother and his wife is the right choice.
"Sister-in-law, don't say such discouraging things. You have to take good care of your health and take care of Wenjie yourself in the future." Liu felt very uncomfortable.
"Second sister-in-law, I can't do it. I can't watch Wenjie grow up. I beg you, please agree to me. I was holding on to my last breath waiting for you to come, otherwise I would have gone with the child's father long ago." Chen said these words excitedly with all her strength.
"Okay, okay, don't worry, I promise you, I will take good care of Wenjie and treat him as my own son." Liu's tears fell even more violently.