Chapter 173 Pension Silver
"Second sister-in-law, this is all the silver I have on me, take it." Chen took out a tattered purse from her arms tremblingly, which contained more than two taels of silver. She used all her strength to throw the purse out of the house.
Liu walked forward, picked up the purse and held it in her hand while crying.
Chen turned to look at Wenjie and said, "Wenjie, I'm sorry. I can't watch you grow up. When I'm gone, you should treat your uncle and aunt as your real parents, and treat sister Qianhuan as your real sister. Do you understand?"
"Mom, I want you to grow up with me, please don't leave, Wenjie doesn't want you to leave... Mom, please don't leave, okay?..."
"Wenjie, I can't bear to leave you. I also want to watch you grow up. Unfortunately, God doesn't give me this opportunity. You have to be strong in the future."
"Mom, if you leave, Wenjie doesn't want to live anymore." Wenjie cried heartbreakingly.
When Chen heard her son say this, she immediately said, "Wenjie, you must live well. My greatest wish in this life is to see you pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar. Then I can come to my parents' graves to pay my respects and tell them the news. Then they will be able to rest in peace. You must promise me that you will live well, study hard, and pass the imperial examination and become the top scholar for me, okay?"
In fact, Chen only hoped that her son would grow up healthy and happily, and did not expect him to pass the imperial examination. However, in order to give him the belief to live a good life, she could only deliberately say that he should take the imperial examination and become the top scorer.
"Well, I promise you, I will definitely pass the exam and become the top scorer in the future." Wenjie nodded and agreed while crying.
When Chen heard Wenjie's agreement, a smile finally appeared on her face, and then she spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Mom, Mom..." Wenjie was extremely panicked. He kept calling Chen and even wanted to rush over to hug her. Qianhuan knew how contagious tuberculosis was, so she could only hug Wenjie tightly.
"Aunt, don't worry. I will help my parents take good care of Wenjie. I will treat him as my own brother. I will eat meat and never let Wenjie drink soup. I will send Wenjie to the best college to study, so that he can pass the exam and become a promising person in the future."
Qianhuan knew that Chen's life was almost over, so she quickly made a promise so that she could leave with peace of mind.
"Qianhuan, I feel relieved when you say this. I know you are a capable person. From now on, I will leave Wenjie in your care..."
After saying this, Chen died while holding her husband's body. She closed her eyes with a smile.
"Mom, mom..." Wenjie cried out heartbreakingly.
"Sister-in-law...sister-in-law..." Liu couldn't help sobbing.
There was a sound of wailing in the yard, and even the usually patient old man Liang couldn't help but shed sad tears.
Ji Feng had just bought a coffin, and Qianhuan asked him to run to the county town to buy another one. Because the Chinese New Year was approaching, the couple had to be buried the day before the New Year.
Old Mrs. Liang and Old Man Liang were extremely sad to see their son die young.
This time, thanks to Liang Laoer's family, Qianhuan provided the money, and Liang Laoer and Liu took charge of the funeral arrangements for Liang Laosan and Chen.
Because the funeral happened to be held during the Chinese New Year, it was not a big celebration.
The house where Chen had lived had been disinfected with white wine. On the afternoon of the day after the funeral, Qianhuan's family took Wenjie to the west room where Chen had lived before to sort out some of his belongings.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Suddenly, the gate of the old house was slammed loudly.
Zhu ran over and opened the door, and saw several officers in official uniforms.
Zhu was shocked. No one in her family had done anything wrong, so why would the police come to her house?
"Excuse me, is this Liang Shigui's home?" The officer saw Zhu and came forward to ask.
"Yes, may I ask who you are?" Old Man Liang also came over and looked at the police officer in confusion.
"We are here to deliver relief money to Liang Shigui's family. He sacrificed his life for the country, and the higher-ups have sent the relief money to settle his orphans." One of the officers answered Old Man Liang.
"Please come in, officer. I am Liang Shigui's father." Old man Liang quickly invited the officer into the house.
"Who is Liang Shigui's wife and children?" the officer asked, looking at the people in the room.
At this time, people from Chen's mother's family were also at Old Man Liang's house. Wenjie's grandparents and two uncles were all sitting in the main room. They were very concerned about Wenjie's whereabouts.
"Reporting to the sir, my beloved childhood wife heard the bad news about her husband and died in anger. Now my son only has a nine-year-old child left." Old Man Liang choked up and told the truth.
"Please accept my condolences. Since Liang Shigui's first wife is no longer with us, we will give this silver to you." The officer took out twenty taels of silver from his arms and handed it to old man Liang.
"You are busy with family affairs, so we will not bother you any more. Goodbye." The official gave the silver and said goodbye.
"Thank you, officers." Old Man Liang took the relief money and sent the man out.
Zhu looked at the twenty taels of silver pension in Old Man Liang's hand and was extremely envious.
"Dad, why don't you let me and the eldest brother raise Wenjie? Wenjie is a very likable child. I like him very much."
Zhu volunteered, thinking that as long as her father agreed to let her raise Wenjie, the twenty taels of silver would belong to her family.
"Isn't it enough that you raised two sons yourself? You also want to raise Wenjie?"
Old Man Liang rolled his eyes at Zhu. He could now see what kind of personality his eldest daughter-in-law had. He couldn't see it clearly before the family split up, but now he could see it more clearly.
"Dad, it's because I have raised many sons that I'm suitable to raise a son. Now that Wenyong is married, Wenzhi is the only child in the family who needs our care. It wouldn't be too much to raise one more, Wenjie." Zhu said to her father-in-law in a flattering way.
"What's the point of having so many children? Look at what you have done to them? Except for Wen Yong, who is still a good kid, what have Cuihua and Wenzhi become?"
"Dad, Cuihua became like that after going to the Sun family. Wenzhi was also led astray by his classmates. He has been much more well-behaved at home these days." Zhu quickly gave Wenzhi a look.
"Yes, Grandpa, I have been very well behaved at home recently. I will never dare to gamble again."
After being hit by Cuihua, Liang Wenzhi moved to the school in anger, and was led astray by some bad friends.
At this time, Liang Laoer and his family had packed Wenjie's luggage. Liang Laoer was carrying a package, with Liu beside him, while Qianhuan was holding Wenjie's hand, and they returned to the main house at the old house.
"Wenjie, tell grandpa, do you want to live with grandpa and your eldest uncle's family, or do you want to live with your second uncle's family?" Old man Liang waved to Wenjie to come over, and asked his little grandson while looking at him lovingly.
"Grandpa, I want to live with my second uncle, second aunt and sister Qianhuan." Although Wenjie is young, he can tell who truly loves him, and there is absolutely no way he would be willing to live with his uncle's family.
"Ms. Zhu, you heard me, don't have any inappropriate ideas in the future. From now on, Wenjie is the son of the second brother and Ms. Liu. I have decided to adopt him to the second brother." Old man Liang had a clear mind. He knew exactly who would be the best choice for Wenjie to follow.
"Dad, the second son has severed ties with our Liang family. If you adopt Wenjie to him, it means that Wenjie will have no relationship with our Liang family's old house in the future. Dad, you must not be so confused." Zhu just wanted to raise Wenjie by herself so that their family could get a pension of twenty taels of silver.
"Old man, the eldest son's wife is right. The second son's family has severed ties with us. If we let them raise the child, it means he is no longer our Liang family's grandson. I strongly disagree." Old Mrs. Liang also objected.
"This is Mrs. Chen's last words before she died. Even if Wenjie doesn't recognize us in the future, as long as the child lives well, I, an old man, will have no regrets." Old Man Liang had already made a mistake once, and he didn't want to make it a second time.