Chapter 35 Brother and sister meet
In the evening, Qin Zhi, supported by Qin Zhen, went to the main room to check on Shen.
When Shen saw Qin Zhi injured, she felt so distressed that she burst into tears. Qin Zhi told her that he had gone to court to sue Liu, Mei and Qin Wen. Everyone felt relieved after hearing this.
Qin Zhi helped Shen wipe her tears and said, "Mom, I'll take you to the backyard to meet someone. You will be very happy to see him."
Qin Zhen had always been curious about the identity of the man in the backyard, so she supported Shen and Qin Zhi and went to the backyard together.
Shen Changzhou had slept all afternoon and was now sitting by the window sorting his bag. On the way to Qingzhou Prefecture, Shen Changzhou had heard that Qin Zhi had a twin sister. Shen Changzhou found two jade pendants and gave them to the two sisters as a gift.
Shen came to the backyard surrounded by her two daughters. She caught a glimpse of a man sitting in front of the window. He was thin but tall, and his figure was exactly the same as the one in her memory.
"Brother, is that you?" Shen asked with a trembling voice, her eyes filled with tears.
Shen Changzhou turned his head and saw his sister whom he missed day and night. The year he left, she was still a girl waiting to be married, sunny and bright, but now she has become a woman with a little vicissitudes. Shen Changzhou's eyes were red, and his heart was sour. He should have come back earlier.
"Yulan," he only called out once, and his throat seemed to be locked, and he couldn't make a single sound.
The brother and sister looked at each other in silence, tears streaming down their faces.
This caused the two sisters Qin Zhen and Qin Zhi next to them to burst into tears.
At Old Qin's house, Old Man Qin was sitting alone at the gate, puffing on his pipe. There was not even a light on in the room; it was pitch black.
"Grandpa, I'm hungry. When are we going to eat?" Thirteen-year-old Qin Hu came out with an impatient tone.
Old man Qin glanced at his grandson, who was tall and strong, and as big as Qin Wen and Qin Wen. When did he raise his grandson to be such a loser? When he was fifteen years old, he could work in the fields and climb the mountains, but this grandson only knew how to eat all day.
"Ask Lian'er to cook some wild vegetable porridge," Old Man Qin tapped his pipe and sent Qin Hu away.
Old Man Qin is waiting here. He has asked someone to give a message to Qin Dahai.
Qin Lian was called to cook porridge, but she didn't know how to light a firewood stick. She had no choice but to go. But when she started the fire, she caught the firewood pile next to her on fire. The girl was afraid of being scolded, so she secretly ran out through the back door.
The weather was dry and the fire broke out immediately. By the time the neighbors found out, the entire kitchen was almost burned down. They had to put out the fire because the houses were connected.
Neighbors came to help put out the fire, and then Old Man Qin realized that his kitchen was on fire. Everyone came in and out, and worked together to put out the fire. Fortunately, the main house was saved.
The kitchen was gone, and Old Man Qin was very anxious.
At this time, Qin Hu came out again to urge for food, which made Old Man Qin upset.
"Eat, eat, eat. The kitchen is on burnt down. What's the point of eating?" Old man Qin was so angry that he had no place to vent.
"Lian'er burned her. She ran away out of fear."
Old man Qin was really worried. None of these unfilial descendants were good.
Qin Erzhu came back from the field carrying a hoe. He had been hungry all day and was already feeling hungry. His legs felt weak and he found a bench to sit on.
"Dad, what's wrong? Why is the house so dark today?" Qin Erzhu asked weakly.
Old Man Qin got angry when he looked at his second son. "How dare you ask? Your good daughter actually sued her wet nurse, her uncle, and her aunt to court. Now they are all in jail. This family was destroyed by your good daughter. How could there be such a vicious child?"
"Dad, don't say she is vicious. No one is more vicious than Mei and Qin Wen." Qin Erzhu was too lazy to talk to his father. He got up and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Unexpectedly, the kitchen was in ruins.
Qin Erzhu felt really desperate, so he had to go to the vegetable garden behind the house to pick a cucumber, wipe it on his sleeve and eat it, which helped to alleviate his hunger a little.
No matter what, life must go on.
Qin Erzhu built a simple stove with waste bricks in the dark and cooked a pot of wild vegetable porridge. He brought a large bowl of porridge to Old Man Qin, and when he returned to the pot, he found that the remaining porridge had been eaten up by Qin Hu and Qin Lian who had secretly returned. Qin Erzhu felt weak in his heart, his stomach was still empty, but he no longer had the energy to struggle.
After eating, Old Man Qin waited at the door for most of the night but his eldest son Qin Dahai did not come back.
Early the next morning, Old Man Qin took a ox cart to the Wangxian Tower in the town to find Qin Dahai.
When the waiter in the lobby learned that he was Steward Qin's father, he looked at him with disdain and said, "Steward Qin is no longer here. He was fired by the boss a few days ago."
Old Man Qin's heart stagnated. Resigned? Why did he resign?
The waiter continued, "You should leave quickly. Don't let the boss see you, or he will make you pay for it. Before your son left, he stole two hundred taels of the shopkeeper's money. The shopkeeper wanted to report it to the police, but the boss suppressed it because he couldn't afford to lose face."
Old Qin was so scared that he left Wangxian Tower quickly. My goodness, Dahai was too bold to steal 200 taels. I had never seen 200 taels in my life. No, I had to find the boss and give him 100 taels.
Old Man Qin didn't see his eldest son, so he thought that since he was already in town, he might as well go see his wife and youngest son.
The jailer was easy to talk to. He let him in, but only told him not to stay there for more than an incense stick of time.
Old Man Qin went to see Liu first. Liu and Mei were in the same cell. After staying in there for a night, both of them were very haggard. Liu was fine, knowing that she would stay in there for at most ten days. As for Mei, she was completely devastated. When she saw Old Man Qin, she begged him to find Qin Dahai to save her. Old Man Qin had no choice but to comfort her, and then he said a few words to Liu and went to Qin Wen.
There were several cells between Qin Wen's cell and Liu's. Qin Wen was also very excited when he saw Old Man Qin.
"Dad, please ask my eldest brother to save me. I can't stand it for another day." Qin Wen grabbed Old Man Qin's hand and begged.
"Your eldest brother is missing now. I went to Wangxian Tower to look for him. The waiter said that he stole two hundred taels of silver from the shopkeeper and was fired by the boss." Old Man Qin sighed.
"Dad, I know where he is."
In a small courtyard in Maoer Hutong, a girl of about sixteen or seventeen was dozing on a recliner, her belly looking about six or seven months pregnant.
Bang, bang, bang, there was a knock on the door outside. The woman opened her eyes and shouted to the people in the house unhappily: "Husband, someone is knocking on the door."
Soon, the person inside came out, opened the gate, and looked at the people outside in surprise.