752 Running Away From Home
Qiao Liang ignored Qiao Zhuang’s tirade and turned around to return to his room to start packing his things. He did not want to stay in this house for even another day. The fifth son, Qiao Gang, had graduated recently and just found a job in the county city. He had secretly written to Qiao Liang to ask him to join him.
The elementary school in the village was located tens of miles away in the neighboring village and the junior high school was located in the county city. Qiao Gang had just graduated from junior high school and immediately went out to work.
When they had to decide who to send to school, everyone in the family wanted to give the chance to the fifth son even though Qiao Liang clearly needed the opportunity more. This was because once he missed out on the timing, he would be too old to go to school anymore.
Qiao Zhuang did not let him go, but let the fifth son go instead. He had always hated Qiao Zhuang for this decision. Now that his fifth brother had found a job in the county city after graduation and wanted to help him, he was more than willing to go and seek refuge with his fifth brother.
“Fourth brother! Are you really going to leave just because Father said a few words to you! Father was just saying things in a fit of anger. Why are you taking it so seriously!” Jiang Ye said as she grabbed Qiao Liang.
Jiang Ye and Qiao Wang cared for Qiao Liang the most in this family. In the entire family, only Qiao Wang and Jiang Ye did not fight over anything. The rest of them were infighting all the time.
“Sister-in-law, don’t try to dissuade me. I don’t want to stay in this house anymore. When I make a name for myself outside, I’ll definitely come and bring you and third brother away!” Qiao Liang whispered.
Seeing that Qiao Liang was determined to leave, Jiang Ye did not stop him.
She took out eight dollars from her sleeve and quietly stuffed it into Qiao Liang’s hand. She held his hand and said, “Your brother asks you to take good care of yourself.”
Qiao Liang looked in Qiao Wang’s direction and immediately understood that it was Qiao Wang who had given him the money. His eyes were filled with tears as he held the money tightly and nodded before running out without looking back.
“All of them are really spoiled! I won’t care even if he dies outside! He’ll definitely come home in a few days. As if he’s that capable!” Qiao Zhuang muttered.
After dinner, Jiang Ye and Wang Qin started to do the cleaning up. Qiao Wang went out to chop firewood, leaving only Qiao Zhuang and Qiao Gui in the house.
“Stay and talk to me later. Let your wife go back first,” Qiao Zhuang said as he leaned against the wall.
Qiao Gui nodded and understood Qiao Zhuang’s intentions. He hurriedly picked up the tobacco pipe beside him and lit it up for Qiao Zhuang. During these days, people smoked tobacco in a pipe and rolled the tobacco themselves. The smell was very unpleasant, but they seemed to find it comforting.
Wang Qin tidied up the kitchen and was about to go when she saw Qiao Gui still sitting there motionlessly.
“Aren’t you leaving?” Wang Qin said impatiently.
“You can go back first. I have to talk to Father. I’ll go home later!” Qiao Gui said.
Wang Qin frowned and lied, “The light at home is broken and hasn’t been repaired!”
“It’s so dark now and I can’t see. Let’s talk about it during the day,” Qiao Gui said.
Wang Qin continued relentlessly, “I can’t reach the fence in the backyard, so you have to fix it.”
Qiao Zhuang stared at Wang Qin and scolded, “Are you trying to rush him to his death! Can’t he do these chores tomorrow! You’re so unhappy when I want to talk to my son. What is this!”
Wang Qin was so scared that she ran home in a panic. This was the first time in so many years that Qiao Zhuang had been so fierce to her. It had never happened before.
After Wang Qin left, Qiao Zhuang said slowly, “Did something happen to your wife recently? I hear that she doesn’t even go to the village office anymore.”
“No, she’s just tired out from the past two days and wants to rest at home,” Qiao Gui said guiltily.
“That’s alright. Don’t talk nonsense or you might hurt your tongue. I actually wanted to ask you what you were doing when your eldest brother went up the mountain,” Qiao Zhuang asked calmly.
Qiao Gui lowered his head and did not dare to make a sound. His palms were covered in sweat and he could even hear his own heart beating wildly. He thought that Qiao Zhuang had forgotten about this matter and did not expect him to want to pursue it.
“My eldest brother and I went up the mountain separately. My eldest brother found them at the front of the mountain. I was at the back of the mountain at that time and was not with him,” Qiao Gui said nervously.
“Even if you were not on the same path, didn’t you hear your eldest brother screaming? That mountain isn’t very big,” Qiao Zhuang asked.
Qiao Gui did not even go up the mountain that day, so how could he have heard Qiao Fu’s screams? Just as he was thinking about how to cover up his lie, Qiao Zhuang wanted to talk about a new task for him to do.