Wang Laozhu coughed, "Kids should not meddle in adults’ business. After delivering the gift, head home early and don’t loiter outside—"
Speaking thus, he quickly followed behind the two clan leaders.
Wang Yongping took a few steps and then turned back to give Wang Yongzhu a meaningful look.
Wang Yongzhu felt that his intellectually challenged Fourth Brother could never really establish a rapport with anyone, so he didn’t understand what he was trying to convey and just watched him silently.
Wang Yongping squeezed his eyes in a way that resembled a chicken about to get its throat cut, but he was interrupted by a slap on his shoulder from Wang Laozhu, who then dragged him away.
In the courtyard of Li Dagui’s house, Wang Daxiu’s mournful cries could be heard: "You bunch of robbers! Bastards, Li Laosi, you scum, betraying your own family for outsiders! Is there no justice! My house, my land! All taken away! How are we supposed to live, are you trying to drive our family to death! You heartless beasts, thieves Ah—"
Jinhua and Zhu Ye, after all, were young, and though they found Wang Daxiu’s shouting annoying, her lowered voice and pathetic weeping made the two girls feel that she was quite pitiable.
Unable to hold back, Jinhua asked, "Old Aunt, are they really going to be driven away?"
Wang Yongzhu raised an eyebrow and half-smiled: "What, do you feel pity for them? Especially since Li Jinlong and his father are still bedridden and can’t get up, her two eldest sons have separated from the family and don’t care about them anymore, and her daughter has run off to someone else’s home and won’t return. Driven out , Li Jinlong and his father still can’t get up, and they have nowhere to go. How will they live?"
Jinhua and Zhu Ye stared at Wang Yongzhu in astonishment, wondering how she knew exactly what was on their minds.
Could Old Aunt actually feel sorry for them?
Wang Yongzhu snorted coldly, patting Jinhua’s shoulder and guiding her head to look towards Li Dagui’s house: "Jinhua, take a good look at how pitiful their family is now, and remember this sight! If we hadn’t discovered that it was Li Jinlong who had acted against us and hadn’t sought revenge, your uncle would be the one bedridden and unable to get up! Even if Li Jinlong and Li Dagui recover from their injuries, your uncle will be gone! Remember that the condition your uncle is in now costs five taels of silver a day in medical expenses, and even when he gets better, he’ll only be able to lie in bed, depending on others to take care of his every need, even for a sip of water!"
Most of the money our family earns from now on will have to be spent on saving your uncle’s life! Your Fourth Uncle’s breach-of-betrothal silver has already been used up, and from now on, our family probably won’t have enough money to arrange a marriage for him. Jindou and Jinhu will also have difficulty finding wives, and you might find it hard to marry into a good family! If our household cannot make ends meet, you might even be sold at a high price to a widower or a fool to be their bride, using your dowry to find a man with disabilities or mental illness for the family to carry on the lineage! Jindou and Jinshao, instead of waiting until they are ten years old to start working the fields, will have to start early to help out with the family chores!"
If we let the Li family off, our family’s fate will be ten times worse than theirs! Keep that in mind! Take a good look!"
Jinhua was forcibly made to look at Li Dagui’s courtyard.
Since the clan leaders had left in a hurry, the door was left ajar, revealing inside the courtyard where Wang Daxiu was sitting on the ground. It had been days since anyone had seen her, she who had always taken care of her appearance, who even at her age would put a flower in her hair and dab on some powder.
Now, without having combed her hair for several days, it was sloppily tied at the back of her head, exposing large patches of glaring white roots.
Her clothes looked crumpled as if they hadn’t been washed for days.
The state of the courtyard was the same mess it had been the night their family had caused a ruckus, and it seemed to have gotten even more disordered.
The doors of the side rooms were wide open, empty except for a few pieces of misshapen furniture.
There was also an indescribable odor wafting out from the open main gate, resembling that of meat rotting for over a dozen days, nauseating to the point of nearly inducing vomit.
Wang Daxiu, with snot and tears mixing, cried as if her heart would break.
If someone unaware of the truth saw her, they would probably think that Wang Daxiu was too pitiable.
Listening to the old aunt’s words, Jinhua could visualize her family’s future days; her mother embroidering tirelessly day and night, managing the household affairs, with nobody to care for her bedridden uncle. Jinpan and Jinshao so young, yet having to work the fields, and herself marrying an idiot..
Such scenes frightened Jinhua so much that she shook her head vehemently—where was even a shred of pity for Wang Daxiu? She only felt that she was too hateful! It was their family that had almost caused her own to live such a miserable life. Had water logged her brain? How could she have felt pity for them?
The frightened Jinhua wished she could slap herself twice!
Zhu Ye was also shivering with fear, alarmed by Wang Yongzhu’s description of the Wang Family’s miserable days.
When Wang Yongzhu finally released Jinhua, the two girls immediately embraced and burst into tears—it was too terrifying!
It was hard to tell whether it was Wang Yongzhu, with her face as frosty as this moment, that was frightening, or the possible dire fate of the Wang Family she described!
But Wang Yongzhu didn’t quit while she was ahead; instead, she revealed what seemed to be a very gentle and loving smile, which in the eyes of the two young girls, Jinhua and Zhu Ye, was more terrifying than a tiger used by their parents to scare them.
She slowly drew both girls close, one in each arm, her voice soft and soothing, "As for the Li Family, if our family hadn’t discovered that Li Jinlong was the real culprit, Li Jinzhi would have married into the He Family, borne children for the He Family, then dug up the He Family’s silver to subsidize the Li Family, enabling Li Jinlong to pursue his studies. Imagine if fate was blind, and such a brute like Li Jinlong managed to become a Scholar!
Once he becomes a Scholar, the Li Family would start to prosper. He might even marry a rich man’s blind daughter or a teacher’s only daughter. Who knows? He might rise to the top, allowing his whole family to live a life they could never even dream of—adorned in gold and silver, ordering servants around, living the high life while we would still be struggling here in this muddy place of Qilidun, not even sure if tomorrow’s meals are secured!
By then, the Li Family would be like clouds in the sky while our family would be the mud on the ground, trampled underfoot by the Lis, unable to turn over for generations!"
After finishing, she smiled slightly at the two girls and asked, "Do you still pity their family?"
The two girls desperately shook their heads, their tears flying off as they did.
The old aunt is so scary! I want to go home!
Seeing that the two girls were indeed frightened, Wang Yongzhu nodded in slight dissatisfaction and let go of them.