Father Wen also noticed the bandage on Song Wei’s forehead. He walked over and asked, "Third Son, what happened to you? Did you get hurt?"
Since even the father-in-law had come over, it would be too impolite for Song Wei to remain on the ox cart. He quickly got down, made a bow, and shook his head, saying, "It’s just a minor injury, no need for father-in-law to worry."
"Are you really okay?" Father Wen was still not assured.
"Yes." Song Wei’s tone was full of patience, "I went to the clinic for bandaging yesterday and rested for a night, it’s nothing serious anymore."
After speaking, he looked towards the ox cart behind Father Wen.
On the ox cart were Mrs. Zhou and her son.
"Does the family-in-law have an outing?"
Song Wei couldn’t quite understand what could be so important at the Wen household that it would require Wanwan to be called back from her husband’s home.
Father Wen shifted his gaze elsewhere and said, "It’s just some family matters, Wanwan kindly came to help, though we don’t really need her. Since we coincidentally met, why don’t you take her back with you?"
Song Wei knew his father-in-law was a straightforward farmer, not good at lying, so it was easy to find a flaw in his words.
He didn’t expose it, just smiled, "It’s fine. I have nothing to do anyway, why don’t I come along with you all, maybe I can help with something."
Father Wen hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "Third Son, come over here, I have something to say to you in private."
Father Wen greeted Old Song and called Song Wei off to the side.
Song Wei: "What does father-in-law need to discuss with me?"
Father Wen said, "Third Son, since Aunt Lu has entrusted her daughter to you, I won’t hide it from you. The reason I’ve brought everyone out is to recover one of Aunt Lu’s jade bracelets."
Song Wei roughly understood, "Did thieves visit your home?"
"No." Father Wen furrowed his brow, "Before Aunt Lu left, she left me a box of valuable jewelry, which I buried underground. Yesterday, that unpromising youngest son of mine dug them up from the ground and sold one piece without telling me. In anger, I gave him a thrashing and got the truth out; he said he sold it to a lord in town. We’re just preparing to get it back now!"
Song Wei turned to look at Wen Shun who was curled up in Mrs. Zhou’s arms, guessing the child had been beaten badly, and sighed, "Actually father-in-law is overthinking this situation."
Father Wen didn’t understand, "What do you mean by that?"
Song Wei said, "I guess the reason father-in-law is angry is for fear that those items could bring harm to Aunt Lu, but if you think about it, if selling those pieces would truly bring her trouble, would she have left them with you? Aunt Lu wouldn’t have considered her own safety, but surely would have thought about Wanwan’s safety, right? So I say, just let the pieces be sold. Exchange them for money, and you can live a good life with the family!"
Father Wen’s face slowly took on a serious expression, looking at Song Wei, "You were the last one she saw before leaving, did she say anything else to you?"
Song Wei was silent for a while, then nodded, "Aunt Lu asked me to tell you that she will never be able to return in this life, and she is sorry to you, advising you to raise Wanwan well."
Father Wen looked into the distance, not letting Song Wei see the moisture in his eyes, "Why didn’t she tell me these words herself?"
"She didn’t have the chance." Song Wei said, "Aunt Lu was forcibly taken away; it was an urgent situation back then."
"You, you say she was forcibly taken away?" Father Wen stepped back in disbelief.
"Yes." Song Wei said, "It was because I happened to return from the county and saw her being forcibly dragged onto a carriage by guards. In her desperation, she handed the protected Wanwan over to me, asking me to take good care of her in the future."
Upon hearing this, Father Wen felt as if something had stuck in his throat, unable to say a word.