Cheng Xiao Xiao could tell what her mother was thinking from her look. “Mom, now you see what I am trying to get at? Yes, that’s the reason that I don’t like her.”
“But…” Mrs. Cheng was still a little baffled. “But she is your grandmother, even if she is….”
“So what?”
Cheng Xiao Xiao didn’t care about that. “She had the ability to help out you and dad; yet she had never once extended an olive branch to us over the past ten plus years. Back when we were at the Cheng’s, at least we had food on the table and Dad could shelter us some.
“Ever since we have left Capital City, we had nothing. Had she done anything to help us out? I remembered that Dad had been injured a few times, right? Back then, nevermind the money to get a doctor for Dad, our whole family was starving. Finally, it was the villagers of Willows that had helped us out, right?
“The Luo’s of Yan is a prominent family. Nevermind about hundreds of thousands of taels, they must have at least tens of thousands of taels. But, Mom, had they given you even one tael over the years? If we weren’t so lucky, our whole family would have died of starvation by now, would you agree? A year and a half ago, Dad was handicapped and I was critically injured. Mom, had I not have the dimension, where do you think we will be today?
“We had been here at Willows for 3-4 years’ time. And, Mom, you have received letters from grandmother more than one. Do you really think that she had no idea what kind of situation we were in? Can you really believe that? No, I don’t buy it!”
“….” Mrs. Cheng was completed stunned. Nobody knew whether she had truly overlooked all that or she simply didn’t want to think about it.
Now that her daughter had brought it all up, Mrs. Cheng turned pale. She clenched her fist and pressed it against her chest. She opened her mouth some but she couldn’t find any words.
Looking at her, Cheng Xiao Xiao let out a deep, long sigh. Deep down inside, she didn’t want to bring all these out into the open. “Mom, as you have said earlier. If the same thing were to happen to Abacus and I, you will be willing to spend every penny of this family to help us out. Back in the days…
“I don’t believe the Luo’s will need to even take out half of their assets to help us get by. Several hundreds to a thousand taels would have been enough to help us out. At least we wouldn’t have to starve.
“Which is why, Mom, I like Uncle and I am willing to talk to him. I will even talk to that heartless grandfather of mine. He might be heartless, but he has principles. He meant well for his children. It’s just…
“It’s just the one that could help us but never did that I can’t get over. I don’t want to say more about this. Whatever her reasons were, I don’t like it.”
Now that Cheng Xiao Xiao had laid it all out, Mrs. Cheng finally got the answer that she had wanted. She didn’t try to defend Old Mrs. Luo. After all, as the person who had lived through it, she knew even better what the days were like for them.
Without saying much more, Cheng Xiao Xiao sat with her mother for a while before she left the main quarter.
On a certain official path in Jing Zhou!
A caravan of dozens of individuals of all ages including several horse-drawn carriages and dozens of horses moved forward slowly. They looked haggard, liked they had been through some major event; each and everyone of them appeared dispirited.
These were the Cheng’s leaving Capital City.
All the servants had left. Ten or so of their members were lost in the battle. Now, with only dozens of them remaining, one of their important and center figures who was also the leader of this group was none other than Cheng Yutang.