Chapter 268

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Although Wang Huirong had fallen, Chai Zhongxiao didn't have a shred of pity; he reached out, snatched the money from Wang Huirong's pocket, counted out one thousand six hundred yuan, and handed it to Liu Zhanggui.

He stuffed the rest into his own pocket.

As for Wang Huirong's still-bleeding head, Chai Zhongxiao glanced at it and didn't say a word.

Liu Zhanggui and Song Qingshan hurriedly suggested going to the hospital to have a look; Chai Zhongxiao said it was nothing.

Liu Zhanggui and the other man then left.

As a result, after the people left, Wang Huirong started wailing, crying herself into a frenzy, utterly heartbroken.

"This life can't be lived anymore. It must be that worthless wretch Chai You Fu, who plotted with his father-in-law. Let his father-in-law repay the money, then tell the village it's for famine relief. One in, one out, and our family has worked for nothing? Over two thousand yuan, and now only a few hundred left in hand." Wang Huirong's tears mixed with the blood dripping from her forehead, drop by drop, looking rather ghastly.

Chai You De, who had just woken up, discovered his mother crying in the courtyard, her whole head covered in blood.

Chai You De usually did nothing but drink, an unambitious sort, but he still had a tiny bit of pretend filial piety...

Wang Huirong wasn't Chai You De's mother alone, after all.

Normally, if nothing was wrong, it didn't matter.

But once Wang Huirong died, the remaining brothers would definitely make trouble and interfere.

Chai You De also feared getting entangled in trouble, so he scrambled out wearing only big underpants and a tank top.

"Mother ah... my dear mother ah..." Chai You De's tears instantly streamed down.

This wasn't Chai You De acting; rather, from childhood on, Chai You De had always been a bully to the weak and a coward before the strong. He was a complex person, extremely complex.

Especially in recent years, Chai You De mainly relied on alcohol to numb himself.

If one must ask why, only Chai You De himself knows the reason.

But Chai You De did have some feelings for his mother Wang Huirong, more or less.

Of course, the foundation of this affection was built on the basis that no matter how Chai You De idled his life away, someone always bore the burden for him.

On the basis that Chai You De had wine to drink every day, meat to eat, a new house to live in, and two sons who didn't need him but were raised anyway...

The ones with the greatest merit in this were naturally Chai Zhongxiao and Wang Huirong, the old couple. All the old couple's money went to Chai You De.

Whether building the new house or daily expenses.

Chai Zhongxiao's thirty to forty mu of land, previously under the management of Chai Mi's parents, which year didn't leave a surplus of five to eight thousand? But everyone knows, now Chai Zhongxiao is heavily in debt.

That money wouldn't vanish into thin air.

Money only transfers into thin air.

From Chai Zhongxiao's pocket, it transferred to Chai You De's pocket.

"Mother, what happened to you?" Chai You De's tears poured down as he used his hands to try to stop the bleeding on Wang Huirong: "Mother, who beat you like this?"

Wang Huirong struggled to stand up, sighed.

She thought Chai You De must be drunk, just woken up, otherwise how could he ask such an idiotic question?

Still asking who the hell beat her?

Your damn father beat her!!!

"What are you crying for..." Wang Huirong said a sentence, then felt her head really hurt, and she squatted down again in pain...

After a moment of uproar, Wang Huirong was sent into the room by Chai Zhongxiao and Chai You De; afterward Chai Zhongxiao went to the village clinic to find Doctor Xiao Chen.

Chai You De went to Chai Mi's house and Chai You Fu's house.

"Big Brother, it's bad. Cun Ma is failing..." Chai You De's legs and feet, after two months of recuperation, were already fine.

The scar on his head had long since stopped being wrapped in gauze.

As for other scars, Chai You De cared even less.

He still drank even with fractures; as for those scars getting infected or hurting, Chai You De couldn't feel any of it anyway.

And Chai You De probably had high alcohol content in his blood, so he didn't get infected either.

Tenacious vitality.

He scurried into Chai Mi's house and began howling loudly.

Chai Youqing returned rather late; he had just gone to irrigate the fields. By the time he got home, Chai Mi and the others had already finished eating. Chai Youqing returned late, so Chai Mi reheated the rice in the pot; right now Chai Youqing was wolfing down his food.

Then he heard Chai You De come howling...

Chai Youqing instinctively shot out, the egg pancake in his mouth not yet finished.

"What's wrong, Third Brother? How is Cun Ma?"

"Cun Ma is failing ah... Big Brother, you have to decide for us." Chai You De cried heartbreakingly.

Hearing his birth mother was failing, Chai Youqing also started wailing: "Mother, my dear mother ah..."

The two brothers cried in the courtyard.

Scaring Lao Qingniu into a daze, he started mooing...

The calf beside him was also frightened into leaping high...

The few sheep next to them also panicked...

Chai Mi walked out of the room, looking at the chaotic scene of chickens flying and dogs jumping filling the courtyard, and her head instantly ached.

She was a bit at a loss, thinking to herself: This old lady, says she's failing and she's failing? So not durable? There wasn't any omen, just gone like that?

Chai Mi walked over, lowered her head, and asked Chai You De: "Third Uncle, what's wrong with my Grandmother? Yesterday she was still fine? Today she's failing?"

Chai You De was already bleary-eyed.

He had drunk too much last night and hadn't sobered up by morning... of course, in this lifetime of his, the time he spent sober was very short.

Except for the last time Chai Mi slashed him with a kitchen knife, when Chai You De was clear-headed for a while, the rest of the time he was quite muddled.

So, actually Chai You De hadn't seen clearly what exactly was wrong with Wang Huirong; anyway, she had a bleeding head and had even passed out...

That meant she was done for.

"Chai Mi, your grandmother is indeed done for. I saw it with my own eyes—she just collapsed all of a sudden, and after that she was unconscious..."

Chai Mi thought for a moment; now wasn't really the time to say anything.

Although Chai Mi was extremely averse to Wang Huirong and Chai Zhongxiao, if she really was done for, she at least had to go over... to see the excitement.

And besides, no matter what, the rural custom is that debts are cancelled when a person dies.

Even if they had been extremely at odds while alive, after death one still had to go take a look.

Pretend to mourn for a bit.

But Chai Mi vaguely felt in her heart that this Wang Huirong might be faking it, so she wasn't particularly eager.

She just said: "Since my grandmother is done for, my father as the eldest son definitely has to go."

Chai Youqing and Chai You De went.

When they reached the door, Chai You De said he still needed to go find Second Brother...

Chai Youqing also followed along.

Chai Mi turned and went into the house.

Su Wan asked: "Chai Mi, what happened? Your grandmother is done for?"

Chai Mi coldly said: "Listen to Chai You De's nonsense. She probably just passed out. Wang Huirong with that big body of hers, does nothing all day, and she could just go 'bang' and be gone."

"Then I see your Third Uncle crying wailing..."

"He's just that kind of person. Maybe he hasn't had wine lately and is crying from craving." Chai Mi shrugged: "Chai You De loves wine more than his own father; when he has wine to drink, even if the Old Man died, he wouldn't cry a single shout."

Su Wan couldn't make up her mind either, so she asked Chai Mi whether they should go or not.

Ever since Su Wan returned from her mother's family, she hadn't gone to Laozhai.

And during this period, Chai Mi's relationship with Laozhai was extremely tense. But now that the Old Man was said to be done for, if they didn't go take a look, Su Wan also felt it wasn't quite right.

"Mom, you don't go. I and Xiu'er will go take a look." Chai Mi worried Su Wan would get angry at the time, so she didn't let her mother go.

Wang Huirong was done for, true or false, Laozhai had excitement to watch.

Su Wan with that personality of hers going would easily be bullied.

"You just stay home and coax the children, don't think too much. Even if the Old Man kicked the bucket, it has nothing to do with you. As for me, I can't say now that if the Old Man died she deserved it, but she hasn't done any good deeds in this lifetime. I just won't kick someone when they're down. And besides, this Old Man is ninety-nine percent fine, just treat it as listening for fun."

Su Wan agreed.

Song Qiushui at the side hadn't gone back yet, so Chai Mi first sent Song Qiushui home.

Coincidentally she ran into Song Qingshan, and Chai Mi got firsthand news of Wang Huirong's injury: her head hit the well curb, the problem shouldn't be too big, she probably just got a scalp wound.

"Sister, are we still going?" Chai Xiu started to get cold feet.

"Go, why wouldn't we go?" Chai Mi smiled: "Chai You De confusedly said the Old Man was done for, I'm this Big Granddaughter at home, I have to pretend to go cry a couple of shouts, right? Come, go to the small shop to scare Da Lao Song a bit."

So the two sisters walked to the small shop.

"Da Lao Song, give me two knives of zhibei."

Da Lao Song doubtfully took out the zhibei and handed it to Chai Mi: "One yuan."

Chai Mi paid the money.

Da Lao Song asked: "What's the matter? Not a holiday or festival?"

Normally if it wasn't a holiday or festival, ordinary people didn't buy much zhibei.

Unless it was the kind who believed in gods and Buddhas, burning incense and worshipping Buddhas at the drop of a hat; ordinary families, just during New Year festivals when visiting graves, would burn some zhibei, expressing their longing for those who had already passed away.

"My grandmother is done for..."

"Ah..." Da Lao Song was stunned: "No, I went to their house this morning. Nothing was wrong..."

Da Lao Song even doubted his life; this Wang Huirong saying she was done for and then being done for was too sudden.

"I... I... I saw her this morning, she was fine. How can she say she's done for and then be done for?"

"I don't know either. This person, who knows... maybe you made her angry." Chai Mi deliberately put on a sad expression.

This really scared Da Lao Song: "No... what does it have to do with me... I..."

"I'm leaving."

"Don't leave..." Da Lao Song was scared silly.

If this Wang Huirong really angered herself to death, then it wouldn't be a big deal!

Da Lao Song hurriedly closed the small shop and ran straight to his daughter Song Qiuping's home...

Chai Mi, on the other hand, was leisurely, slow and sluggish, arriving at Laozhai.

Laozhai courtyard had quite a few people; probably Chai You De's bout of crying had scared everyone, and people really thought Wang Huirong was done for.

So neighbors from left and right all came.

Chai Family's several uncles and elders also came.

Chai Mi stopped at the door, then pinched Chai Xiu.

Chai Xiu cried out: "Big Sister, it hurts, why did you pinch me?"

"Idiot, cry."

Chai Xiu rolled her eyes: "I don't feel like it."

"Useless thing. You drop the chain at the critical moment. I tell you to cry, you cry, what's with having or not having feeling. Think of sad things, like the three yuan two jiao four fen you hid under the kang mat, lost... like Mom told you to pick up eggs, you found our family had no chickens, you ran to the neighbor's house and stole two eggs, after being discovered, you were forced to hide in the chicken coop for a day and a night... like last time you stole more than ten boxes of our father's cigarettes, and hid a whole pack of matches under the cattle trough, and the cow ate them, and then Mom found out it was you who did it..."

Chai Xiu looked blank: "Sister, how do you know?"

"Nonsense, your hidden money's been confiscated by me, hasn't it? Are you an idiot……"

Chai Xiu immediately felt terribly wronged: "I saved up three yuan two jiao four fen with great difficulty, and you took it all……waaaah waaaah waaaah waaaah……"

Chai Xiu's tears came down in torrents.

Chai Mi said: "Add a 'Grandmother'……and say it louder."

"Waaaaah waaaaaah……Grandmother……why won't you just die……"

Chai Mi slapped Chai Xiu's back with a smack: "She's not dead yet……"

"Waaaaah waaaaaah……Grandmother, why won't you die yet……"

Chai Mi: "Uh……"

Children speak without restraint……

Thus, Chai Xiu's wailing cries came from the courtyard: "My grandmother……why won't you just die……why are you gone so quickly……you never bought me a single thing worth a cent, and you just left like that……my grandmother, buy me something worth a cent, then you can die, okay……"

The crying shook the heavens.

Everyone was dumbfounded, but they all felt Chai Xiu was young and spoke without restraint, and they sighed in succession.

"Look at Chai Xiu, what a good child……Wang Huirong hasn't even died yet, and she's already mourning. The main thing is to show off early……"

"Sigh, Wang Huirong isn't much of a person, but she raised a good granddaughter. Look at how heartbroken Chai Xiu is crying, not at all like she's pretending, crying so tragically it makes me want to cry too……"

"Chai Xiu truly misses her grandmother……listen to what she says, she wants her grandmother to stay a little longer. If this Wang Huirong wakes up, she should give the child two jiao no matter what. Just because Chai Xiu cries so sincerely, she deserves two jiao……"

Chai Xiu was crying terribly, but Chai Mi couldn't cry.

She even gritted her teeth tightly, afraid she would laugh out loud.

Che Lianyun was also in the courtyard, and Chai Mi walked over, saying with deep regret: "Third Aunt, please accept my condolences."

Che Lianyun was so angry his mouth twisted: "Chai Mi, your grandmother isn't dead. Why did you send Chai Xiu to my courtyard to cry mourning?"

"Third Aunt, what you say, whether my grandmother dies or not has nothing to do with us? Is my little sister wrong to cry mourning?" Chai Mi made a cutting sound: "Do we have to wait until someone dies to cry? Who the hell said that while someone's alive, they can't cry mourning?"

Che Lianyun:!!!

Chai Zhongxiao also came out angry and scolded Chai Xiu: "Stop crying, your grandmother isn't dead."

"Then when will she die?" Chai Xiu asked seriously: "I'm afraid I won't be able to cry then, so I'm crying early……my grandmother, why won't you die……my good grandmother, please die quickly……grandmother, I can't bear to part with you……"