Chapter 172: Returning to the Hometown to Pay Respects to the 'Godmother

Hearing that Zhou You was going back to his hometown for a visit, his fellow sect members were quite enthusiastic, one after another offering money and help.

Shen Sijing sent people to deliver large and small packages of gifts, containing food, clothing, and daily necessities, to be given to his relatives in the countryside.

Since there were too many items to transport easily, they also provided a two-horse carriage; with its tall horses and copper-trimmed hardwood, it was quite impressive.

On the day of departure, Zuo Shier and Li Hao came over specifically to help move the items and see the Zhou You family out of the city.

Gongliang City was not far from his hometown, only a distance of over 100 li, but relying on foot power alone would be tough for a round trip.

This distance was still within the safe zone covered by the city; although slightly desolate, at least no corpses were seen along the road.

From the city to the countryside, the pedestrians encountered on the road became gradually thinner, their clothes dull and tattered.

Zhou You couldn't help but look at his own family; their clothes were what they wore daily, neat and without patches, not particularly bright, but compared to these people, they were already considered fine garments.

The carriage his family rode in attracted many gazes along the way—envy, curiosity, and feelings of inferiority.

Livestock in the countryside were generally ox-carts, donkeys, or mules; few could afford to keep horses.

There was no help for it; horses ate refined feed, and taking care of them was painstaking and thankless work, making them extremely cost-ineffective for farmers.

The two pack horses provided by Shen Sijing ate soybeans and fine bran, better than what many of the poor ate.

"I haven't been back to the countryside in years; why has it become so much poorer?"

Seeing a child by the roadside with a bare bottom, slapping a grasshopper to pieces and stuffing it into his mouth, Zhou You Niang's mouth twitched.

There were even farm women so thin they had no flesh on their faces, squatting on the ground with dull eyes, picking undigested grass seeds out of cow dung and carefully stuffing them into their bosoms.

Zhou Laodie was heavy-hearted, puffing on his pipe, and said in a muffled voice, "What kind of life do you think we are living now?"

"Why else would everyone run to the city? No matter how bad it is in the city, you can still scrape together a meal; life in the countryside is simply not fit for humans."

They walked for a full day; having set out at dawn, they only reached the entrance of the hometown village as it was getting dark.

The hometown village was built against a mountain, with a small path winding like a snake up into the depths of the village, flanked by piles of loose stones; the terrain was steep! An old man was waiting at the village entrance, and upon seeing the Zhou You family, he waved hurriedly, "Third Brother, Third Brother, it's me, Xiao Wang."

Zhou Laodie was greatly shocked, jumping off the carriage to embrace the old man, "Xiao Wang, you are three years younger than me, how did you get so old?"

The other party was his contemporary, about forty or fifty years old, yet he already had white hair and the appearance of a frail, decrepit old man.

"You'er, come quickly and greet your Xiao Wangshu."

Xiao Wangshu grinned, revealing uneven gums, "The old house has been cleaned up for you; you can move in as soon as you get back."

This Xiao Wangshu had grown up with Zhou Laodie, and all these years he had been helping to look after the ancestral home.

Because of his busy life, Zhou Laodie had grown quite a bit of white hair by middle age, but compared to Xiao Wangshu, he looked twenty years younger.

Zhou Laodie felt a pang of sorrow and handed him a heavy package, stuffing it into his arms.

"Xiao Wang, I didn't bring anything good, take this back for your wife and children."

Xiao Wang grinned, "It's all good food and good clothes; let the little ones at home see the world and enjoy some blessings."

He chuckled, "Forgot to tell you, I even have grandchildren now. There were five originally, but three didn't survive; now there are two being raised at home, and my daughter-in-law got pregnant again last year, haha!"

Zhou Laodie felt a wave of envy; his good friend had already started holding grandchildren.

Zhou You pretended not to see the resentful looks from his parents and turned his head to examine the surrounding countryside scenery.

The ancestral home was low and short, the light dim, with only one door and one window.

Even after lighting an oil lamp, it was still very dark in broad daylight, and people inside were like blind mice.

Xiao Wangshu had managed it well; there were no weeds in front of or behind the house, no spider webs on the beams, and no traces of small creatures in the corners. Zhou Laodie took the packages to visit relatives, while Zhou You, led by his mother, went to see his 'Godmother'.

"You'er, you came here once when you were little and even kowtowed to your Godmother a few times."

"Ever since then, your chronic fever went away, your body grew strong, and you ate your meals with gusto."

"Your Godmother is a great benefactor to our family; you must kowtow to her to fulfill your vow."

Zhou You thought to himself that it was just a tree stump; after all these years, who knew if it had been washed away by the water.

By this time, the people in the hometown already knew that the Zhou You family had returned, and young girls and children were curiously watching them.

When they learned that Zhou You was going to pay respects to his Godmother, a child spoke up.

"Zhou You, your Godmother has been eaten by bugs."

You brat, get lost! Arriving at the familiar riverside, he saw the ground slightly raised, and extending to the end was Zhou You's Godmother, an old tree stump.

This tree had been here before the village existed, for who knew how many years, and the ground had been arched up by the accumulated tree roots.

Walking closer to look, sure enough, there was a conspicuous large hole on the side of the stump, with countless termites busy drilling in and out.

It seemed this was the last time he would pay respects to his Godmother; he feared there would be no chance in the future.

"You'er, why haven't you knelt down to kowtow yet?"

His mother became even more convinced, "Godmother" had taken the disaster upon herself for Zhou You; otherwise, how could a thousand- or ten-thousand-year-old tree stump be eaten away by bugs in just over a dozen years? Zhou You reluctantly knelt down and kowtowed to the stump.

His mother burned paper on the side and took meat and fruit from the basket as offerings for his Godmother.

"Hmm?"

Zhou You suddenly saw that at the broken end of the stump, a few of the inner growth rings had a large, unusual distortion.

Looking at its appearance, it must have been in the early stages of the tree's growth when it was struck by some heavy object; the mark remained inside, and as the tree grew thicker, layered in wood, the trace of the impact from back then was preserved.

Over time, the mark grew into a hard tree burl, which even termites couldn't gnaw through.

Zhou You narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the texture of the burl; no matter how he looked at it, it looked like... characters.

Could it be that the hard object that struck the tree bark back then and embedded itself deep into the wood was some kind of gold artifact with raised characters? His hand moved as fast as lightning, grabbing the burl and quickly hiding it in his sleeve.

He decisively kowtowed to his 'Godmother' a few more times, "Godmother, don't blame me; you're going to be eaten by termites anyway. I'll take this object with me, and it will be as if I'm taking you home to enjoy some blessings."

His mother had set out the offerings and was very gratified to see this scene; You'er was truly sensible, and 'Godmother' hadn't doted on him in vain.

When the two finished everything, they saw many villagers surrounding them, looking at the offered meat, pastries, and so on with hungry eyes, their eyeballs seemingly ready to reach out! "You'er, let's go, don't look back."

His mother sighed, pulled on Zhou You's sleeve, and urged him to leave quickly.

Zhou You didn't need to look back; he heard the commotion behind him as the villagers swarmed forward, fighting over the offerings.

Returning home in the evening, Zhou Laodie had made a big round of visits to relatives and even drank some old wine; he was in a very good mood.

"You'er, it's settled, we'll donate 100 taels to repair the Ancestral Hall, and with our family's names on the commemorative stele, getting back into the genealogy won't be a problem; Dad is truly happy, *hic*!"

It's just relying on throwing money at it, after all!

Zhou You looked at his father's flushed face and shook his head; it was only a small amount of money, as long as the old man was happy.

Then let's spend it!

100 taels of silver—he feared their family was practically covering the entire budget for this clan event.

(End of this chapter)