Holding her aunt's hand, Yuanbao finally managed to calm down. The months of fear and sleepless nights had not only taken a toll on her spirit but also hastened her growth.
Today, she suddenly realized that she was different from Huzi. Huzi had loving relatives. But what were her own parents?
For the first time, she felt that she wasn't jealous at all that Huzi was a boy. So what if she was a girl? So what if she didn't have her parents' love? She had her uncle and aunt, and there was also a family who, though having no blood - relation with her, doted on her.
This was her home.
Yuanbao told Shen Yuning everything that had happened today in detail.
Old Man Zhang was afraid that those taking care of Yuanbao might be careless, so he went to see her every day. Perhaps because nothing had happened for so long, he became careless and didn't even notice that Shen Jingui, who was at the end of his rope, was following him.
When Shen Jingui saw Yuanbao, he rushed up and grabbed her to leave. How could Old Man Zhang allow that? He hugged Huzi and chased after them. That village was a small one that they weren't very familiar with, and there were few adults staying at home. People just watched from afar and no one stepped forward to help.
Old Man Zhang couldn't run fast enough. So he simply put Huzi on the ridge of the field and pounced on Shen Jingui to beat him.
No one knew why, but Shen Jingui took out a big stick and raised it to hit Old Man Zhang. Old Man Zhang dodged, but when Shen Jingui found he couldn't hit Old Man Zhang, he swung the stick at Yuanbao instead.
Old Man Zhang was afraid Yuanbao would get hurt, so he rushed over and threw himself on her. The stick was very heavy and hit Old Man Zhang.
Yuanbao was smart. Xuan Yi had always told her that if she couldn't win, she should run and find an adult. After being pushed away by Old Man Zhang, she didn't dare to entangle with her father. She ran over, carried Huzi on her back and fled. But all the way, no one dared to help her or rescue her grandpa.
When Zhang Rong rushed over and heard Yuanbao's words, she was so worried that she paced back and forth. If it weren't for Huzi throwing himself into her arms and crying, she would have rushed off immediately to see how her father was.
But when Old Man Zhang came back, he was full of vigor. Even his steps were more imposing than usual. In contrast, Shen Fugui, who was leading the dejected Shen Jingui behind, looked more like the poor man Yuanbao had described, beaten to the ground by the big stick.
When Old Man Zhang saw Xuan Yi coming back, he immediately grabbed him and shouted in a high - pitched voice, "Xuan Yi, it's a pity you weren't here today. You missed seeing your uncle's heroic posture!"
Yuanbao gave a start. Tears welled up in her eyes but didn't fall. She just stiffened her neck and asked, "Grandpa Zhang, are you really okay?"
Old Man Zhang, like a peacock showing off its tail, disdainfully curled his lips. "How could something happen to your grandpa? Well, go and take a look at your father. It's him who has something wrong."
Yuanbao didn't even want to see Shen Jingui at all. She circled around Old Man Zhang, looking him up and down. Only after she was sure that he was really okay did she feel a bit relieved. "Fortunately, Uncle Er came in time. I was so worried."
Zhang Rong grabbed the restless Yuanbao, afraid that the wound on her foot would split open. She made her sit properly on the chair and told her not to move around.
Old Man Zhang quickly walked over, bent down and blocked Yuanbao. "It has nothing to do with your uncle. It's because your grandpa is so capable. In just a few moves, I snatched the stick from your father's hand. Humph, how dare he hit me? Didn't he even check how strong I was when I was young? Three strong men were no match for me!"
But when he wanted to straighten up after finishing speaking, he just couldn't. He propped his hands on the armrests of Yuanbao's chair and shouted, "Quick, Xuan Yi, give me a hand. Ouch, my back. Give me a hand."
Xuan Yi quickly helped him sit on the chair beside and then lifted his clothes to check his back. He found a large area of bruise on his back, which obviously showed that he had been beaten badly.
Zhang Rong was so angry that she gave him a fierce look. "Keep boasting then. Don't you even think about how old you are? You're hurt like this but still trying to be brave."
As she said this, her eyes turned red. She quickly covered up her loss of composure and grumbled as she went into the inner room to get the medicinal liquor.
Old Man Zhang let out a silly laugh and waved his hand indifferently. "What could happen to me? I was just hit by that villain a few times when I wasn't reacting at first. With my body, when I was young, not to mention two or three blows, even a dozen blows wouldn't have bothered me."
Amid his boasting, Shen Yuning walked up to Shen Jingui and looked at him coldly. "I've already sent someone to report this to the authorities. Intentional injury will land you in jail for at least a while. I remember you were exiled before because you fought with someone from a neighboring village, right? It seems that sometimes the law can be strict, and the crime of fighting can result in a heavy sentence."
Shen Jingui, already on the verge of collapse from the beating, was shocked when he heard this. He looked up and shouted angrily, "I'm your elder brother. Are you trying to kill me?"
Shen Yuning sneered. "Elder brother? The law doesn't care about family relations. When Xiaorou was harmed by you back then, she also remembered the deep brother - sister affection you had since childhood and took special 'care' of you..."
Shen Jingui shivered. Xiaorou's "care" was just trying to "care" him to death! Thinking of the two years of exile and hard labor, he had had enough of that kind of life. He quickly supported his leg and stretched it out for Shen Yuning to see. "Go and report. Just go ahead. My leg is almost broken. My injuries are much more serious than his."
"But I can find witnesses to prove that you were the one who started the fight."
Shen Jingui stubbornly retorted, "I just wanted to take my own daughter away. He stopped me. Go and report. I'd like to see if the authorities can tell right from wrong!"
Shen Yuning looked at him with a gloomy face, looking as if she wished he were dead.
He shivered again and stiffened his neck. "I... I had no choice. If you want to blame someone, blame your second brother. You said I could ask him for money, but he didn't give it to me. I had no money to spend. I... I had no choice but to go after Yuanbao."
"No money to spend?" Shen Yuning was so angry that she laughed. "Two taels of silver every three days. There are so many people in this yard, and we can't even spend one tael in three days. You, alone, live more leisurely than a rich man's lord?"
Shen Jingui kept silent. He found a small stool and sat down. Acting like a rascal, he shouted, "I don't care. I'm seriously injured now. You're my sister. If you don't give me money, I'll just stay here and won't leave."
Shen Yuning helplessly rubbed her forehead, deeply suffering from the dilemma of not daring to take drastic action. She took out two taels of silver from her purse and handed it to him. "Take the money and leave. From now on, it'll be two taels every month. Come and get it on time."
Shen Jingui took the silver but didn't want to leave. He stammered that two taels of silver wasn't enough.
Shen Yuning sneered continuously. "Two taels isn't enough? How much is enough? The best embroiderer in the embroidery workshop only earns one tael of silver a month, which is enough for a whole family's expenses. You, alone, say two taels isn't enough?"
Over there, Shen Fugui was also anxious. Seeing that Shen Jingui didn't respond, he reached out to grab the silver from him and shouted angrily, "If you think it's not enough, just get out. Do you have a mistress outside who spends a lot of money? Is two taels not enough for you?"
Actually, among the whole Zhang family, the one who had always been a bit kind to Shen Jingui was Shen Fugui. Shen Fugui wasn't very shrewd. He just knew how to be down - to - earth. He thought that no matter how bad Shen Jingui was, he was still his elder brother, so he should help him as much as he could. It was precisely this kind of personality that made Shen Jingui act recklessly and be insolent.
But today, when Shen Fugui saw Yuanbao carrying Huzi on her back, crying so hard that she could hardly catch her breath, his heart ached. At first, when he saw Old Man Zhang beating his elder brother, he felt a sense of pleasure. But when he knew that Shen Jingui had used such a thick stick to beat Old Man Zhang and Yuanbao, the old and the young, there was no trace of softness left in his heart when he looked at Shen Jingui.
Shen Jingui was injured and couldn't compete with Shen Fugui. Seeing the silver that was almost in his hand slipping away, he was so anxious that he shouted, "That's the money I need to pay back to others. Quickly give it back to me. If you don't, those people will kill me!"
These words suddenly woke Shen Yuning up. Shen Jingui was alone and had a considerable amount of money. How could he have fallen into such a state of destitution? She originally thought that this man was lecherous and spent the money in brothels, which was why he couldn't save any money. But now, looking at him, although there were dark circles under his eyes, he didn't have the decadent look of someone who had over - indulged in lust. Instead, he looked a bit out of his mind, as if he was in a low and unstable mood.
She took the money from Shen Fugui's hand and asked sternly, "What on earth have you been doing? If you don't tell me, I'll even close all the shops and will never give you a single cent of silver again!"
Shen Jingui cowered and lowered his head, mumbling, "I... I just heard that it was a place where money could be earned quickly..."
There was a buzzing in Shen Yuning's head. Gambling den.
How could she not know about the gambling dens in the Great Zhou Dynasty? When she was a child, sitting at her grandfather's knee, she heard her grandfather and cousin talking about how the gambling den was a place that was completely inhumane. How many people had broken up their families and lost everything because of gambling.
But this problem couldn't be solved even when her grandfather was alive. After all, it was a cancer that had existed for hundreds of years, harming so many people and enriching so many others.
At this moment, Shen Yuning didn't even have the time to blame Shen Jingui for getting involved in such a quagmire. She quickly asked again, "How much do you owe?"
Shen Jingui mumbled, "I only borrowed five taels at first, but... but they said that with the compound interest, I have to pay back fifty taels now. Yuning, I..."
Shen Yuning slapped him across the face and looked at him angrily. "Fifty taels, Shen Jingui. You have quite a fortune. Fifty taels. An ordinary rural person can't earn fifty taels in a lifetime of hard work, but you just owe it like that?"
Shen Jingui covered his face. For the first time, he didn't dare to say a word. After a long time, he started to cry loudly. "What can I do? Those people are just swindlers. At first, when they saw that I had some money, they coaxed me to go there and cheated all my money away... Yuning, I'm your elder brother, your real elder brother. You can't just ignore me. Otherwise... otherwise, I'll sue you. I'm the head of the Shen family. This Shen Embroidery Workshop should originally be mine!"
Shen Yuning took a deep breath and looked at him coldly.
Shen Jingui softened his tone and pleaded, "Yuning, I'm still your elder brother after all, and also Yuanbao's father. You... you go and help me pay back the money. I promise, I promise I'll never gamble again, Yuning..."
How could the promise of a habitual gambler be trusted? Moreover, those who lent money in the gambling den clearly knew that Shen Jingui had a sister like her and a daughter like Yuanbao.
She wasn't afraid, but what about Yuanbao?
Yuanbao was sitting on the chair, looking at Shen Jingui with cold eyes. "Do you even deserve to be my father? Let me ask you, is my mother really dead?"