Chapter 1: Winter in Jinling Chapter 5 Grandpa is Back
Although the house had changed hands, the buyer showed mercy and allowed the Zhao family to stay for a few more days.
It was tragic, the old lady of the Zhao family had passed away long ago. Zhao Shouye's wife was still alive, but when something happened at home, she took her little daughter back to her parents' home.
As a result, only two pairs of father and son were left in the huge courtyard.
The first few entrances were all locked, so the four could only temporarily take shelter in the back room where servants lived.
If the master was like this, then the servants, maids, and concubines would have been dismissed long ago. Without servants to serve him, he would have to do everything himself.
It was getting dark now, and there was a flickering fire in the kitchen in the back house. The Zhao family was preparing their dinner.
Zhao Xian was seen squatting in front of the stove, adding firewood into the stove with an expressionless face.
Zhao Shouye stood beside the stove wearing an apron, and skillfully put rice and vegetable leaves into the big pot.
Zhao Shouzheng and his son sat on the doorstep with their sleeves tucked into their hands, waiting eagerly.
They had changed to two meals a day, eating porridge for each meal. The bowl of porridge they drank in the morning had long since turned into urine and disappeared without a trace. The father and son were waiting for the meal with their stomachs rumbling.
The situation now was completely different from when he first arrived. But Zhao Hao had calmed down. After all, the wealth was fleeting like a bubble. He was thrown down to earth before he even understood the situation. If he had never truly possessed it, he wouldn't feel that much loss.
What impressed him was that his uncle and his father, the two brothers, had very strong mental qualities. Only two or three days had passed, and they were eating and drinking as usual, with no signs of collapse at all. He didn't know whose genes had been so strong.
"Brother, plant more rice." Zhao Shouzheng tied up the grain bag when he saw that his elder brother had only planted two handfuls of rice, and could not help but ask.
"You think eating for free is not enough! What you are eating now is the rice provided by this official." Zhao Shouye was unmoved. He rolled his eyes at him and said, "You just sit there and watch and eat what is ready. You still talk so much nonsense."
"Then you take a rest, I'll take it." Zhao Shouzheng rolled up his sleeves and was about to get up after hearing that.
Everyone showed expressions of horror. Zhao Shouye said with a look of disgust: "Go away. Even pigs won't eat what you make."
"Then you ate two big bowls the day before yesterday!" Zhao Shouzheng said with wide eyes.
"Get out!" Zhao Shouye poured another handful of rice into the pot angrily, which made Zhao Shouzheng shut up.
Zhao Hao squatted there, looking at the adults in the family with lifeless eyes, wondering what kind of people are these two?
I've fallen into a big pit.
…
After the porridge was cooked, the four members of the Zhao family each held a bowl, squatted side by side in the corridor, and drank it with slurps in the light of the fire from the stove.
After filling his stomach with some hot porridge, my uncle had the energy to sigh again.
"Alas, it's already the fourth day, why is there still no news? I think the old man is in great danger."
"Don't worry, big brother. It won't happen." Zhao Shouzheng chewed the pickled vegetables and said vaguely, "This radish is quite crisp. I'll pickle some more tomorrow."
Zhao Shouye ignored the foodie and glared at Zhao Hao, saying, "How could I be so confused as to listen to your nonsense?!"
"If you really borrowed the fifty thousand taels, Grandpa would definitely not be able to come back." Zhao Hao curled his lips. Although his uncle was a high-ranking official, he had seen pigs run even if he had never eaten pork, right? How could he not have any common sense as an official?
"Listen, is this human language? You can't spit out ivory from a dog's mouth!" The uncle couldn't help but take a big mouthful of porridge in anger.
"Did you hear what people say? Your nephew is a dog, what are you, brother?" Now it was Zhao Shouzheng's turn to be unhappy.
"Just protect him ! When the old man is killed by you two, I will come back to settle accounts with you even if I become a ghost!" In order to live two more years, the uncle decided not to bother with the father and son. As he stood up and tried to get another bowl, he thought: "Why don't we wear mourning clothes and carry the coffin to the Metropolitan Procuratorate tomorrow to make a scene and see if they will let him go."
"Do you want to kill me?!" Then he heard an angry voice sounded in his ears.
"Dad, I'm trying to save you..." Zhao Shouye replied casually. He suddenly froze in the middle of his words, the hair on his back stood up straight, and he said with a trembling voice: "Ghost..."
Before he could finish his words, he was kicked in the butt. "It's you, my old man, you big-headed ghost!"
"Dad, Grandpa is back." Zhao Xian reminded in a low voice from the side.
Zhao Shouye covered his butt and looked back, only to see an angry old man standing at the door, still in the posture of kicking people.
If it wasn’t his father, Zhao Liben, a third-rank official, then who could it be?
After taking another peek at his shadow on the ground, Zhao Shouye finally felt relieved and shouted in surprise, "Dad, why are you back?!"
"What? Are you expecting me to die outside?!" Zhao Liben became even more furious when he saw his children and grandchildren squatting in the corridor with bowls in their hands. He glared at them and cursed:
"It's only been a few days since you left me. And you've ended up like this?"
Before he finished his words, he heard a gurgling sound.
All the children and grandchildren looked towards Zhao Liben's belly.
"I've been hungry for these days, shouldn't my stomach be growling?" Zhao Liben said with a straight face , puffing his beard and glaring, "What are you still standing there for? Serve me some food!"
…
After a while, the four of them, grandfather and grandson, squatted under the corridor with their bowls of porridge in their hands , and continued to eat the porridge with a slurp.
"See, I was right to ask you to endure a little longer, wasn't I?" Zhao Shouzheng glanced at his elder brother, feeling proud of his foresight.
"Get lost." Zhao Shouye ignored him in frustration and asked Zhao Liben in confusion, "Dad, why did they let you out?"
"They locked me up so you could pay them. You paid them, and they kept me here for the New Year." Zhao Liben looked at the dark house and shivered with heartache. He asked, "How did it become like this? How much did they force you to pay?"
"They wanted 100,000 taels, and I sold all my property to only get half of it." Zhao Shouye answered honestly, "There was still 50,000 taels left. I wanted to borrow money to make up for it, but that kid Zhao Hao ruined it."
As he was talking, he noticed that Zhao Liben's face was livid, and he asked with concern, "Dad, you suffered a lot in there, didn't you?"
But Zhao Liben was furious, slapping Zhao Shouye on the head again and again, cursing:
"You idiot! Are you going to piss me off to death?! I have a minister above me, and I have the left minister as well. I can only give him 30,000 taels at most! And you gave me another 20,000 taels? I have worked hard all my life , and you, a prodigal son, squandered it all!"
If squatting on the ground wasn't inconvenient, he would have beaten his eldest son with his fists and feet.
"Didn't I want you to get out earlier?" Zhao Shouye had no choice but to hide his head and shouted with grievance: "Don't you know how critical the situation was? It was as if you were going to be executed if you didn't pay the money immediately..."
"Idiot, can't you see that they are trying to trick you? Things like this are always made up by everyone together, how can it be that my family is the only one involved?! You are worse than a child!"
"You are not as good as my son." Zhao Shouzheng looked at his elder brother proudly.
"What are you so proud of, you nerd!" Zhao Liben glanced at Zhao Shouzheng unhappily, but his expression gradually softened. After scolding his eldest son, he turned around, patted Zhao Hao on the shoulder, and said softly:
"My dear grandson, serve another bowl for grandpa."
"Uh, okay."
Zhao Hao took the empty bowl in a daze. He finally understood that this was the origin of the Zhao family's weirdness.
