Chapter 93: Liu Fa Breaks Off Relations
That afternoon, after returning from the county seat, Liu Fa called his wife and younger brother together at home and said, “These days I’ve let you down because of Liu Yongfu’s family affairs. I won’t intervene in it anymore!”
Liu Cai clapped happily and said, “Great, brother, you’ve finally come to your senses. I’ll go and bring Yinglan and the children back.”
Liu Fa’s wife, however, was not as optimistic as him.
She observed his expression, frowned, and asked, “Has something happened?”
Liu Fa sighed deeply and looked at her, “Yesterday, Zhang Ju went to the Yang family asking for a large sum of money.”
“What?!” Both Liu Fa’s wife and Liu Cai were stunned.
Liu Fa’s wife was on the verge of tears.
She said, “How can this be good? We can’t stop it now. Liu Xiang’s death is clearly because of Yang…”
She didn’t dare to finish her sentence but continued vaguely, “With such a big matter, they can do whatever they want. Zhang Ju and them won’t be restrained.”
Liu Cai’s face turned pale, “Will they drag our family into this? The whole village knows they often stay at our home. Will the Yang family think we instigated them to do this?”
Liu Fa said, “I originally thought, if she wanted to demand an explanation for Liu Xiang, although I am just a nobody, I could step forward and at least make Liu Xiang’s death clear.”
Liu Cai interrupted, “Brother, you’re confused!”
Liu Fa gritted his teeth and made up his mind, “From now on, I won’t intervene anymore. I’m going to the village head’s house right now to clarify this matter and ask him to serve as a witness.”
With that, Liu Fa got up and left. His wife hurriedly followed him.
Liu Cai paced in place for a while, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to go to the neighboring village to fetch Yinglan for the time being.
Liu Fa and his wife went to the village head’s house. After closing the door, Liu Fa recounted Liu Xiang’s situation in detail. The village head listened with a shocked expression.
Liu Fa said, “Everything I said was witnessed by me. As for how Liu Xiang got involved with that person and how he died, I don’t know. Regardless of the outcome from the county government, I won’t intervene anymore.”
“From now on, our family will have nothing to do with Liu Yongfu’s family. I won’t lend them any help even if they’re in trouble. I’ve already repaid the kindness of sheltering them back then. I won’t get involved anymore.”
Liu Fa’s wife wiped tears beside him.
The village head sighed, stood up, patted Liu Fa’s shoulder, and said, “I understand what to do. You and your wife go back home.”
The couple left the village head’s house.
On the way back, Liu Fa’s wife worriedly said, “Will this work?”
Liu Fa’s expression relaxed slightly compared to earlier.
He said, “It’s useless to talk to others about this. We must find the village head. He has relatives with the Yang family. Although they don’t interact much, he can still speak up for us.”
“I’m looking for the village head, firstly to have him serve as a witness for us. Secondly, I won’t be lending my help to Liu Yongfu, naturally I won’t instigate him and Zhang Ju to demand money.”
“Lastly, I’ve stated my position. I won’t inquire further into how Liu Xiang died. I won’t go to the county office either. Whatever decision the county makes regarding this case, I will accept it.”
When this news reached the Yang family’s ears, they naturally understood Liu Fa’s intentions. They wouldn’t trouble him again.
Indeed, two days later, the village head came to find Liu Fa. Without much discussion, he left with a sentence, “From now on, just relax and live your life peacefully.”
After this incident, whatever happened next would have nothing to do with Liu Fa’s family.
Qi Yinglan returned with his child, and Liu Fa’s wife began to smile again.
Liu Cai worked more energetically at the tofu shop.
Liu Fa finally realized that he hadn’t had such peaceful days in a long time. Liu Cai was right; he had been too foolish before.
However, after these incidents, the Liu family’s finances were nearly depleted.
With so many mouths to feed at home, wages to pay to the tofu shop assistants, and their old ox nearing its end, they needed to buy a young, strong yellow ox.
Additionally, the tofu shop needed regular supplies every few days. Since last year, soybean prices had been rising, and this year’s costs were even higher. However, they couldn’t raise the price of tofu for the time being.
All of this required money.
Seeing that they were really struggling, Liu Fa’s wife wanted to borrow money from her parents’ home, but Liu Fa stopped her. It wasn’t easy for his parents-in-law to take care of their three children, and he couldn’t ask them for more.
Liu Fa’s wife asked him, “Then what should we do?”
Liu Fa said, “Let me talk to Henian about it.”
So Liu Fa went to the blacksmith’s shop to find Qiu Henian and explained the borrowing money situation.
Qiu Henian had followed the Liu family’s affairs several times and knew their current situation was dire.
In the past, Liu Fa had helped him before, and their relationship had always been good. Naturally, he wouldn’t refuse.
However, he didn’t make any promises immediately. Qiu Henian said that the money at home was managed by Qingyan. He needed to check how much money they had at home.
Liu Fa understood. His wife managed the money at home, and as a businessman himself, he knew that Qiu Henian and Qingyan needed to spend money on materials and goods. It was possible they had already spent their entire savings.
So he went home to wait.
That night, before it got dark, Qiu Henian and Qingyan went to the old Liu family’s house. Qingyan handed Liu Fa’s wife a silver ticket.
She looked down and saw that it was a full two hundred taels. She was both shocked and pleased.
“This is too much.”
Qingyan said, “Sister-in-law, I don’t need this money urgently. Your family needs it more, so please take it.”
Liu Fa and his wife were profusely grateful.
Their home had been in a mess recently, and neighbors who used to come by often hadn’t visited in days. Qiu Henian and Qingyan’s gesture was like a timely help in a crisis, more valuable than adding flowers to brocade. The old Liu family would remember their kindness.
In Qingyan’s view, the tofu shop business of the old Liu family had always been good. They were just going through a temporary difficulty. In a few months, things would turn around, and they would be able to repay the money. He wasn’t worried at all.
…
After leaving the old Liu family’s house, the couple went to the butcher’s shop to buy Ah Miao a chicken leg, then returned home.
After the hustle and bustle of the eighth and fifteenth days, Qingyan and her family finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It was tiring to constantly watch over the shop, but now that the customer flow had decreased, the three of them took turns to rest occasionally.
If they got too busy in the future, they could hire someone to help watch the shop. For now, they could manage.
The next day, it was Qingyan’s turn to rest.
After returning home, the two cooked together. They boiled the chicken leg in plain water and tore it into strips to let it cool, ready for Ah Miao to eat.
Their dinner consisted of two dishes and a soup. One was a platter of smoked sauces containing pig ears, pig snouts, sausage, and pig trotters. The other dish was garlic shoots stir-fried with eggs.
The soup was tofu stewed with kelp, with added dried shrimp, which tasted delicious.
After eating and cleaning up, Qingyan lay on the bed to relax her muscles and bones.
Qiu Henian said he wanted to boil water for a bath. Qingyan blinked, got off the bed, and went to help.
Now the two of them had developed an unspoken understanding. Whenever bathing was mentioned, they both understood what it meant.
After the busy fifteenth day, Qiu Henian would almost every other day engage in that activity. Even though it wasn’t the fertile period, this frequency had never ceased, and Qingyan had never raised any objections.
After bathing, they returned to bed. Once the curtains were drawn and the oil lamp extinguished, it was pitch dark, and nothing could be seen, only the sound of clapping and intermittent cries.
It lasted until late into the night before they finally stopped.
The next day, when they woke up and lazily had breakfast, after a brief rest, as soon as it was daylight, the man lifted the curtains of the bed again.
During the daytime, Qingyan wasn’t as open as he was during the dark, and he was very restrained, tightly clasping his legs.
He didn’t know that this made him more enticing, and Qiu Henian’s veins were almost bursting on his forehead.
…
They said they wouldn’t interfere anymore, but trouble found its way to their door.
About ten days after Liu Fa went to the village chief’s house, trouble arose again for Liu Yongfu’s family.
When Liu Yong went to stroll around the kiln, he got into a fight with other customers over jealousy and ended up being beaten.
This time, Zhang Ju had people carry the half-dead Liu Yong back to the Liu family.
But this time, they couldn’t carry the person into the yard of Old Liu’s house because the gate was tightly locked and they were not allowed in.
Zhang Ju hopped madly, scolding Liu Fa for being heartless and cursed their children’s future.
At this time, it was still afternoon, and the idle villagers in the village all came to watch the excitement, talking in groups of three or five.
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the village chief arrived.
The village chief deliberately raised his voice for the other villagers to hear and said to Zhang Ju, “From beginning to end, you’ve squeezed out more than five hundred taels of silver from Liu Fa’s family.”
When he said this, the villagers were all astonished.
The village chief continued, “As you said, one must have a conscience. He has already emptied his pockets paying off what he owed you before. You shouldn’t trouble others again. This child is injured like this, shouldn’t you hurry to take him to the doctor? Do you not care about this child’s life?”
Zhang Ju originally had some fear of the village chief. When she saw him arrive, she closed her mouth and didn’t curse anymore.
But at this moment, upon hearing these words, she widened her eyes and cursed along with the village chief, “You old bastard, what benefits did you take from Liu Fa to speak up for him everywhere!”
The village chief was always respected by the villagers, so naturally they didn’t believe her words. But they still angered him greatly.
He threw off his robe and said, “You’re really causing trouble. Whoever beat you, go find them to settle accounts. Why bother troubling someone who has nothing to do with this?”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ju seemed to think of something and her eyes rolled a few times. She stopped cursing.
As if possessed, she murmured, “Why didn’t I think of that? I should have let him be penniless! After carrying Liu Yong over, I could have left him at their doorstep and said he killed Liu Xiang and nearly killed his brother too. If he don’t give me money, I’ll carry him to the yamen to see what the Yang family can do!”
Saying this, she had the porters carry Liu Yong onto the carriage again. Old Liu stood there like a wooden man, following behind. The horse’s hooves clattered, and they left noisily.
After they left, the village chief sent the villagers back home, and the gate of Old Liu’s house finally creaked open. Liu Fa thanked the village chief, who waved his hand and left.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ju’s carriage was stopped outside the county, by a dirty child beggar.
Zhang Ju thought it was a beggar asking for money and impatiently stuck her head out to drive him away. But the child ran over with a smile, stuffing a note into her hand.
Zhang Ju lowered her head curiously to read, and her face changed color instantly.
On that white paper, scribbled like a child’s doodle, was a deep pit, with a person struggling and climbing out of it, belly swollen, mouth wide open in pain.
Beside the large pit was a shovel stuck into the ground.
The child still smiled and said, “Did you really think it was a customer beating someone in the kiln? From now on, whenever I want to come, I’ll come. Next time, it won’t be just half-dead.”
Zhang Ju grabbed the child and slapped him twice, questioning him about what happened. But the child started crying, saying someone gave him two buns and told him to say that.
But when asked who taught him, he couldn’t remember clearly.
Zhang Ju pushed the child aside, looked at the paper carefully for a while, and the more she looked, the worse her complexion became, fear showing in her eyes.
She trembled as she handed the paper to Old Liu, who looked at it in shock.
Zhang Ju quickly said a few words to the driver, and the two of them got back on the carriage.
The carriage changed direction and didn’t go towards the city but headed east along the outskirts, arriving at a civilian residence.
Zhang Ju got off the carriage and had people carry Liu Yong off. Old Liu also stopped being dazed and ran into the yard, pushing out a large cart from the barn.
Zhang Ju quickly packed up the important things in the house, and the two of them carried Liu Yong onto the cart together.
The three of them left Muling County overnight and headed straight for their hometown!
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Yang Huai’s face, in particular, sent chills down his spine, especially now, when he was completely unprepared.
