NOVPUB
Chapter 93: 93. Life oh
Just don’t know if Old Zhao will regret it.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room was a bit dreary, even Hua Jin didn’t dare to speak casually, pulling her younger brother to sit quietly.
"Alright, let’s not talk about Old Zhao’s family anymore. What’s happened has happened, it’s fate." The old woman Hua interrupted the gloom in the room.
Except for Xiao Si, everyone in the Hua family actually understood that this so-called fate was something they could control themselves.
This is the result of wishful thinking.
This incident also had a significant impact on the Hua family’s children, especially the brothers Hua Yunao and Hua Jin.
Then, under the urging of the old woman Hua, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
The next day, as the village chief, Old Hua took his son to Zhao’s house and busied themselves for half a day, helping with Old Qian’s burial with the villagers’ help.
Due to the sudden event, there wasn’t a simple coffin available. They wrapped her in a grass mat and a torn quilt and chose a decent feng shui spot for her eternal rest.
A few days later, Old Zhao didn’t make it through and was buried together with Old Qian.
Before dying, Old Zhao came to his senses and told his sons the hiding place of the family’s silver coins, which could be considered his last contribution.
In the few days since, the area where the Zhao family’s house collapsed had almost been dug up three feet deep,
Even though Zhao Hu had one leg immobilized, the other was perfectly fine. Even if he had to use a crutch to make his wife dig, he didn’t give up searching for the family money.
Zhao Bao, no need to say, with both his legs and hands intact, kept on despite the pain to find the family money.
Unfortunately, the old couple had hidden it so well, that after several days, they found nothing.
The thing the two brothers did most frequently these days was to keep calling out to Old Zhao in the woodshed,
It was a blessing that Old Zhao had a moment of lucidity before he died. Otherwise, even in death, he wouldn’t have found peace.
Worried when they couldn’t find the money, once it was found, the two brothers began arguing over its ownership, each dissatisfied with the other, to the point they didn’t notice when Old Zhao breathed his last.
This made Old Hua, who came after hearing the news, so angry that he almost picked up a stick to teach the brothers a lesson.
Even with their father in such a state, they didn’t think to fulfil their filial duties; money was all they cared about.
Old Zhao’s two sons might as well have been raised for nothing.
Even though Old Hua looked down on them, he couldn’t ignore the situation, since he was the village chief.
No wonder it was a whole dozen or so taels of silver; even Old Hua hadn’t expected that the old Zhao couple saved up so much silver.
Since there was silver, he took no pity in withholding the more than two taels he paid upfront for treatment.
When there was no silver, he’d footed the bill, but now that there was silver, even as village chief, he wasn’t going to be a fool.
The withheld over two taels of silver made the Zhao brothers’ wounds hurt with heartache.
They had made such a fuss before; had they known, they wouldn’t have caused so much trouble. Those more than two taels could have tide them over until next autumn’s harvest.
Watching the village chief take over two taels was more painful to the brothers than having their flesh cut.
After Old Zhao’s burial, the leftover silver, enough to build two adobe rooms, was divided between the two brothers by Old Hua and a few village elders, along with the few acres of land, equally split in two.
Though Zhao Bao was displeased, he accepted it.
He understood that if their father were still alive, the silver wouldn’t have ended up with the brothers. Having some was better than having none.
The deaths of Old Zhao and his wife in Hua Village only caused a slight ripple; people merely sighed when mentioning the couple.
However, the events in Old Zhao’s family served as a wake-up call for many, and for a long time, all the roofs in Hua Village were quickly cleared, no matter how much snow fell.
Hua Jin gradually got used to life here in the winter; initially afraid of the cold and unwilling to go out, she slowly began to take strolls.
She spent most time in the space, where, unlike the outside, it was spring all year round, wonderfully comfortable. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Especially in the evenings, Hua Jin almost always slept in the bed inside the space.
With not much work at home nowadays, except for the self-disciplined Hua Yunao brothers, Hua Jin and Xiao Si woke up naturally.
After waking up, Hua Jin would rush to her grandparents’ room; it was her routine these days, mainly to check if the vegetables in the room had sprouted.
To let her family taste vegetables from the space fridge, Hua Jin had gone to great lengths.
She pestered her father, eldest, and second brothers to make several large boxes and struggled to dig soil from the backyard.
The difficulty was imaginable in the freezing cold, taking almost a whole day to dig enough soil for the large boxes.
If it hadn’t been Hua Jin making the request, if it were the sons, Hua Chengtian would have been smacking them long ago for making a fuss in such cold weather.
Because his daughter was filial and wanted them to eat fresh vegetables, even if it seemed like wishful thinking, how could a father not oblige?
The first thing Hua Jin did upon entering her grandparents’ room was to squat down and closely examine the plants.
Seeing the little green sprouts poking out brought her unrestrained joy, even more exciting than seeing her plants sprout in the space.
"Grandma... Grandma... Mom," driven by this joy, she headed straight for the kitchen to share the news with her grandma and mom.
"What’s up? What’s up?" Grabbing her anxious granddaughter, the old woman Hua only relaxed upon seeing the smile on Hua Jin’s face.
"Grandma, our vegetables have sprouted, come and see!" As she spoke, she eagerly tried pulling her grandma back to the room.
"Did they really sprout?" Qi Shi, who was unwrapping buns, paused in shock at her daughter’s excitement.
"Yes, yes," Hua Jin nodded excitedly like a pecking chick, "Mom, I’ll take Grandma to see first."
Her joyous expression made everyone smile along with her.
"Grandma, look fast!" She excitedly pointed at the seedlings poking through in the wooden box.
A whole week, and finally sprouts appeared, Hua Jin was just overjoyed, her cheeks rosy.
"Oh my, really!" Looking at the little green sprouts shooting up from the box, the old woman Hua grinned.
They really sprouted after just two days without checking.
Honestly, the old woman Hua hadn’t held a glimmer of hope, but since her granddaughter wanted to plant, digging some soil and putting in some effort was all it took, and how could a grandma not support her?
In the first few days after sowing, she was quite intrigued, checking every day, but as day by day passed without any sign of sprouts, the novelty wore off, and she stopped caring for two days—then to her surprise, they really did sprout.
"My granddaughter is truly amazing," the old woman Hua beamed as she held her granddaughter close and smothered her with kisses.
Without her granddaughter’s filial piety, fearing the lack of greens in the household and her whimsical idea, who would have thought that planting vegetables indoors could actually sprout!
No wonder, she’s a terrific granddaughter!
This is something she takes after me, the old woman Hua thought proudly!
"It’s because Grandma is amazing," Hua Jin said with a shy smile, looking admiringly at the old woman Hua.
"These are all Grandma’s doing, and it’s been hard on you, Grandma."
All Hua Jin did was talk, come by to see them every day, really not doing much.
"Oh, my granddaughter really knows how to care for people. How can my granddaughter be so wonderful..." The old woman Hua, with her own set of tinted perceptions, was once again smitten.
To her, Hua Jin was perfect no matter what, and she could never spoil her enough.
