Chapter 66: Old Yu’s Farewell Feast

Old Yu downed two consecutive cups of wine before he dared to reveal the truth: “There are two forces in the city investigating the matter from sixteen years ago, and they’ve already traced it back to Laizi San. Although I covered my face when I sold the yellow croaker, there’s always a trace left behind, who knows when they’ll find out about my brother.”

Thump!

Jiang Degui slumped to the ground, his heart felt like it had been plunged into an ice cellar, he couldn’t help but shiver.

Back then, Old Yu sold yellow croaker on the black market, through an introduction, the buyer was Laizi San. Although he was a scoundrel, his ancestors had some assets, and he had somehow obtained a lot of grain.

Old Yu was cunning, he didn’t dare to ask for refined grains, he only asked for sorghum and corn flour. He divided it into three parts, one part for the Jiang family, one part for himself, and the other part was secretly used to help the poor people in the south of the city.

That year, someone in the county investigated the matter, those who had been helped were all grateful for the great kindness of the living Buddha, they all agreed to keep their mouths shut and refused to reveal any information, so the trail ended in the south of the city.

Jiang Degui’s brain was racing, he couldn’t think of a good solution, he could only deceive himself, “No matter who asks, just say you don’t know. What can they do to us? They can’t use private violence, can they?”

Although they said this, they both knew that people die for money and birds die for food, for the sake of getting the yellow croaker, they could do anything.

They had already started families and had weaknesses, so they were even more afraid.

Old Yu pretended to be relaxed, “I’ve saved up a lot of money over the years, I can live anywhere. I’ll leave the day after tomorrow, in a few years when things have calmed down, I’ll come back to see you.

Hmph, I’m not doing this for you, don’t get any ideas!

You know, I’ve been hoping for a child for so many years, this one is hard-earned, my wife is weak, she’s going to give birth in a few months, I heard that the medical level outside is higher and more secure.”

Jiang Degui took a gulp of wine, his heart ached. Old Yu was leaving to protect the Jiang family, to protect… An’an.

If it wasn’t absolutely necessary, who would want to leave their home?

“An’an is very capable now, she’s caught the eye of those big leaders, if something happens in the future, someone will be able to help her, they’ll put in a good word for us. Don’t listen to rumors and ruin her future, ruin your daughter.”

Old Yu staggered to his feet, he raised his cup one last time, his smile was uglier than crying, “Brother, I’m leaving.”

Jiang Degui’s eyes turned red, the more he thought about it, the deeper his frown became, he held his cup, unable to swallow the wine, “It’s my brother who’s sorry for you, you wait.”

He got up and rushed out, knocking on the door of the west wing.

Jiang An’an opened the door and saw her father’s eyes red like a rabbit’s, her heart sank, “Dad, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Degui grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the main room, “An’an, your Uncle Yu is leaving, come with me quickly.”

Jiang An’an: ???

When they reached the main room, Jiang Degui let go of her hand and said solemnly, “An’an, kneel down and kowtow to your benefactor three times.”

The atmosphere was unprecedentedly solemn.

Jiang An’an looked at her father’s glistening tears, then at Old Yu’s equally sad expression, she obediently knelt down.

Old Yu was so startled that he sobered up a bit, he quickly stepped forward to pull her up, scolding, “You silly child, daughters are precious, you should only kneel to heaven, earth, and your parents.”

Jiang An’an, though unaware of what had transpired, sweetly said, “Uncle Yu, you’re my father’s brother, just like my second uncle, we’re family.”

The word “family” deeply touched Old Yu’s heart. He repeated “good” three times, swaying as he walked out the door.

The wind blew, chilling his cheeks.

He realized he had tears all over his face…

No matter where he went in the future, he, Old Yu, would have a brother in Yunzhou County, and a family.

“I’m leaving.”

Jiang An’an was a little worried, “Dad, Uncle Yu is drunk, shouldn’t we let him stay here for the night?”

There was no response from the room for a long time.

When she turned her head to look.

Jiang Degui was already asleep on the stool, dead drunk.

“…”

–

The next day.

Jiang An’an carried a sack of mountain goods and knocked on Old Yu’s door.

Looking at the little girl’s clear and innocent eyes, the memories of last night suddenly came back to him, Old Yu wished he could find a hole to crawl into, he was extremely embarrassed.

“You’re here to see Tiger and the others, right?” Old Yu was thick-skinned, he quickly adjusted his mood and took the sack from her hand, walking inside.

The three little ones were cleaning the yard, when they saw Jiang An’an, their eyes lit up.

“Pretty sister is here.” Tiger shouted the loudest.

Jiang An’an took out a handful of glutinous rice sticks and gave them to the three little ones, she told them to sit down and eat, her gaze fell on the girl in the middle, compared to the last time they met, the little girl’s cheeks were plumper.

“Dayi, is your stepmother still bullying you?”

“She doesn’t dare!” Tiger proudly answered, “If the bad stepmother bullies Dayi, Uncle Yu will yell at her, and she’ll pee her pants in public, it’s so embarrassing.”

Jiang An’an checked Dayi’s arm, there were some old wounds, they still looked shocking.

She took out a tube of ointment from her pocket and stuffed it into Dayi’s hand, afraid that she wouldn’t take it, she explained, “I was hit on the head by a bad guy before, I had a big bump, I used this to rub on the wound and it quickly went down. I have some left over, Comrade Dayi, can you promise not to waste it and use it obediently every day?”

The word “comrade” made it sound like she was treating Dayi as an adult, Dayi proudly puffed out her chest, her voice loud, “Guaranteed to complete the mission.”

She suddenly seemed hesitant, she quickly glanced at Jiang An’an, and hesitated, not knowing how to speak.

Jiang An’an encouraged them, “I’m a Women’s Federation official, if any of you kids have problems, you have to tell me so I can help you solve them.”

Tiger asked, “Like Uncle Yu?”

Jiang An’an nodded.

The three children’s eyes lit up instantly, “Wow!”

“Can we use the ointment on Grandma? She went to the hospital to see her legs yesterday, and she accidentally rolled down the stairs, she hurt her head and it’s swollen.” Dayi was worried.

Their family was already poor, and Grandma’s injury had cost a lot of medical expenses. Their stepmother had announced yesterday that they would start saving money. With Uncle Yu leaving, she probably wouldn’t even have a bite to eat.

“…”

Could this be a coincidence?

Jiang An’an instantly transformed into a concerned citizen, “Let’s go, we’ll help Grandma put on the ointment. She’s suffered so much, and she has to put ointment on her head while looking in the mirror, it’s too hard.”

The three kind children immediately imagined a weak old woman saying “ouch, ouch” while pitifully putting ointment on her head.

Dayi’s eyes welled up, “Yes, let’s go help Grandma put on the ointment.”

Until they arrived at Jiang An’an’s house, Dayi’s dizzy brain finally calmed down, and she felt a little panicked. Grandma always disliked strangers coming to visit, would she scold her later?

A strong smell of medicine wafted from the room, Dayi nervously tapped on Grandma’s door with her index finger.

A voice came from inside, impatient, “Who is it?”

Dayi’s body visibly trembled, “Grandma, I brought you a tube of ointment to put on your head.”

The door quickly opened, a pair of triangular, upturned eyes fell on Jiang An’an, asking vigilantly, “Who is she? Didn’t I tell you not to bring strangers home? Why didn’t you listen?”

Dayi burst into tears on the spot.

Jiang An’an pulled the little girl behind her, rolled up her sleeves, and a strange smile spread across her face, “I’m here to help you put on the ointment, you can call me a good person.”

Dayi’s Grandma: ???

What good person smiles like a psychopath!