bookrandom Chapter 154: Gu00's Yard
Chapter 154: Gu00's Yard
To the west of the village, there was a large, lonely courtyard that looked a little deserted. Wang Jinlai pointed to the courtyard and asked the buyers:
"There is such a wealthy family in your village. The yard looks like the ancestral property of a high-ranking official."
Before he could finish, a fat woman glared at him and said in a threatening voice:
"Don't mention it anymore. That was the ancestral home of the convicted third-rank official of the Ministry of Rites. Now there are only a few old women sent back there to die..."
"His Third Aunt, don't say that you don't have good deeds. They are all pitiful people."
"Fourth aunt, Third aunt is right. Our clan has not benefited from his family's official positions. We don't even have a clan school. When they become officials, they don't even think of our clan members. They even bring disaster to our clan. Don't blame us for not liking them, humph!"
Wang Jinlai quickly exchanged money with the woman in front of him and sold the goods. Then he carried his load on his shoulder and walked around the village shouting,
After making sure that no one was following him, he headed to the west end of the village. When he arrived in front of the Wen family mansion, he looked at the dilapidated courtyard, which looked so desolate that it didn't look like anyone lived there. He walked around the courtyard for a while, put down his burden, and drank a sip of water.
Just as I was thinking about what to do, I saw a small corner door open at the corner ahead. Three girls, about twelve or thirteen years old, carrying small baskets and various tools, went out to the foot of the mountain.
Wang Jinlai guessed that these were Wen Bai's sisters, but judging from their clothes and attire, they did not look like young ladies. They were worse than maids, and not even as neatly dressed as the woman who had just gone shopping.
Wang Jinlai walked directly to the wooden door and knocked gently. There was no response from inside, so he knocked harder. The yard was silent, as if no one lived there.
So I just pushed the door, but it was not locked.
There was no lock on the door. The door hinge had corroded and was no longer usable. It was just like a door panel hanging on the door frame.
So the door was moved aside, and Wang Jinlai, carrying his load, entered the yard and called out softly:
"anyone there?"
There seemed to be human voices in the distance, but I was not sure because the voices were intermittent.
Wang Jinlai raised his voice again and shouted:
"Is there anyone here?"
After the shouting, I heard someone walking in the southeast direction of the large weed-covered yard in the distance. Through the tall weeds, I saw that the person was a boy about 10 years old. The boy was pale and thin and wore shabby clothes.
The boy really looked a bit like Wen Bai. Thinking back, the portrait he brought didn't have this face. Wen Xiao looked at Wang Jinlai from a distance without saying a word. Wang Jinlai tried to make his expression as casual as possible and said:
"I want to ask about someone. I have a friend named Wen Bai. I wonder if he lives here..."
When the boy heard the name "Wenbai", he was startled at first, then said:
"wait."
He turned around and ran away quickly.
Wang Jinlai stood there silently, looking at the abandoned courtyard.
The buildings were tall and majestic. There were courtyards one after another. Judging from the size of this courtyard alone, it was much larger than the old Wang family residence...
Just as I was thinking about it, a group of people came out from the direction the boy had just run away. They were holding various tools in their hands:
Some of them were holding needles, thread and clothes, and it was obvious that they were sewing clothes; others were holding embroidery frames, and it was obvious that they were embroidering; others were holding wooden hammers for pounding rice; others had their sleeves rolled up, and their hands were wet; and two people came running over stumbling, and when they saw Wang Jinlai standing there, they seemed a little disappointed.
Then someone slowly came over, and slowly he could see clearly that it was an old woman who was helped out by the young man. When the old woman appeared, Wang Jinlai knew that he had found the real person, so he took two steps forward, bowed and said:
"Grandma, I was asked by someone to talk to you alone."
The old woman looked Wang Jinlai up and down before slowly nodding her head. Everyone pushed aside the weeds, and Wang Jinlai picked up the load and walked along the stone path in the weed-covered, desolate courtyard, bypassing two dilapidated courtyards.
We entered a carefully maintained courtyard. The courtyard was fairly tidy, the gate was intact, and the courtyard was clean. It was a small independent courtyard with a well in the middle.
Two girls were washing things, and a large sheet was taken out to wring out the water. They grabbed the two ends of the sheet and twisted it in opposite directions, and the water kept flowing out of the sheet. They used all their strength, even their entire upper bodies.
This is the whole scene Wang Jinlai saw when he entered the house. Wang Jinlai stood in front of the door and invited the old man to enter first.
The two girls who were washing clothes in the yard quickly packed up and retreated to the west wing.
After Wang Jinlai followed the group into the main room and sat down, the old grandmother only kept Wen Xiao. Wang Jinlai took out the small portrait painted by Wen Bai from his arms and handed it to the young man.
Wen Xiao held the photo in his hands and asked:
"Is my brother with you?"
Wang Jinlai still remembered that the young lady solemnly told him before he left that he could say that everything was fine with Wenbai and that he would be teaching in a family, but he must not reveal anything about the Wang family in his words!
Wang Jinlai stood up and greeted the old woman sitting on the upper floor.
"I was asked by Mr. Wenbai to come and visit his family. I want to know how you are doing and how you have been doing in the past two years."
After getting up, she took out Wen Bai's letter again. After looking at Wen Bai's portraits, the old grandmother knew that it was really Wen Bai who sent someone to come, because Wen Bai left white words on each portrait.
After the old man read the letter written by Wenbai, he burst into tears and tore off a piece of plain cloth from his body and wiped his eyes.
Wang Jinlai watched silently, and suddenly he heard the words that his little sister had said when they were discussing this trip, "Under an overturned nest, no eggs are left intact." You are a servant of the Wang family, so you must think more about the Wang family. Only by preserving yourself can you preserve the Wang family, so you must be cautious!
The young lady's childish face appeared in his mind, alternating with the face of the old woman in front of him, and appeared in front of Wang Jinlai.
Wang Jinlai said softly:
"I can't stay here for long. Please write a letter and I'll take it back to Wenbai to comfort him."
The old grandmother was finally awakened from her sadness and grief, "I'll write back right away!"
Wang Jinkai handed the pencil that the young lady had brought to the old grandmother.
"This is a popular pen in the city. It is easy to write with and requires very little paper. You only need the yellow and white paper used by accountants."
Then he pointed to the burden:
"Take all these things and leave the burden to me!"
"How can I accept your things when I first meet you..."
When Wen Xiao heard that he could leave his things behind, he ran out without hesitation, quickly called over the people he had just met, and took the basket away.
After a while, someone brought water in a ceramic bowl to the grandmother. The grandmother looked a little embarrassed:
"We can only offer you a sip of water to express our gratitude. We really didn't expect that Wen Bai could survive out there. Who took him in?"