The distance of two hundred miles is neither close nor far.
The Li family followed the escort team for six or seven days and finally arrived in Junyang County one afternoon.
When they parted, Captain Liu insisted on not wanting the ten taels of silver. He kept saying that he wanted to form a good relationship with the Li family and move around more often in the future.
He also hopes that Li Laosi will join the escort agency in the future and run business together.
The Li family had no choice but to accept the money, hoping to return the favor if they had the opportunity in the future.
After hiring two carriages, the family arrived at the small mountain village where uncle Liu Gener lived before sunset.
The small village was very quiet. No one's chimney was smoking now, and there were even fewer lights.
Mrs. Li thought about what her younger brother had said when she wrote a letter before, and found the door of the second house at the entrance of the village.
This family's courtyard and house are surrounded by adobe walls, and the roof is covered with a layer of thatch.
The courtyard gate was only made of branches, and the house only had two or three rooms. It looked very poor and dilapidated.
When Mrs. Li saw it, she felt worried. She patted the courtyard door and shouted, "Liu Gen'er, come open the door. I'm your sister."
But no one answered for a while. Tao Hongying and others looked at each other and had the same expression. There was a bit of worry in it.
"Here! Who is it? We don't let you sleep at night!"
Finally, the door of the room was pushed open with a creaking sound, and a thin woman with her hair tied back casually came out.
Seeing so many people standing at the door, the woman's originally dissatisfied look froze.
She took a few steps back with a look of caution on her face, "Who are you looking for?"
"I am Liu Gen'er's sister. She married outside the Great Wall in her early years. There was a war in our house some time ago, so I brought my family here. Run away..."
Old Mrs. Li responded, speaking carefully.
When the woman heard the words, she thought about it for a while before she understood it, and said quickly, "Just a moment."
After saying that, she turned around and entered the house, and soon helped an old lady out.
Mrs. Li recognized that this was Liu Gener's daughter-in-law, her sister-in-law Guo.
Mr. Guo is several years younger than Mrs. Li, but now she looks extremely old.
His face was wrinkled like dried orange peel, and his body didn't look very strong.
Mrs. Guo walked to the door of the courtyard and then raised her triangular eyes to look at Old Mrs. Li who was standing in front.
"It's old sister. Why did you come all the way to my house? Come in and talk."
Mrs. Tao recognized Mrs. Li, but her tone was quite cold, not at all eager to see a long-lost relative.
Mrs. Li was full of enthusiasm, but suddenly she felt a little cold.
She thought for a while and took her children and grandchildren into the yard.
At this moment, two men and a fat woman came out of the room.
They seemed to have just gotten out of bed, rubbing their eyes and yawning, looking at the Li family with curious and bored eyes.
"Brothers and sisters, why don't you see Liu Gen'er?"
Mrs. Guo heard a complicated look on her face when Mrs. Li mentioned her husband, "Liu Gen'er died last year."
"What? How did he die?" Mrs. Li's body swayed and she almost The child fell down, but fortunately Li Laosi stepped forward to help him.
"Didn't I send a letter the year before last saying that I was in good health? Why did I just..."
She was caught off guard when she heard that her younger brother had passed away. Mrs. Li was completely stunned. She held back her tears and wanted to know more clearly.
Mrs. Guo snorted coldly, not at all sad, but seemed extremely resentful.
"Last summer there was a heavy rain, and the embankment was filled with water. It couldn't reach us. Liu Gen'er, who had been stabbed a thousand times, had to save a child who was washed away by the water. As a result, he got caught in it and left us behind. Orphans and widowed mothers suffer in this world."
As she said that, she looked at Old Mrs. Li again.
The mean eyes were like a scraper, scraping Mrs. Li and the other Li family members up and down.
Mrs. Li acted cautiously and asked her family to change out of the clothes given by Mrs. Sun before disembarking and put on the previously patched clothes.
In addition, the road was dusty and their clothes were dirty. They looked very embarrassed now.
As a result, Tao's eyes were full of disgust and disappointment.
"My father is dead, why do you come here to seek refuge? With our family like this, how can we take you in? We can't live our own lives!"
Liu Gen'er's eldest son Liu Tiezhu was so sleepy that he saw that the Li family was also in trouble. Like those who are rich, just open your mouth and chase people away.
Guo didn't say a word after hearing her son's words, obviously agreeing with them.
"We just want to have a place to stay temporarily. We don't need you for food, clothing, etc..."
Li Laoer was dissatisfied with their attitude and stood up to explain.
But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by another man.
"Who are you lying to? You poor people, what if you really move into my house and refuse to leave?"
Liu Laifu, the second son of the Liu family, was also dissatisfied, curling his lips and staring.
But Mrs. Guo finally looked at the face of the dead Liu Gen'er, waved her hand to stop her son, and said.
"Okay, okay, if you don't have a place to live, just live in our yard first, but don't even think about entering the house. Leave as soon as dawn tomorrow, our family can't help you!"
Mrs. Li was so angry ! Her whole body was trembling, Jiayin felt distressed, and she tried her best to endure it so she didn't move the rocks out of the space and throw them on the Liu family's house!
Selfish and ungrateful!
For such a family, she would rather let the Li family sleep on the street than have anything to do with them.
She stretched out her little hand and gave her grandma a tug, making two babbling sounds.
Liu Laifu stood close, stretched his head and took a look when he heard the movement, which made him even more disgusted.
"The poor are all running away, and they still have so many babies!"
Li Laosi was furious when he heard this, and he wanted to arrest Liu Laifu.
Liu Laifu was also slippery and was so frightened that he quickly hid behind Guo.
"What's going on? If I don't take you in, are you going to beat them up? Come on, you beat them! If you have the ability, beat our whole family to death and take over our house!"
Mrs. Li, who had been silent all the time, raised her hand and held her son. "Fourth brother, don't make trouble."
After saying that, she turned to Guo, "Brother and sister, it's my fault for not thinking carefully. Don't worry, Liu Gen'er is gone, and our two families are no longer related. Even if we starve to death, we won't be in trouble. Yours."
Mrs. Guo snorted coldly, "That's okay, you can't go back on what you said."
After saying that, she took her son and daughter-in-law back to the house.
There was silence in the courtyard.
"Mom, how could they do this? A few years ago, my uncle sent a message that he wanted to marry his son, but the family couldn't afford the dowry gift. You even sold your own dowry jewelry. Our family was hungry for more than half a year, so we collected money for them. Come!"
Li Laoer gasped with anger, "But now, just because their uncle passed away, they have turned their backs and disowned him!"
Tao Hongying, Zhao Yuru and others also had faces full of disappointment and indignation. Only Wu Ergou stood still. Behind everyone, watching the fun nonchalantly.
Mrs. Li let out a long sigh, held her granddaughter upright in her arms, and pressed her soft and warm face against her. The chill in her heart finally dissipated.
"Fu Niu'er, grandma will take you to sleep outside instead of staying here, okay?" Mrs. Li asked the good news softly.
Jiayin grinned and rubbed Old Mrs. Li's face with a smile.
"Fu Niu'er is so good!" Mrs. Li finally showed a faint smile, turned around and led her family out of the yard.
At the entrance of the village, there was a century-old tree with lush branches that could not be contained even if several people hugged it. The Li family lit a fire there and settled down temporarily.
Fortunately it was still late summer and the nights were not too cold.
But everyone was worried and confused, and they rushed all the way here. Who knew what the result would be.