Chapter 9

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(Third update delivered, still second to last on the overall chart, the situation is precarious! Please give recommendations and add to your favorites!)

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Father and son rushed to the dock and inquired, only to find out that the last boat of the day had just departed. If they wanted to take a boat back to Qingshen, they would have to wait until early the next morning.

Chen Xiliang took out all the coins he had, hoping to hire a fast boat back to Qingshen, but either the money he offered was insufficient or night navigation was too dangerous; in any case, no boatman was willing to take the job.

“Father, what should we do?” Chen Chen asked anxiously.

“...” Chen Xiliang looked at the distant green mountains and made up his mind. “Erlang, you’ll have to spend the night on the boat and take the earliest boat back tomorrow.”

“What about you?” At that time, there was no ‘you’ in the respectful form; even between father and son, they called each other ‘you’ and ‘I.’

Chen Xiliang’s gaze was as firm as ice. “I’ll walk back!”

“Father, there are wolves in the mountains at night.” Chen Chen said worriedly. “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow?”

“No problem, I have this!” Chen Xiliang pulled out a cudgel from the bottom of his book chest. “I’ve killed wolves before.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“No, you walk too slowly.” Chen Xiliang said. “I need to get back as soon as possible! I can’t take care of you!” He then took off his book chest and handed it to his son. “I need to leave the city before the gates close. Find something to eat tonight.” With that, he walked away like a gust of wind.

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The next morning, as the sun rose, the weary and thin figure of Chen Xiliang appeared outside Shiwang Village. From the beginning of the seventh hour of the previous day to now, five hours had passed, and he had walked a full eighty miles of mountain roads. His originally neat blue silk robe was torn in seven or eight places on the upper body, and the entire hem had become a tattered fringe. The socks in his wooden sandals had turned gray.

But his spirit remained vigorous. After washing the dust and sweat off his face by the lake, he did not go home first but headed to his family’s charcoal kiln.

In the charcoal kiln, the workers had just woken up. Without the rooster to wake them early or the old hag to nag, they were naturally happy to be lazy. They were now eating and chatting lazily. The topic, of course, was the tragic human drama that had occurred two days ago.

Some said, “Seeing how badly the ‘Tiger Lady’ was injured, with her never one to take a loss, she must have reported it to the authorities. This will be quite a spectacle for the Chen family.” The Chinese love for nicknames dates back to the Song Dynasty.

“Report it? They say family shame should not be aired in public. Is she so proud?” The man called Uncle Lu by Hei Wulang said angrily. “To drive the children to such a state, is there such a wicked aunt in the world?”

“Alas, what a pity for Sanlang, such a well-behaved and sensible child. If he hadn’t been pushed to the limit, he wouldn’t have done such a thing.”

“This child has spirit,” Liu Houzi said with deep admiration. “Seeing his two younger brothers lying on the ground, their lives hanging by a thread, it’s no wonder he lost his mind.” He then looked at everyone and said, “If the Tiger Lady really reports him, I will speak up for justice.”

“Let’s go together, let’s go together.” Uncle Lu and others responded. “This wicked woman, the Tiger Lady, needs to be taught a lesson!”

As they were talking, someone suddenly saw Chen Xiliang enter and quickly stopped the conversation, standing up to greet him. “Brother Chen has come.”

“Gentlemen, Xiliang greets you.” Chen Xiliang bowed to everyone and said, “You must have guessed my purpose in coming here.” He paused, then looked around and said, “I heard about that incident. I just want to know what really happened that day... You don’t need to cover up for my Sanlang. I just want the truth!”

His eyes, which usually held a restrained light, now shone like arrows, piercing the hearts of the workers, making them feel that any lie would be seen through. They all thought to themselves, ‘Is this still the easily deceived Chen Laoer?’

A gentleman’s light is inward, not bullying or oppressing, but is seen by the mediocre as easy to deceive. Is this what is meant by ‘a gentleman can be deceived by his straightforwardness’?

Also, Hou Shi had offended everyone, so the workers had no hesitation in leading Chen Xiliang to the shack where the incident occurred.

“When we saw, your elder sister-in-law was already on the ground, being kicked by your Sanlang.” The workers told Chen Xiliang in a jumble. “We shouted to stop him, but he jumped up, pressed his knee on your elder sister-in-law, and knocked her out...”

“Why did Sanlang... resort to violence?” Chen Xiliang asked with a dark expression.

“Perhaps for the sake of Wulang and Liulang,” the workers said. “When we arrived, we saw Wulang and Liulang lying unconscious on the ground. We had to pinch their noses and splash cold water to wake them up.”

“Why were they here?” Chen Xiliang asked.

“Because they lived here.” Uncle Lu pointed to the shack. “They’ve been living here for over forty days. The day before the incident, I even came to see them. They were living... so pitifully.”

“What?” Chen Xiliang, unable to believe it, quickly walked to the shack, pushed the door open, and saw that even in broad daylight, it was dark and damp inside. Apart from a bamboo bed and a few broken bowls and chopsticks, there was nothing else.

Seeing a small child’s shoe on the ground, Chen Xiliang bent down to pick it up and examined it carefully. He recognized it as the one he had bought for Liulang from the shoe store in Qingshen County during the New Year.

The reason he had to examine it carefully was not because of poor memory, but because the originally well-made, brightly colored tiger-head shoe was now full of holes, the sole was almost falling off, and the color was long gone... The tears he had been holding back finally fell.

Chen Xiliang tightly clutched the small shoe, his voice cold and terrifying. “Why were they living here? Why not at home?!”

“We asked your elder sister-in-law, and she said the three children had committed a mistake and were being punished.”

“What kind of mistake required a forty-day punishment?” Chen Xiliang’s anger surged, and he had to exert great effort to control the impulse to burn everything down.

“We don’t know, but from that day on, Sanlang and Wulang had to fetch water every day. They could only eat if they fetched enough water for the kiln. They ate the same as us, either bran cakes or bran buns. Even then, they often went without food.”

“Yes, two days before the incident, Sanlang fell into the water while fetching water and was sick the next day. Your elder sister-in-law didn’t give them any food. That morning, she was yelling about a missing chicken and then came here. We didn’t follow her. Later, when she screamed, we came and saw the scene you described.” The workers paused. “However, there was indeed a chicken leg on the ground, so it’s unlikely she was framing them...”

Chen Xiliang listened to what the workers said with a cold expression, then fell silent for a long time. He finally took a deep breath and said, “Gentlemen, is everything you said true?”

“Of course it’s true, with so many of us here,” the workers nodded. “How could we all make up a lie?”

“Then, can I write down a statement and have you all sign it?”

“No problem.” The workers said without hesitation. To the Song people, being responsible for what they said was a matter of course.

So, they went to the accounting room, where there was ready ink and paper. Chen Xiliang, with his excellent memory, quickly wrote a few pages of notes. After he finished, those who could read took the paper to check. Fortunately, Chen Xiliang used simple language, so they could understand it.

After reading, the man nodded and signed first... The signature, also known as a ‘flower seal,’ was a symbol or drawing based on personal habits and creativity, used to show credibility. Since only the person knew what it was based on, others could not forge it. Therefore, it had the same function as a seal.

After everyone signed, Chen Xiliang gently blew to dry the ink, carefully put the paper in his chest, and then bowed to everyone. “Thank you.” He then turned and walked away.

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As soon as he stepped out of the charcoal kiln, Chen Xiliang’s steps slowed. Looking at the familiar white walls and black tiles in the distance, his heart felt extremely heavy, and he wanted to collapse by the lake and cry.

But his will was extremely strong. He took out the broken tiger-head shoe from his chest, looked at it, and then walked resolutely toward the familiar quadrangle courtyard.

On the way, neighbors met him and gave him sympathetic looks. Chen Xiliang ignored them and went straight to his front door.

The front door of the house was tightly closed. He knocked heavily on the door ring.

“Who is it?” came the voice of the maid Cuifhua.

“It’s me!” Chen Xiliang said in a deep voice.

“It’s Brother Chen.” Cuifhua ran back to report.

“So soon?” The couple looked at each other, both surprised.

“What’s coming will come.” Chen Xishi said. “Let him in.”

The tightly closed door finally opened, and Chen Xiliang saw his two nephews, Chen Yu and Chen Yong, who were also his students for many years, waiting in the courtyard. The kind of person who teaches determines the kind of students they have. Chen Yu and Chen Yong were nothing like his elder brother and sister-in-law but were more like him.

These two brothers were waiting to brief him, but Chen Xiliang had already learned the details of the case and did not want to waste words. He nodded to the two and simply asked, “Where is my son?”

“Uncle, he’s in the back yard, in the woodshed.” Chen Yu answered respectfully.

Chen Xiliang walked straight to the back yard. He had to see his son’s condition to feel at ease.

In the house, there were only two maids and an old woman. Seeing him holding a cudgel, they dared not stop him.

He entered the back yard and came to the locked woodshed. Chen Xiliang swung the cudgel and struck the door, and the copper lock fell off with a clatter.

This startled his two nephews and Chen Xishi, who was peeking from the main house. They had never seen this violent side of him.

Chen Xiliang pushed open the woodshed and saw his three sons, dressed in tattered clothes, pale and thin, and huddled in fear. Tears streamed down his face.

Actually, Sanlang was hugging his two younger brothers and sleeping. The three brothers were just startled by Chen Xiliang’s blow.

“Father...” Seeing the person, Xiao Liulang and Hei Wulang cried and ran into his arms, making Sanlang feel quite embarrassed.

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Third update, please give recommendations and add to your favorites!!!

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