Chapter 42: Meet Sister
Seeing Lingwei and his men leave, the neighbor lady dared to step forward and help Ruan's mother up, "Wipe your tears, don't cry and hurt yourself, you still have two daughters, if you collapse, what will happen to the children?"
"Thank you, Auntie. I understand." Mother Ruan smiled weakly.
Ruan Tao was still standing there in a daze. It was only when she heard her mother say that the time had come that she got up without saying a word and lit the brazier.
When the ceremony was over, the funeral team hired by Ruan's mother carried the coffin out of the city with music and dance, lowered the coffin and filled the soil, and that was the end of it.
Ruan's mother's ancestors had long since died, and there was no ancestral tomb. Her father was also buried in a cemetery outside the city. The Ruan family did have an ancestral tomb, but he was a son-in-law, and he had no face to return to the village. How could he be qualified to enter the ancestral tomb? Ruan's mother had never thought about this, and her eldest sister-in-law didn't mention this when she said she wanted to adopt him today.
The last step was to invite relatives and friends who came to pay their respects to a meal. Ruan's mother didn't have much money. She had been using it to buy medicine for Ruan's father's legs, and then bought a coffin and hired a funeral procession. Naturally, she couldn't hire a skilled cook, so she could only hire a young girl or young wife with decent cooking skills from a nearby family to help. Ruan Tao took out two taels of silver and said that this was the money she saved from her daily household expenses. Otherwise, Ruan's mother might not even be able to buy enough rice and vegetables.
Everyone went back to eat. Mother Ruan held Ruan Tao's hand and walked slowly at the back. She naggingly said, "It's a pity that Xing'er didn't come back and didn't get to see your father for the last time... Oh, I don't know how Xing'er is doing now, and whether she has suffered outside. She is so delicate, and you don't even want her to work. I don't know if a child of this age can adapt..."
Ruan Tao listened, but her mind had already drifted away. Ruan Xing had been gone for more than half a month and had earned ten taels of silver. Ruan's mother only earned ten taels a year.
What about her? She can endure hardships. Even if she works as a fire-making girl in a restaurant, she should be able to earn some money every month. Even if it is less than a hundred coins a month, it is better than staying at home. Now there is no younger sister to take care of, and no old father to be left alone. She has nothing to do and is free. Why doesn't she find a way to work and see the world? Otherwise, she can only helplessly endure the bullying of others and wait for justice and retribution that will come at an unknown time.
Ruan Tao clenched her fists.
Suddenly he said, "Mom, let's move."
Ruan's mother was talking when she suddenly got stuck and asked curiously, "Why do you want to move? Isn't it good to live in the house left by your grandfather?"
Well, it’s because it’s so good that we’re moving.
When my grandfather opened a private school, he had enough money, so he bought a land deed from the government and built this small courtyard. There is a main room, two bedrooms, a side room for sundries, and a semi-open kitchen. In total, there are five rooms plus a small courtyard. Land is very expensive in the city, and their area is unique in Huaihua Alley. The house is also made of good materials, all blue bricks, and it has remained as solid as ever after decades of wind and rain.
A house like this could be sold for nearly a hundred taels of silver, no wonder those people were greedy.
Farmers' land does not have title deeds, and all they need is the consent of the village chief and clan elders to build a house. Therefore, once an accident happens in the family or a male adult is lost, other relatives will rush in to divide up the property. The head of the village will not intervene in such matters, as people of the same surname are related and all clansmen are related, so it is a family matter.
It was because they were used to robbing other people's things and did not understand the laws of the city that they were jealous and wanted to take Ruan's mother's house.
"But those people will come again. The cell can't hold them for long. This time, the guards helped, but what about next time?" Ruan Tao said calmly, "It's not always possible for someone to come out to help. Mother, we can't deal with those people now. We can only avoid them temporarily. Let's move to the inner city. The old house can be sold or rented to others. We can rent a small room in the inner city closer to the weaving workshop. The two of us don't need a big place, so we can afford it. I will also find a job in the inner city by then."
Ruan Tao knew very well that the gangs were in power in Jiangning City now, and the patrol security department did not even follow the patrol duties. How could they come to deal with such a small matter in her family? It was just that someone gave Lingwei money to come and help.
She understood a truth very early on: if you want help from others, you can't do it without money, so on the day Ruan Xing passed away, she gave her money so that she could send the money out when she needed care.
Mother Ruan said in a low voice, "But... I'm used to living here. This house has traces of your father and your grandfather. I grew up here... I can't bear to sell it or let outsiders live here..."
Ruan Tao's breathing stagnated and she was choked by her mother and couldn't speak. She tried to give her a rational analysis, but her mother played the emotional card.
"What if my father's evil relatives come?"
"Talk to them nicely, they will listen, right? My husband's family is not unreasonable. They are just too sad after my husband passed away, so they blame me. It will be fine in a few days..."
Reason? They are almost riding on your head, and you still want to be reasonable?
Please wake up. I'm about to move into your house and beat your child.
Ruan Tao shook her hand away angrily. It would have been fine if Ruan's mother had acted on her emotions when her father was still alive, but now if she acted on her emotions again, she might lose her house and her livelihood. "Mom, think about it carefully!"
She quickened her pace and walked forward with her head down. Ruan's mother shouted at the back, bewildered: "Tao'er..."
Ruan Xing had been following closely behind. When Hu San finished his work, he came to find her and whispered to her, "Miss, everything has been handled. I didn't reveal my identity. I just gave them some money to arrest the man and keep him in prison for a few days to make him suffer. What do you say next? Kill him?"
"Wait a minute." Ruan Xing sighed. She could kill all these people to solve this problem, but what if they encountered other troubles in the future? She couldn't protect them for a lifetime.
She walked quickly forward, passed Ruan's mother, and taking advantage of the flow of people in front of the city gate, she grabbed Ruan Tao's hand and led her into the grass on the side of the road that was more than half a person's height.
Ruan Tao was startled and was about to shout, but when she saw the short man with a veil in front of her, she thought of something and shut her mouth.
The two men walked through the five or six meter deep grass and stopped only after finding a small open space.
Ruan Xing untied the curtain, revealing a face that was familiar yet strange to Ruan Tao, and called softly, "Sister."
"Myolie..."
All the grievances came to her at once. Ruan Tao's eyes were blurred with tears. She stepped forward and hugged Ruan Xing fiercely. She lowered her head and buried it in her shoulder, crying softly.
She didn't cry in front of her father's coffin, nor did she cry when she was beaten and scolded by evil relatives, but now, she cried when she saw her sister whom she hadn't seen for a long time.
Ruan Tao sobbed and cried, "Xing'er, I'm so tired. I don't know what to do. When you were by my side before, no matter how much work I did every day, I wouldn't feel tired just by talking to you. But now, all my problems can only be kept in my heart. No one listens to me..."
Ruan Xing felt the wetness of his clothes on his shoulders and reached out to pat Ruan Tao's back.
When she had just crossed over and didn't have the golden finger, every night when she was panicked and anxious and couldn't sleep, Ruan Tao would pat her back gently and hold her to sleep.
Ruan Tao cried for a while, and after venting her emotions, she calmed down. She wiped her face a little embarrassedly and asked with concern: "Xing'er, are you doing well there now?"
"I'm fine." Ruan Xing said softly, holding Ruan Tao's tear-stained face, "Sister, do you still want to live an ordinary life now? Do you still want to get married and have children for the rest of your life?"
"If I had a choice, of course I wouldn't want it." Ruan Tao smiled bitterly, "But in this world, women can't survive without support." "Then come with me." Ruan Xing finally made up his mind.
Ruan Tao was the first person she saw in this world when she opened her eyes. She didn't want Ruan Tao to be by her side before, because Ruan Tao said that her idea was to find a good man to marry and escape from her suffering. She respected Ruan Tao's decision, but was also afraid that if she was in danger by her side, she would not be able to simulate the best outcome.
But she forgot that Ruan Tao wanted to get married only because it was the best option she had no other choice. If there were other options, would Ruan Tao still make the same choice?
"Sister, I will be your support from now on."
Ruan Tao burst into laughter, "Silly Xing'er, I am the older sister, and I should be the one protecting you."
"Okay, sister, I'll take you back to the Red Head Gang. You learn martial arts well, and protect me when you become powerful." Ruan Xing said. She helped Ruan Tao up and put on Mu Li again. "Let's go back. I won't show up in front of mother anymore. I'll find a reason to send someone to pick you up in a few days. By the way, those people are now in jail. What do you want to do with them?"
Ruan Tao was a little shocked. She realized that what Ruan Xing said was not a childish joke. "Did you bribe the guards to capture those people?"
"Ah."
"How much silver will that cost!?"
Ruan Xing didn't know either: "...Not much."
"I want them to die." Ruan Tao looked very cute with a fierce face, but she soon lost her temper. "It should be impossible. They didn't commit any serious crimes. They will just be fined and beaten with sticks. Since the money has been spent, let them beat them harder. It would be best if they can't get out of bed for ten days or half a month!"
"Sure." Ruan Xing responded and winked at Hu San who was hiding aside. Hu San immediately understood and did it.
With her help, half a month would be enough for Ruan Tao to master the internal and external strength. If those people dared to come again, she would feel relieved only if Ruan Tao took action personally.
I sent Ruan Tao back to Huaihua Alley and said goodbye to her reluctantly. The meal had already started inside.
Ruan's mother was standing at the door talking to a man wearing a scholar's square headscarf. She was dressed in plain linen clothes and had a small white flower pinned in her hair. Her slightly pale face was filled with shyness and gratitude, and she looked pitiful. "Brother Sun, thank you for coming to help. I didn't expect you to be willing to help me after all the trouble we had..."
"No way, I'm not such a petty person. My teacher has enlightened me and helped me a lot. You and I grew up together. Although Brother Ruan and I don't get along, we are classmates. Our relationship is like that of family, better than family. It's not easy for a woman like you to raise a child alone. If you need any help, just come to me." The man was about 28 or 29 years old. He seemed to have drunk some wine and his face was slightly red.
He stared straight at Ruan's mother, his face full of sincerity, as if telling her that this was no mere polite remark.
"I don't feel comfortable troubling Senior Brother Sun. You have your own family too. It would be bad if people misunderstood you..." Ruan's mother was just about to refuse when the man suddenly interrupted her.
He said seriously: "Junior sister, I am still unmarried."
After saying that, he bowed and said goodbye eagerly and left as if he was escaping.
Mother Ruan was stunned for a moment, and then she saw Ruan Tao coming in the direction that Senior Brother Sun had fled. She scolded, "Tao'er, why did you come back just now? Where did you go?"
Ruan Tao did not answer, but asked: "Mom, who is that person?"
"He... he is your father's classmate and your grandfather's student." Mother Ruan said in surprise, but did not say that they were childhood sweethearts.
"What does he mean by he's still single? Mother, is he interested in you?"
Ruan Tao's straightforward words made her mother's face turn red and pale. She had just lost her husband, and she was flirting with other men in front of her husband's spirit. This was too unfair to her husband. She should not have any more contact with Senior Brother Sun.
"Don't talk nonsense, it's all in the past. When your grandfather was helping me choose a marriage, he asked him about it. He said he was the only son in the family and couldn't marry into the family. He refused. Since then, we haven't had any contact and we don't have any relationship." Mother Ruan said as she pulled Ruan Tao in. "Don't let your imagination run wild. Let's go eat."
Ruan Tao was still arguing: "Mom, don't let your emotions fool you again. He doesn't look like a good person. Why didn't he show up when others bullied us this morning? Now he pretends to be a good person..."
Ruan Xing watched this scene from afar until the two figures disappeared from the door, then she turned back to the Red Head Gang.
She didn't know whether Senior Brother Sun was the man that Ruan's mother married for the second time in the simulator, but it didn't matter anymore. Given Ruan's mother's personality, if it wasn't him, there would be someone else.
Because she is love-brained, if others are nice to her, she will be so moved that she wants to give her heart out to them.
Isn't it just like that? Besides being willing to marry into the family, what else has he done? He has never worked a day and has been living off his wife all his life, yet Mother Ruan still thinks he is a good person.
After Ruan Xing returned, he asked the housekeeper to clean up a room for Ruan Tao to live in. He also found a set of internal and external strength exercises, as well as half a month's worth of medicinal baths and liquid medicine.
She has never bought a private residence for herself because she feels that she cannot stay in Jiangning City for too long. Once the Red Head Gang stabilizes and becomes a constant source of points for her, and she finds clues to the Luoqi Pill or a new direction of cultivation, she will leave here.
It would take at least a month or at most a year to achieve these two goals. There was really no need to buy land and build a house. She might leave before it was even completed.
Go back and have a good sleep to recharge your energy. You still have to say farewell to the old city lord tomorrow. Not only does she have to ask about the new city lord, she also has to ask Zhao Sanniang to find out some information and compare the two. After all, her husband's family has been in the Zhengtong Division for generations, so they must have some connections and be well-informed.
Before going to bed, Hu San brought her some news that could help her breasts become unblocked. Those evil relatives who came to rob the house were fined five hundred coins each and given thirty strokes of the cane. Those who failed to pay would be given ten more strokes for every extra day of delay. If someone was accidentally beaten to death, the son would pay for the father's debt and come in to continue beating him.
Such an unreasonable punishment frightened those people. They hurriedly gave silver and were beaten. Then they were carried back home by their fellow villagers. Several elderly elders died that night after they returned home.
"Well done." Ruan Xing praised Hu San verbally and went to bed in a happy mood.
Thanks to jane55 for the reward~
(End of this chapter)
