Rebirth: He refused to Divorce Again

At this moment, Gu Qiaoqiao hadn’t even waited to go inside yet. She was still in the yard, hadn’t even had time to take in the situation there, when she heard a Young Girl’s voice from inside the house—slightly immature, yet full of helplessness: "Mom, how many times have I told you, we mustn’t take anything from Uncle Jiang, not a single bit. He’s a bad man, there’s blood-qi on him, he definitely has human lives on his hands. Why won’t you believe me?"

"...Cough, cough, cough..." A woman’s intermittent coughing sounded from inside, weak and feeble. "Xiuxiu, your Uncle Jiang is a good person. Don’t talk nonsense. If someone else hears you, what are we going to do?"

"Mom, I’m not talking nonsense, I’m telling the truth. Why don’t any of you believe me? I really saw the blood-qi on him. He’s killed people. We can’t associate with someone like that. And back then, the trouble he got into was together with Dad. To this day Dad’s neither alive before us nor dead in front of us. Do you really believe what they said?"

"...I, I... don’t believe it. Your dad isn’t that kind of person. He wouldn’t do something like that. He wouldn’t abandon us, and he wouldn’t abandon your grandparents..." The voice was weak, but very firm.

"Since you already know, then when Uncle Jiang comes again, drive him out. Don’t take a single thing from him."

"Xiuxiu, Mom will listen to you and not take his things. But what you said about your Uncle Jiang having blood-qi on him, killing people—those words you must never say recklessly again. If others hear them, it won’t just harm your Uncle Jiang, you yourself will get into trouble too."

The house fell silent for a moment, only that woman’s choppy coughs could be heard. Then the Young Girl finally answered, sullenly, "Fine, you don’t believe me anyway. I won’t say it anymore."

Gu Qiaoqiao frowned slightly. After all, this was someone else’s home. Even if she was invisible, she couldn’t do anything rude. Standing in the yard, her mind was already turning over. This little girl should be Chu Cheng’s daughter. The Uncle Jiang she mentioned—could he be that Jiang Jianjun who had already become a rich man in Wangbei County Town?

If it was him, then what was shocking was that Chen Cheng’s daughter had a pair of keen eyes.

Which was why she would say such things.

But whether that was really the case, Gu Qiaoqiao still couldn’t be sure for now. Just then, a rather thin and frail but very pretty little girl, about 1.65 meters tall, walked out of the room carrying a clay pot.

The door suddenly opened, and of course a blast of cold wind rushed in. She was dressed very lightly, her cotton jacket all old, but her eyes were especially bright and clear.

Up close, the smell hit at once: the clay pot was filled with medicine dregs. Then an old person’s voice came from the east room of the house. After sweeping her gaze around in bits and pieces, Gu Qiaoqiao finally understood: in a family of four, three were sick. No wonder, though it should be school time now, this little girl was at home decocting medicine for her mother.

At this moment, Chen Lanxiu’s grip on the clay pot suddenly tightened a bit. She looked around with some wariness, but after checking the surroundings and finding nothing, the little girl’s wary look gradually faded. She dumped the medicine dregs by the base of the wall, then carried the pot back into the house. In no time, the smell of medicine wafted out again.

By now it was already close to noon. Gu Qiaoqiao thought for a moment, and when the door opened, she followed in.

This home was dilapidated beyond repair—unimaginably poor. There was almost no furniture in the house. The walls all around were smeared with yellow earth mixed with wheat straw, but chunks of it had fallen off.

You could see this house was already many years old, one of those long-neglected, unrepaired places. Although some families were very poor too, poverty to this extent was rare. As you entered, it was the kitchen, with two rooms to the left and right, simple and clear. The room on the right was where an elderly couple lived.

These two were Chen Cheng’s father and mother. The old woman’s hair was completely white, and the old man’s waist was bent. The two of them were not bedridden; they sat by the table, with dim eyes and trembling hands, stringing Wooden Beads one by one. This should be piecework they’d taken on. Chen Cheng’s wife and daughter’s room was to the west of the kitchen. Apart from a wooden chest and a mirror, there were only their belongings—though they looked old and patched, they were very clean.

The woman was lying on the kang.

Skin and bones, Gu Qiaoqiao saw a faint black sickly aura spreading over the top of her head; it seemed she had been ill for many years.

Just then, Chen Lanxiu came in, smiling with narrowed eyes as she said, "Mom, yesterday I helped Grandma Li find the three old hens her family lost, and she gave me five eggs. At noon today we’ll have egg soup."

The little girl’s eyes were sparkling, her tone light and cheerful, as if she had not a trace of complaint or resentment toward this utterly impoverished life.

Chen Cheng’s wife sat up from the kang, pulled on her clothes and leaned against the wall, speaking softly: "Xiuxiu, don’t decoct medicine for Mom anymore. Mom’s illness is nothing, it’ll get better after a while. Mom has saved a bit of money for you here. No matter how hard it is, you must go back to school. Your grades are so good, dropping out like this is too much of a pity. It’s us few who’ve dragged you down..."

Chen Lanxiu bit her lip, a dim look flashing in her eyes. How could she not want to go to school? But with the family’s situation like this, how was that possible?

Four people in the family, three gravely ill. She was only twenty by nominal age this year. In the village there was nowhere to work. If she wanted a job she had to go to the county town, but there wasn’t any kind of work that would let her keep normal hours.

Chen Lanxiu blinked, forcing back the tears in her eyes, and pretended to pout in displeasure: "Oh, Mom, I’ve been away from school for years already, what’s the point of reading anymore? If I went back, those little kids would laugh me to death. And I don’t like studying either. It’s great now, so free. Okay, you stay put here, I’ll go cook."

Gu Qiaoqiao left the house, feeling heavy and oppressed. She didn’t know what kind of scene it would be when she brought Chen Cheng to see his family in a while.

If it were her standing here now, seeing this battered, storm-worn home steeped in bitter water, it would definitely hurt and enrage her more than when he was killed back then.

Only right now she truly couldn’t bring Chen Cheng in yet, because the old police officer at the door was clearly heading to the Chen Family. Gu Qiaoqiao reasoned that since he hadn’t gone in, he must have arrived just as the Chen Family was about to eat.

Gu Qiaoqiao didn’t keep watching. This family was too poor; everything was plain at a glance. She stepped out quickly. At that moment, the old police officer, who had been standing in the cold wind for quite some time, was pacing back and forth, apparently having smoked several cigarettes already. Under the Great Pagoda Tree not far away, Chen Cheng’s gaze was fixed, staring blankly at this yellow-earth house.