I rely on the words of the husband [farming]

No one answered, Lian Qing looked at Zheng Cheng'an blankly again, with a crease in his pretty eyebrows, "What do you mean by this? You have to be responsible for saying this."

Zheng Cheng'an was naturally not afraid: "Just ask your old lady what you mean."

Lian Qing turned back to look at his mother. He seemed to have thought of something, and he had some bad premonition in his heart. Even his voice became unstable. "Mother, what he said... Do you know?"

Wang Fang glared at Zheng Cheng'an, who was just trying to persuade her in a friendly voice, why did her son change as soon as he arrived? She smiled shyly and said, "How can he say it so seriously! It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding .”

Lian Qing looked at her mother's expression and said seriously: "Mother, what happened?"

"It's nothing, it's all his nonsense."

Lian Qing looked at her steadfastly, without any compromise.

Wang Fang lowered her head and muttered dissatisfiedly: "It's really nothing,? It's just showing that girl a house, and I haven't had time to tell you."

Lian Qing frowned and said, "That's all?"

Wang Fang: "That's it."

"Humph!"

Li Shi who was next to her suddenly snorted, obviously displeased with the way she opened her eyes and told nonsense.

Lian Qing understood, the attitude of others showed that his mother was still hiding something from him, since she didn't want to tell him, then he stopped asking, then turned to Mrs. Li, and said, "Uncle, what's the inside story? ? I hope you can tell me a thing or two."

Mrs. Li is very satisfied with this handsome and frail scholar. He is educated and understands etiquette. He doesn't look like a child born of these two couples!I don't know what kind of virtue the two of them have accumulated in their previous lives. Whether they were born or raised, they are all obedient and well-behaved.

Li Shi said: "Do you know who she 'looked at' forsythia?" The word "look at each other" made Li feel disgusted. Is she looking at each other? It's obviously prostitution!

Lian Qing's heart tightened, and she shook her head blankly.

Mrs. Li said bitterly: "That old man is older than your parents, let Lian Qiao marry him, is this a marriage? Or send him to his death?"

Lian Qing's eyes widened, he seemed to be shocked by these words, he hadn't recovered for a long time, his face was pale, his eyes were sad and unbelievable, he said anxiously: "Mother, is it really like this?"

Wang Fang was a little guilty, and wanted to fool her: "How can he say it so seriously, he is also a decent family, who has land and land and can work..."

Niang didn't refute, but kept making amends. Lian Qing knew in her heart that this was the truth, but she still couldn't believe that this was something her parents would do. Obviously, they were very good before, couldn't they?

"Mother..." His voice was difficult, as if his throat was blocked by a ball of cotton, and he couldn't find an outlet to vent, "Why did you do this?"

"I..." Wang Fang was speechless.

Zheng Chengan snorted coldly: "Why else? Isn't it just for their precious son?"

Lian Qing was confused: "For me? How come?"

"Why not? You eat delicious food and drink spicy food in the county town, but have you ever wondered where your expenses come from?"

Those were indeed saved by the family with great difficulty, Lian Qing knew in her heart, "But what does it have to do with this matter?"

"Of course it does matter. Do you know how much you spend each year?" Zheng Chengan calmed down and carefully settled the accounts with him. Five taels of silver, plus your board and lodging expenses in the county, you will have to pay another two taels, which will almost cover all the expenses of farming at home, not to mention that you have to buy pens, inks, papers and inkstones, and participate in poetry fairs and tours. He Shan, do you know that after paying these expenses every year, the family still owes foreign debts!"

With every calculation, Lian Qing's expression became more and more ugly. He only knew that every time he asked for money, the family would hand over the money to him in time. I sent it here, and I have never heard my family say that my study has caused such a big burden on the family.

He actually always felt that his family still had enough energy to support him, so he could spend his time in the academy with peace of mind! ?

"I heard that you have already passed the Tongsheng exam, and you are going to go to the township exam in August. It must be for this time to save money?" Zheng Chengan didn't understand why the Lian family was in such a hurry to marry off the little girl. Chatting finally understood that the township examination was coming soon, but since the family lost such a strong laborer as Lian Xing, the harvest has become less and less.

But thinking that they made a lot of money selling Lian Xing's pair last time, let alone a woman, they came up with the idea of ​​forsythia again.

Wang Fang was embarrassed by her son's stare, and sullen flashed across her fat face: "What nonsense are you talking about!"

She turned her head and said softly to Lian Qing: "Son, don't listen to their nonsense, how could mother do this."

Lian Qing's throat was so dry that it hurt, and the pain from being burned by the scorching sun came back again when he was anxiously rushing on the road, he swallowed hard, and said: "Mother, let me ask you, is it true that the matter of showing Lianqiao to see her is true?" ?”

Wang Fang said: "Yes."

"Is it true that the family is 50 years old?"

Wang Fang's eyes widened. Just as she was about to refute, she looked up and saw her son's eyes. Those eyes were clear and sharp, as if she could see right into the bottom of people's hearts. ,"……yes."

Lian Qing closed her eyes, her voice seemed to contain the pain of weeping blood: "Mother, how could you... How could you do this!"

Wang Fang didn't think there was anything wrong with her. Originally, she had done everything she could to raise them up, and it happened that she was about to get married, so she should contribute a little bit to this family in the end. It was just that seeing her son exhausted because of this was extremely painful. After all, Wang Fang regretted it. If she had known about it, she would have sold Forsythia and Lian Xing together, so as not to cause her son to become like this.

Seeing Lian Qing's distressed appearance, Wang Fang was very distressed, and said in a repeated voice: "It's my mother's fault, it's all my mother's fault."

"It's all my fault. If only I found out earlier, it's just an exam. I can pass the exam without the money."

"No, this has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself. If you want to blame, blame your mother."

"No, blame me."

"Weird girl."

"Blame me."

Zheng Chengan: "..."

"Stop arguing, you are all wrong."

The eyes of everyone cast over immediately.

Zheng Chengan saw that they were having a headache, so he stood up and divided the pot equally among them, "It stands to reason that your mother's fault must be greater. If she hadn't been blind to money and ignored her family, how could there be such a thing?" something happens."

Wang Fang crossed her hips and stared at him. If her son hadn't been watching beside her, she would have rushed forward to scold Zheng Chengan.

"but……"

As soon as the voice changed, he said again, "Do you think you are so innocent?"

Lian Qing looked at him blankly.

"Do you think that if you cry a few words hypocritically and complain a few words to others, it will appear that you don't know anything about it, and that you are a good brother who is filial and family-friendly?"

Lian Qing: "I...I didn't..."

Zheng Chengan said: "I tell you, you are not."

He hit the nail on the head, and said every word: "You have lived with them for more than ten years, can't you see everything they have done for you? You are obviously thinner and smaller than you, but you want to give up all the good things at home. You, you don’t even have enough to eat! Even though you are an older brother, you let your younger sister take care of daily life, which one you have done before, chopping firewood, carrying water and mowing grass? I have never felt uneasy, and I have never given birth to the idea of ​​sharing!"

Lian Qing took a step back in shock: "I..."

Zheng Chengan approached step by step: "But you never thought about what's wrong with this, because you don't need to do this job, you don't need to suffer this kind of hardship, so you pretend to be deaf and dumb, pretending to be obsessed with studying and not interested in housework. Blindness is mental blindness!"

Lian Qing's face was pale as if he had suffered a great blow. He suddenly remembered that when he was a child, he had just been taught by his master and wanted to fight pigweed with his younger sister, but his mother suddenly appeared, grabbed the things in his hand, and said goodbye to him. The younger sister scolded her loudly, calling her disrespectful and disrespectful, and dared to make her elder brother work for her. At that time, he just watched blankly, but never stopped him.

How could he not know these years, when they had meals, they ate white noodles and younger sister ate steamed buns. After dinner, he only cared about studying while his younger sister washed the pots and dishes, fed the chickens, fetched water and cut firewood, and when there were guests at home, he chatted with them And my younger sister was cooking in the kitchen from start to finish but couldn't even serve the table... Didn't he see this?

No, he has seen it, and he is used to it. Even today, if Zheng Chengan hadn't pointed out this bloody fact, he might have continued to ignore it, and felt in his heart that he was not wrong all along, causing today's consequences and his It doesn't matter.

He will be able to deceive himself and others, accept Lianqiao back home without getting dirty, and be a good brother who loves his sister...

... There was silence all around, Lian Qing stumbled out of the gate of Zheng's house in a daze, the Lian family members looked at him with distressed and worried eyes, even Zheng Cheng'an ignored him and followed him away.

"Brother—" Seeing Lian Qing like this, Lian Qiao felt uncomfortable, and even wanted to leave with him, but Zheng Chengan grabbed her, "What are you doing?"

Lianqiao knew that her brother had never resisted her mother for herself, but Lian Qing was still different in her heart, she couldn't bear to see him like this, and she was in pain, "Thank you brother-in-law for treating me during this time." I have already troubled you too much, and I was watched by so many people today, so I can’t drag you into gossip anymore, I..."

Lianqiao took a deep look at them, then bent down and bowed: "Thank you." After speaking, she turned around and followed out.

Mrs. Li didn't expect her to be so soft-hearted, and the matter hasn't been resolved yet, "This child..."

Zheng Cheng'an said: "Let her go. I said so much just now. In view of Lian Qing's face as an official, her mother should not act rashly for the time being. Besides, Lian Qing should know what to do now."

Thinking of Lian Qing's reaction and Lian Qiao's distressed reaction, he couldn't help turning his head to look at Lian Xing in doubt: "Is what I said so serious?"

Lian Xing smiled: "It's okay."

It was true anyway.