The 75th time

  Chang Yu and Yun'er returned to see Minglan sitting properly on the soft couch, checking her belongings. Danju sat beside her, peeling an orange with a gentle expression, then fed it to her piece by piece. Xiaotao and Lüying sat facing each other, one reading aloud from the account book, the other writing with a brush. Outside the window, the sky was clear and the water was calm, the scenery was extremely beautiful.

  The young couple's jaws almost dropped, but Minglan calmly reported the events: packing up, thieves came, jumped into the water, the boatmen arrived, the thieves ran away, and they returned to the ship.

  To put it simply and concisely, Minglan felt that she was becoming more and more like her elder brother Changbai.

  The young couple felt ashamed and guilty, so they turned their guilt into motivation. They knew the severity of the situation and that if they didn't handle it properly, it would affect their family. So they took swift action; Yan'er was after all Kang Yima's daughter, and she handled the situation with a firm hand, not showing any mercy. She arranged for the servants to be silenced, making sure no one would leak out a single word. By the time they reached the shore, everything had returned to calmness.

  Chang Song had already received the news and was waiting at the dock with a group of family servants. The brothers met with extra warmth, and Yun'er, despite her sore back, also said a few words before being helped into a sedan chair covered in blue oilcloth and red silk by the careful servant girl. Minglan also wanted to follow her in but was instead helped into the next carriage. As soon as she got in, she saw Pinlan smiling and holding an eight-treasure fruit box, waiting for her.

  It's been two years since we last met, and Pinlan's face has become even more beautiful, her figure has also developed. These past two years, Li Shi has been strict with her, the results are obvious, her demeanor is no longer as frivolous and flighty as it was in the past, she now has a bit of an older girl's air about her.

  Pinlan had been thinking about Minglan for a long time, and knowing that Minglan was coming today, she felt like scratching her heart all morning, begging bitterly for half a day, before finally getting her mother and sister-in-law to nod in agreement, asking her brother to bring herself along to greet the guest.

  The two sisters had always gotten along well, and as soon as they met, they would hug each other tightly and playfully pinch each other's cheeks. One would twist the other's face, and the other would squeeze her sister's arm, giggling and laughing together for a while, until their mother, who was waiting on them outside, cleared her throat in disapproval, and they finally calmed down a bit.

  "Die, you little scoundrel! Sister almost died of worry for you!" Pinlan clung to Minglan's arm, her face flushed with laughter; Minglan's hair was disheveled from being pulled, and she was trying to free her hand to tidy it up, shaking her hand vigorously as she said: "Don't curse me to death!"

  Pinlan fiercely bared her teeth and pounced on her, only to be met with a flurry of rubbing. Minglan was no match for her, and she raised her hands in defeat.

  "How is the old lady?" Minglan asked hastily after the two sisters calmed down. Pinlan's face was gloomy: "Last month she was a bit better, but who knew that as soon as winter arrived, she got worse again. These past few days she's been dazed and confused, unable to say a complete sentence. The doctor says it might be just these next few days."

  Inside the carriage, there was a moment of silence. Minglan patted Pinlan's hand to comfort her for a while, then asked about her own grandmother. Pinlan forced a smile: "Thanks to Second Old Madam, who often talks about interesting things from the old days, Grandmother feels a bit better; sometimes Third Old Master comes over to stir up trouble, but as soon as Second Old Madam sits down, the third branch of the family becomes honest."

  "What's the honest way?" Minglan asked with great interest.

  Pinlan cleared her throat and, with a pretentious air like that of a bookish scholar, tapped the table several times before beginning to recite in a vivid and expressive tone.

  Third Elderly Man: Eldest Grandson, when the old man passed away initially, he left 50,000 taels of silver in the main house. It's time to divide it now.

  Sheng Wei: This thing... I haven't heard of it.

  Third Elder: You little scamp think you can cheat! Dare to be rude to your uncle, I still have the old lady's note from back then!

  Old Lady Sheng: Oh, yes, there was such a thing. However, that year San Shu wanted to ransom the head card sister of Cuixian Building, didn't he prepay? At that time, Cui's old master who handled it should still have kept the file record back then. I'll go get the letter and bring it back later... How about you, with your furrowed brow and raised eyes, do you want to be rude to your aunt?!

  Third Elder: ……

  Old Lady Sheng: To tell the truth, when Third Uncle was short of money, he took our share from the second house as well. I still have Third Uncle's IOU here. Now that we're all old, it's time to talk about when you'll pay it back.

  Third old man: Today's weather is not bad, everyone go home early and rest. Don't forget to collect your clothes when it gets dark. We'll leave first, bye.

  Jinglan and Minglan laughed so hard they were leaning to one side, holding onto the table for support as their bodies shook with mirth.

  It turns out that the third old man is actually a clever person. Although he has never been successful, he knows how to take advantage of opportunities and adapt to situations, so he has never completely fallen out with the first and second branches of the family. From time to time, he would swindle some money or stir up trouble just for fun, and then be content.

  Sheng Wei is very clever, doing business requires a good relationship to make money. He never quarrels with his elders, and the Third Elder will not live for long. After he dies, Sheng Wei will be both the eldest son of the main house and the clan leader, so he can basically call the shots in the clan. If the third house still cannot get their act together and are always causing trouble, the main house will not be so easy to talk to.

  The carriage had been traveling for more than two hours, and it was almost time to enter the town. Zhang Song called a halt to the horses at the entrance of the village, where they took a short rest. The coachman watered the horses and checked the wheels, while the maidservants attended to the young ladies' needs. After Minglan and Pinlan finished their business, they were hastily ushered back into the carriage. As soon as she got in, Pinlan excitedly pushed open the window and lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside. Minglan asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"

  "Just now when I went down, I saw an old acquaintance... Ah, come, come, come and see!" Pinlan waved her hand repeatedly towards the back, Minglan looked puzzled and also leaned over to take a look, following Pinlan's direction, she saw several people standing under a big pagoda tree at the village entrance, Minglan softly exclaimed "Ah".

  Indeed an old acquaintance.

  Sun Zhi Gao cowered on the ground, hugging his head and trembling with fear. His long shirt was stained all over, and beside him stood a tall and sturdy woman, grasping a large stick. Sun's mother pointed at her and scolded: "Who is this woman? How dare you be so domineering! When men go out to have a few drinks, how can you beat my son?! Look at the state he's in!"

  The woman exclaimed loudly: "It was him who hit me!" with a calm expression.

  Sun's mother was furious and rushed up to beat the woman, but she dodged out of the way. Sun's mother fell heavily to the ground, landing on her backside, and the woman burst out laughing. Sun's mother lay on the ground, cursing loudly: "You wicked widow, since you entered my family's door, you've been bullying your mother-in-law every other day, beating your husband - where in the world is there a daughter-in-law like you?! And now that your mother-in-law has fallen down, you just stand there and watch?!"

  The widow fell to the ground, but smiled carelessly and said: "Mother-in-law, I used to be a widow, but now I've married your son. You still keep calling me 'widow' every day, aren't you cursing your own son?"

  The villagers standing around couldn't help but burst out laughing, pointing and gesturing at him.

  The widow's face was broad and large, with protruding front teeth, and she looked quite fierce. She stood in front of the villagers and said loudly: "Although I am a widow who remarried, when I married into this family, I also brought my dowry with me. The house we live in now, the land we cultivate, which one is not mine? You, mother-in-law, can eat and drink without doing anything, but you should take care of your son. He is a scholar, either he should study hard to take the imperial examination or open a private school to earn some money. Instead, he runs around every day, sometimes drinking and having fun with others, sometimes leading a group of friends to come and eat for free. He doesn't care about anything, if I don't manage him! Later on, you will sell our house and land, mother-in-law, are you planning to wait until my dowry is all gone before finding another marriage?"

  The villagers around all knew about the Sun family's affairs, and after hearing them, they couldn't help but burst out laughing. Some busybodies even chimed in with a few sarcastic remarks. Seeing that no one was helping her, Mrs. Sun lay on the ground wailing loudly: "Everyone listen! Is this how a daughter-in-law is supposed to speak? Since when did daughters-in-law not have to serve their mothers-in-law and try to please them?! And yet she's telling me to do chores, doing this and that, exhausting me to death... I won't live anymore, I won't live..."

  Some elderly men in the village couldn't bear it, and couldn't help but interrupt, jokingly saying: "A wife as fierce as this, why not just divorce her? How can she treat her mother-in-law like this?"

  The widow's face turned black, and she glared at him fiercely, shouting in a shrill voice: "I've been married to two men already. If anyone makes my life difficult, I'll die in their house, set fire to it, and hang myself - no one will have a good life!"

  Those men immediately shut up, the widow looked at her mother-in-law and loudly scolded: "Old lady, you still think you're some kind of rich and noble old lady, a whole family relying on a dozen or so acres of land to make a living, which old lady in the village doesn't help out with some chores? I just asked you to watch the chickens and ducks in the backyard, without lifting a hand or bending your waist, and you call that tiring! If you want to live a good life, don't divorce your original wife who brought wealth! You have no shame, first divorcing someone and then trying to find your way back to them with your tail between your legs!"

  Sun's mother remembered the good days when Shulan was still around and suddenly choked with emotion.

  The widow turned to the crowd and said, "You uncles, aunts, and elders don't know that my mother-in-law is really muddled. At first, my husband married a wonderful wife who came with silver, houses, land, and servants as dowry. She served tea in the middle of the night and massaged legs at dawn, almost treating my mother-in-law like an empress! But my mother-in-law still didn't like her and bullied her every day until she finally drove her away! Such a good wife, my mother-in-law didn't like, but instead liked a woman from a brothel who came from a dirty place. She was won over by two flattering sentences and treated her like a daughter! Later, that woman gave my husband a green hat, not to mention giving birth to a bastard, and finally eloped with the adulterer and ran away with silver money! I say, mother-in-law, how can you still not change your old ways? Good medicine is bitter in the mouth, loyal words are hard to hear. You don't like me, could it be that you want to find another sweet-talking brothel woman to be a daughter-in-law?"

  The widow, though rough and clumsy in appearance, had a sharp tongue. After a round of words, the villagers burst into laughter, some women almost laughing to tears. No one helped Sun Mu anymore. Sun Mu was furious, her whole body trembling as she pounced on Sun Zhi Gao, beating him while crying out: "You just watch your old mother being bullied by your wife and don't even come out to intervene! I wasted my life giving birth to you!"

  Sun Zhi Gao plucked up his courage and pointed at the widow, saying: "Filial piety is the first of all virtues. How can you be so disrespectful to your mother-in-law? You even dare to talk back to her! In the past, I dared to divorce even those from good families, do you think I wouldn't dare to divorce you?"

  Her mother came in high spirits and urged: "Right! Let's get rid of her and find a better one!"

  The widow burst out laughing three times, then turned cold and scolded loudly: "Looking for a good one? Don't daydream! In the past, you mother and son were destitute and had nowhere to live. If I hadn't married in, you would have starved to death immediately! Your son is infertile! All day long, he only knows how to recite two lines of sour poetry, and still has the nerve to flirt with women. Do you think you're as talented as Gan Luo or Pan An? If I weren't remarried, I'd be a ghost! Not even able to produce an heir, and still having to adopt from another family... I don't know if I can rely on him for the rest of my life! You want to divorce me? In the past, I had already written a clear contract with the village elder, and now I'll take back all the houses and land!"

  Sun Zhi Gao's face turned bright red with anger and shame, his mother felt sorry for her son. Seeing the villagers around them laughing and teasing, looking at the mother and son with strange eyes, she was both ashamed and annoyed: "You're a woman, how can you be so shameless? Is this also something to talk about outside?"

  The widow said with her head held high: "Your son's previous concubines couldn't give birth to any children, and that young woman from the brothel gave birth to a wild seed! Moreover, your previous daughter-in-law remarried and now has child after child! Let's make things clear first, so everyone can bear witness. You'll try to accuse me of being barren again and want to divorce me, but I won't agree!"

  It seems that Shulan wants to make up for her past mistakes, and after remarrying, she had a small universe explosion. Two years later, she gave birth to two pairs of twins, three boys and one girl. Now she is sitting in confinement, and her husband's family, who were originally from a thin household with few people, suddenly became prosperous and thriving. Her parents-in-law changed their attitude towards her remarriage, and now they smile whenever they see their daughter-in-law.

  Son's mother was furious, picked up the big stick on the ground, and hit it hard towards the widow. The widow dodged to one side, grabbed Son's mother, pushed her away, snatched the stick, and swung it at Son Zhi Gao's body, scolding loudly: "You good-for-nothing! Dare to go out drinking and whoring, dare to squander money, you bunch of rascals, don't stay home properly for me!"

  Sun Zhi Gao yelled loudly and jumped around to avoid the blows, the widow was brave and invincible, pinching his ears, beating and scolding him. Sun's mother got up to save her son but was pushed back, and the three of them immediately rolled into a ball, with the surrounding villagers laughing and watching the commotion.

  Minglan looked at Sun Zhi's disheveled and unconscious appearance, where was the slightest bit of his original proud and arrogant demeanor? Sun's mother's coarse linen clothes suddenly made Minglan think of when she had a head full of gold hairpins and jade pins, wearing silk and satin, sitting in the main hall of the Sheng family, mocking Shulan in front of Li Shi; truly, past events are like smoke, unbearable to recall.

  Before long, the carriage was about to move. Chang Song knew that Sun's mother and son were making a fuss in front, fearing they would entangle them again, so he took a detour on another road. Pinlan clung to the window, looking reluctant to part with them, until she couldn't see them anymore before putting down the curtain. She turned around, sat properly, slowly picked up her tea cup and took a sip, letting out a long sigh.

  Minglan looked at her with a schadenfreude expression and smiled as she teased: "Are you feeling relieved now?"

  Pinlan shook her head and said with a clear face: "Relieve pain and eliminate disease, prolong life and benefit longevity."

  Just watched Firth's masterpiece "The King's Speech", oh my god, that acting is truly unbeatable!

  A fifty-year-old old man has captivated all the women of different ages in our office. Those melancholic and introverted eyes, that tall and straight figure, that English gentleman style... Oh my god, it immediately brought me back to the 95 version of "Pride and Prejudice" and my infatuation with Mr. Darcy!

  As a representative of British power actors, I hope he can bring back a small golden man this time.