Chapter 72 I Understand

  Old Mr. Chen burst out laughing.

  "True and false, false and true, why bother? Go ahead, go ahead." He waved his hand with a smile.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang didn't ask again, smiled and bowed out.

  Other sisters outside the gate were waiting for her, walking slowly along the road.

  Chen Dan Niang's wrinkled face pulled at her sleeve.

  "Sister, should I copy too?" she asked timidly.

  "You don't need it, first practice your big characters well." Chen Shiba Niang smiled and said.

  "Yes, yes, I want to practice calligraphy, practice good handwriting like Sister Cheng." Chen Dan Niang nodded repeatedly and said loudly.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang was slightly stunned.

  "Dan Niang, are you saying that the characters written by Cheng Niangzi are good?" she asked in a low voice.

  "Yes, we were still at the Temple of Stopping and Writing on the Wall, Father brought it back to show Grandfather, I said it was my poem, Sister Cheng wrote the words, they didn't believe me, they even laughed at me." Chen Dan Niang said.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang felt her heart racing wildly and suddenly stopped in her tracks.

  "Tan Niang, was it with us that time?" she asked.

  Chen Dan Niang nodded.

  "Waiting for the plum blossoms to open at the mountain temple?" Chen Shiba Niang read out in a trembling voice.

  Chen Dan Niang frowned, she was young at that time and it had been some days since then. Apart from remembering this matter, what else could she remember?

  "It's just what Father left in the study anyway." She said vaguely.

  "Really?" Chen Shi Ba Niang asked.

  "Sister, you don't even believe me and yet you ask me! You also say they are like that, aren't you the same, believing your own but not mine?" Chen Dan Niang said with a stamp of her foot and a pout.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang smiled.

  "I believe, I believe." She said hastily, squatting down and looking at Chen Dan Niang with a hint of irrepressible excitement. "Then, Dan Niang, next time you go to see Cheng's wife, take sister along, okay?"

  "Alright." Chen Dan Niang agreed readily.

  Chen Dan Niang's wet nurse came to pick her up.

  "It's time for the young lady to take her afternoon rest," they said.

  Chen Dan Niang and her sisters bid farewell, holding the wet nurse's hand as they left.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang stood there in a daze for a moment.

  "I, I should get ready." She muttered to herself, her face flushed with excitement, unconsciously clenching her fists in front of her.

  "Eighteen girl, what are you preparing?" The sister in front heard it and asked back.

  Chen Shi Ba Niang came back to her senses and smiled.

  "Get ready to copy," she said with a smile. "My handwriting is poor, I have to start early, or else the teacher will punish me again."

  "Let's hurry then." The sisters said with a smile.

  The news of the two thousand taels of silver being refused for medical treatment spread in just one day, and apart from Old Master Chen using this to teach his juniors, most people were just watching the excitement.

  Some say it's because the last time they disturbed Yan Wang, they made a big fuss and were taken back by the immortal family. Others say that according to the rules, the person was not destined to die, so even if they couldn't be cured, some people said that the money given was still too little, and others said that the person's status was not high enough for the Zhou family to look down on them...

  It doesn't matter what others say, but if anything good is said, it's given to that woman, and if anything annoying is said, it's all blamed on the Zhou family. Mr. and Mrs. Zhou can't take it anymore.

  What's it got to do with us? Mrs. Zhou was at home, getting anxious and crying, and her just-recovered cough relapsed again.

  The people below naturally also discussed it in an uproar.

  "Are you saying that Sister-in-law is intentionally annoying Master and Madam or is she really unable to be cured?"

  "Of course it's Mrs. Qi Lao Ye."

  "All can revive the dead and bring them back to life, what disease cannot be cured?"

  Several old women and young girls were chattering away together when someone nearby couldn't help but raise their voice.

  "No."

  Everyone was stunned for a moment, looked around to locate the source of the sound, and saw a little girl in the middle of winter with her sleeves rolled up, hanging out clothes to dry, her hands and arms frozen purple.

  Look at everyone coming over, she brought a few evasive and lowered her head.

  "What do you know?" A woman snorted and said.

  "No, miss, this is reasonable." said Ban Jin in a low voice.

  "What's the point? It's just intentionally disgusting the old master and mistress." Others said.

  "No, no, it was like this before too." Pan Jinlian hastily said, "It wasn't because of being at the old master and mistress's place that it became like this."

  Before?

  Those people sized up the girl.

  "Oh, you're that little girl." Someone suddenly remembered and pointed out, "No, you used to serve that fool..."

  "She's not a fool! She's smarter than anyone! You just don't understand!" Half-chin shouted, raising her head and glaring at these people.

  A sudden shout left several people stunned.

  Bàn qín shouted and ran away in a fluster.

  "My goodness, this is really crazy."

  "No wonder nobody wants it."

  A burst of laughter came from behind.

  Ban Jin ran out of the yard in one breath, stood under a tree, and wiped away her tears.

  They don't understand, none of them understand.

  "Girl, take care of your body and don't rush."

  "This time, because of the illness of the lady next door, we have stayed in one place for several days longer than usual... This is not good."

  Why was it wrong? She didn't understand at first, but because she followed her mother-in-law, she didn't have to think about anything. Later, when she lost her mother-in-law, those past events became her only solace.

  Time and time again I think of it, time and time again I miss it.

  Then she found out many things she didn't understand before, and many words that other women said which she didn't understand, all became vaguely clear to her.

  "Because you have what they don't, and yet you refuse to use it for them, that's your sin."

  "And besides, I'm an idiot."

  "You can think about it here and know too."

  "Some things are easier done than said."

  "For now, we want small achievements, and better ones."

  "Let them believe you first, and then everything else will follow."

  "Half a celery, Mr. Han said, it's just a matter of lifting one's hand, anyone can do it, and it doesn't count as any great kindness."

  "It's rare to meet someone like Mr. Han."

  Every time she recalls this, Han Qing's tears fall uncontrollably.

  This is the last lesson and the last sentence taught by the teacher.

  It's just a pity that she didn't understand at that time.

  She wiped away her tears and turned her head in the direction where Cheng Jiaoniang was.

  At that time I was foolish and ignorant, now thinking back, two lonely women, how many dangers we encountered on the way.

  Wearing a jade pendant is a crime, being too good will bring trouble. Therefore, one should take a step back and yield a little. Taking a step back and giving way is not cowardice, but rather for the sake of advancing further.

  A daughter's reputation is already great, it's enough, at this time taking a step back would be even better.

  The girl has always been like this, from the moment she left Pingzhou, she has never changed. It's not because of who she faces, but because she steadily does what she should do. What those people say, do, shout and make a fuss about has never been in her heart.

  "What's wrong with our Zhou family?! Whether it's treated or not treated, it's all up to her, what does it have to do with us?!"

  Zhou Lang slapped his hand heavily on the table and said with a mixture of anger and frustration.

  "Because she is a lone woman after all, and you are her maternal relatives, the Qin family. When children make mistakes, it's naturally the adults' fault." said Qin Langjun with a smile.

  Zhou Lang sneered.

  "Is it just her natural talent?" he said.

  "Or rather, it's Cheng's family." Qin Langjun said with a smile, looking at Zhou Liulang who was staring back at him with a scowl on his face.

  "It's all her doing," said Shūroku on Saturday. "Step by step, one thing at a time, whether to treat or not, whether it's good or bad, it's all up to her."

  Qin Langjun burst out laughing.

  "Are you still going to make a fuss about this?" he said, shaking his head. "Sixth Brother, is she the fool or are you guys the fools? Isn't this an obvious thing? Why are you still entangled in this?"

  Shūroku didn't say a word, his hands clenched into fists on his knees.

  "Where did she go?" he asked abruptly, turning his head around.

  The maid kneeling by the door hurriedly lowered her head.

  "Cheng Niangzi just said she's going out, but I don't know where she went," she said in a low voice.

  They say they are sick and cannot see patients, but can still take a car out. Are all people blind and foolish?

  Zhou Lang took a deep breath and looked out the door.

  Perhaps, what she initially thought was a joke about taking her home, or perhaps it was just as she wished.

  Kidnapping, after all, who kidnapped whom? Who else was helpless against whom?