During the day, it was inconvenient to go to Lu's house. Yang Ruqing disguised herself and lurked near Lu's house to listen for gossip, mainly trying to find out about the Lu family.

Just sitting in a teahouse for half a day, let alone the Lu family, all of this backstreet and even some gossip from Yangzhou City would come flooding in like waves, as long as you have enough storage space in your head.

"It's said on this street that since the Lu family moved in, they have barely made any attempt to settle down."

At dinnertime in the evening, Yang Ruqing said to Luofengtang this.

"At first, they set up shop in two rooms at the front of this house, selling steamed buns and mantou. I heard the business was doing quite well."

“The business only lasted for a little over a month before closing down. It was said to be the idea of Lu's eldest daughter-in-law, Zhang Shuilin.”

Zhang Shuilian said that the job of making baozi and mantou was too hard, with early mornings and late nights, and the pay wasn't much. Plus, it was a serving job, so she decided to quit.

After the incident, the Lu family spent a bit of money to find someone with connections on Hòu Street. They arranged for their second daughter to become a maidservant in a wealthy household in Yangzhou City.

“The youngest brother worked as a laborer at a nearby mill, while his other siblings helped their mother with housework at home. Their mother was in poor health, and the family was constantly boiling medicine.”

Upon hearing Yang Ruqing's words, Luofengtang gave a light smile and said, "They could have lived comfortably with those two hundred taels of silver originally."

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

Yang Ruqing pouted, "Yeah, I have to run all the way to this Yangzhou city to suffer."

"Well, uh," she picked up a chopstickful of vegetables and placed it in Luo Fengtang's bowl. "It's been almost four meals since last night, I wonder if Zhi'er has finally conceded or is still holding firm."

Luo Fengtang smiled faintly and said, "Then after we finish eating, we'll go take a look at night and find out."

The Lu family.

Yang Ruohqing and Luofengtang, as usual, came to the window at the back of Da Zhi's house.

In the room, there were no candles lit anymore. On the desk sat a small oil lamp, casting a dim light. It was difficult to even read the small print in the books, let alone find one on the bookshelf.

>

This left Yang Ruqing in a daze, as if she had been transported back to when she first crossed over a decade ago.

Back then, at Lao Yang’s place, there were rules about lighting these soybean oil lamps. When a certain time came, if anyone’s house still had lights on, the old matriarch would come over and knock on their door.

Dazhi naturally wasn't reading at her desk, but was curled up in bed because she saw a small figure on the bed.

“This child won’t compromise,” Luo Fengtang’s low voice reached Yang Ruohong’s ear as he stood behind her.

Yang Ruqing turned her head and glanced at him, nodding lightly.

Yes, if Dazhi had compromised and written the letter, Zhang Shulian and Daguan would definitely have supplied him with candles.

Suddenly, Lu's mother's voice came from outside the door.

"Zhi'er, Zhi'er?" The woman gently patted the door, and the door creaked open a crack as wide as her palm.

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On the bed, Dazhi moved. He got up and walked to the back of the door, bending slightly at the waist.

"Zhili..."

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Outside the door, Lu's mother cried and reached in to stuff a steamed bun inside.

"Zhi'er, quickly eat the steamed buns. You haven't eaten anything in four meals," Lu's mother said.

Dachi shook his head, "I won't eat. If I do, all my previous efforts will be for nothing."

"My dear son, don't go against your own body like this. You haven't eaten in four meals now. If you keep going like this, you'll get sick from hunger. What will I do if you starve to death?"

Da Zhi weakly said, "People all have to die; some are as heavy as Mount Tai, while others are as light as a feather."

“Even if I starve to death, I can’t help the tyrant by writing letters to deceive my parents in Changping Village and make them send more money.” He said.

Lu's mother cried and said, "Since you have such filial piety, why didn't you stay in Changping Village back then? Why did you come back to suffer this kind of hardship?"

At this, Dazhi remained silent.

After a long silence, he wryly smiled and said, “At that time, I was blinded by jealousy. Now I regret it deeply, but I have made the women of Changping Village feel heartbroken. I am ashamed to return there…”

Lu's mother cried and said, "Zhi'er, if you really can't do it, just listen to your mother's advice. Write a letter to your foster parents saying that you know you were wrong."

"Then you can go beg for some silver from your foster parents to get by. Your elder brother and sister-in-law are really... They'll keep you locked up and torture you, won't let you study!" The woman was extremely worried.

Dazhi let out a cold snort and said, "So what if he doesn't want to study? It's no big deal. I've already done something that made my foster parents heartbroken once, so there can't be a second time."

Outside the door, Lu's mother fell silent. Besides crying, she didn't know what else to say.

Here, Yang Ruqing could no longer hold back and wanted to make an appearance. Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded at the entrance of the house.

Accompanied by hurried footsteps was Zhang Shulian's scolding.

"Your grandson is crying his head off, no one even fans him to sleep, he's swollen all over from mosquito bites, and you old bastard dared to come here? Get your sorry ass back home!"

With Zhang Shuilian's roar, both Lu's mother outside the door and Dazhi inside were taken aback.

Lu's mother's hand trembled, and the steamed bun fell into the crack of the door.

This was seen by Zhang Shuilin, who was so angry that her face twisted.

"You ungrateful scoundrel! You pretended to be aloof last night by refusing to eat, but now you're starving like a ghost, hiding here to secretly feed Da Zhi?"

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

“This ungrateful wretch, let him starve to death, it's better to feed a dog than him!”

“Big ball, come over here and open the door, I'm going to take out that steamed bun!”

The big ball, like a servant, meekly came forward, took out the key and opened the door.

>

Zhang Shulian kicked open the door, bent down to pick up the steamed bun, and Lu's mother rushed forward and snatched it from Zhang Shulian. As a result, both she and the steamed bun were pushed to the ground by Zhang Shulian.

"You're getting old, you're useless, this household is under my Zhang Shuilian's rule!" Zhang Shuilian pointed at Lu Mu's nose and said.

"If you dare to secretly give Dazhi things again, believe me or not, I'll cut off your rations and kick you out!"

"Bang!"

A book was thrown from behind and landed squarely on Zhang Shuilian's head.

Zhang Shuilian cried out in pain and turned to see Dazhi still holding the book as if about to throw it.

"You bastard, you white-eyed wolf, dare to hit me? You're itching for a beating!"

She rolled up her sleeves and slapped Big Zhi's face. Seeing the slap about to land, Big Zhi instinctively closed his eyes.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of slaps echoed in his ears, but Dazhi didn't feel the pain on his cheeks.

Instead, I heard a scream from Zhang Shuilin, my sister-in-law.

Da Zhi opened his eyes and saw Zhang Shuilin had been knocked to the ground, with a clear five-finger mark on half her face.

A familiar figure stood before Zhang Shulian, kicking her in the thigh with a foot while shouting, "Kick you to death, you shameless whore! You bullied my son. This old lady won't let you get away with it today unless I beat your guts out!"

(Editor in charge:we fell apart: a we were liars novel)