Chapter 42: The Small Villa Talks Sadly

After a whole day of traveling, he stopped at a post station beside the official road in the evening to rest for the night. He set out again before dawn the next morning. It was not until the beginning of the 4th hour of the 9th month that Li Yaoguang, whose butt was almost broken into pieces, finally arrived at the territory of Lao Wo Mountain.

The road into the farm in the mountain valley became increasingly difficult to travel. After much difficulty in finding out the location of the farm and meeting the difficult and greedy farm owner, Li Yaoguang was finally able to enter the farm with money. In a remote place near the mountain, he saw a small farmyard and his aunt who was busy in the yard.

"Auntie!"

Through the fence gate, Li Yaoguang shouted to the man who was squatting in a corner of the yard, with his back to the gate, busy with something.

The figure was startled when he heard the voice, and turned around suddenly. He saw that the person coming was Li Yaoguang. His face, which was covered with dust and looked like a tabby cat, was full of disbelief.

"Guang, Guang'er? Why are you here?"

Seeing her relatives, Yu Meixue excitedly dropped the broken dustpan she was using to fan herself, wiped her face and ran towards the gate. Her soft and pretty face became even dirtier because of the wiping she had just done, which made Li Yaoguang feel so distressed that he pushed open the gate and went to greet her.

"Aunt, are you, my uncle, and Yangyang all right?"

"Guang'er, why are you here? Did the Marquis' Mansion chase you away?"

The aunt and nephew spoke in unison, both expressing their concern.

Li Yaoguang looked at her aunt's expression, feeling heavy in her heart, and hurriedly comforted her, "Aunt, I'm fine, really fine. The Marquis' Mansion has some dignity to save, so they won't chase me away."

"If I didn't chase you away, why are you here?"

"Auntie, I'm worried about you."

After saying this, Yu Meixue's expression changed dramatically.

Li Yaoguang knew her aunt's temper best. She knew that although she was weak, she could be extremely stubborn at times. Afraid that her aunt would lose her temper and use the same whining to deal with her as she did with her uncle, Li Yaoguang quickly changed the subject.

"Okay, auntie, let's not talk about this anymore. By the way, where are my uncle and Yangyang? And what were you doing squatting in the corner just now?"

Undoubtedly, Li Yaoguang succeeded in changing the subject, but unfortunately she expected the beginning but not the ending.

It would have been fine if this had not been mentioned. Once it was mentioned, the aunt in front of him suddenly felt aggrieved. The person who had been strong just now suddenly burst into tears, which washed away the dark dirt on her face, making Li Yaoguang anxious!

"Oh, my dear aunt, why are you still crying? Who has wronged you? Is it the village head here?"

Poor her, she was a person who didn't like to carry a handkerchief with her. Seeing her aunt crying so miserably with tears on her face, Li Yaoguang was overwhelmed. She had no choice but to quickly pull up her sleeves to wipe the tears for her and comfort her while wiping.

"Auntie, don't cry. I'm here. Don't cry. No one can bully you when I'm here. I'll seek justice for you and will definitely give them a good beating..."

It would have been fine if Li Yaoguang didn't comfort her. The more she comforted her, the more Yu Meixue burst out with all the grievances and fears she had suppressed in front of her closest relatives. She cried so loudly that the father and son on the kang in the room noticed something was wrong. Cheng Su couldn't lie down any longer and tried to get up. Yang Ge'er, who had been warned by his mother, saw something was wrong and stopped him fiercely. Cheng Su couldn't get off the kang. Yu Meixue, who was outside, was crying out of breath while hugging Li Yaoguang.

“Wuwuwu, Guang’er, Guang’er, it’s your aunt who is useless, it’s your aunt who has no future, your aunt can’t even light a fire, wuwuwu, if you hadn’t come, if you hadn’t come, your aunt and your uncle would have frozen to death or starved to death, wuwuwu…”

Li Yaoguang supported the person, looked at his aunt's big painted face, and then looked at the small clay stove and medicine jar in the corner that were still emitting a little smoke. Li Yaoguang understood everything in an instant.

She stroked her aunt's back again and again, feeling a little amused and helpless, "Aunt, where are the Green Willow and Grass people? Are they being lazy again?"

"They, they didn't come. They were, implicated by your uncle and I, and were sent out of the mansion by the Second Madam to get married that day."

"What!" Li Yaoguang was shocked. "That is to say, since you and my uncle arrived here, there have been only three of you? Then how did you get here last night?" As for the village head she just met, she didn't think that he was a good person who would take care of her aunt and her family of three in private.

Sure enough, she heard her aunt sobbing and aggrieved.

"Wuwuwu, we arrived at the farmhouse yesterday afternoon, and then we were arranged to live in this yard. The head of the farm left immediately and didn't care at all. I don't know how to do anything, wuwuwu, I was getting cold, no, I had no choice, so I used the money you gave me to find a woman outside to help. She was kind enough to bring her own firewood to light the kang for me and your uncle, and also helped me boil medicine. It's a pity that there was not much firewood, and the kang was cold in the middle of the night. I, I was thinking of saying it out to start the fire and boil your uncle's medicine, but, but... I was busy for a long time, wuwuwu, and I couldn't light it until you came, wuwuwu! Guang'er, it's your aunt who is useless and has no future, wuwuwu..."

She only had some money given by her husband and Guang'er as pocket money, most of which was given by Guang'er, and it was not much. She and her husband didn't know how long they would have to stay here with their son, so she thought that they couldn't keep spending money to hire people, right?
Isn't it just making a fire? She wanted to try it herself, but she died while trying!

After tossing and turning for a whole morning, the smoke almost killed her and she didn't even see a spark. Yu Meixue wanted to cover her face and couldn't face anyone.

Li Yaoguang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when she saw her aunt was so aggrieved. However, when she thought about the story behind it, she felt distressed and worried about her aunt.

He patted his aunt's back soothingly, turned around and called out to Fusheng and Erqiao outside the fence, asking them to help unload the goods. He subconsciously pulled his aunt into the house. When he lifted the curtain and entered the house, he saw the father and son lying on the kang, shivering like frozen cats, but inexplicably arguing with each other.

Li Yaoguang didn't ask, just thinking that the father and son were fighting the cold together.

He scanned the empty and cold room, then touched the kang, and it was indeed ice-cold!

Li Yaoguang dared not delay any longer. He quickly settled his aunt down and asked her to watch the person on the kang. He turned around and lifted the curtain to go out, preparing to get some firewood from the yard to burn the kang.

As a result, the only firewood in the whole courtyard was the fire that her aunt had just stuffed into the red clay stove. No wonder the kang went out and no wonder the fire couldn't be lit.

The truth is, firstly, there is no firewood to burn, and secondly, how can this stove designed for burning charcoal burn firewood?

Li Yaoguang sighed heavily again, turned around and was about to leave the yard, preparing to go outside to find some firewood first.

Fusheng, who was carrying meat into the house, saw this and asked hurriedly, "Sir, where are you going?"

Li Yaoguang did not hide it, pointing to the nearby forest and helplessly replied: "Don't be afraid of Brother Fusheng making fun of me, there is not even a single piece of firewood at home. I thought I had to go to the forest to get some, otherwise I can't even heat the kang."

(End of this chapter)