kingnovel Chapter 364: Never Give in
Chapter 364: Never Give in
"Evil obstacle! Evil obstacle!"
Pei Shizong pounded the edge of the pavement in anger, regretting his decision.
He lacked extraordinary talent and could not lead the Pei family to greater heights. But if he had recognized reality, listened to his eldest son, and stopped dreaming, what would it be like to be a wealthy and leisurely marquis now?
Rather...
Hey!
In the quarry, Ruyi walked in front carrying a wooden bucket, scooping rice soup into the broken bowls of the laborers one spoonful at a time. Xiao Wenshi carried a basket of black steamed buns and followed behind to distribute them.
When she reached Pei Yan, Xiao Wen looked around and, while the supervisor wasn't paying attention, stuffed another bun into Pei Yan's arms and said quickly:
"Son, eat more!"
This scene happened to be seen by Bing Ge'er who was standing by. He rushed over quickly, hugged Xiao Wen's thigh and shouted:
"Grandma, give me one more! I'm hungry!"
Little Wen was so frightened that she quickly dragged him to the ground and cursed in a low voice:
"You little bastard! Get out of here! There's no place for you!"
"Then why can Third Brother take one more!"
Bing'er's dark hand pointed directly at Pei Yan, frightening Xiao Wenshi to death. She rushed forward and quickly pressed down his hand, threatening:
"That's not true! You saw it wrong!"
After thinking about it, I realized that this Bingge'er was a foodie and that he couldn't be appeased with just a few words, so I said, "Tonight, grandma will give you an extra one!"
"No, I want it now! And tonight!"
Bing Ge'er was making a fuss here, and the supervisor in the shed heard the noise and came over.
Hearing this, he couldn't help but whipped everyone on the head without saying anything, beating them while cursing:
"You haven't done much work, and all you think about is eating! What's the matter? This quarry is owned by your family, so you can give it to whoever you want?"
Xiao Wen was whipped several times and curled up on the ground wailing in pain.
"Sir, I was wrong! I was wrong. I wasn't sincere, I was just old and my eyes were blurry!"
"You made a mistake! Since your eyes are blurry, don't cook anymore. Start washing clothes today."
"Oh! No! Sir, please let me go. I am not blinded by old age, but I have been possessed by a devil. Sir, beat me, beat me until you are satisfied, but don't let me wash clothes."
Although cooking is hard work, it is a better job than washing clothes.
In this icy and snowy weather, standing by the stove not only keeps you warm, but also allows you to steal some food when no one is paying attention. You can also take care of your son at a critical moment!
Washing clothes is much harder.
The women in the second house were all washing clothes. Their hands were soaked in ice water all day long, and they were frozen red like carrots. They also got frostbite due to the sudden change of temperature. She watched as Gu from the second house was wrapped in the quilt, her hands were cracked and oozing pus, and she was itchy and in great pain!
"Ha! That's quite clever!"
The supervisor laughed and said to the officers and soldiers beside him,
"I heard that this woman was once the head lady of the Marquis's Mansion! I've never beaten such a noble person before!"
His words caused laughter in the room.
The supervisor was full and full of energy. He laughed heartily, raised his whip and started to whip Xiao Wen hard.
"Madam Hou, right? You're living a life of luxury, right? You've been here for so long, but you still don't understand the rules here, right? Here, I'm the boss! My words are the imperial decree! They're the law! How dare you contradict me? I'll beat you to death!"
Seeing that he was about to get angry, Bing Ge'er hid far away with his broken bowl and steamed bun. Ruyi walked away to the side with an expressionless face, making room for him.
Little Wen held her head and rolled on the ground.
"enough!"
Pei Yan couldn't bear it any longer, so he stood up and grabbed the supervisor's hand to prevent his whip from falling on Xiao Wen.
The supervisor was stunned, as if he had never thought that someone in this quarry would dare to challenge his authority. He was so angry that he laughed out loud.
"Uh huh! The Marquis's son can't stand it anymore and wants to teach me a lesson? Beat me! If I don't beat him for three days, he'll be like a rebel!"
As soon as the supervisor finished speaking, the group of officers and soldiers who had eaten and drunk their fill dropped the wine and meat in their hands and rushed over to beat Pei Yan up, not even sparing Xiao Wen.
The fight continued until the two men were covered in blood and on the verge of death. A soldier nearby came up and said:
"Boss, take a break. If we keep fighting, people will die. It's so cold, and we have to tire our brothers out to carry the bodies across mountains and rivers. Besides, he has an older brother who is a duke at home. If he ever thinks of them, we won't be able to explain it to him."
The foreman stopped when he heard this, wiped his hands and said:
"Throw it into the woodshed."
After saying that, he shouted and called his brothers back to the tent to drink.
……
The woodshed was cold and drafty on all sides.
At night, the north wind howled, blowing snowflakes in.
Xiao Wen hugged Pei Yan, and the two of them huddled in a corner to keep each other warm.
"Son, when will days like this end?"
The howling north wind was mixed with little Wen's crying.
Pei Yan's face was bruised and swollen, and he stared blankly at the leaky wooden window, listening to Xiao Wenshi's nagging in his ear.
"Are we really going to die and rot here, never being able to return to Shengjing in this lifetime?"
"Son, why don't you just give in to your elder brother and admit your mistakes? He's a favorite of the new emperor, the Duke of Dingguo. As long as he says so, we can go back..."
"Hmph!" Pei Yan snorted coldly before Xiao Wen finished her words. "You want me to give in and admit my mistakes? No way! Mother, if he had any conscience, he wouldn't have left us alone for so long, leaving us to fend for ourselves in this bitter cold place."
"Don't you see? Dad is so sick, and no one cares about him. We have been completely forgotten."
Speaking of this, Xiao Wen also sighed.
She just said that, after all, her body was in so much pain and the woodshed was so cold.
She said angrily:
"Pei Heng is a damned bastard. When I first married into the Marquis' Mansion, I should have been ruthless enough to kill him! Then there wouldn't be all this trouble later. Now, he has left his own father alone. He is so unfilial that he will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death one day!"
Pei Yan also hated Pei Heng in his heart.
All the suffering he had endured in the past year and a half was because of Pei Heng and that bitch Su Li! Today's beating had only added to his hatred for Pei Heng.
In that thatched house.
No one cared about Pei Shizong's dinner, and he was starving.
The bowl of thin rice soup at noon was gone in a pee. Seeing that the second brother and his family had returned one after another, Ruyi had fallen asleep soundly on the wooden bed in the next room, but Xiao Wen and Pei Yan were still nowhere to be seen.
He propped himself up and walked to Ruyi's door, coughing loudly a few times.
There was a sound of turning over inside, and after a while Ruyi came out with tired steps, saying impatiently:
"what happened again?"
Pei Shizong coughed a few times and said:
"Is there anything to eat? I haven't had dinner yet."
Ruyi glanced at him coldly, walked outside, picked up a wooden spoon, knocked off the ice on the water tank, and scooped a spoonful of ice water in.
"This is the only one, eat it if you want!"
"I'm a patient!"
Pei Shizong yelled.
Ruyi snorted coldly and rolled her eyes.
"What a great thing about being sick! You have hands and feet, why don't you go to work? How will you get food if you don't work? Do you still think you are a marquis and wait for me to serve you? Tsk!"
After saying that, he turned and went into the house.
Pei Shizong was choked and choked back his words. After a pause, he shouted to the room:
"Where are they?"
"died!"
Ruyi answered unhappily.
Pei Shizong was stunned, stamped his feet and walked out of the house, heading towards the thatched cottage of the second brother's family.
He didn't care whether Xiao Wenshi lived or died.
But Pei Yan was his son. Even though he was not very capable, he was still his son after all, and he still couldn't bear to let him go.
"Brother, why are you here?"
Second Aunt and Gu were temporarily transferred to the kitchen to help out tonight, and stole a few steamed buns. They were now sharing them in the house.
Hearing that Pei Shizong was coming, Gu and Second Aunt quickly hid the steamed buns and took Bing'er and Tuan'er in.