Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Chapter 156 A rope always breaks at its thinnest point; misfortune only finds those with unfortunate

Hearing that it was their family, Liu's heart tightened. To be honest, this couple's lives had been incredibly hard. Zhang the Cripple was adopted by his parents; he was a perfectly healthy boy when they brought him home. But when he was a few years old, he fell ill, and after recovering, he became a cripple. At first, his adoptive parents treated him quite well, since they couldn't have children of their own, and even though their adopted son was crippled, at least they had a son.

Two years later, his adoptive mother became pregnant and gave birth to a son. From then on, Zhang the Cripple's life became difficult. Because of his disability, he couldn't do heavy work, and his adoptive mother disliked him more and more. She often didn't give him food or water. When neighbors couldn't bear to see him suffer and offered him some food, his adoptive mother would block them at the door and berate them. After a while, no one dared to give Zhang the Cripple food anymore. His adoptive father was initially kind to him, but later, instigated by his adoptive mother, he also grew tired of him. So, Zhang the Cripple's ability to grow up was entirely an accident.

Because of his physical disability, it was difficult for him to get married. Eventually, his grandfather found an orphaned girl begging on the roadside and took her home to be his wife. There was no wedding banquet; they simply bowed to their parents and heaven and earth, and that was considered the marriage. Only after the wedding did he discover that his wife was mute. To his dismay, the day after the wedding, Zhang the Cripple's adoptive mother demanded a separation from the family.

Many villagers were present when the family property was divided. To put pressure on him, his adoptive parents gave him two mu of land, a pot, two bowls, two quilts, ten jin of wheat flour, and fifty jin of cornmeal for rations. That was it; the family was completely divided, without a single copper coin. They weren't even given a house; he was free to live wherever he wanted, since he was already separated from his family. Thus, this unfortunate couple was separated from their family by their parents shortly after their marriage.

In that situation, the village chief had no choice. He couldn't just leave the children, who were growing up, without a thatched hut to shelter them from the wind and rain. So, after discussing it with some of the older villagers, he gave a house in the village that had no descendants to Zhang the Cripple and his wife to live in.

That family had no sons, only two daughters. After the couple died, the house was abandoned, leaving only a few thatched huts that gradually fell into disrepair. But for Zhang the Cripple, at least he had a place to stay. A few men from the village helped tidy it up, and it became habitable.

Zhang the Cripple's mute wife was a capable woman. During that time, she went up the mountain every day to dig for wild vegetables, and managed to survive until the wheat ripened on the few dozen kilograms of grain she was allocated. Although life was tough, they managed to get by. Later, Zhang the Cripple figured out how to weave baskets, hampers, and other similar items from willow branches. On market days, he and his wife would go to town to sell them and earn some money.

The couple were both capable, and their lives gradually improved. They raised chickens and pigs. However, they only had one daughter, whom they named Xiaohua. Although she was a girl, the couple doted on her like a precious treasure. Xiaohua was small, but clever and sensible; from a young age, she knew how to care for her parents, and her appearance was a perfect blend of her parents' best features—she was very cute. Although their lives were simple, the family lived happily and harmoniously.

As the family's life became more and more enjoyable, Xiaohua grew up peacefully and smoothly to the age of six. One day after lunch, she told her parents and went out to play with her friends. She didn't come back by evening. Zhang the Cripple, leaning on his crutch, went to the homes of several of Xiaohua's friends to look for her, but everyone said they hadn't seen her that afternoon.

That day, most of the villagers went out to look for her, searching all night with torches, even venturing into the deep mountains, but they still couldn't find Xiaohua.

Some say Xiaohua was carried away and eaten by wild animals in the mountains; some say she might have fallen into the river and drowned; others say she was kidnapped by beggars. Whatever the reason, Xiaohua disappeared without a trace from that day on. If she were still alive, she would be about the same age as Changsheng now.

From then on, Zhang the Cripple and his wife lost their will to live. They lived like the living dead, merely passing the days. If it weren't for their persistent hope of finding their daughter again someday, they probably wouldn't have survived.

Hearing that their house had collapsed, Liu's heart ached so much she almost burst into tears. The Zhang couple, the crippled one and the other, had such a miserable life. They were only a few years older than Zhang Youtie, yet fate had worn them down to the appearance of fifty-somethings, their hair already gray. She turned to look at her daughter, sitting obediently beside her. If Xiaxia had suffered the same fate as Xiaohua, she feared she would want to die.

"Oh, what a miserable life! I don't know what sins he committed in his past life to have to be soaked in bitter soup in this one." The village chief's wife saw that Liu Shi had been silent for a long time and knew that she felt the same way as herself, and sighed at Zhang the Cripple's miserable life.

"Whose house collapsed on the other side?" Liu asked, perking up.

"Oh, it was Zhang Tianming's house. Their house was half-brick on the ground and the roof was thatched. With two days of heavy snow, who would have thought their house would collapse? Didn't they check and repair it in the fall?" The village chief's wife sighed as she spoke of Zhang Tianming's family. Zhang Tianming was a decent man, just incredibly stingy, and so was his wife. Both of them were like the legendary miser, only taking and never giving. It truly lived up to the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." They had a lot of money, but they wouldn't spend it to properly repair their house. Now look what happened—the house is gone, and the whole family, young and old, were injured. All their savings will have to go towards medical treatment.

Liu was rather speechless about this family. They were notorious for their stinginess throughout the village, and it was just a pity that their children had to suffer because of them. But the way that couple did things was truly beyond words.

After chatting with the village chief's wife for a while, they learned that the people who went to town might not be back for a while, so they took Xia Yu back.

When Xia Yu got home, she saw that her mother was still somewhat depressed, so she asked about the situation of the two collapsed houses in the village. She had been with her mother earlier and could clearly sense that her mother's mood had dropped after hearing that the accident happened at Zhang the Cripple's house.

"Mother, are you sad for Zhang the Cripple's family?" Xia Yu asked Liu Shi softly.

"Alas, the Zhang couple, the crippled man and his wife, have such a miserable life!" Liu sighed.

"Was it because your house collapsed?" Xia Yu asked again.

After thinking for a moment, Liu said, "Compared to the hardships their family has endured, perhaps the collapse of the house is just a minor matter!"

Hearing Liu's words, Xia Yu was shocked. The pagoda house was only a minor matter; what had their family gone through? Just as she was about to ask, Liu slowly began to tell the story of Zhang the Cripple's family.

"..."

After listening to Liu's account of Zhang the Cripple's family, Xia Yu's first thought was that there must be something wrong with the house they lived in. The family they stayed in last time was a family without descendants. Zhang the Cripple's life was already miserable enough; if he moved into a house with a family without descendants, his fate would only get worse. But she dared not say such things carelessly. Letting Zhang the Cripple live in that house was the result of discussions between the village chief and several elders. It was meant well, and if she said such things, wouldn't the village chief's good intentions be completely wasted?

But Zhang the Cripple and his wife have truly had a hard life. Now their house has collapsed, and we don't know how badly they are injured. We really don't know how they will live in the future.

"Mother, what's going on with Zhang Tianming's family? Are they having a hard time too?" Xia Yu asked again.

"That couple, well, you can't explain them. They're like the greedy pigs of autumn; once money goes into their pockets, they don't want to take a single penny out. They probably don't lack money."

"Then how come their houses collapsed? Aren't they rich?" Xia Yu asked, puzzled.

"They have money, but they're unwilling to use it to repair the house, so it's bound to collapse." Mentioning Zhang Tianming and his wife, Liu wanted to laugh, but considering they'd already gone through such a ordeal, she felt it would be unfair to laugh, so she pursed her lips and forced herself not to. However, her mood was much better than before.

"Madam, Miss, let's eat!" Aunt Ma's voice rang out from outside.

"Hey, Aunt Ma, I'll be right there." Xia Yu called out to Aunt Ma outside, then reached out and pulled Liu Shi, "Mother, let's go eat, let's eat in the kitchen, it's warm there."

"..."

With the help of her daughter pulling her up, Liu got up and went to the kitchen with Xia Yu.

Aunt Ma had already served the rice: hand-pulled noodles with shredded eggplant. One of Xia Yu's favorite noodles.

The group ate two bowls of noodles each in the kitchen before feeling warm again. Aunt Ma gathered the remaining charcoal from the stove into a brazier and carried it to the main room, so that Liu wouldn't feel cold while she sat there doing needlework.

It wasn't until dusk that Zhang Youtie and Uncle Ma returned together. Hearing the noise, the three people inside quickly lifted the curtain and went out.

Aunt Ma stepped forward and took the mule cart led by Zhang Youtie, and went to the backyard with Uncle Ma.

Liu welcomed Zhang Youtie into the house and poured him a bowl of brown sugar ginger water, telling him to drink it first to get rid of the cold.

"Xiaxia, tell Uncle Ma to come and have a bowl too, so he doesn't catch a cold," said Liu's daughter.

"Okay, I'll go right now." After saying that, she ran to the backyard to find Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma.

Seeing her daughter leave, Liu quickly asked Zhang Youtie

"How is he? Is he out of danger?"

"His life is fine, but Zhang the Cripple's leg was hit again and the bone is broken." Zhang Youtie said, holding the bowl, before drinking the brown sugar ginger water in one gulp.

When Liu heard that Zhang's life was not in danger, she was relieved. She had sent her daughter away earlier because she was afraid that one of the people might die and that her daughter would hear about it. But when she heard that Zhang the Cripple's leg had been hit again, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, "This is too tragic."