The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 247 - 236 Zhou Yin

Chapter 247: Chapter 236 Zhou Yin

Upon seeing Ms. Liu, Old Master Bai quickly asked about the matter.

Ms. Liu had someone serve him tea and ordered the kitchen to prepare some sweet soup to temporarily satisfy Old Master Bai’s hunger, then she said, "You might not believe this, but I think they came for my Bai Family."

Old Master Bai couldn’t understand and asked, "Why?"

Without answering, Ms. Liu instead asked, "Lizhi, they seemed to be looking for someone in the village, probably a young man from Zhou Jin’s family. Both parties had strong reactions. Do you know if he has a brother named Zhou Yin?"

Old Master Bai was startled, "They came for Zhou Yin?"

Ms. Liu couldn’t help but sit up straight and asked, "You know him?"

Old Master Bai coughed uncomfortably, turned his head away, and asked, "Why has aunt suddenly taken an interest in these matters?"

Ms. Liu said, "You tell me first, then I will tell you."

Sensing Ms. Liu’s wariness, Old Master Bai was not saddened but even more shocked. The matter had to be significant for aunt to even distrust him.

Old Master Bai pondered for a while before saying, "Zhou Jin does have a brother. When I moved here with my family, he was not in the village, but I would often hear the villagers talk about him."

But for the past six years, everyone consciously avoided mentioning Zhou Yin, as if it were a taboo, which in fact it was.

Old Master Bai organized his thoughts and said, "In the eleventh year of the Dade era, there was a severe drought in this area. At that time, the Zhou family’s financial situation was not good. Because the previous generations had few descendants, yet they had many children in their current generation, the family was in difficulty. The disaster hit them the hardest."

It was only after the founding of this dynasty that people began to divide land according to the population, and so far, it had only been three generations.

Therefore, Zhou Jin’s father left only one portion of Yongye Fields for the two brothers.

But Zhou Jin was too fruitful, having six sons and one daughter. At that time, Zhou Dalang had just gotten married, but hadn’t had children yet, so there was an additional mouth to feed in the family.

The drought directly forced their family into a desperate situation.

Old Master Bai said, "I heard that Zhou Yin was raised by Zhou Jin’s wife, Ms. Qian. He was very filial, and clever too. He was only fourteen at the time, and while no one was paying attention, he sold himself to a merchant caravan in exchange for a bag of grain for the Zhou Family."

Ms. Liu listened in silence.

"Not only that, but he was also very righteous. Remembering his fellow villagers, not to mention the things he did for the village before, shortly after leaving with the villagers, he returned with the caravan. He managed to get the caravan to offer short-term work for the young and strong in the village, introduced several families to do hard labor in the county town, and with that little bit of grain, many people survived."

"But after that, he left with the caravan and never returned," the village head, seeking Old Master Bai’s help to cover up, had poured out Zhou Yin’s story like pouring beans, and Old Master Bai had a deep impression of him. Coupled with the fact that this matter had always weighed on his mind, he had never forgotten it, "Later, the Zhou Family looked for him, including the caravan that passed by here again. They said that he caught a cold shortly after leaving and contracted the epidemic. The caravan people left him some money and then left, and there was no news after that."

Ms. Liu said, "Surviving the epidemic is also fortunate."

"Yes, Zhou Yin was indeed alive at the time. Nephew saw him for the first time six years ago in early summer. At the time, he was returning to his hometown with his wife and child, dressed in fine clothes. I spoke to him for a while and felt he was a bright and forthright person."

As a result, at that time, he had invited the other party to come home for a drink. Old Master Bai thought that if Zhou Yin could have lived, they might have become good friends.

Ms. Liu, upon hearing the words "early summer," couldn’t help but grip the armrest of the chair and asked, "What happened next?"

Old Master Bai lowered his eyes and said softly, "The second time I saw him, they were dead."

Old Master Bai paused before saying, "Zhou Jin said, his brother wanted to return to the village to live. He entrusted someone to send his belongings to the county town. That day, he and his wife went to the county town to retrieve their things, but they didn’t return that day. It was the villagers who went up the mountain to pick mushrooms who found them lying on the mountain, covered in blood, their faces slashed. But the villagers knew them well and recognized them immediately, so they carried them back."

"At that time, they had nothing on them, even the donkey cart they had brought back was missing, so the Zhou family was convinced they had encountered bandits. Just as they were about to report to the county, who would have thought that the soldiers would arrive to inquire first."

Old Master Bai said, "I was the first to receive them, and at that time, they were not careful in their investigation. I first saw the portraits of Zhou Yin and his wife, and I asked an extra question. They said they were arresting thieves, but how could Zhou Yin be a thief?"

However, Ms. Liu asked, "Did their family have a donkey cart?"

Old Master Bai was stunned, nodding his head in confusion, "Yes, Zhou Yin brought it back with him. He was coming home with his wife and child, so naturally, he couldn’t walk all the way back, so he bought a donkey cart. What about it?"

Ms. Liu slowly shook her head, "What then?"

Old Master Bai felt somewhat embarrassed. He had only moved to Qili Village not long before, for just over a year. Although the villagers were very enthusiastic, his status made him feel somewhat out of place.

For the sake of Zhou Yin, and to foster good relations, he had detained the official envoys, allowing someone to notify Zhou Jin’s family first.

And when the official envoys went to inquire again, almost everyone unanimously claimed not to recognize the two people in the portraits.

Old Master Bai said, "The village is almost all surnamed Zhou. Even if they do not descend from the same ancestor, they are all related in some way, and all the villagers have benefited from Zhou Yin’s kindness. And these official envoys were not even local to Luojiang County, so it was easy to deceive them."

"But even so, Zhou Jin’s family didn’t dare to erect a tombstone for Zhou Yin and his wife. They just buried them quietly on the mountain."

Ms. Liu seemed to be in pain, leaning on the table with her elbow and asked, "What about their children? Didn’t you say it was his wife and child?"

Old Master Bai hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "That person, aunt has also met."

A flash of light passed through Ms. Liu’s mind, she asked, "Is it Zhou Man?"

"Yes, it’s that child, but she doesn’t know."

Ms. Liu nodded, and tears that could no longer be held back started to fall.

Old Master Bai was startled and quickly stepped forward, handing her a handkerchief, "Aunt, what’s this..."

Ms. Liu wiped her tears and said softly, "This may be fate."

Old Master Bai: ...

"Qi’er did not die at the hands of mountain bandits."

Old Master Bai was taken aback and quickly asked, "How could that be?"

"How could it not be?" Ms. Liu said somewhat agitated, "Qi’er was going to exterminate bandits, but he should not have come to Luojiang County. Shu County is not close to Luojiang."

"Wasn’t Ziqi killed while fighting bandits in Shu County?"

"No," Ms. Liu said with certainty, "They transported Qi’er’s body to Shu County as a ruse."