The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 459 - 448

Chapter 459: 448

Ms.Qian looked at Junior Ms.Qian, who immediately pulled Datou and Daya aside, whispering, "You two go together and find the village head. Ask him to get someone to call your grandpa and dad down from the mountain. You mustn’t run off to the mountains by yourselves, understand?"

Both children nodded in agreement.

Junior Ms.Qian whispered again, "Bring the village head here, quickly go."

Hand in hand, the two children ran off.

Junior Ms.Qian went into the kitchen, prepared a bowl of silken tofu, and with a pained heart, sprinkled in a handful of sugar, stirring it well before taking it to the yamen runner.

The yamen runner had never eaten anything like this before. After taking a bite, he was so surprised he could hardly believe it, "What is this? It looks like tofu, but it’s different."

Smiling, Ms.Qian replied, "This is soft tofu, we call it tofu pudding. It’s very cooling with sugar, and I hope the officer won’t disdain it after having come all this way."

The complexion of the yamen runner improved, and he relaxed a great deal. Seeing Ms.Qian’s anxious expression, he said, "Actually, it’s nothing too serious..."

He paused mid-sentence and scratched his head before adding, "Well, maybe it is serious."

Ms.Qian’s heart rose and fell with his words. Clutching the corner of her robe nervously, she asked, "May I inquire, good sir, whether this is good news or bad news?"

"It’s bad news."

Ms.Qian’s heart sank to the bottom in an instant. She forced a smile and asked, "Did my family accidentally commit some misdeed?"

The yamen runner looked at her suspiciously, "Has someone in your family committed a crime?"

"No, no, no," Ms.Qian quickly waved her hands, her face full of worry as she said, "Isn’t it because our family credit-bought a cow from the County Governmental Office at the beginning of spring? Could it be because of this cow..."

Standing behind Ms.Qian, Manbao thought to herself: The cow on credit wouldn’t be a problem, as father had asked about it just the other day when he went into town. It was just that the County Governmental Office was closed for the Dragon Boat Festival, but the yamen runner at the gate had said that as long as we pay back the money within three years, it would be fine.

Because they said that once the first of the month passed, a month’s interest would be charged, Old Zhou had decided, rather stingily, to wait until the twenty-ninth before going to the office to repay the money.

So, what could be wrong with the cow on credit?

Sure enough, as soon as the yamen runner heard it was about the cow on credit, he waved his hand and said, "That’s County Magistrate’s business; what could be wrong with it? Don’t let your imagination run wild. Am I not just here to deliver a message?"

Seeing her mother so tense, Manbao couldn’t help but ask, "Is it classified?"

Only then did the yamen runner notice Manbao standing behind Ms.Qian. She seemed vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t recall where he had seen her before.

So, he shook his head.

Manbao then said, "If it isn’t classified, just tell my mother. It’s the same whether my mother knows or my father knows, as they both make decisions together."

"That won’t do. The order specifically mentioned Zhou Jin, so I must find Zhou Jin."

Manbao couldn’t help but tease him, "What if my dad stays up in the mountains for ten days or half a month and we can’t find him? Are you going to stay at our house?"

The yamen runner was taken aback and said in annoyance, "How could anyone stay in the mountains for ten days or half a month?"

"How could they not? Hunters do," said Manbao, her gaze involuntarily falling on the parcel behind him, and she asked in surprise, "You’re carrying a bundle; surely you aren’t really going to stay at our house, are you?"

The yamen runner: "...This isn’t mine!"

"Then is it for my family?" Manbao’s eyes lit up, "I get it, did someone send something to my father, and that’s why the postal station is delivering it? But no, the postal station only delivers items to officials. Could it be that the person who sent something to my father is an official?"

The yamen runner was truly intimidated by her now, quickly saying, "Enough, enough, don’t guess anymore."

Wasn’t he just here for a bit of a gratuity?

Why was it so hard?

After glaring at Manbao, he said, "Someone did send something for your father..."

As he spoke, Ms.Qian sitting in the room and Junior Ms.Qian and the others standing outside all let out a sigh of relief. They couldn’t help but silently complain about the yamen runner, of all things, why would he hide something as simple as delivering a package?

The yamen runner took another bite of tofu pudding before continuing, "Is there someone named Zhou Yin in your family?"

The hearts of Ms.Qian, Junior Ms.Qian, and the others tightened again. Ms.Qian even felt a moment of dizziness. She clenched Manbao’s arm, but Manbao was already joyfully responding, "Yes, yes, that’s my younger uncle. He sold himself off a long time ago. Is it something he sent to my father? Has my uncle become an official?"

Impossible!

Despite Zhou Yin’s face being slashed with more than a dozen cuts, if it wasn’t him, could Ms.Qian possibly not recognize her own child that she had raised by hand?

But the yamen runner looked at Manbao with sympathy. Since it seemed unlikely he’d get the gratuity, he no longer held anything back. He took down the bundle very straightforwardly and opened it, saying, "This belongs to Zhou Yin, sent from Liangzhou. Three years ago, there was bandit trouble in Liangzhou, and Zhou Yin and his family were killed by bandits while out. Last winter, during the bandit suppression in Liangzhou, this was found in the bandits’ lair. It contains Zhou Yin’s travel token and some other items."

Upon seeing Ms.Qian’s stunned face and Manbao’s gaping mouth, the yamen runner pursed his lips and said, "The Liangzhou office felt it necessary to notify his family after a person dies. They followed the leads on the travel token and finally discovered that Zhou Yin was from Luojiang County. How about that, he’s from your family, right?"

Manbao hastily picked up the travel token to look at it, read it to her mother, and asked, "Mother, is this my uncle?"

Not him!

The two words almost slipped off her tongue, but then Ms.Qian thought about the two men who had come to the village last year and the nameless, solitary grave on the mountain.

Ms.Qian’s tears fell like pearls from a broken string, and she turned to clutch the items from the bundle. Inside were two ragged sets of clothing and a pair of tiger-headed shoes.

She had no idea who had stuffed the clothes inside, so Ms.Qian grabbed the tiger-headed shoes, choking back sobs as she nodded, "Your uncle, your uncle, the appearance described in this travel token matches your uncle exactly..."

Ms.Qian then hugged Manbao tightly and cried out, "My dear child, I raised you for so many years, and you’ve been gone for so many years without coming back to see us. I thought you had just forgotten the way home, but it turned out like this..."

Junior Ms.Qian and Zhou Xi outside immediately cried as well. The sisters-in-law wiped their tears and went inside to support Ms.Qian, and Ms.Feng and the others began to cry too...

When the adults cried, the children couldn’t help but join in, and for a while, old Zhou’s house was filled with deafening sobs. The village head, who rushed over urgently, stopped at the doorway upon hearing the crying, and with a startle, he hurried inside and asked loudly, "What happened, what happened?"

Manbao also cried, her tears flowing freely. Although she had never met this uncle, he was still her kin. And with her mother crying so heartbreakingly, Manbao couldn’t help but join in the tears.

But she was still composed enough to speak, "Village head brother, my uncle has died."

The village head looked completely bewildered, "Who is your uncle?"

Ms.Qian had by now composed herself and cried out, "It’s Zhou Yin!"

The village head’s pupils constricted as Ms.Qian broke into sobs again, "The yamen runner said, my Zhou Yin was killed by bandits three years ago. No wonder he never came home, nor sent any letters. It turns out he has long been dead. How will I ever face my in-laws now..."