The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 197 Returning Home

At dawn the next day, Chen Cui appeared at the entrance of Chenjiagou Village.

In fact, if the city gates had not been closed last night, she would probably have come over overnight.

When she arrived at Chen Dahai's house and saw the two elders of the Chen family were safe and sound, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Dad, Mom..." Chen Cui burst into tears and was unable to speak while hugging Zhang.

God knows how the regret and shame in her heart tortured her when she was in Shu. Now that she sees her relatives are safe, she can finally put down the burden in her heart.

Zhang was also in tears: "My dear Cui, do you know how I have been living these past few months? Your brother and your younger brother are all by my side, they are all fine, except you. You are so far away, I don't know whether it is good or bad. Now I finally see you!"

Ever since the news of the war at the border reached us, the gates of the county town have been closed, and the villagers no longer go out. They all guard their own doors. The village chief organized young and strong men to guard the entrance of the village as a warning.

Even if the old couple missed their daughter and grandson, they could not let them take such a big risk to go to the capital city to find out the situation. They are all flesh and blood, and if any mishap happened to them, they would be heartbroken!

Now that they saw their daughter was safe, they finally felt relieved.

"Mom, is everyone at home okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay. We have enough food and drink at home, but we can only stay at home these days and can't go out. We don't know any news, so we are a little scared. There is nothing else."

Even though the years have been bad and the harvests have been poor, it has not affected the Chen family's life. They have long stopped taking farming as their main business, and can use the money from selling charcoal to buy more food and store it.

"I heard that the invading Xirong people have been defeated and all killed, right?"

Chen Shangen asked with concern.

Transportation in the valley is inconvenient and relatively safe, but information is also more isolated. They only heard about the court's victory today.

"Yes, it's all right now. The war is over and everyone is safe."

"Did you have a safe journey back home? Did you encounter any problems?"

"It's okay. I came back with the caravan. There are so many people and cars, as well as guards. I'm safe!"

Because of the war, blockades were imposed everywhere, merchants had not opened their businesses for a long time, and the circulation of materials was not smooth. When the news of victory came, they all started to move, and various materials were frequently mobilized in an effort to make up for the losses of the past few months as soon as possible.

"Amitabha, that's good!" Zhang wiped her tears.

"Sister, sister, you're back!" Chen Dahe shouted all the way into the yard.

Seeing Chen Cui, the burly man's eyes turned red: "I just heard the news that the war has ended this morning, and planned to go to the capital to see you tomorrow. I didn't expect you to come back so soon. Sister, are you and your nephews okay?"

"We are all fine!" Chen Cui wiped the corners of her eyes and said with a smile.

Then, Chen Dahe's family also came. Including the younger generations from each family, there was no room left in the main hall and the yard was full of people.

"Everything is fine now. Let the two children go back to school as soon as possible!" Chen Cui instructed Chen Dahe.

He acted decisively at the beginning. As soon as he got the news, he took his family back to the village from the county town. Compared with the not-so-tall city wall, he was more willing to trust the obstacles brought by the rugged mountain road.

"By the way, why haven't Changping and Changfu come back?" Chen Shangen asked.

"Changping passed the provincial examination and will go to Beijing to take part in the metropolitan examination next year. He is preparing at home, and I didn't let him come back!"

"What, my eldest nephew has become a juren!" Chen Dahe exclaimed.

Others did not react for a moment to what it meant to have passed the provincial examination. It was only because his two sons were both studying that they knew what the provincial examination was and what it meant to have passed it!

Everyone was so happy when they heard this, and began to discuss the status of the Juren master, how powerful he was, and what kind of official position he could hold!

Chen Cui smiled bitterly in her heart. She knew it would be like this. It was right not to let Changping come back. He needed to rest now and prepare calmly instead of entertaining friends and relatives.

Seeing that everyone in the Chen family was healthy and well, Chen Cui was completely relieved. After having a meal together, she returned to Liujiaping.

It has been less than a year since she last came back, but she feels like everything has changed.

Liu Youcai had visibly lost a lot of weight, and his wrinkles were more prominent, making him look much older than before.

He only received the news today that the war had been settled, and he was very pleased to see Chen Cui come back so quickly.

"Okay, okay, I'm glad you have this intention. There's nothing wrong in the village. Thanks to your generosity and support for the clan members in the past few years, although life has become a little difficult, fortunately no one has starved to death. It's much better than the famine years in the past."

Liu Youcai sighed that it was all thanks to the Chen family, who were constantly moving forward and becoming more and more successful, and had brought many benefits to the village both overtly and covertly.

What he is most grateful for now is the support he provided to the Chen family before they became successful. This was the best decision he had ever made.

"However, if there is something, there really is such a thing..." Liu Youcai seemed to find it difficult to speak.

Chen Cui was surprised what could have made the old man so conflicted.

Liu Youcai sighed and then slowly spoke.

It turned out to be Liu Wende’s family’s trouble.

Like other villages, Liujiaping closed its doors and windows as soon as it received the news of the war. People stopped going out at will and arranged for the men in the village to take turns patrolling the village entrance to ensure everyone's safety.

The patrol task is for each family to send one male, with one group during the day and one shift at night, and everyone takes turns.

For families with many brothers, they usually take turns going, as it is impossible to let only one person go on the mission all the time. However, among Liu Wende's three sons, it is always Changxing who goes. The eldest son Changsheng and the youngest son Changrong are obviously at home, but they seem to be invisible and never show up.

But everyone is used to it. Changsheng used to be a precious kid, otherwise how could he have studied for so many years? And Changrong is a lazy guy who does not do his job properly. He is idle all day long. He is not young anymore and still doesn't even have a wife.

It would be strange if these two people could go on patrol honestly.

One day when Changxing was on patrol, his wife, Qiao, who was about to give birth, suddenly fell down and had difficulty in giving birth. It was his younger sister Yuerong who ran to him to tell him the news.

Changxing immediately ran home like a madman. When he ran into the house, he saw a pool of blood at the door and heard his wife's screams in the room. The memory that had almost been buried for many years suddenly flashed before his eyes again.