As Qingyan's belly grew bigger day by day and his body became heavier, he often felt pain in his waist and back.
After sitting or standing for a long time, always take it easy.
So every time he returned home, Qiu Henian would always rub his waist and back for him from time to time.
Qingyan couldn't sleep well at night. She felt uncomfortable no matter how she lay down, and she had to toss and turn many times throughout the night.
In order to let him sleep more peacefully at night, Qiu Henian would accompany him to the river for a walk every evening after dinner, looking at the scenery and chatting, so that his mind could calm down, and he could sleep better at night when he was tired. fragrant.
He also asked Aunt Li what to do. Aunt Li thought about it for a while and said, "I will sew a long pillow for Qingyan and put it under her belly when she lies on her side. It will be better."
She worked quickly and said the sewing would be done the next day.
Qingyan tried sleeping at night and found that she felt much more comfortable.
If he changes his sleeping position in the middle of the night, the person next to him will quietly change the pillow to the side he turns over to try not to wake him up. It's just that it's unavoidable to relieve myself two or three times a night.
Qiu Henian felt sorry for him, so he specially built a wooden bed and sent it to Xiangyunfang, and placed it in a second-story hut so that he could lie down during the day.
...
When Xiaodouzi was six and a half months old, the salesman who had informed Qingyan came to see him again.
Yu Fengtang is dying. This time he really only has a few breaths left to hold on.
The salesman looked embarrassed and said: "I have a certain friendship with him, and I can't just watch him die with regrets. That's why I come to ask you to see him for the last time, so that he can close his eyes when he dies."
Qingyan didn't reply to him immediately, but looked at the other party's disappointed eyes and said, "I'll think about it again."
The salesman was still relying on Xiangyunfang to make money, so he didn't dare to persuade him any more, so he had to sigh deeply and leave.
After returning home in the evening, Qingyan told Qiu Henian about this matter.
Qiu Henian muttered: "If you don't want to go, then you won't go."
Qingyan lowered his head and frowned, saying nothing.
Qiu Henian raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows with his thumb, and said, "If you want to go, I will accompany you tomorrow."
Qingyan sighed and nodded.
Qingyan didn't pity Yu Fengtang, and he had no feelings for his younger brother and stepmother. He decided to go see the last scene where the original owner was crying for his father and mother at the last moment before his death.
Qingyan wanted to give the original owner a happy ending.
Furthermore, in this era, filial piety was emphasized. Even though the harsh treatment of his father and stepmother was known to outsiders, but he was about to die and he did not come forward, fearing that the couple would be gossiped about in the future.
Qingyan doesn't care what others say, but it's better to do less than to do more.
So, the next day, when the carriage arrived in the town, Qingyan did not enter Xiangyunfang. When others got off the carriage, Qiu Henian drove to Yu's house.
This is the first time Qingyan has visited the original owner's house.
The Yu family said they were scholars, but in fact they were just ordinary people. The house was not in a good location in the town, and the alley was too narrow for the carriage to enter, so it had to park on the side of the street outside the alley.
Qiu Henian gave a few coins to the owner of a nearby steamed bun shop and asked him to help look after the carriage, and then walked with Qingyan into the alley.
The door panels of Yu's house are tightly closed, and the red paint on them is peeling off in spots. The blessing characters and couplets posted during the New Year have faded, and some places are incomplete.
Qingyan glanced at Qiu Henian, raised his hand and knocked on the door.
After knocking for a while, the sound of kicking footsteps was heard. The door creaked open from the inside, and Yu Qingxi's depressed face appeared behind the door.
After seeing Qing Yan, he was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Qiu Henian next to him. His eyes were on the other person's intact face, and he stayed for a moment as if he couldn't believe it before looking back.
A sneer appeared on his face, he looked at his brother and said, "Now you know that you are back. My married brother, the water thrown out, you don't have a share in this family property!"
Qingyan really didn't want to say a word to this man, so he asked instead: "What other property do you have to share? Is this shabby house not worth a few dollars?"
If Qingyan said this before, he would not be very convincing, but now that he is the shopkeeper of Xiangyunfang, it is not a problem to buy a house like this for himself.
A look of anger appeared on Yu Qingxi's face. He gritted his teeth and looked at him for a while, snorted coldly, then turned around and let the door open.
Qiu Henian helped Qingyan cross the threshold and entered the dilapidated yard, which had obviously not been taken care of for a long time. People were still there, but the grass grew like an old house that had been neglected for a long time.
Not far away, Zhou Yanliang stood at the door of the house with a livid face. His originally mean look was now drooped at the corners of his mouth, and there were many wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, adding a bitter look.
She was decently dressed, but her head and hands were empty, and she didn't have a single piece of jewelry.
When the seasons changed in previous years, Zhou Yanliang always bought the most popular shirts and jewelry to dress herself more exquisitely than a young girl.
Nowadays, the most popular and beautiful things in the town are all hanging in Xiangyunfang, and the owner of Xiangyunfang is now in front of her.
Zhou Yanliang looked at Qiu Henian's handsome face without scars, and saw the gentle and delicate way Qiu Henian treated Qingyan, as well as the clothes on his stepson's head, and he felt jealous and hateful in his heart.
After Yu Qingxi opened the door, he walked to his mother in silence.
Zhou Yanliang glanced at his son, and his teeth were so filled with hatred that they almost broke into pieces.
Yu Qingxi's hair was uncombed, his clothes were dirty, he had two dark circles under his eyes, and his complexion was sallow, like a consumption ghost.
She told her son early in the morning that Yu Qingyan might come over today and ask him to change into clean clothes and tidy up so as not to embarrass her.
But ever since she got along with the rich man and wanted to leave home and remarry, her son no longer listened to her and would try to fight against her in everything she said.
Yu Qingxi didn't even think about it. She had a good life, couldn't she still take care of him secretly? They were mother and son, how could she treat her child harshly.
But when the matter went south, the rich man found someone else and dumped her. Yu Qingxi's heart was still filled with knots. Mother and son were about to become enemies.
The more Zhou Yanliang fears embarrassment, the more Yu Qingxi will embarrass her.
Zhou Yanliang hated the entire Yu family, including her own son.
Regardless of what she was thinking, Qingyan nodded expressionlessly at her and said, "Where is he?"
Zhou Yanliang's chest rose and fell, and he suppressed his jealousy. He looked at the door behind him and said coldly: "I'm waiting for you. Once you come, this old bastard will be willing to die."
Qingyan didn't care what she said, and said to Qiu Henian, "Let's go in," and then passed by the mother and son and entered the house.
In the room, the light was very dark and the smell was unpleasant.
The combination of the medicinal smell and the strong stench was almost nauseating.
Qiu Henian frowned and looked around. He found the only chair left in the house with four walls. He moved it to a distance from the bed for Qingyan to sit down.
On the bed in the room, a haggard old man was lying on it. His eyes were closed and his chest was only rising and falling weakly.
There was a sound on the door behind her, and Qiu Henian looked back. It was Zhou Yanliang who had come in. After much thought, she still felt uneasy about Yu Qingyan talking to the old man alone. She was afraid that the old man might have secretly left something good for his son. .
It's almost impossible to open the pot at home now, and all the furniture and belongings are almost sold out. Even if the old man only has one tael of silver in his hand, she has to get it into her own hands.
Qingyan sat for a while, cleared his throat and said, "Are you still awake? I'm here."
The person on the bed heard the noise, and his eyes moved under his eyelids, but he couldn't open his eyes for a while. He only raised his hand like a dead branch, and whined as if he was calling Qing Yan's name.
Qingyan said: "The salesman said you wanted to see me one last time. Do you have something to say to me?"
Yu Fengtang's gray and defeated face showed a look of pain, and muddy tears flowed down the ravines of his cheeks. He was finally able to make a voice, like a leaky bellows, saying: "Qingyan, my Son, daddy is sorry for you!"
Qingyan lowered his eyes, "You are about to die before I remember that you are sorry for Qingyan."
Yu Fengtang's eyes moved rapidly, as if his heavy eyelids had finally raised two slits to look at the person beside the bed. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something.
But after seeing the person sitting on the chair in front of him clearly, his eyes widened suddenly with a look of shock and horror. He raised his finger and pointed at Qingyan, his head left the pillow, and he opened his mouth wide and roared: "You... You are not my son, you are not Qingyan...!"
But before he finished speaking, his eyes widened, and before he could take a breath, his head banged back on the pillow. His body twitched a few times, and his head tilted and stopped moving.
Qiu Henian took a few steps forward, raised his hand to touch his neck, looked back at Qing Yan, and said in a deep voice: "He is dead."
Behind him, Zhou Yanliang burst into tears, occasionally mixed with crazy laughter.
Qingyan got up from the chair, walked to the bed and looked down for a while, then raised his hand to cover his unclosed eyelids.
He whispered: "Yu Qingyan, there is finally someone in this family who can recognize that I am not you."
Qingyan sighed, Qiu Henian put his arms around his shoulders, and the two of them left the room.