Thanks for the invitation: In ancient times, people shared children

Chapter 206

It’s not an easy job to bring bones home. You meet all kinds of people.

Those who are obsessed with the relics, think they are scammers, think they are unlucky, don't want to accept the offer or even curse at them are all considered good.

What children find most unbearable are those who cry bitterly, are heartbroken, and deceive themselves.

Some people have been dead for more than ten years, and when their remains are returned home, their families just want to keep them out, treating them as the bones of unfamiliar wild animals, and they think it is useless and troublesome to even look at them.

Some people have been dead for more than ten years, and when their remains are returned home, their families are still heartbroken as if their flesh was being cut out. They hold the bag of bones and call out "Dad, Brother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter."

This is what happened to Shen Xue's parents. Their lips were trembling as they cried while holding the bone, and they also asked where the child's missing larynx had gone.

They opened a pharmacy and seemed to be knowledgeable about medicine. They knew what was missing after just a few glances.

The child didn't think much of it and told them the truth when they asked: "It must have been bitten to pieces by a monster and can't be found."

Then Shen Xue cried out in pain, "Dad, oh my god!" and fainted. Her mother hugged her bones and cried for her white baby.

That was Shen Xue's nickname.

Shen Xue said self-deprecatingly, Baiwa Baiwa, she was a baby raised by her parents in vain.

Anyway, the scene was extremely chaotic.

When the child came out of Shen's pharmacy, his tears were all over his body and they were not yet dry. Then he heard Daming's younger brother crying for his older brother.

This is an acquaintance.

Daming's younger brother was Xu Cong, the son-in-law of Mr. Zhang, whom the child met when he and Lian Li went to Fayuan Temple that day.

Daming's surname was Xu, his given name was Li, and his courtesy name was Tongming.

The rough guys in the barracks were annoyed by the flowery language and just called him Daming.

His great-grandfather was a Jinshi, his grandfather was a Juren, and his father was a prodigal son. He was addicted to cockfighting and horse racing and calligraphy and painting. He was either gambling or copying the calligraphy of Linshui Jushi and the paintings of Donggu Sanren endlessly. He didn't care about the family business or studying at all. He made his great-grandfather so angry that he died, and only then did he repent.

But if he had the determination and perseverance, why would he make people so angry that they died? He hadn't read more than two pages of the book, and when he heard from his friends that there was a painting by Donggu Sanren, he went there in a hurry. He owed several thousand taels of debt for a painting. Although his family has Jinshi and Juren, it sounds good, but they are not very rich.

My great-grandfather was an official for more than ten years, but he was just a county magistrate, and a poor one at that. He had no one in the court, and his ancestors worked in the fields for a living, with only a meager income. The whole family tightened their belts to support him, and all the relatives and friends depended on him for food. He was an honest official, and did not leave much money behind. He could squander the family fortune with just a few thousand taels.

His father, a successful candidate in the imperial examination, was almost pissed off to death by him.

What's even more infuriating is that in order to keep the painting, he actually abandoned his family and property and ran away. He only came back in a daze after his father paid him back the money. He drunkenly told everyone that it was a fake painting, which had a form but no soul and had tarnished the reputation of Donggu Sanren as a painting immortal.

It's not that he ran away, he just found out there were many paintings like this, so he hid away and drank sadly.

After this incident, his reputation as a prodigal son was confirmed. His family felt ashamed and, as they had no money, could not live in the city, so they simply moved back to their old house in the countryside. No matter how much the prodigal son in the remote countryside wanted to squander his money, he had nowhere to go.

But even so, the family's financial situation had fallen into decline. When Xu Li was a child, he lived in the old house. His grandfather taught him to read, and there were servants in the house.

When Xu Cong was born, his grandfather had died of illness due to overwork. The old house had been sold, and there were only a few books left. Even the servants had been dismissed. They were no different from farmers.

Xu Li originally wanted to change his fate by taking the imperial examination, but he encountered the conscription. It was said that one man would be drafted from every three men, but there were not enough people, so he was counted as the one who was a man.

There are exactly three of them: his father, him, and his younger brother.

One of them must go no matter what. That prodigal son was lazy and didn't know the difference between grains when he was young. He has been exhausted by farm work over the years and is now even more useless. He will die on the battlefield.

So Xu Li left and never came back.

His younger brother was only a few years old when he left. Now he is in his twenties, has a family, a career, and is still studying. He has a promising future. Seeing this, Daming was in tears.

"But brother, how did you become a live-in son-in-law? Where's Dad? Where's Mom? Are they dead too?"

Xu Lixiang helped his sad brother who had fallen to the ground, but his hand just passed through his body, and naturally he could not touch him because they were separated by Yin and Yang.

Xu Cong couldn't hear his question either. He was wiping his tears and saying, "I'm so sorry. I haven't seen my brother for a long time. I can't believe he's passed away. Now that I see his remains, I just…"

He sobbed loudly, "The grief is unbearable. All my loved ones have left me. If my father-in-law, mother-in-law, Jinniang, and Xiaomei were not there by my side, I really wish I could just go with them and not have to endure this heart-wrenching pain."

"Ahem...husband, please don't say such things. It's unlucky." Jinniang, Zhang Yuanwai's eldest daughter and Xu Cong's wife, hurriedly covered his mouth, coughed twice, and helped him up with difficulty.

She didn't look very sad, but more like she felt sorry for her husband, so she frowned sadly.

Xiaomei also wiped her tears and advised, "Brother-in-law, please don't be sad. We are still here. The most urgent thing now is to bury big brother properly. I don't know if the family funeral will delay this year's provincial examination."

"Xiaomei," Jinniang said angrily, "It's already this late, why are you bringing this up? Besides, this is your brother, not your parents, so there's no need to observe mourning."

Xiaomei muttered, "I'm only thinking about my brother-in-law. He didn't pass the exam last year, so he moved here just to get a few more spots. If he doesn't pass again, he'll be even more upset."

"You..." Jinniang seemed a little angry that her sister said these inappropriate things at this inappropriate time. She was about to scold her but she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and started coughing.

Old Madam Zhang hurried forward with concern and patted her daughter on the back.

Mr. Zhang also scolded her, "Okay, Xiaomei, why are you saying all this? If you can't pass the exam, just donate one. Zhiming is already upset. Aren't you afraid that saying this will make him even more upset?"

Xu Cong's courtesy name is Zhiming, which sounds like a monk.

"Oh, brother-in-law, I didn't mean it." Xiaomei shrank her neck and then reacted.

Xu Cong forced a smile and said, "It's okay, it's okay. I know Xiaomei means well. I'm not very knowledgeable, so how can I blame Xiaomei for worrying?"

"Oh, brother-in-law, that's not what I meant. Although you're not good at studying, you've worked very hard. I think you'll definitely pass this time."

Doesn't that mean you are still a little talented and well-educated?

Zhang Xiaomei made things worse the more she described them, and Mr. Zhang got so angry that he told her to shut up.

Aunt Yu was inevitably a little embarrassed after watching such a good show in vain, but the children were enjoying it very much and thought that the Zhang family's reaction was somewhat novel.

But there were still bones in the basket that had not been delivered, so they did not stay for tea, nor did they accept the thank-you gift from Mr. Zhang.

The child wanted to find out what Daming wanted to know, but Xu Cong had just said that all his relatives had left him, so he must have had his parents dead.

As for how he became a son-in-law?

That was someone else's private matter, and it was not appropriate for the child to ask. She also did not want to tell others that there was a ghost around her. Daming did not ask her to help ask, so she did not say anything.

After leaving Zhang's house, the child talked about this matter with Aunt Yu.

Aunt Yu thought this was easy to explain: "This child's parents are both dead, and he is weak and frail. He looks like a scholar. Farming would be difficult for him, so he naturally had to find another way out. Mr. Zhang only has two daughters, so when they wanted to find a son-in-law, they happened to find him."