Chapter 36
Lady Zhu’s body swayed and she almost fell on the ground.
Lady Niu next to her spoke loudly. Her loud voice had already made the man far away notice them.
“I’ve told you that you’ve been deceived by that fraud in the Palace of Salvation. She fooled you on purpose.” Lady Niu immediately kept up, when she saw Lady Zhu continue going forward.
Everyone shook their head and accused the fraud in the Palace of Salvation for having no conscience at all.
Jiang Huailu had already pursed her lips and she could almost hang a soy sauce bottle on them.
The others followed them and found that the man seemed so down. His eyes were red, as if he had just had a cry.
“Mother, why are you here? Come and sit next to the stone table.” The man wiped his eyes and quickly came up to help the old lady sit.
“Sorry for letting you see me like that. It’s the day my dearest wife went missing. The matchmaker came senselessly and I’ve just sent her away.” The man seemed to be timid and was a bit gentle.
Lady Niu sat on the stone chair. “Brother, if my husband has a heart like yours, I’d be willing to die as well.” Everyone came up and comforted him one by one.
The small yard was full of people.
“Ah, your mother-in-law still hasn’t given up. She said the Palace of Salvation gave her a gift and she must come all the way to the east to look for her daughter.” Everyone saw that the young man was quite sensible. Once they came in, he poured tea and water for them. He even gave them some melon seeds he found in the mountain.
They immediately started to talk.
In fact, the son-in-law’s family used to be inferior to the Zhu family.
His whole family lived in the shared home back then. When he married Lady Zhu’s daughter with that face, the Zhu family built this house for him.
There were even rumors outside saying that he was the live-in son-in-law of the Zhu family.
Luckily, the man worked hard. He kept expanding the yard from time to time in those two years and it had now become very spacious and had a decent scale.
When her daughter went missing, the old lady had suspected him.
She even brought someone to this yard to search from the inside out.
In the end, her son-in-law didn’t mind it at all and still treated her like he used to, which got him a lot of compliments from other people. And now, nobody remembered he was that poor boy in the past anymore.
“This man stays with you no matter what happens. Lady Zhu, you lost your daughter, but God gave you a son. God has treated you quite well,” Lady Niu and a few other women said.
Xiao Huailu stood in the yard and looked around. She then found a wall that was half built.
“Are you building a wall?” Xiao Huailu asked as she pointed at the sticky rice mortar he had just mixed together.
That man froze for a second. He seemed to have never thought it would be such a small kid who asked him that question. She even looked so cute.
“Yes, I’m a bricklayer. I built this yard myself. I made everything based on her thoughts back then.” The man looked a bit sad.
Xiao Huailu said an oh and no longer wanted to ask.
“This table looks really good. If you have time, please make one for our family too. I live just next to Lady Zhu.” Xiao Huailu ran over with joy and climbed onto the stone chair cheerfully.
Lady Niu immediately pointed at the stone table. “Really, this man makes one of the best tables in the outer city. There are even flowers, birds, insects and fishes carved on it. Someone offered to buy it with a very high price, but he didn’t want to sell it.”
The man smiled with a sad look. “My wife had always loved this back then. She even designed it. Unfortunately, when I finished the table, she didn’t have the chance to see it.”
Lady Zhu sat on the stone chair and the blood on her forehead had already dried out.
Meanwhile, everyone around was all complimenting her son-in-law, saying that he was thoughtful and respectful. The old lady remembered what the Kau Chim stick she got in the Palace of Salvation said and suddenly started crying silently.
“Smash this table for me!”
Going all the way to the east, climbing over the mountain if she saw one, crossing the river if she saw one, the first thing said by the first person she met would give her the answer.
The old lady burst into tears.