Chapter 11: Chen Family Past

He also heard from Xiao Zhengtai what he knew about the situation of Chen Ming's three brothers. Thinking of what Chen Ming said at night, coupled with his own imagination, Chen Afu knew some old things about the Chen family's past.

The father of the three brothers Chen Ming felt that he could not make money by digging in the soil, so he went into business with a distant relative. In the past ten years, I still made some money and bought more than 20 acres of farmland for my family. I thought about giving up after running for the last time, but unexpectedly, I fell off a cliff and died on the way. At that time, the eldest brother Chen Ye was nine years old, the second child Chen Ming was seven years old, and the third child Chen Shi was five years old.

With only the woman and children left in the family, Chen Ming's second uncle and second aunt decided to seize their property and moved the family to Chen Ye's house. They also wanted to take over his family's farmland and help manage it, and forced his widowed sister-in-law to remarry.

In people's eyes, the second uncle's excuse that his nephew was young and his widowed sister-in-law might remarry was not wrong in wanting to help the housekeeper. But it is true that the widowed sister-in-law is determined not to marry anymore, and the child is smart and does not want relatives to help take care of it.

However, the second uncle of the Chen family is young and powerful, while the Chen family is orphaned and widowed. Most villagers believe that the second uncle of the Chen family will win in the end.

Chen Ye is very thoughtful at a young age, and Mrs. Chen is not a weak woman. Of course, they will not let their property be taken away by others. After discussion, the two secretly sold four acres of land and used the twenty taels of silver they received to give large gifts to Gaoli's family and the more respected members of the clan, asking them to help the orphans and widowed mothers.

These families didn't look down on the Chen family's second uncle's disdainful behavior, and after receiving large gifts, they helped the Chen family's mother and son drive away the second uncle who wanted to seize the property of the widowed sister-in-law's nephew and save the family business.

Through this lesson, Chen Ye knew at a young age that his family must become stronger so that he would not be bullied. He felt that there was no development just by digging in the fields, but running a business like his father was too dangerous. I think my two younger brothers are smart and ready to study. He persuaded Mrs. Chen to sell a few more acres of land to support his two younger brothers in studying. He was originally studying in a private school, but he dropped out of school. He had no conditions to continue reading and could not get into it.

Mrs. Chen belongs to the kind of woman who obeys her husband even if her husband dies. She obeys her son's arrangements.

After selling another four acres of land, the family still has eighteen acres. From then on, Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen went out early in the morning and returned home late to work in the fields, instead of hiring long-term workers to farm the land as before. Only when the mother and son are too busy during the busy farming season will they take part-time work for a few days.

Chen Ming and Chen Shi were both sensible. Seeing how hard their mother and brother worked, they studied hard. Chen Ming was selected as a boy at the age of thirteen, and his husband said that he would definitely be a scholar in the coming year. But in the second year, I caught a cold, which later turned into tuberculosis, and I almost died, so I didn't continue studying.

Chen Shi was not as good at reading as Chen Ming, but he was shrewd and lively, and had a sweet mouth. He knew that he would not be able to read well, so what he learned was enough. When he was twelve years old, he stopped studying and worked as a clerk in a county shop, and then as a bookkeeper. Later, he married the owner's daughter and went to Fucheng to open a shop of his own.

When Chen Ming was eighteen years old, the Chen family officially separated. Because at that time Chen Ming was very ill and was about to die, and the money for medical treatment was running out of money. Chen Shi wanted to go to Fucheng to start a business, which also required a lot of money.

The palms and backs of her hands were full of flesh. Mrs. Chen felt sorry for her second son, Chen Ming, but she didn't want him to drag down the other two sons alone, so she proposed to separate the family. The family was separated, and the land belonging to Chen Ming was used to treat his illness. If he could be cured, it was a blessing. If he could not be cured, it would not affect the other two sons.

The family has a yard and sixteen acres of land left. The yard was allocated to the big house, and an extra acre of land was given to the big house, not only because Mrs. Chen wanted a big house for her retirement, but also because of Chen Ye's hard work. The remaining fifteen acres of land are divided into five acres for three brothers and one family.

Chen Ye first helped Chen Ming sell an acre of land. Chen Ye and Chen Shi each privately added a tael of silver to buy the small courtyard where Chen Ming's family now lives.

As soon as they separated their families, Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye heard that the daughter of the Wang family from a neighboring village who had been sold as a child bride to Chen Ju's family in a neighboring town had been driven back by her mother-in-law. They knew that Wang's daughter was a lucky star. It was because she entered Chen Juren's family that she cured Chen Juren's father who was about to die of illness. Moreover, she also learned good embroidery skills from Chen Juren's mother, so she could afford Chen Ming's treatment even if she married into the family.

Although Mrs. Wang has been married once, she doesn't know whether she would like to marry a sick man like Chen Ming. Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye still went to the door in person to talk. I didn't think so, but it actually happened.

This is the smartest decision made by Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye.

Wang entered the Chen family and not only "brought up" Chen Ming, but also worked hard to earn money to treat his illness. Seven months later, she gave birth to a daughter prematurely due to an accident, and a few years later she gave birth to a son. Although the daughter was a fool, the son was obedient and sensible, but unfortunately he became lame again in the end.

The above is what Chen Afu heard and made up out of her head. There are more secret things that she doesn't know about.

Wang's mother was her stepmother, and she said that as long as the Chen family could afford a bride price of ten taels of silver, she would marry Wang immediately. Chen Ming is already so ill, where can he find ten taels of silver? The remaining four acres of land were what he needed to save his life and survive, and he didn't dare to sell it as a betrothal gift.

When the Chen family, mother and son, walked out of the village dejectedly, the Wang family caught up with them. She said that she had ten taels of silver given to her by Chen Ju's family, and she was willing to give them as a betrothal gift to marry into the Chen family, but...

Several people discussed quietly for a long time and finally reached an agreement. Wang took out a ten-tael silver note from the sleeve of her clothes and handed it to Mrs. Chen. The Chen family asked a matchmaker to propose marriage the next day. Because Chen Ming was about to die of illness, Wang was carried to Chen Ming's yard in a sedan chair three days later.

Chen Afu thought that Old Lady Chen was a good mother who really cared for her three sons. The three sons' lives were different now, but they were all the best within their own abilities. If it were any other village woman, their family would definitely not live as well as hers.

Chen Ye and Chen Shi were also good brothers, especially Chen Ye, who had vision and courage, knew how to properly care for his brothers, but would not make his life difficult.

Chen Ye and his mother were good at this, at least they really cared for Chen Ming and Chen Alu. Although she didn't like herself and Dabao, she still tolerated Wang to support them.

That aunt-in-law Hu was too extreme. Chen Ming was dying of illness. Except for Wang, all the family members were weak and disabled. How could they have more money to honor her? Moreover, it was reasonable to honor Old Lady Chen and be grateful to Chen Ye, but honor her? Who was she?

Then there was - that Chen Juren, uh, also surnamed Chen! That person was probably the biological father of this body, right? According to Xiao Zhengtai, it was no secret that Wang had been a child bride to Chen Juren.

Then he asked, "Does Dabao know - Chen Juren?"

Xiao Zhengtai's big eyes rolled around and whispered, "I can only ask my son about this, don't ask grandpa and grandma."

Do you really think I'm a fool? Chen Afu smiled and nodded and said, "I know."

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