Chapter 10 family burden

"Yes, maybe this time, we should really stay in Rugao instead of fleeing for trouble!" Mao Xiang stood at the cabin door, thinking silently.At this time, he had already served his mother who had finally calmed down to sleep on the kang, and ordered the maid to serve her carefully, and retreated outside by himself. For this time the whole family fled, from the heart, Mao Xiang was not so willing.On the contrary, out of the shock of the imminent catastrophe of national subjugation and the strong impulse of having no other way out except to fight to the death, after learning the sad news of the fall of Beijing, his first thought was: he must go to Nanjing as soon as possible and devote all his energy to the urgent task of rebuilding the dynasty. in action.He guessed that the members of the society must have gathered in Nanjing by now, and they were expecting him to go.In fact, since he was criticized by public opinion for his father's transfer the year before last, Mao Xiang has been holding back his strength in secret, determined to use convincing actions to clear up the misunderstanding and humiliation he has suffered.But the news that Gao Jie raised his troops to the south disrupted his plan.Because as the only son, in this situation, he has no choice but to stay in Rugao to protect his parents and family property.Originally, according to his estimate, Gao Bing might not really disturb Rugao because it is located by the seaside, but he can still leave after waiting for a few days and the news dies down.Unexpectedly, the mother and wife were terrified to death, and they were in constant panic all day long. In addition, the neighbors fled one after another, and finally even the father couldn't hold his breath.The family packed their luggage in a hurry, and Xingye escaped. "However, after such a toss, I don't know when and when I will go to Chengdu and Liudu! The friends in the community will not wait there, they must think that I am really a cowardly and selfish person with inconsistent words and deeds! Although we will meet in the future Sometimes, I can still explain, but will they believe it? Hey, will they believe it?" It was this hidden anxiety that made Maoxiang feel upset and unable to shake off along the way.Especially when he found out that after leaving Rugao, the whole family was exposed to the remote and unfavorable wilderness, and the danger was actually greater. His mood became even more annoyed and awkward...

"Grandpa, grandma is crying, please go and have a look!" A woman's voice said eagerly from the side. Mao Xiang was taken aback for a moment, then turned away - a white, blurry face appeared in the darkness.According to the voice, he recognized that it was his wife's close old mother and impostor daughter-in-law. "Grandma—what's the matter?" Mao Xiang frowned and asked displeasedly. "Grandpa, grandma is crying!" the old lady repeated cautiously with her eyes shining. Right now, the arrangement on board is like this: Mrs. Ma lives in the middle cabin, Mao Xiang and his concubine Dong Xiaowan live in the front cabin, while grandma and her two sons sleep in the back cabin.Before dinner, Mao Xiang had already visited in the back cabin, so he didn't plan to go there now.But the report of the fake daughter-in-law made him feel uneasy, so he had to reluctantly turn around and walk through the back cabin again.

Naturally, the old lady didn't dare to lie. Grandma Su, a woman from a family who was not pretty but had a gentle temperament, was wiping tears silently with a handkerchief in her hand.She put her legs together, leaning against the Kang table, a light yellow light outlined her slightly fat figure.As she sobbed, her shoulders shrugged again and again, and the huge shadow cast on the bulkhead swayed restlessly up and down. Seeing her husband walking in, Mrs. Su seemed a little surprised, and then hastily avoided Mao Xiang's gaze. "You—what's the matter?" Mao Xiang approached, asked suspiciously, and at the same time glanced at the two sons who were already sleeping soundly on the kang.

Su Shi shook her head and bit her lip hard, but tears came out of her eyes. "What's the matter? It's fine, why are you crying?" Mao Xiang raised her voice slightly. Su Shi still didn't answer, but suddenly sobbed, as if afraid that the sound would be heard outside, she quickly covered her mouth with a handkerchief. Mao Xiang couldn't help frowning.This Grandma Su was supposed to be gentle and virtuous, peaceful and easy-going, but she had one thing, that was, she was silent by nature. Whenever she had something to do, she always kept it in her heart and refused to reveal it easily, even to her husband. Xiang is often helpless.However, because of this, Mao Xiang became a little worried.He looked at his wife who kept crying, and was trying to hold back his temper, and continued to ask questions, when the presumptuous daughter-in-law standing beside him spoke.

"Master, grandma is worried about the two young masters, so she is sad!" Pausing, seeing that Maoxiang didn't seem to understand, she added, "Originally, if the master left yesterday, let the two young masters The young master also followed, I'm afraid they have arrived in the south of the Yangtze River safely!" On weekdays, the person who can understand Su's mind the most is probably her close old lady.So Maoxiang stopped asking after hearing what she said.Yes, considering that the Jiangbei area is already full of thieves, for the sake of safety, Maoxiang finally persuaded his father yesterday that the old man should not act with the brigade, but dress up as ordinary people and be escorted by a few capable people , across Jingjiang County, and secretly cross the river from another location.At that time, the wife once proposed to let the two sons go together, but Maoxiang did not want to burden the father, so he refused.Unexpectedly, until now, my wife is still thinking about that matter.

"What's the matter with you today?" He said unhappily, "Didn't I tell you that this time I was afraid of accidents, so I let my father go first. You have to avoid the eyes and ears of evil people on the road, how can you bring many people? Don't you see, Did the old lady stay behind!" "But...Aunt Liu...followed her!" Su Shi said, a little bit aggrieved. This time the old man went ahead in modest clothes and brought his concubine Mrs. Liu with him, it was true.But that was because Aunt Liu was nine months pregnant and was about to give birth; and according to a famous doctor who had checked her pulse, she was probably pregnant with a boy.So far, his parents have only one son, Maoxiang, and their population is too weak, so whether it is the master or the old lady, they have placed great expectations on Aunt Liu's birth this time.Maoxiang naturally understands the wishes of his parents, so he specially made such an arrangement.As a result, neither of the parents expressed any objection, and Mao Xiang thought that this was a noble and filial practice.

"Why do you let Aunt Liu go with you? Don't you understand the truth? She can't tell when she will give birth. If she is frightened and her fetus moves, it's not a joke!" "But for the two of us, the older one is only five years old, and the younger one hasn't been weaned yet, so the husband doesn't care about it?" Worrying about the fate of the two precious sons, the teary-eyed Su made an exception and argued with her husband. Mao Xiang glanced at her, and couldn't help getting angry too.He scolded, "Why don't you care? Could it be that I left you and ran away? In the past two days, what have I done so that the whole family can cross the river safely, do you know?"

"No, I don't know!" Su wailed stubbornly, "I only know that if something happens to the two children, I don't want to live anymore!" She said, leaning on the kang table, mournfully , Weeping in despair. Seeing his wife's unreasonable look, Mao Xiang felt his head swell up suddenly, and the blood all over his body was also churning.At the same time, the annoyance that has been accumulating and fermenting in my heart these days has also become uncontrollable. "Okay, I originally said, don't run away, you don't need to run away. But you don't listen, you want to run away. Now that you have escaped, you are like this again! What do you want to do? Could it be that you have to deal with it? You mother-in-laws, I have nothing else to do in my life!" For a moment, he yelled angrily in his heart, just reminding him that he was on a boat right now, and his mother Just after falling asleep next door, he tried his best to restrain himself and didn't really growl.However, the roiling anger forced him to vent.So he swung his palm violently, and slapped a needle dustpan on the side of the kang to the ground with a "crash".

As a result, the two sons sleeping on the kang were woken up.The smaller one swung its hands and feet first, whining and whining.The older one also wiped his sleepy eyes and sat up in a daze.Su stopped crying immediately, stood up in a hurry, and with the help of the maid, she hugged the younger one in her arms first, coaxing her in a low voice while wiping the tears and snot from her face with a handkerchief.The expensive daughter-in-law next to him also hurried over to help, pushed the big boy down on the pillow again, and patted him gently with her hands.However, the master's anger obviously frightened the old lady. Although she murmured mechanically, as if humming a hypnotic song, she didn't make any sound, but kept squinting the corners of her eyes, frightened and uneasy. spying on.

Seeing his wife lift up the pink face that was messed up with tears again, and look at him pitifully, Mao Xiang calmed down a little, but the distress and confusion in his heart became more chaotic and heavy.Although he really wanted to vent violently again to relieve the suffocation in his heart, after he calmed down, he didn't know what to do.So, with a flick of his sleeves, with a livid face, he stepped over the balls of thread, thimbles, scissors and the like rolled all over the floor, and strode out of the cabin door.