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Chapter 172 Returning Home to Visit Godmother

When their fellow students heard that Zhou You was going back to his hometown, they were very enthusiastic and donated money and effort to help him.

Shen Sijing sent people to deliver large and small packages of gifts, including food, clothing and daily necessities, to give to relatives in the countryside.

Having too many things is not good luck, so a large two-horse carriage was also given as a gift, with tall horses, hardwood and copper panels, which was very impressive.

On the day of departure, Zuo Shier and Li Hao came over specifically to help move things and send Zhou You and his family out of the city.

Gongliang City is not far from my hometown, but it is more than 100 miles away. It is difficult to go back and forth by walking alone.

At this distance, it is still in the safe area covered by the city. Although it is a bit desolate, at least there are no dead bodies on the roadside.

From the city to the countryside, the pedestrians I met on the road gradually became thinner and their clothes became dull and tattered.

Zhou You couldn't help but look at his own family. Their clothes were what they wore every day, so they were neat and without patches. They weren't particularly bright, but compared to the people in front of him, they were considered gorgeous clothes.

The horse-drawn carriage they rode in attracted so many looks on the road, with people showing envy, curiosity and inferiority.

The livestock in the countryside are generally ox carts, donkeys, or mules, and few people can afford to raise horses.

There is no way around it. Horses eat delicate food, and taking care of them is time-consuming, laborious and thankless, which makes the cost-effectiveness extremely low for farmers.

The two pack horses provided by Shen Sijing were fed with soybean bran, which was better than what many poor people ate.

"I haven't been back to the countryside in these years. Why am I getting poorer and poorer?"

Zhou Youniang saw a naked kid on the street, crushing a grasshopper with his hand and stuffing it into his mouth, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

There were also peasant women who were so thin that there was no flesh on their faces. They squatted on the ground with lifeless eyes, picking out undigested grass seeds from the cow dung and stuffing them carefully into their arms.

Father Zhou was worried, smoking a cigarette, and asked in a muffled voice, "What kind of life do you think we are living now?"

"Why else would they all run to the city? Even if life in the city is bad, you can still make a living. Life in the countryside is simply not a life for human beings."

It took us most of the day to walk. We set out early in the morning and arrived at the entrance of our hometown village when it was almost dark.

The village in my hometown is built beside the mountain. The path winds like a snake and extends into the depths of the village. There are piles of rocks on both sides and the terrain is steep!
An old man was waiting at the entrance of the village. When he saw Zhou You's family, he waved and said, "Third brother, third brother, I'm Xiaowang."

Old Man Zhou was shocked. He jumped off the carriage and hugged the old man. "Xiao Wang, you are three years younger than me. How come you look so old?"

The other person was of the same age as him, about forty or fifty years old, but he already had white hair and looked very old.

"You'er, come and meet your uncle Xiaowang."

Uncle Xiaowang grinned, revealing his uneven gums, "I've cleaned up the old house for you, you can move in when you go back."

Uncle Xiaowang and Old Man Zhou grew up with nothing, and have been helping to take care of the ancestral home over the years.

Because of his busy life, Old Man Zhou has a lot of white hair in his middle age, but compared with Uncle Xiaowang, he looks twenty years younger.

Old Man Zhou felt sad and stuffed a heavy package into his arms.

"Xiao Wang, I didn't bring anything good. Take it back to your wife and children."

Xiao Wang grinned, "They are all good food and clothes, so that the little ones at home can see the world and enjoy life."

He chuckled, "I forgot to tell you that I already have grandchildren. I originally had five, but three were not raised. Now I have two at home, and my daughter-in-law got pregnant again last year, haha!"

After hearing this, Old Man Zhou felt envious that his good friends were all having grandchildren.

Zhou You pretended not to notice the resentful looks of his parents and turned his head to look at the surrounding countryside.

The ancestral house in my hometown is low and short, dimly lit, and has only one door and one window.

Even with the oil lamp lit, it was still very dark in broad daylight, and people inside were like blind mice.

Uncle Xiaowang took good care of the house. There were no weeds in front of or behind the house, no spider webs on the beams, and no signs of small creatures in the corners. Dad carried large and small bags to visit relatives, while Zhou You went to see his "godmother" under the guidance of his mother.

"You'er, you came here once when you were a child, and you kowtowed to your godmother a few times."

"Since then, your chronic fever has been cured, your body has become stronger, and you enjoy your meals."

"Your godmother is our family's great benefactor, we must kowtow to her to repay our vow."

Zhou You thought it was just a tree stump. After so many years, he didn’t know if it had been washed away by the water.

At this time, people in his hometown already knew that Zhou You's family had returned, and the young girls and children looked at them curiously.

When a child learned that Zhou You was going to visit his godmother, he spoke.

"Zhou You, your godmother has been eaten by insects."

Get out of here, you naughty kid!
When we arrived at the familiar riverside, we saw that the ground was slightly raised, and at the end was Zhou You's godmother and an old tree stump.

This grove of trees has been here before the village was built. It has been here for who knows how many years, and the ground has been bulged by the accumulated tree roots.

When I walked in and took a look, I saw a conspicuous large hole on the side of the tree stump, and countless termites were busy drilling in and out.

It seems that this is the last time I will visit my godmother, and I am afraid there will be no chance again in the future.

"You'er, kneel down and kowtow."

Mother became more and more certain, "Godmother is taking the blame for Zhou You, otherwise a tree stump that has existed for thousands of years would be eaten by insects like this in just a dozen years?
Zhou You knelt down reluctantly and kowtowed several times to the tree stump.

My mother lit some paper and took out some meat and fruit from a basket as an offering to my godmother.

"Ok?"

Zhou You suddenly noticed that at the broken end of the tree stump, there was a large and unusual twist in several of the inner rings.

Judging from its appearance, the tree must have been hit by something heavy in the early stages of its growth, leaving marks inside its body. As the tree grew thicker, the marks of the impact remained under the layers of wood.

Over time, the imprint grew into a hard tree tumor that even termites couldn't chew.

Zhou You narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the texture of the tree knot. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like... words.

Could it be that the hard object that hit the surface of the bark and penetrated three feet into the wood was some kind of gold artifact with convex positive patterns?
He reached out his hand as fast as lightning, picked up the tree tumor, and quickly hid it in his sleeve.

He kowtowed to his godmother decisively, "Don't blame me, godmother. You will be eaten by termites anyway. I am taking this thing with me, just like taking you home to enjoy life."

Mother had already arranged the offerings and was very pleased to see this scene. You'er was really sensible and her "godmother"'s love for him was not in vain.

After the two of them finished everything, they saw many villagers around them, looking at the offerings of meat, cakes, etc. with hungry stomachs, and their eyeballs seemed to be able to reach out their hands!
"You'er, let's go, don't look back."

Mother sighed and pulled Zhou You's sleeve to urge him to walk faster.

Zhou You didn't need to look back, he heard the noise behind him and the villagers rushed forward and fought for the offerings.

When he returned home in the evening, Old Man Zhou visited a lot of relatives and drank some old wine. He was in a good mood.

"You'er, it's settled. We'll donate 100 taels to repair the ancestral hall and erect a monument with our family's name on it. It won't be a problem to get back on the family tree. Dad is really happy, hiccup!"

Just rely on spending money!

Zhou You looked at his father's blushing face and shook his head. It was just a small amount of money. As long as Lao Shen was happy.

Then spend it!

100 taels of silver, I’m afraid that the expenses of this family activity are all contracted by their family.

(End of this chapter)