During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a Zhouji tofu factory on the streets of Lu'an Province. The owner of the shop, surnamed Zhou, is named He Chang, who is kind and kind, hard-working, and relies on this craft handed down from his ancestors to support a family of five. His wife, Liu Shixian, is kind and kind, taking care of two children at home on weekdays, washing and cooking, and handling housework.
Zhou Hechang came out early and returned late every day, and it was rare to have a few days of rest throughout the year. On this day, he sold out the tofu and returned home. The wife saw that her husband was tired and distressed, and silently handed her husband a cup of hot tea.
Liu Shi said bitterly: "I am too tired to rest for a day, but don't be tired." Zhou Hechang heard the words, and a warm current surged in his heart. I was tired and tired every day, and I couldn't save much silver. He wanted to go out into business and do some big business, but he really couldn't rest assured that his wife and children would be young and old.
He sighed and said to his wife, "I can't make a lot of money by opening a tofu factory, I want to go out and run around while I'm young, and the only people I can't rest assured of are your mother and son and your elderly father." ”
The wife pondered for a moment, comforted her husband, and said: "My daughter Xifeng is already ten years old, and she can help me sweep the floor and cook on weekdays." The son Zhiyuan is only one year younger than his sister, and the two children are worrying. The good boy is determined to go out and take a break. As for my father, his body is still quite tough, and I have me at home to take care of him, so there is no need to worry. ”
Zhou Hechang heard the words, like eating a reassuring pill. He made up his mind to get the shop out and leave as soon as possible. Ten days later, he bid farewell to his wife and children, and arrived in Yangzhou half a month later.
Yangzhou is indeed worthy of the name, the economy here is prosperous, the city's merchants are like clouds, shops are lined up, a thriving scene. Zhou Hechang was secretly happy in his heart and prepared to make a big fuss. He traveled all over Yangzhou, selected shops, and started a silk business.
In five years, Zhou Hechang made a lot of money and his business was booming, like the sun in the sky. He has been away from home for many years, and his wife and children have gathered less and more. On this day, the wife entrusted someone to carry a letter to her husband, saying that her father was seriously ill and asking him to return home to visit him as soon as possible.
After reading the letter, Zhou Hechang immediately set off to return to his hometown, and when he saw his old father lying sick in bed, he immediately felt guilty. After much thought, he decided to leave the shop in Yangzhou and dedicate himself to filial piety in front of his father's bed. A year later, his father died, and Zhou Hechang was heartbroken, bought a good coffin, and buried his father.
This summer, there was a heavy rain in Lu'an Province, the Zhou family's house fell into disrepair, it rained heavily outside, and it rained lightly inside. After the rain passed, Zhou Hechang and his wife discussed and planned to build a new house. Having money can make the ghost grind, and after half a month, the wife and children move to a new house.
Zhou Zhiyuan knew that his father had saved a lot of money in recent years, and he had no ambition to be self-motivated, and he was idle all day and wandered around. As the saying goes: "Rich is not more than three", Zhou Hechang saw that his son did not want to make progress, sighed all day long, worried that the foundation he had worked so hard to lay would be destroyed in his hands sooner or later.
In order to make his son restrain his heart, he opened a cloth house in the town, and all the business in the shop was taken care of by his son. Under the careful guidance of his father, Zhiyuan started a business in a down-to-earth manner. Zhou Hechang saw it in his eyes and was happy in his heart.
As the saying goes: "The male eldest should be married, the female should be married", in the blink of an eye, Xifeng has reached the age of sixteen, and the Zhou couple began to open up their daughter's marriage. The two sons chose a thousand times, and they did not find the son-in-law they liked.
On the fifteenth day of the first month of this year, Xi Feng had eaten dinner early and shouted that she was going out to see the lanterns. The mother was not at ease, and just when she wanted to say a few words, she saw her daughter run out of the gate with a cigarette. When she saw the sea, the mother still did not see her daughter return, and her heart was anxious.
She looked out the window and said worriedly, "Xi Feng has been out for a full hour, and it is really worrying that she has not seen her figure until now." The husband heard the words, put on a sheepskin shoulder, and prepared to go out to find his daughter. Not long after he stepped out, he saw Xi Feng and a man coming towards him.
The man's name is Lu Changgeng, and his family lives in Liuye Lane, east of the city. He had just finished admiring the lanterns and was about to go home when he accidentally saw two men moving their hands and feet at Xi Feng. He helped each other and came to a hero to save the United States. Lu Changgeng was worried that she would encounter bad people on the road, so he escorted her home.
After Zhou Hechang learned about it, he was very moved, and pulled Lu Changgeng and refused to let go, and had to let him enter the house for a cup of tea before leaving. As soon as he entered the door, Zhou Hechang introduced Lu Changgeng to his wife, and Liu Shi learned the details and was grateful to him.
After the greeting, several people chatted happily with each other, and Zhou Hechang smiled and said: "Lü Gongzi is dignified and talks extraordinary, I don't know where he is now?" ”
Lu Changgeng smiled slightly, looked ashamed, and sighed: "It is not a secret, Xiaosheng has indeed read books for several years." Only because of the poverty of his family, he later gave up his studies to work as a bookkeeper in a restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant was not well run, and shortly after it was closed, I temporarily left my home idle. ”
Zhou Hechang said sincerely: "If Lü Gongzi is not disgusted, he can come to my shop to help, I just lack manpower." Lu Changde heard this, and quickly got up and thanked him. Since then, he has followed Zhou Zhiyuan to help in the store.
One day, the matchmaker came to Xi Feng's door to propose to him, saying that the man's family was rich and handsome, and Liu Shi was a little moved to hear the words. She relayed the matchmaker's words to her daughter unchanged, wanting to hear her opinion.
When Xi Feng learned about it, she shook her head. She wanted to stop talking, and finally plucked up the courage to say to her mother: "My daughter already has a heart, except for Lu Changgeng in this life, I will not marry anyone, I hope that my mother can be perfected." Liu Shi heard the words and did not comment.
In the evening, as soon as the husband entered the door, the wife could not wait to tell her daughter's thoughts. Zhou Hechang heard this and said with a smile: "Lu Changgeng is upright and kind, and he looks like a talent, but he is a little poor." Again, aren't we also surviving from poverty? As long as the character is better than anything. ”
The parents did not want to go against their daughter's wishes and agreed to this family affair. After Xi Feng learned about it, he hurriedly told Lu Changgeng the good news. It turned out that the two had long been secretly communicating behind their parents' backs and privately agreeing to each other for life. It didn't take long for the Zhou And Lu family to determine the wedding date and prepare for the wedding three months later.
One day, a well-dressed middle-aged man walked into the store, and he was generous and ordered a large amount of cloth. There was a shortage of goods in the store, and Zhou Zhiyuan planned to let the coachman Lu Qingfeng accompany him out to buy goods. The father intended to cultivate Lü Changgeng, so he asked him to go with his son.
The three masters and servants had not yet left the Shanxi territory, but they encountered robbers, and Zhou Zhiyuan was killed. Lü Changgeng and coachman Lu Qingfeng were seriously injured, and the two fought desperately and escaped by chance.
The next day, the two of them dragged Zhou Zhiyuan's body back home, and the Zhou couple lost their beloved son and cried loudly. The greatest pain in life is the parting of life and death, and the death of his son is simply a fatal blow to Zhou Hechang and his wife.
For two consecutive months, the couple closed their doors and were depressed all day. Seeing that Xi Feng's wedding date was approaching day by day, Zhou Hechang changed his mind, and he consulted with his relatives and wanted Lu Changgeng to be his son-in-law. The family gladly agreed and did not raise any objections.
Ten days later, Zhou Hechang held a wedding celebration for his daughter and son-in-law, and a couple married them happily. After marriage, the husband and wife are happy and sweet, and they are really envious of others. People say behind their backs that Lu Changgeng is blessed, does not need to work hard, and easily sits on millions of family properties.
One day a month later, Xi Feng went out to buy needle and thread, and accidentally saw her husband and a man drinking in a restaurant, and the two pushed glasses to change glasses and talked about wine. Xi Feng saw that the man was a little familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.
She pondered for a long time, and suddenly remembered the two hooligans she had encountered on the night of the fifteenth day of the first month. After all, it was night, and she didn't really see it at that time, so naturally she didn't dare to make a false assertion. Xi Feng was suddenly suspicious of her husband, and she planned to find out the truth of the matter.
That night, Lu Changgeng slept soundly, and in the darkness he heard Xi Feng shouting: "Kill people to pay for their lives, quickly return my life!" The husband woke up from his sleep and fell to the ground in fright. He lit the lamp with trepidation and said, "Mother, what is going on?" ”
Xi Feng replied in horror, "I just dreamed of my brother Zhiyuan, and he cried out to me one by one!" When Lu Changgeng heard this, his face was pale with fright, and his legs trembled, all of which were all seen by Xi Feng. She did not dare to hit the grass to scare the snake, and comforted her husband to rest early.
Early the next morning, the head catcher broke into the Zhou mansion and tied up Lü Changgeng and brought him to the county court. After hearing Xi Feng's crying, the prefect felt indignant. He ordered people to use a large punishment, and Lü Changgeng was overwhelmed by the pain of flesh and skin, and confessed to the heinous crime he had committed.
It turned out that the so-called "hero saves the United States" and "road encounter robbers" are all good plays directed by Lu Changgeng himself, with only one purpose, that is, he wants to get rid of Zhou Zhiyuan and justifiably inherit the property of the Zhou family. Thanks to Xi Feng's timely discovery, his treacherous plan failed.
The main offender, Lü Changgeng, was sentenced to death, and according to his confession, the government arrested several accomplices and put them in prison. Xi Fengwan did not expect that the husband he slept with was actually a sinister person. She regretted that she did not know others well and caused her brother to lose his life.
epilogue:
Lü Changgeng was sinister in his heart, and in order to satisfy his own greed, he did not hesitate to murder the lives of others and harm others and harm himself, and in the end the bamboo basket was empty. People often say, "Ill-gotten gains are not advisable," and he took the risk, took the chestnut in the fire, and personally sent himself to the guillotine.
"Men are afraid of entering the wrong line, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man", Xi Feng is not good at knowing people, which leads to tragedy. It is said that seeing is believing, but in fact, it is not the same, and sometimes what we see with our own eyes is not the truth of the matter. Scams are staged all the time, and everyone must polish their eyes.
People's hearts are separated from their stomachs, and everything must be cautious, which is exactly: "The heart of harming people must not exist, and the heart of preventing people must not be without." As the ancient saying goes: Caution can catch thousands of cicadas, and be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years.