Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 49 Fourth Uncle and Second Uncle

Lijia sighed. He still remembered how aggressive his mother's family had been a few years ago. Sun Wang's family was small, but fortunately, Sun Wang had many uncles and uncles, so they hadn't been bullied. Plus, the timely arrival of the county constables had prevented a major disaster. Now they were trying to disturb that woman's grave. What could her mother's family do? If they got the news and rushed over with their men, even if there were people from the county government, they wouldn't dare to do anything. But what would happen after the county government officers left?
That family is well-known far and wide for being extremely unreasonable.

Lijia was thinking about how to persuade his wife's family from the neighboring village when the woman appeared at the door of the main house, supporting a white-haired old man.

The child was still crying, probably because his grandmother was watching him in the room. Jia Chuan couldn't help but frowning when he heard it. The crying sounded much weaker than before, so he thought the child had run out of energy. If it continued like this every day, how long could the child hold on?
"Everything is up to the captain of the police." With the support of the woman, the old man bowed deeply to Gao Yuntian.

"That person...will they agree? Someone almost died back then, and now your family doesn't have that many people to help you." Lijia kindly reminded the old man.

The old man bowed deeply to Gao Yuntian again and said, "It's all up to the captain of the police."

Gao Yuntian straightened his chest and said, "Well, I'll send someone to talk to that family."

After saying that, Gao Yuntian turned around and whispered a few words to the two constables behind him, and the two men rode away on their donkeys.

"If you have no objection, I will send someone to invite Taoist Zheng?" Gao Yuntian asked loudly.

The old man bowed deeply again. Jia Chuan was afraid that he would jump over, so he said quickly: "If you are not in good health, don't bow. Just say what you want to say. Since we are here, we will definitely take care of it unless you don't want to."

The old man was shaking with excitement, and the woman was sobbing with her hands covering her face.

Jia Chuan sighed inwardly. He knew that the old man before him, though he looked old, was actually only a middle-aged man in his forties. He had been ravaged by life into this state. It was obvious how difficult life was for the Sun family. Now they had been deceived by them...

Jia Chuan thought that since he had saved some money, he would use it to treat his child, but just in case, he had to say some things in advance.

"Hey guys, you have to understand one thing. It was you who made the mistake in the beginning, which led to the disaster today. But time has passed, and we have tried our best. If it fails in the end, don't blame us." Jia Chuan said gently.

"No complaints, no complaints, just..."

"Oh, I told you, you don't have to pay a penny." Lijia shouted.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief.

……

In fact, Old Zheng also came with them, but he did not go into the village. According to Jia Chuan's prediction, they would need to spend some time talking to the Sun family, and then promise some silver and money, and then send someone outside the village to call Old Zheng.

Unexpectedly, everything went so smoothly after they arrived. The Sun family made an excuse themselves, but since he was a Taoist priest, Old Zheng had to wear a Taoist robe, which took some time.

By the time Old Zheng, dressed in Taoist robes and carrying a box, hurriedly got off the donkey, it was already noon.

Jia Chuan and the others did not wait in the house. There was a terrible smell in the house. It was hard to tell what the smell was. It was a mixture of various bad smells and a smell of medicine. It was very unpleasant. Lijia simply arranged for a few people to sit in the yard and wait.

When Old Zheng hurried in, hunched over in a Taoist robe, he looked a bit like the old man from the Sun family, not to mention that he didn't have any Taoist bones. Jia Chuan hurriedly stood up and called out, "Master, thank you for your hard work!"

Old Zheng reacted and clasped his hands together: "This poor monk..."

"Master, you've traveled so long, it's really hard. Let's open the grave immediately."

Jia Chuan interrupted Old Zheng's nonsense and said something. Gao Yuntian stood up and said incoherently: "Yes, the Taoist priest is tired. We should act quickly."

Lijia was a little confused, but he also stood up.

At this time, the constable who went to his mother's home in the neighboring village came back and said that it took a lot of persuasion, and in addition to the money and silver, he also threatened her before they agreed.

It stands to reason that a daughter who is married off is like water spilled, so Gao Yuntian and Jia Chuan did not regard her parents' home as a problem at first.

But the Lijia knew the character of that family very well. Not to mention if they had some connection with them, as long as they were even remotely related, they would make a fuss over there, in case they could take advantage of them. If this family was easy to get along with, why would they marry their daughter to the Sun family?

So the constable said that it took some time to persuade the family, as they asked for an exorbitant price. Jia Chuan and Gao Yuntian found it unbelievable, while Lijia found it to be expected.

Gao Yuntian said, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have informed them. What could they do?"

The Lijia waved his hand and said, "Captain Gao didn't know about this family, but they are being unreasonable and making trouble. If they hadn't been informed in advance, they would have come and made a scene. They don't care if you are from the government or not. They only care about money and that's all! What are the unruly people? They are this family."

Lijia was talking excitedly, spit flying everywhere. Jia Chuan glanced at Old Zheng and signaled him to find an excuse to go to the cemetery. Old Zheng got it, cleared his throat and said, "I calculated with my fingers, and the end of noon is a good time, suitable for digging a grave, or, worse, for performing a ritual."

Jia Chuan looked at Old Zheng speechlessly, thinking about how to pull it back. Li Jia came up and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll help you."

Jia Chuan was stunned for a moment, but Gao Yuntian patted Li Jia on the shoulder and said, "If you have any problems in the future, come to the county government office to find me!"

Lijia asked in a low voice, "But...his death was so strange?"

Gao Yuntian asked in surprise: "Are we so obvious?"

Jia Chuan asked in a low voice, "Did you sense something was wrong back then?"

Lijia nodded and lowered his voice a few degrees. Jia Chuan wanted to get close to Lijia's mouth to hear clearly.

"This girl from the Ma family is very honest. She has four younger brothers and sisters, and she's been bullied by her family since she was a child. No matter which family she marries into, it's better than the Ma family. What's there for her to worry about? Even if she can't get over it, she should take her time to get over it. Why would she commit suicide the day after her wedding?"

Jia Chuan asked hurriedly: "What do you think might be the reason?"

Lijia waved his hands and said, "I can't really explain it, I just can't figure it out."

Gao Yuntian sighed and said, "Let's go quickly. The longer the night, the more trouble we have."

Lijia shouted into the house, "The Taoist priest is here. We'll go directly to the field. I know where the grave is. Don't move."

Jia Chuan asked, "Didn't they say Sun Wang would be back soon?"

Lijia shook his head and pointed outside the courtyard. Several people walked out of the courtyard. Just after passing the gate, they saw two people running excitedly through the crowd of onlookers towards the Sun family. Lijia muttered, "What are they doing here?"

"Who are they?" Gao Yuntian asked. "Sun Wang's fourth uncle and second uncle."

"This matter has nothing to do with them, right?" Jia Chuan asked with narrowed eyes.

As Jia Chuan finished speaking, several people ran up to him. One of the older men was out of breath and pointed at Lijia, wanting to say something but unable to utter a single word. Another slightly younger man gasped and questioned, "The government can't just dig up people's graves for no reason!"

Gao Yuntian raised his eyebrows and asked angrily, "Who told you it was for no reason? Tell me who it was, and I'll take him back to the government office and question him!"

Lijia hurriedly said, "Sun Laosi, what's wrong with you? Captain Gao and the others are here to help your third brother, so why are you so speechless?!"

"Can they, can they be so kind?" asked the older one.

Lijia scolded him again, "Sun Laoer, don't you know what's going on at your brother's house? You always shut yourself up when I asked you to borrow some food, and now you're out here?"

Sun Lao Er had recovered somewhat at this point, straightened up, and said angrily, "Don't bully my third brother because he's honest..."

"If anyone wants to bully, it should be you!" Lijia shouted.

"My whole family doesn't need to eat? How many people are there in their family? My family has more than a dozen people..."

Jia Chuan stepped forward and asked, "How many people are there in your family?"

Sun Laoer took a step back and nodded.

"How many people are there in your family?" Jia Chuan looked at Sun Laosi and asked.

"Eight people, so what? Is having a large population against the law?" Sun Laosi seemed not to be afraid of the bailiffs in the yamen.

Jia Chuan smiled and said:

"There are many people in the family, so there is a lot of labor. Sun Wang's child is sick, and if you relatives all lend a hand, it won't be a big deal. The child is eight months old, and what have you done? When you heard someone was going to dig up the grave, you came out to stop them. What's the matter? Don't you want Sun Wang to get better? What did this nephew do to you? Even the Ma family is willing to do something, but you came out to stop it. Captain Gao, I think there is something wrong here. Take them back to the yamen and talk to them."

"You can't just take us in broad daylight..."

"Why is it for no reason? Didn't I tell you the reason just now? You are too old and confused to understand. Is there something in Sun Wang's family that you are concerned about? You are afraid that if he has descendants, those things will not be yours anymore?"

Since Jia Chuan and his men arrived, the villagers have begun to gather at the gate of the Sun family's courtyard. It is lunchtime now, and there are even more people gathered at the gate of the Sun family's courtyard. When the villagers heard Jia Chuan's questioning, many of them laughed out loud, and some even shouted:
"What does Sun Wang's family have? Besides a dilapidated house, they're also piled high in debt. The brothers usually avoid Sun Wang, but they came here in a hurry today. I'm afraid there's something valuable buried in the Ma family girl's grave."

Jia Chuan turned his head to look at the person who had spoken, then turned back and was about to lecture him again when he heard someone shout, "Sun Wang is back."

It was a hot day, and Sun Wang staggered towards the crowd with a gray fur coat in his arms.

Sun Wang had already noticed a lot of people standing at the gate of his own courtyard. Could something have happened to the child? He wanted to walk a few steps faster, but his stomach was empty. He hadn't even had a sip of water in more than half a day, and now he was stumbling when he walked. How could he walk faster?
When he saw clearly that there were several constables and yamen runners standing at the gate of the courtyard, he felt a little relieved. The people from the county government were not here to ask about the child's illness. This matter was not under the jurisdiction of the county government.

Seeing Sun Wang getting closer, some villagers hurried to meet him and explained the situation in a few words.

What Jia Chuan and his companions said at the gate of the courtyard in the morning was heard by some villagers, and then spread. During this period, the kind villagers added their own understanding. Because they were from the same village, the villagers knew Sun Wang's fourth uncle and second uncle very well, so what Sun Wang heard was: People from the county government came to do business, and heard that your child had been ill for a long time, so they paid for a Taoist priest to come and see him. They said that the eldest daughter of the Ma family was feeling aggrieved, so they came to your house. The Taoist priest wanted to perform a ritual to clear the grave of the daughter of the Ma family. The money for the ritual was paid by these yamen runners, but your black-hearted fourth uncle and second uncle came to stop them. They just can't bear to see you!

Sun Wang was already weak, and after hearing this, he fell backwards uncontrollably.

The villagers were kindhearted. They immediately surrounded Sun Wang in three layers, completely blocking out the already meager breeze. Jia Chuan hurriedly pried open a gap and shouted, "Who's nearby? Go back and get some porridge."

The villagers immediately scattered, but some kind-hearted villagers ran home and brought a bowl of vegetable porridge.

Sun Wang's fourth uncle and second uncle stood there without moving.

Jia Chuan first pinched Sun Wang's Ren Zhong point to wake him up, and then fed him the vegetable porridge with his own hands. Sun Wang didn't need him to feed him at all. He held the bowl tremblingly and drank it all by himself.

Jia Chuan took the opportunity to ask: "We want to help you, but your relatives..."

"Don't pay any attention to them. Thank you for your kindness. When my son recovers... I will kowtow to you."

Sun Wang struggled to stand up and kowtow. Jia Chuan helped him up and said, "Don't be in a hurry to thank us. Wait until we finish the ritual and see if it works."

Sun Wang nodded repeatedly, pointed at the fur coat that had fallen to the ground, and said embarrassedly, "I wanted to sell it today. Well, if you don't mind, why not..."

Jia Chuan picked up the fur coat and stuffed it into Sun Wang's arms, saying, "We won't need it. The local garrison commander knows where the grave is. You can go back and rest, and just wait for news from us. We've also informed the Ma family, so don't worry."

Sun Wang was so grateful that his nose and tears started flowing.

Jia Chuan felt somewhat apologetic. He never expected that he would have to use this method to investigate a case one day. When he saw the villagers gathered at the door, he was scared for a moment.

Sun Wang returned the bowl to the villagers, thanked them repeatedly, bowed deeply to Jia Chuan, and walked towards his yard trembling.

Fourth uncle and second uncle stopped him and tried to persuade him, but Sun Wang waved his hand, muttered something in disgust, and went into his own yard.

Gao Yuntian looked at Lijia and said, "Let's go. Don't delay the auspicious time."

The Lijia led the way, and a few people followed behind. Many villagers followed, and the fourth uncle and the second uncle followed from a distance.

The eldest daughter of the Ma family was not buried in the Sun family's cemetery, but in a wasteland a little further away.

Under the scorching sun, everyone was sweating as they walked through the fields. Suddenly, the village head pointed to a raised grave mound covered with weeds not far away and said, "This is it. No one has come to pay homage to us in these years. Alas, if it's a few years later, it will be difficult to find it."

Several constables had tools borrowed from farmers in their hands. They followed Gao Yuntian and walked quickly to the grave. Gao Yuntian shouted, "Dig!" They looked at each other and started digging hard.

Old Zheng's Taoist robe didn't fit him well. He had to carry a heavy box on his back and hold the front of the robe, so it was very difficult for him to walk all the way. When he reached the grave, he put down the box and sat down on the ground.

(End of this chapter)