Captain Ou then realized that this distinguished guest had some connection with the Chen family.
He just didn't know how many degrees removed it was, but it was definitely more than eight.
However, things couldn't remain at a standstill. "Tian Jing, let his son kowtow for him? Perhaps Grandpa Chen would accept the head of a three-year-old child but not his, if you find him dirty, Grandpa Chen certainly will too."
This last sentence swayed Tian Jing. "Fine, the distinguished guest's matter will be handled as the Captain says. Then, distinguished guest, will your bodyguard also have a generational gap?"
Since Tian Xiaxia had conceded, Lin Guangde released Chen Yaoming's head.
Chen Yaoming glanced at the bodyguard. "He doesn't have the surname Chen."
"Oh~" Tian Jing nodded. "Not surnamed Chen? That's easier to handle. Sister-in-law, hold down the bodyguard and make him kowtow three times for Grandpa Chen, loudly, so he knows that coming to Kushan is not that easy."
"Okay."
Thump, thump, thump.
Three resounding thuds that made everyone wince.
Tian Jing hadn't forgotten her original intention. "Sila, place the child by the bedside and let him kowtow."
Chen Shaohuang was a bit stunned by the scare, and Guo Xiaoli felt heartbroken. However, seeing the fate of her husband and bodyguard, she was sensible.
"Let me, I'll teach him."
Tian Jing agreed. "Alright, you teach him, don't mess around."
"Mhm, mhm."
Guo Xiaoli couldn't wait to finish the kowtowing and leave this poor mountain village. She vowed never to return.
With Guo Xiaoli's guidance, Chen Shaohuang earnestly kowtowed three times.
"Alright, hurry up and leave."
Tian Jing waved them away with disdain.
As soon as Chen Yaoming was free, he started dreaming again. "Jingjing, come back home with Dad."
"Are you sick? If you're sick, go see a doctor. The doctors in our Kushan only treat physical ailments, not mental ones."
Tian Jing's sarcastic words couldn't break Chen Yaoming's dream. "You've already admitted I'm your daughter just now."
Tian Jing wondered how foolish she had been in her first life to be so easily fooled by such a person.
"Even if I am your biological daughter, may I ask, esteemed guest, when your biological daughter is already married, has given birth to two children, and is pregnant with a third, you want her to come home with you?"
"What were you doing all this time? When your biological daughter was little and needed parental love, where were you?"
"Now that she doesn't need it, you insist on taking your biological daughter home, causing your grandson to similarly lose his mother's love. How heartless can you be?"
"And how much do you hate your biological daughter? You abandoned her when she was little, and now you're letting her children continue her suffering?"
"If you hate your biological daughter so much, why are you putting on the act of a loving father? Are you plotting something against your biological daughter?"
"I'm a straightforward person and I like to speak my mind. Tell me what you want. Your second wife has given you five children, so you don't lack children to dote on.
"Just say it. What do you need from me? If I have it, I'll give it to you. If not, there's nothing I can do. I was very young when I was abandoned and don't remember anything."
The villagers, who had been somewhat moved by Chen Yaoming, now felt that Tian Jing had made an excellent point.
Would a father who loved his daughter bring his married daughter home? Unless her marriage was unhappy.
Chen Yaoming's mouth twitched. This damned girl was too cunning. Not only did she not fall for his trick, but she also painted him as a cruel and heartless man.
Seeing Tian Jing ready to wave her hand and have them escorted out of the village, Chen Yaoming quickly asked, "You wore a pendant around your neck when you were little, is it still there?"
Tian Jing asked, "Is it very valuable?"
Chen Yaoming's eyes lit up. "Yes, very valuable."
"How urgent were you when you abandoned your daughter? You didn't even have time to take off valuable jewelry?"
Chen Yaoming's expression faltered. "Your grandmother secretly put it on you."
"So, a little child was not only abandoned by you but also took the blame for you? After all, if such valuable jewelry had been discovered then, it might have been confiscated, right?"
Every word she spoke was a jab at Tian Jing. Chen Yaoming lost much of his patience. "You don't understand the difficulties we faced back then."
Tian Jing had even less patience. "Since I don't understand your difficulties back then, there's no need for me to help you solve your current problems, right?"
"You can go ask the family who found your daughter. I don't have any valuable jewelry on me. Lin Guangde, hurry up and get rid of them. Grandpa Chen's funeral needs to be arranged."
With the outsiders gone, Captain Ou busily called for young men to help set up the mourning hall and arrange the positioning of the body.
Mother Li, in the courtyard, then brought the three grandsons in to bid farewell to their Great-Grandpa Chen.
Li Jianguo felt guilty. From the conversation between Tian Jing and Chen Yaoming, he guessed that Grandpa Chen had passed away because Chen Yaoming had come.
No wonder Chen Yaoming and Guo Xiaoli, who always looked down on rural people, would eat and stay in this remote mountain village.
He busied himself, burning paper and kneeling to cry whenever he had a moment, almost outshining Chen Suozhu, the filial grandson.
Li Zhengguo pulled him aside and reprimanded him. "He would have come even without you. Relying on you is overt; not relying on you is covert. It has nothing to do with you, so don't feel guilty."
If Li Jianguo felt guilty just for being a decoy, then he and Tiantian would be guilt-ridden to death.
At least Li Jianguo had prompted Grandpa Chen to prepare in advance. It also allowed Grandpa Chen to let go of his regrets and leave without any unfulfilled desires.
"Really?"
"Of course. His target was Grandpa Chen and my wife. It truly has nothing to do with you."
Only then did Li Jianguo calm down a bit.
Three days after the burial, Chen Suozhu approached Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing to ask for the reason.
Li Zhengguo said solemnly, "You saw that Grandpa Chen left with a smile. He knew that you were not suitable for inheritance, and neither was Xiao Fu."
"He entrusted all the burdens to Tiantian. Don't let him die with his eyes open."
"But," Chen Suozhu clenched his fists, "but Grandpa's neck..."
"He deliberately let that bodyguard make a move. We saved him but didn't understand his intentions, so we discovered it late. If you want to blame someone, blame me."
Chen Suozhu was surprised. "That night, Grandpa didn't want to stay at the Li family's house, was that why?"
Li Zhengguo nodded. "Yes, he didn't want to implicate you and Xiao Fu. He lived a difficult life. He just wanted you and Xiao Fu to live without burdens. Do you still want to continue asking?"
Chen Suozhu quickly shook his head. Of course, he couldn't continue asking. Otherwise, wouldn't that go against his grandfather's last wishes?
Leaving Chen Fu at the Li family's, Chen Suozhu and his wife stayed at the Chen family's residence.
They would not return to the Li family's for forty-nine days, except for mourning. However, this did not interfere with their work on the hills and in the sheds.
In early September, sweet potatoes were dug up and dried.
As soon as the sweet potato fields were plowed, the corn was ready for harvest.
After the corn harvest, the men pulled out the corn stalks and plowed the land to prepare for planting winter wheat.
The women busied themselves picking cotton.
For this month, the adults were working non-stop, and the children helped with tasks within their capabilities.
Tying corn husks, turning cotton, and delivering meals were all tasks the children could help with.
Some villagers with small plots of land and many family members, after finishing their own work, would go to the hills to help the Li Zhengguo brothers.
They received vegetables in exchange for their labor, even if they weren't paid wages.
That's right, a large amount of vegetables had matured on the hills.
Li Liguo and Ouyang Meihua drove trucks daily to deliver vegetables, so Li Liguo's hill was in dire need of help.
Skilled workers went to Doctor Yang's place to continue building houses.