Green Lotus Peasant Girl

118

Zhou Chengkang had been running for half a day and had only just eaten. He wolfed down two bowls of food and then took the dishes to the kitchen to wash them. After washing up, he went inside and found that Xiyu had already fallen asleep.

"Mother is very worried," Zhou Chengkang whispered as he lay in bed.

Li Qinghe didn't say anything. No matter how poorly eldest brother Zhou behaved, Mrs. Zhou, as a mother, would definitely worry.

The night was quiet, and occasionally the barking of dogs from the village could be heard. The two gradually fell asleep.

The next day, it was bright outside when someone knocked on the door. Zhou Chengkang got up to answer it, and then his mother's voice came in.

"No matter what grievances you have with your elder brother, you are still brothers. You can't ignore him at this time."

Hearing this, Li Qinghe opened her eyes, put on her clothes, and went out. It wasn't cold on this May morning, and she could see Mrs. Zhou in the yard at a glance.

Zhou Chengkang was washing up and didn't respond to his mother's words.

Seeing Li Qinghe come out, Mrs. Zhou felt a bit embarrassed. "Qinghe, be careful at home these few days and take good care of Xiyu. We'll be back soon."

"Mother, I didn't say I want to go," Zhou Chengkang wiped his face with a towel. "The county town is too far away, and I still have things to do in the woods."

Mrs. Zhou's face changed slightly. "Are you saying that you don't want to take care of your elder brother? Put aside the grievances between brothers and unite at this time."

At this hour, neither of them could fall asleep, so Li Qinghe went to wash up and casually asked, "Mother, is third brother going too?"

Mrs. Zhou was silent for a moment before replying, "What's he going to do? Fourth child has been to the county a few times and knows the way. The most important thing is that the county magistrate knows the fourth child. If he helps plead for leniency, the Magistrate will definitely investigate carefully."

"Others may not know, but you two know your eldest brother's personality. He only had a moment of greed and wouldn't actually kill anyone. As long as they investigate thoroughly, he will be fine."

Li Qinghe could see through her intentions. It was true that the two of them knew the county magistrate, but why should they have to plead for eldest brother Zhou?

Zhou Chengkang had already gone into the kitchen to cook and showed no signs of packing up to leave.

Mrs. Zhou became anxious and followed him into the kitchen, "Fourth child, are you really going to be like this?"

"Mother," Li Qinghe came in with firewood, "It's true that he is his brother, but we also have second and third brothers above us. Even if the second brother lives with his wife's family, he is still part of the Zhou family, right? If they go, we'll go together. If they don't go, why should we be forced to go?"

"And if eldest sister-in-law doesn't go, we won't go either." Li Qinghe spoke seriously, "Pleading for leniency is not easy. Just to see the eldest brother and ask about the situation, we need to bribe someone. Without money, we won't be able to see him. And even if we bribe someone, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to see him. We can't afford to pay that kind of money, can we?"

"In fact, when eldest brother took Chengkang into the forest to feed the wolves, he never thought he would need to ask for help from this younger brother. If the sister-in-law doesn't come to ask personally, we won't take the initiative to go, so as not to be seen as meddlesome."