Chapter 790
Old Li's Unwilling Past
Li Laosan walked up to his daughter, Li Meiyun, took something out of the cloth bag, and then opened the package wrapped in layers of cloth. He said to Li Meiyun, "Meiyun, this is all the wealth that your father has accumulated over the years. Now I'm handing it all over to you!"
When Li Meiyun saw that her father, Li Laoshan, had given her a stack of silver dollars, she was very moved and said to her father, Li Laoshan, "Dad, why are you giving me this? This money is what you have painstakingly saved up. It is the result of your life's work. I can't accept it!"
Li Laoshan said, "Weiwei gave so much money to the Sun family. I'm worried that you and your daughter are short of money. Besides, all this money of mine was originally meant for you and your daughter. Giving it to you sooner or later is the same!"
Li Meiyun declined, saying, "Dad, what will you do if you give me all this money? You should put it away quickly; Weiwei and I won't take it."
As Li Laoshan pressed the money into his daughter Li Meiyun's hand, he said, "Now, under the protection of the Mountain God, everyone in our Kaoshan Village is living a prosperous life. People no longer have to worry about food and drink. Young people may need some money to buy other things, but we older people have no other expenses besides food and drink, so there's no use for the money if it stays with me. You should take it and be prepared!"
Li Meiyun refused again, saying, "Dad, I haven't been able to fulfill my filial duties to you since I got married all these years. You're trying to give me money as soon as I return to my parents' home. What kind of talk is this? People will laugh at me if they find out. I absolutely cannot accept your money!"
Li Laosan said, "Meiyun, please don't say that. You've already done so much for our Li family, and your father knows it all!"
After saying that, he forced the money into his daughter Li Meiyun's hand. Seeing that her father was so determined, Li Meiyun couldn't persuade him otherwise. After thinking for a moment, she stammered and said to her father, "Dad... you should keep this money. In case my brother... brings you a daughter-in-law and grandson someday, you... can give them money as a gift!"
Li Meiyun actually has an older brother named Li Haoyun, who is only one year older than her. Back when Li Meiyun was still very young, a great famine struck the Bonsai World. Because there was no food to eat, the whole family was dizzy and weak from hunger every day.
At first, they could manage to fill their stomachs by digging up some wild vegetables and picking some wild fruits. Later, all the wild vegetables in the fields were dug up, and all the wild fruits on the trees were picked. Unable to find any other food, they had nothing else to eat.
One day, Li Meiyun happened to meet Sun Dafu while she was out. Sun Dafu took a liking to her and wanted to take her as his third concubine. At first, Li Meiyun was extremely resistant when she heard that Sun Dafu wanted to take her as a concubine.
Because the bonsai world was very backward, concubines were, to put it nicely, half mistress and half servant, but in essence, they were not much different from "slave girls." Some slave girls even looked down on them and would sometimes give them the cold shoulder.
The children born to the wife all called the legal wife "mother" and their biological mother "aunt". This system of address was particularly strict in wealthy families, but not so strict in small families like Sun Weiwei's.
Therefore, Sun Weiwei can call Sun Dafu's legal wife "Dama" and her own birth mother "Niangqin".
Another reason is that Sun Dafu's legal wife dislikes Sun Weiwei and her daughter so much that she would probably feel disgusted if Sun Weiwei called her "mother." Therefore, she doesn't care what Sun Weiwei calls her.
Moreover, the existence of concubines depends entirely on the man's favor. If they fall out of favor, they may be sold, divorced, or given away. Most importantly, concubines have no right to inherit family property, and their children's share of the family property must be after the legal wife's children. If the legal wife has no children, the concubine's children can inherit a portion of the property, but only with the legal wife's consent.
Furthermore, the status of a concubine was often viewed by outsiders as indicating a lack of ability and a seductive vixen who only knew how to seduce men. Such women were often ridiculed, and most families were unwilling to let their daughters become concubines, unless it was for someone of extremely high status, such as the emperor…
In the world of bonsai, concubines have such a low status that they can be said to have no dignity whatsoever. Therefore, when Li Meiyun first heard that Sun Dafu wanted to take her as a concubine, she was extremely resistant.
However, when Sun Dafu offered to give betrothal gifts, Li Meiyun thought of her family members who were starving and dizzy. In order to prevent them from going hungry and to relieve the family's immediate crisis, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and agree.
It was the dowry that Li Laoshan's family received after Li Meiyun's marriage that prevented them from starving to death during the great famine and allowed them to survive.
However, after the great famine, war broke out everywhere. Because the government was severely short of troops, any family with young men had to go to the battlefield to fight the enemy. So later, Li Meiyun's brother, who was also Li Laoshan's eldest son, was forced to join the army and was never heard from again.
Li Laoshan's wife was already feeling very uncomfortable because her daughter had become someone else's concubine. Now, her only son had been conscripted into the army, and she hadn't heard from him for several years. She was extremely saddened and soon fell seriously ill and passed away.
From then on, Li Laosan was left all alone in the house.
So many years have passed, and everyone is afraid of upsetting Li Laosan, so no one dares to mention Li Laosan's eldest son, Li Haoyun, anymore.
At this moment, Li Meiyun brought up the old story again, which rekindled the sadness in Li Laoshan's heart.
Seeing the sorrowful look on her father Li Kanshan's face, Li Meiyun realized she had said something wrong and quickly took her father's hand, saying, "Dad, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned my brother and made you sad!"
In fact, how could Li Meiyun, as Li Laoshan's daughter, bear to see her father sad and heartbroken?
The reason she brought up her brother Li Haoyun, whom she had lost contact with for many years, was to help her elderly father ease his grief. She said that her brother might return with his wife and children to bring some hope to his sorrowful heart and give him something to look forward to in his life.
Li Laoshan, the elderly father, is now approaching sixty. In our real world, this age isn't considered old, but in the underdeveloped environment of the bonsai world, most people are considered extremely old if they live to around seventy. The vast majority of people's lifespan is only around sixty-five years, so Li Kanshan and Li Laoshan in Kaoshan Village are already considered very old.
If we consider the maximum lifespan of people in the bonsai world, then elderly people like Li Kanshan and Li Laoshan don't have many years left.
Therefore, Li Meiyun really didn't want her brother's matter to become a worry in her father's heart again. Instead, she told him about her brother's matter in a roundabout way, hoping to turn her father's grief into hope as much as possible so that he could enjoy his old age in peace.
After listening to his daughter Li Meiyun's words, the old father, Li Laosan, sighed deeply and said, "Ah... silly child, I know you didn't mean to bring this up. You just wanted to put my mind at ease. I understand everything. There's no need to apologize to me."
Since we've brought this up today, I'll tell you about your brother. It's been almost twenty years since he disappeared. To be honest, I know in my heart that he might already be...gone...but I just can't accept it. I always feel that he's still alive and well somewhere in the world, just unable to contact us for some reason. For so many years, I've lived on this belief, day after day, year after year. It's just a pity for your mother; she couldn't bear it and left this world too soon because of excessive grief...Alas...it's all fate!"
Hearing her father say this, Li Meiyun was also very sad. She patted her father's shoulder and continued to comfort him, saying, "Dad, the world is full of wonders. I believe my brother is still alive. All we can do now is pray that he can be reunited with us soon!"
Li Laoshan sighed and said, "Ah... I hope so!"
Li Meiyun said, "That's why you should keep this money. When my brother and the others come back, you can give it to your grandson."
Li Laoshan said, "My grandson and granddaughter are the same. You are going through a difficult time right now, so I feel at ease entrusting these things to you!"
In the extremely backward world of bonsai, the idea of valuing sons over daughters is extremely serious. Li Laosan was able to take out all his money and give it to his daughter, which moved Li Meiyun very much. Seeing that she could not persuade her father even by mentioning her brother, Li Meiyun put away the money her father gave her and said, "I know, Dad, then I will keep it for now!"
Li Meiyun appeared to have accepted the money from her father, Li Laosan, but she was thinking that if she were to leave tomorrow, she would have to find another way to return the money to her father. She couldn't bear to take away her father's life savings!
Li Laosan was relieved to see his daughter Li Meiyun accept the money and said, "That's more like it! Why be so polite with your father? It's so late, go and get some rest!"
After leaving her father's room and gently closing the door, Li Meiyun returned to her own room, put the money away, and after thinking about random things for a while, went to rest on the kang (a heated brick bed).
At this moment, Li Laosan's room was unusually quiet. He was the only one left in the room. He went back to the inner room and opened the box that he had treasured for many years but had never dared to open before.
The box didn't contain any valuable gold or silver jewelry, but rather some clothes that Li Laosan's son, Li Haoyun, had worn before, as well as some books that he liked to read.
These things have been treasured by Li Laosan for years, but he has never dared to open them. He is afraid that if he opens them and sees these things, he will be sad and heartbroken. He is even more afraid that he will suddenly feel that suffocating feeling of never seeing his son again.
The reason Li Laoshan dared to open it today was because his daughter Li Meiyun's words touched him. Li Laoshan felt that his daughter Li Meiyun was right. He must not collapse his belief. He must believe that his son Li Haoyun is living well somewhere in the world. As long as he has this belief, no matter whether he can see his son again in the future, his son will live in his heart forever.
Thinking this, Li Laosan slowly took out a piece of clothing from the box. He thought that after so many years, although he could not forget it, he should at least be able to let it go. Moreover, after his daughter Li Meiyun's persuasion, he felt that he should have figured it out and dared to face his son's things.
Unexpectedly, when Li Laosan held that familiar old garment in his hands, memories of his son Li Haoyun suddenly surged forth like a flood unleashed.
The image of his son, Li Haoyun, from childhood to adulthood flashed through Li Laosan's mind like a movie. In the end, Li Laosan couldn't hold back his heartache, and two lines of tears involuntarily welled up in his eyes, flowing down his wrinkled and weathered face.
Li Laoshan held his son's clothes tightly in his arms, trying to feel as much of his son's scent as possible and to ease his longing for his son. However, nearly twenty years had passed, and after such a long period of storage, the clothes no longer smelled the same. All that remained was the strange smell of the wardrobe itself mixed with the smell of medicine that Li Laosan had used to prevent the clothes from rotting.
It was already very late at night. Under the flickering, dim light, a lonely old man sat there holding his son's clothes, tears streaming down his face as he missed his son. The desolate scene made one's nose tingle and a faint feeling of heartache rise up.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Laosan, clutching his son's clothes, unknowingly fell asleep with tears in his eyes.
That night, Li Laosan had many dreams about his son, Li Haoyun. He dreamt that his son encountered danger, but fortunately, he returned safely with his daughter-in-law and three adorable grandsons. He couldn't help but smile as he dreamt these wonderful dreams, and then he woke up from the dream with a start.
After waking up from his dream, Li Laosan felt as if the dream had actually happened, and he was happy for a while. However, when he saw his son Li Haoyun's old clothes in his arms, he realized that it was just a beautiful dream. Then he started to feel sad and upset again. His emotions went back and forth like this, and he didn't get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, unable to sleep, Li Laosan got up early. After getting up, he neatly folded his son's clothes, put them back in the wardrobe, and carefully stored them away. He then kept the pain in his heart deep inside.
After gathering his thoughts, Li Laosan washed his face, then applied a hot towel to his slightly swollen eyes. He also straightened his clothes, trying to appear as energetic as possible, not wanting anyone to notice anything amiss. (End of Chapter)