Except for the person involved, no one knows what Lao Yangtou said to Liao Meiying.
After breakfast the next day, Liao Meiying hurried back to her parents' home with her child in her arms and a bundle containing the child's favorite clothes and cloth.
The weather got colder and colder. Not only did Yang Yongxian not come back after failing the exam, but Liao Meiying and her children also stayed at her parents' house and did not come back.
As the days passed, the news about Yang Yongxian's failure had been chewed up by the villagers like sugar cane. Things about him were gradually not mentioned by anyone.
Only occasionally would everyone sigh when they saw Lao Yangtou pushing his wheelchair and sitting under the old maple tree at the entrance of the village, looking around.
Changhuaizhou.
Yang Yongxian was very depressed during this period.
The shadow of failure has been hanging over my heart and lingering.
It was clear that no one slapped his face, but he felt his face burning with pain.
I hide in the room I rent every day, not wanting to go anywhere, not wanting to open the doors or windows.
Even when the daughter of the Song family came to deliver food, he asked her to put the dishes and chopsticks at the door of the house, and he was no longer in the mood to add fragrance to her red sleeves.
After several rejections, the Song family daughter gradually lost patience with the depressed Yang Yongxian.
"Father, mother, I suddenly don't like Yang Yongxian. It's just that he didn't pass the exam. He has some ambition and perseverance. At worst, he has to start all over again."
"If you don't have the ambition and perseverance, then go home and find those noble relatives he mentioned to help find a way out."
"It's good for him. He doesn't do anything. He just sleeps in the room all day long. I don't even open the door when I bring him food. Are you really treating me like a maid?"
"Father, mother, I can't just ignore him and be too lazy to deal with him. I don't want a worthless man!"
Just like that, the Song daughter decisively withdrew from the marriage plan and went shopping with her little sisters to buy rouge and gouache.
But Yang Yongxian still kept himself bored in the room. After cooling down, he fell ill again.
Lao Song came over to take care of him and take medicine, and finally advised him with sincere words: "Mr. Yang, you are still young, so you can't let it go down like this. If you don't pass the exam this time, there will be another time."
Yang Yongxian smiled bitterly, "Uncle Song, I don't want to either. It's just that this blow is too big, and my health is not good. Now my head hurts just reading."
Lao Song said: "Young Master Yang, you students are physically exhausted from sitting in the room for a long time. If you want to study well, a good body and a clear mind are the key."
Yang Yongxian nodded, "I understand this too, but my body has always been weak, and it's not easy to be strong now."
Lao Song smiled, "It's hard to say, but it's easy to say."
"There is a river embankment behind this Gongyuan. Every morning and sunset, there are many people walking there, boxing, and practicing swordsmanship. It is very lively."
"A wise saying is to walk a hundred steps after a meal and live to be ninety-nine. After Mr. Yang recovers from his illness, he can go for a walk to the river embankment to relax and change his mind. Maybe he will gain something else."
When Yang Yongxian heard this, he felt it made sense.
"Okay, when I feel better this time, I will go for a walk on the river embankment." Yang Yongxian said.
Lao Song left with satisfaction.
When he returned home, his mother-in-law came over and said, "That Yang Yongxian, I think he is either bragging, or he has fallen out with his family. He didn't go home even after he failed the exam, and no one from his family came to look for him. Something is wrong."
Lao Song said: "I failed the exam. I don't have the shame to go home."
The mother-in-law said: "Then the family didn't come to look for him? Could it be that they don't care about his life or death?"
Old Song shook his head, "Chang Huaizhou is so big, even if you look for it, it will be difficult to find him for a while, unless we help send a message to his hometown, but in this case, Mr. Yang will definitely be annoyed with us."
The mother-in-law frowned and banged the feather duster on the window edge, "I stay in our house every day. This month has passed and the house has expired. If he wants to continue living, he should be wise and pay the rent." !”
Old Song comforted his mother-in-law: "Don't worry, don't worry. I don't think he is the kind of person who deliberately defaults on rent. Maybe he forgot."
"I think he simply has no money and wants to be a deadbeat," the mother-in-law said.
"No, Lao Song, you can give him a hint in the next few days and ask him to pay the rent. Now that our daughter is determined not to marry a poor scholar like him, there is no need for us to be polite, let alone raising him in vain! "
"What's more, his food bills have been in arrears these days. Even the money for seeing a doctor and taking medicine is paid for by me in advance. We are the landlord, not the charity!"
Old Song was silent for a moment, and felt that what his mother-in-law said made sense, so he nodded.
Two days passed.
"How's it going? Did you press for rent? What did he say?"
As soon as Lao Song came back from Yang Yongxian's place, he was called to him by the woman who was washing clothes in the yard.
Lao Song's eyes were bright and his face was excited, "I told him straight to the point now, and he spoke very sincerely, saying that all the silver he had on him was almost spent, and the other silver in the banknotes were all in large denominations. , saying that after he gets better in the next few days, he will go to the bank to exchange some broken silver to pay the rent."
The mother-in-law was dubious and said, "Okay, then I'll give him another three days of grace. If he doesn't pay the rent in three days, I'll evict him!"
The mother-in-law hung her clothes to dry, picked up a few gifts, and went to her eldest sister's house to visit relatives.
The eldest sister's daughter, who is married to a foreigner, was divorced by her husband's family last month and has been looking for life and death. The child calls her aunt, and she has watched her grow up.
She was worried and wanted to take a look when she had time. Anyway, it was only two streets away.
…
Three days passed in a flash.
Lao Song came back empty-handed.
When the mother-in-law saw his hunched shoulders, she suddenly became angry.
"Failed to pay rent again?"
Lao Song rubbed the corners of his clothes with both hands and gave his mother-in-law a flattering smile: "He said he was a little tired from walking on the river embankment in the past two days, so he didn't go to exchange the silver."
"Tell me to wait for two more days until he gets used to walking..."
"He farts!" the mother-in-law finished Lao Song's words in one breath.
"That goddamn Yang Yongxian, you want to blame me for being an old scoundrel? I'm not that easy to deceive!" The mother-in-law was so angry that the fat on her cheeks trembled, and her shrewd eyes rolled.
"Old Song, I have an idea. If I go in, I can get to know that guy's background and see if he really has the banknotes in the bank. Back, hehe..."
The mother-in-law pinched her chin and laughed secretly, making Old Song look confused.
…
The next day, the weather was good. The warm sunshine of early winter shone lazily on the high river embankment, and a gentle breeze blew in our face.
Yang Yongxian was wearing a brand-new robe, holding a scholar-like folding fan in his hand, walking gracefully on the river embankment.
The blue sky and white clouds made him feel suddenly brighter.
After walking for a few days, he found that his energy seemed to be better than before.
