amaotonovel Chapter 1250 Lu Zilin is released from prison
Chapter 1250 Lu Zilin is released from prison
The days after Bai Xiaowen and Bai Ling reconciled their past grudges became increasingly warm, like a wheat field brushed by a spring breeze.
Whenever Bai Jiaxuan saw the brother and sister walking side by side on the village road, one holding a book and reciting something, the other carrying a bamboo basket picking wild flowers, the wrinkles between his brows would relax a little.
That evening, he patted Bai Xiaowen on the shoulder for the first time and said, "Xiaowen, you have been doing well recently. You are acting like a big brother."
A simple compliment made the boy's ears burn. He tossed and turned at night, unable to sleep, chewing the words over and over on his tongue, as if he tasted the sweetness of locust flower honey.
Spring goes and autumn comes, and the wheat fields have been rolling in golden waves for three years. In the autumn harvest season of 1925, the men, women and children of Bailu Village were bending over and swinging sickles, and their sweat beads hit the scorched earth and fine smoke rose.
Suddenly, the sound of rapid horse hooves tore through the heat wave, raising dust on the ridges of the fields and scaring the grasshoppers away in all directions.
"Whoa!" The driver tightened the reins, and the mule's front hooves were raised high. The carriage curtain was suddenly opened by a bony hand, revealing a waxy, swollen face.
Lu San, who was harvesting wheat, stood there in a daze, his sickle falling on the ridge with a clang: "Lu Zilin? Lu Zilin is back!"
This cry was like a stone thrown into a pond. The "Luxiangyue" that was heard in the fields gradually turned into whispers - who still remembers the respectable man in the silk coat eight years ago? The man who came out of the carriage now had a hunched back, and the gray prison uniform hung on his body, just like a squash vine that had withered in the sun.
Lu Taiheng ran out of the yard with a cane, one of his shoes was missing, and his gray beard was trembling violently: "Son."
Finally, all the efforts over the years were not in vain, and my son was finally released from prison early.
Lu Zilin's eyes slowly moved, passing over his father's new age spots, the white frost on his wife's temples, and finally fixed on Lu Zhaohai, who had grown into a teenager. Lu Zhaohai nervously tugged at the seam of his patched trousers, and the "da" in his throat was frozen in his throat by his father's empty gaze before he could even utter it.
"Go, go home." Lu Taiheng trembled as he went to support his son, but his hand felt a bunch of bones.
Lu Zilin shook off his father's hand and walked into the yard on his own. The scars left by the shackles made him walk like a lame stork.
There was an octagonal table in the main room. The braised carp was still steaming, and the golden and crispy skin of the gourd chicken was shining brightly.
Lu Zilin's Adam's apple rolled, and he suddenly jumped onto the bench and squatted, digging his dirty fingernails directly into the chicken's belly. The oil flowed down his wrist to his elbow, and his cheeks swelled up as he bit the chicken, whimpering like a beast protecting its food.
Lu Zhaohai was so scared that he hid behind his mother, but he saw his mother lifting her apron and wiping away tears: "Eat slowly, there is more in the pot."
After swallowing a bowl of oil-splashed noodles, Lu Zilin finally stopped biting. He stared at the minced garlic at the bottom of the bowl in a daze until his wife brought him the prepared bath water. In the steaming hot wooden basin, the woman carefully wiped the whip marks on her husband's back with a loofah. With each wipe, a few more grains of sand sank to the bottom of the basin - they were rolled out from the mud floor of the prison.
After putting on a new indigo jacket, Lu Zilin's eyes finally became lively. He suddenly grabbed his wife's chapped hands and said, "Zaohua, you have suffered so much over the years."
"We are not suffering, we are all fine, it is you who is suffering..." Zaohua responded hurriedly, but her tears fell on the back of their clasped hands: "Fortunately, I finally got you back."
She suddenly choked up and pulled her son over: "If Zhaopeng was here too..."
"Bang!" The enamel basin was kicked to the ground. The veins on Lu Zilin's forehead popped out, and the curled-up posture he had developed in prison instantly straightened up: "Why are you mentioning that wolf cub!"
He swept the comb away, and the ox-horn comb broke into two pieces on the blue brick: "From now on, I only have Zhaohai!"
Lu Taiheng hit the ground with his cane: "Why are you taking your anger out on your wife? Zhaopeng sends silver dollars home every month."
Before he could finish his words, his son's bloodshot eyes glared at him. The old scholar realized that the slick and shrewd Lu Zilin had been eaten to pieces by the lice in the prison. Now, the man squatting on the edge of the kang, panting, was a body whose soul was eaten away by hatred.
At the same time, Bai Jiaxuan also heard Lu San talking about the news that Lu Zilin had returned, and said to Xiancao: "You go and give the backup gift, and I will go to the Lu family later."
Xiancao was about to get up when she heard Qin Hao say, "Da, forget it. Lu Zilin won't appreciate it."
Bai Jiaxuan paused while picking up the food and shook his head: "It's his business whether he appreciates it or not, and it's my business whether I do it or not."
After lunch, Bai Jiaxuan came to the door of the Lu family with some supplements and wine.
"Who is it?" A young man's clear voice came from inside the door. The wooden door opened with a creak, revealing Lu Zhaohai's young face. The young man was obviously stunned when he saw who was coming, and subconsciously turned back to look into the yard.
"Jiaxuanda..." Lu Zhaohai was interrupted by a loud shout from the yard before he could finish his words.
"You coward! You open the door without even checking who's there. Aren't you afraid of being taken away by a wolf?" Lu Zilin's hoarse voice was like sandpaper grinding against bluestone, startling the sparrows under the eaves and making them fly away. Lu Zhaohai shrank his neck.
Lu Taiheng came hurriedly on crutches, his gray beard trembling with his rapid breathing: "Jiaxuan is here? Come in and sit down." Before the old man finished speaking, Bai Jiaxuan had already stepped over the threshold and placed the gift box on the Eight Immortals Table in the main hall.
"Tai Hengda, stew these tonics for Zilin later." Bai Jiaxuan said softly, "You have suffered in there for these years."
Lu Zilin leaned against the wall and sneered. He changed his prison uniform into an indigo cloth jacket, but it couldn't hide his hunched back.
"That's definitely not as carefree as your Great Patriarch Bai's." His eyes were like poisoned needles: "He has a wife and children all day long. Do you know how he spent the past eight years? The prison food was mixed with sand and gravel, and he slept on the frozen mud in winter."
"Zilin!" Lu Taiheng slammed his cane on the ground, making a dull sound. "Why are you saying that?" The old man turned to Bai Jiaxuan, his wrinkles filled with apology. "Jiaxuan, he just came back, and he's not happy."
Bai Jiaxuan waved his hands, his eyes never leaving Lu Zilin's sunken eye sockets: "I know."
He took out a pipe from his pocket and slowly filled it with tobacco: "What happened back then."
"Take your things away!" Lu Zilin suddenly jumped up like an enraged trapped beast.
He grabbed the gift box and smashed it to the ground. The ginseng rolled out of the oil paper package, covered with dust.
"Don't think that sending some supplements will just let it go!"
His voice was terribly hoarse: "I will make you, the Bai family, suffer the same suffering I have endured in there for the past eight years one day!"
The yard was so quiet that one could hear Lu Zilin's rapid breathing.
Bai Jiaxuan's pipe stopped in midair, and the tobacco fell to the ground. He stood up slowly, his tall figure like an iron tower in the sun: "Lu Zilin, if you have anything to say, come to me. If you dare to touch the child, I will never let you go."
Lu Zilin grinned, revealing his jagged yellow teeth. He did not answer, but stared at Bai Jiaxuan with his cold, venomous eyes.
That look made the weathered head of the Bai family feel a chill on the back of his neck - it was not anger, nor hatred, but a kind of madness that came from complete despair.
On the way back, Bai Jiaxuan's steps were much heavier than when he came. When he passed by the stage at the entrance of the village, he saw several children playing hopscotch, and their clear laughter drifted far away. Among them was Bai Ling, a little girl wearing a blue cloth school uniform, with her braids swinging as she jumped. Bai Jiaxuan stopped and watched for a long time.
"Da, I'm back."
Qin Hao was teaching Bai Jichuan to read in the yard. Seeing that his father looked unhappy, he asked Leng Qiuyue to bring the child into the house. He poured a bowl of hot tea for Bai Jiaxuan: "What did Lu Zilin say?"
Bai Jiaxuan held the tea bowl in his palm. In the steam, he seemed to see those venomous snake eyes again. "Hao'er," he said in a tired voice, "Lu Zilin is not the same as before."
Qin Hao listened to his father's narration, and his knuckles tapped on the table in a dull rhythm. The oil lamp cast his silhouette on the wall, like a sword drawn from its sheath. "Da, don't worry." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "It's just Lu Zilin. If you want to crush him, it's as easy as crushing a stink bug."
"Hao'er!" Bai Jiaxuan was so frightened by the murderous intent in his son's words that he shook his tea bowl and splashed hot water on the back of his hand. "Don't mess around! After all, the Lu family is still a big family in Bailu Village."
"What if Lu Zilin attacks Xiaowen and the others?" Qin Hao suddenly asked, his eyes flashing coldly under the lamp.
Bai Jiaxuan slammed the table and stood up, the tea bowl fell on the table, and the brown tea dripped down the edge of the table: "If he dares to touch you, I will kill him!"
That night, Bai Jiaxuan knelt on the futon in the ancestral hall until the third watch. The eternal lamp on the altar illuminated the ancestral tablets flickeringly, and the ash in the incense burner accumulated thickly. He thought of the time when he and Lu Zilin repaired the canal together twenty years ago. At that time, the two young people lay side by side on the haystack, looking at the starry sky and talking about becoming in-laws...
The next day, just after dawn, Lu Zilin was awakened by the sound of roosters crowing one after another. He opened his eyes and saw the light of a fish belly on the paper window. His wife Zaohua tugged at his sleeve in a daze, "Sleep a little longer."
Lu Zilin gently broke free, put on his clothes and got out of bed. When the courtyard door opened with a creak, the sparrows preening their feathers on the wall flew away in surprise.
He walked slowly along the village road, the morning dew soaking his cloth shoes. A few early risers saw him, and their greetings were stuck in their throats - Lu Zilin just nodded slightly, his eyes as empty as two dry wells.
"I'm afraid someone cut off his tongue in prison," Bai Xinger muttered softly and was pinched by his wife.
"Be careful he doesn't hear."
The bluestone slabs of the stage still had traces of water from last night. Lu Zilin squatted on the edge of the stage, and this posture made his spine bulge like a knife. He stared blankly at the archway at the entrance of the village. The three characters "Bailu Village" were engraved on the archway. It was erected by the ancestors of the two families.
"Da, what are you looking at?" Lu Zhaohai stood in the audience, rubbing his eyes, his trouser legs stained with grass debris. This child looks more like his mother, with a delicate and fairer appearance.
Lu Zilin waved his hand, and the boy climbed onto the stage nimbly.
"Mom was worried that something might happen to you, so she asked me to come and see you." Lu Zhaohai yawned, and the morning light gilded his eyelashes.
Lu Zilin suddenly reached out and touched his son's head. This action stunned both of them - the last time he did this was eight years ago when he sent Lu Zhaopeng to Xi'an to study.
"Come on, Zhao Hai," he said in a softer voice, "tell Da what happened in the village during the eight years I was away."
Lu Zhaohai counted on his fingers and began to talk. He said that Qin Hao had formed a security team of more than 200 people and wiped out all the bandits within a radius of 100 miles. He said that teachers from a new-style school had come to the village and now even girls could go to school. He said that a mysterious large factory had been built in the back mountain and that horse-drawn carriages were used to transport goods every month.
The more Lu Zilin listened, the more frightened he became. In the eight years since he was away, the Bai family had actually woven such a big network.
The security corps, factories, and schools, each one is like a link in an iron chain, firmly locking up the power of Bailuyuan.
The most terrible thing is the security team of about 200 people - such a force can crush him and the entire Lu family to pieces at any time.
"Da, can you please stop being so mean to the Bai family?"
Lu Zhaohai's words made Lu Zilin furious: "Are you also like your brother, wearing the same pants as the Bai family?"
"No... no." Lu Zhaohai explained nervously: "Da, if you make too much trouble with the Bai family, Bai Ling might not play with me anymore."
Lu Zilin took a puff of his pipe and cursed, "You coward, can't you marry a daughter from a wealthy family in the city to save Da's reputation?"
"But... I still like to play with Bai Ling." Lu Zhaohai pursed his lips.
Lu Zilin looked at his son's innocent eyes and cursed, "You are useless."
At this moment, a burst of neat slogans came from a distance.
"One two one... one two one!"
The loud slogans came from far away and the uniform footsteps made the ground tremble slightly.
Lu Zilin squatted at the edge of the stage, the pipe in his hand hanging in the air, the tobacco had long been burned out, but he was unaware. His eyes were fixed on the group of people running past the stage -
More than 30 strong men, all bare-chested, their bronze skin glossy in the morning light. They walked steadily, their muscles flexed in sharp lines as they ran, and the short knives on their waists and the long spears on their shoulders swayed slightly with their movements, making a slight sound of metal collision.
What is most frightening is their eyes - sharp as an eagle, calm as a wolf, as if they can pounce on their prey and tear it apart at any time.
Lu Zilin's Adam's apple rolled. He had seen the warlords' soldiers in Xi'an before. They were lazy and only cared about opium and silver dollars.
But the group of people in front of him were different. Their discipline and murderous aura were like the elite troops forged on the battlefield.
At the front of the team was a sturdy young man with dark skin. He had a copper whistle hanging around his neck. When he ran, the whistle swayed with his steps, like some kind of silent deterrence. Lu Zilin narrowed his eyes and felt that the figure was somewhat familiar.
"Are those young men just now...all from the security team?" he asked in a hoarse voice, his voice sounding like it was squeezed out from between his teeth.
Lu Zhaohai was standing on tiptoe to look around, and nodded excitedly when he heard it: "Yes, Da! They start training at dawn every day, and there is a shooting range in the back mountain!" The boy's eyes were shining with longing: "When I grow up, I will also join the security team!"
Lu Zilin's eyebrows jumped fiercely. He had heard his son mention that the security team was large in number, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he realized that he was wrong - how could this be ordinary militia? It was clearly a group of fierce and fierce people! He even suspected that he had been in prison for too long and was hallucinating.
"The leader..." He stared at the backs of the team going away, and suddenly grabbed his son's wrist, "Is it Heiwa?"
Lu Zhaohai was pinched so hard that it hurt, but he didn't dare to break free. He just whispered, "Well, I'm called Lu Zhaoqian now. Mr. Zhu gave me this name."
Lu Zilin nodded slightly, a gleam of light flashing in his eyes.
"Lu Zhaoqian, what a nice name..." (End of this chapter)