**Chapter 34**

  "Let's not make this public. That family has no shame, and if we confront them directly, they won't admit to anything. From now on, be extra cautious when dealing with them. We need to pn this carefully. The most important thing now is to let the children recover," Old Man Song said. Then he turned to his children, "You all go out now. Your mother and I need to talk to your parents."

  Daniu followed the others out of the room.

  Once the children had left, Old Man Song asked his second son to hang the curtain over the door. Then he turned to the old dy, "Give them the things."

  The old dy nodded, "Eldest son, carry me to the north kang."

  Song Yunfeng quickly picked up the old dy and carried her to the north kang.

  The north kang where the old dy stayed was a narrow kang, mainly for her convenience. There was a kang cabinet as wide as the kang itself. The old dy sat on the kang and took out a small key from her pocket. She unlocked the cabinet and reached inside, pulling out a small box after some effort.

  Inside the box were several rge gold bars. "These were given to us by your grandfather when we divided the family property," the old dy expined.

  She had Song Yunfeng carry her back to the south kang and handed the box to Old Man Song.

  Old Man Song opened the box, revealing four rge gold bars and two smaller ones.

  He pced one rge gold bar in front of each of his three sons. "Each of you gets one. The remaining one will be used in case your mother and I need money for emergencies. If it's not needed, it will go to building a house for the second son. The rest will go to the eldest son. Do you have any objections?" Old Man Song expined that, after their passing, the eldest and second sons would divide the property, with the second son moving out.

  "Dad, we have no objections," Song Yunshan said.

  Old Man Song then looked at Song Yunfeng, "When it's time to build the house for the second son, you'll need to help arrange it."

  "Don't worry, Dad. I'll build him a five-room brick house," Song Yunfeng promised, patting his chest. The brothers had a good retionship, and even without the money, he would have contributed the most to building the house.

  Old Man Song pced one of the smaller gold bars in front of Song Yuncheng. "Son, I feel the most sorry for you. Back then, I didn't give you a choice, but I'm gd you're doing well now. This small gold bar is for Dali's wedding. If it weren't for his father, I wouldn't be alive today. I can see that your children will all have bright futures, and with their older siblings around, they'll definitely not be bad." Old Man Song looked at his youngest son, feeling a pang of regret. The most promising child in the family had been given away.

  "Dad, you should keep these. I don't need them." Song Yuncheng felt that his father's sudden mention of this today was a bit unusual.

  "It's fine. I just suddenly thought of it today. The greatest pride of my life is having the three of you as my sons. You three brothers have never fought or competed over material things since you were young. Brotherly harmony is the greatest wealth. As for these things, they are just external possessions. As long as you three remain united, there's no obstacle you can't overcome," the old man said, his eyes shining brightly.

  After saying this, he pced the st gold bar next to Song Yunshan. "Take this and exchange it for money. I remember you know people in the county. Can you get it done?" the old man asked.

  Song Yunshan nodded. "Yes."

  "That's good. Our family doesn't have much savings. After you exchange it for money, go find the doctor to get medicine and buy supplements. Make sure to cure both your daughter-in-w. Especially the eldest daughter-in-w. If she can't have children in the future, you must not look down on her. Our family owes her. When the time comes, see which of your families can give her a child to raise. If that's not possible, then go and adopt one outside. Blood or not, whoever our family raises is part of our family. Look at Dali—we are not reted by blood, but hasn't he been filial to me all these years? And hasn't he been filial to his father? Kindness begets kindness. As long as you give, you will receive," the old man said.

  Song Yunfeng nodded. "Dad, don't worry about this. My wife and I have come to terms with it. They've been married for years without children, and we've already accepted it. Let her rest for a couple of years first. If it really doesn't work out, we'll adopt one. We'll raise the child as our own."

  "That's the right attitude," the old man said, then pointed at the gold bars. "Take them. Keep them safe. When you go back, give them to your wives to hide. These are for emergencies. When times get tough, they'll come in handy."

  The three of them took the gold bars.

  "Go back and tell your wives to hide them well. These are from when your grandfather went gold prospecting. He almost lost his life back then," the old man said.

  "Dad, does Second Uncle know our family has these?" Song Yuncheng asked.

  The old man thought for a moment but didn't speak.

  "He must know. I think that's why he did what he did," the old woman interjected. "Back when your grandfather passed away, he gave all these gold bars to your father. Your second uncle knew about it, and that's why he holds a grudge."

  The old man thought for a while and then said, "Your mother is right. When your grandfather came back, he kept these gold bars himself. But I think the concubine must have known about them. Otherwise, she wouldn't have schemed to do such things. I'm sure she told your second uncle."

  After a pause, he continued, "Actually, not long after the concubine died, your grandfather gave me the gold. I don't know what he was thinking, but he said he felt sorry for me and your grandmother and that the gold was compensation. Later, when your grandfather was on his deathbed, he divided the family property between me and your second uncle. At that time, your grandfather had saved up lumber and prepared money for bricks and tiles. He said that whoever moved out would get a new house built, and whoever stayed would live in the old house.

  "By rights, I should have stayed, and your second uncle should have moved out. But your second uncle refused to leave, insisting on staying in the old house. He even said that since his mother had lived there, he wanted to stay to keep her memory alive.

  "Now that I think about it, your second uncle must have been eyeing these gold bars back then. After your grandfather divided the property, he told me to build a house quickly and chose a plot of nd far away from your second uncle. Not long after the house was built, your grandfather passed away. Your mother and I moved here with almost nothing.

  "I suspect your second uncle searched the house inside and out."

  "I remember that. For several months, he came to our house frequently. Twice, I noticed that the house had been searched. I even scolded our eldest son once for it," the old woman said.

  "I remember that, Mom. You didn't just scold me—you hit me. I told you it was Second Uncle who searched the house, but you didn't believe me," Song Yunfeng recalled.

  "Oh, I didn't think much of it back then," the old woman couldn't help but ugh. Her son had taken the beating for nothing.

  The brothers all ughed. Their mother had been quite fiery in her youth. If the children misbehaved, she would grab a broom and start hitting them. The old man, on the other hand, always protected them.

  "He searched for over a year before finally giving up. He probably turned our house upside down. But back then, we had hidden the gold at your mother's house," the old man said with a smile. His wife was the only daughter in her family, and she was doted on. The two families lived close by, so it was easy for her to go home. Her family had always kept a room for her. Since she was young, she had been good at hiding things. Behind her kang (a traditional heated bed), there was a hole just big enough to hold a box. She covered it with mud so no one would know there was something hidden inside. The gold bars stayed hidden there until the old couple passed away.

  "Second Uncle probably knew that Grandpa had given the gold to us, which is why he harbored resentment and did such things. But what he did is unforgivable. It is too malicious."

  "Yes, his whole family is rotten to the core," the old man sighed. In the end, retionships between people depend on fate. Even if there's a blood connection, it doesn't necessarily mean they will be close—they could just as easily be enemies.