After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 591 The Way to Repay a Gratitude

Hu Yingyuan fell to his knees in front of Jin Jiashu and kowtowed three times.

Jin Jiashu was caught off guard and had no time to stop him. He could only stare in amazement as he received the three bangs. He then hurriedly pulled him back and said, "What are you doing?!"

Hu Yingyuan refused to stand up and said with a stern face: "You saved my brother and me. I will never forget this great kindness in my life! I should kowtow to you!"

He even turned around to look at his dazed sister and said, "Yuzhi, you kowtow too."

Hu Yuzhi was a beat late to react, and knelt down and kowtowed obediently. Jin Jiashu tried to stop her, but Hu Yingyuan took advantage of the moment when he let go and kowtowed again, as if he was not satisfied with just three kowtows. Jin Jiashu could stop this one, but not the other, and in the end he could only be forced to accept their way of thanking him, with a helpless look on his face.

He stood up in a sloppy manner: "Alright, that's enough, get up! Let's talk properly!"

Hu Yuzhi stood up obediently, but Hu Yingyuan was still kneeling: "I was wrong to you in the past. I recalled these days that I beat you seven times and knocked out two of your teeth. Beat me back, beat me seven times, and it doesn't matter how many teeth you knock out, I will never fight back!"

Jin Jiashu was both angry and amused: "You made me sound like I only know how to get beaten. You beat me seven times, and when did I not fight back? I lost two teeth, didn't you lose any? If you wanted revenge, you would have done it a long time ago. Who do you think I am? Why would I bother with you about this?!"

Hu Yingyuan said stubbornly, "You are generous for not caring, but I know in my heart that I have done many things that have let you down in the past. You did not provoke me, and you were nice to me and my sister at the beginning, and you even sent me food and clothes. I accepted your things, but I still beat and scolded you for no reason, which was a betrayal of your kindness. In order to let my sister suffer less, I often went to you for no reason and made you suffer a lot. You were right to hit me back, but I cannot be so thick-skinned as to say that I did not make a mistake because I was beaten.

"Not only did you not blame me, you also sent someone to rescue my sister and me when we were in trouble, and saved us from the fire pit. If it weren't for you, my sister and I would have been sold to some filthy place, and our lives would have been ruined! You saved our lives, and we are grateful to you in our hearts, and we feel even more sorry for you in the past. If you don't beat me, I will never be at peace in my life!"

Seeing that he insisted, Jin Jiashu simply laid out his thoughts: "Since you said that, let me ask you, why did you come to provoke me in the past? When did I offend you?"

"You haven't offended me, nor have you provoked me." Hu Yingyuan paused. "When I first came to the Jin family, I thought you were quite kind and wanted to get along well with you. But my aunt and my younger aunt both disliked you. My sister and I are supported by them. If we don't listen to them, we won't have a good life. We have offended the people of the Hu family so much that my father has been sent to prison. I don't know when he will be beheaded. There is no turning back. I was too stupid when I was a child. I listened to my aunt and gave all the property I brought from the Hu family to her for safekeeping. In less than two years, there was nothing left. If even the Jin family refused to take us in, we would have to live on the streets and would have no money to support ourselves. I know I shouldn't bully you. It would be against my conscience to do so. But I still have a younger sister to take care of, and I can't offend my aunt and my younger aunt. Even though I know I shouldn't, I still choose to bully you."

Jin Jiashu nodded: "Since you know this, it shows that you don't really want to bully me, but you were forced by others. The one who forced you is wrong. I know who is the culprit in my heart, and I don't mean to blame you. Why do you have to take the responsibility on yourself?" Hu Yingyuan lowered his head: "Aunt and aunt ordered me, but I was the one who promised them to beat you. Since I was afraid of suffering in the past and chose to do wrong things, I should take responsibility today. Just like a criminal who kills people should pay with his life, and a thief who steals things should go to jail, it cannot be ignored because the criminal has no parents since childhood and was forced to do bad things. If you don't beat me up a few times, I will feel uneasy, I can't eat, I can't sleep at night, my heart feels like it's on fire.

"I heard that you would stay in Chang'an to study, but you arranged for my brother and me to follow Aunt Jin back to our hometown. If we leave, won't we ever see you again in this life? Then there will naturally be no chance to repay your kindness. I can't help you with anything now. I can only take a few beatings from you to calm you down. If you don't want to beat me, I will never be at peace in this life!"

Jin Jiashu sneered: "You mean, as long as I beat you up a few times now and get rid of the anger from the past, you will feel at ease and feel that you don't owe me anything, and you don't have to think about how to repay my kindness in the future?!"

Hu Yingyuan raised his head and said, "That's not what I meant! I will still repay the favor! But if you beat me up a few times now, I will feel better and have the energy to work for you and repay your kindness!"

Jin Jiashu sneered, "Dream on! I won't beat you up! Since you feel uneasy about beating me up before and want to repay me, then just follow my instructions and be honest and stop making trouble. You keep yelling at me to beat you up, what do you think of me? I am a scholar now, I won't do anything that would be beneath my dignity!"

When Hu Yingyuan heard him say this, he couldn't help but look at a loss, not knowing what to do.

Ma Shangyi had been standing aside for a while, and only then did she speak: "Okay, Brother Hu, please be patient. You are also a smart person, and now you are back safely. If you want to repay us, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Just listen to our arrangements. Although our Shu Ge'er has to stay in Chang'an to study, he still has his ancestral property and ancestral tombs in his hometown. It is impossible for him to stay away from Zunhua Prefecture for the rest of his life. You will meet many times in the future, are you still worried that you will not be able to repay us?"

Hu Yingyuan heard from the guard who rescued him that this lady seemed to be an old maid who had retired from the palace and had served the Empress Dowager. He had only heard of such a noble lady in operas, and she was different from the Jin Jiashu he had known since childhood. He subconsciously showed his timidity and lowered his head honestly: "Yes, my sister and I will be obedient. We will do whatever Tong Ge'er wants us to do."

Ma Shangyi looked at him for a few times and saw that both his brother and sister were good-looking. The boy had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his facial features were regular. The girl was also pretty. Although she was a little thin and her hands were rough, it was obvious that she had suffered a lot, but there were no wounds on her face. It can be seen that both the Jinxin family and the people knew their value and never tortured them to death. Now they have been re-washed and dressed, and they look decent. They only need to be taught some etiquette and rules to let them learn how to treat others. They may be useful in the future. Although they have done some wrong things in the past, they are not fools who are easily instigated by others, but they knowingly committed the wrong things for their own interests. As long as such people know how to be grateful and know right from wrong, they will be of great use in the future, which is a hundred times better than fools who only know how to blindly follow others.

She didn't need them in Chang'an, but her old sisters in Zunhua Prefecture were in need of help. Since Jin Jiashu was going to send the Hu brothers and sisters back home, she would take care of the two children and make them look like human beings, and leave the rest to A Tian and the others.

It took them several days of effort to rescue these two half-grown children, so they certainly couldn't let their hard work go in vain.

(End of this chapter)