Chapter 2501: Miao Jing and Zhai Yaohui (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
As a sniper, not only did Old Zhai have fantastic eyesight, but his hearing was also good.
In the past, he had not observed carefully, but after hearing some rumors, Old Zhai realized that Father Miao seemed to be limping. Even though Father Miao had tried his best to hide it, a careful observer would still notice it.
Old Zhai was sure that Father Miao had been fine the first time they had met. So, why was Father Miao limping now?
It turned out that a Japanese soldier had followed the bloody trail to the Miao family’s house when Father Miao had brought Old Zhai at that time.
Thankfully, Father Miao was a smart young chap. Otherwise, Old Zhai would probably have had to face Father Miao’s gravestone instead of seeing him limp around.
Because he had been afraid that the Japanese would find them, Father Miao had stripped Old Zhai of his clothes and had thrown them down the cliff after transporting him home behind his family’s backs.
When the Japanese came to their door and interrogated Father Miao, he timidly replied, “I-I saw that that man had two yuan on him and I couldn’t resist taking it, but… That man was already dead. I was afraid that someone would find him, so I threw his body off the cliff. Sir, I can swear to you that I didn’t do anything more than take the two yuan. I didn’t kill that man. By the time I found him, he was already brutally beaten up and full of injuries. He was bleeding so severely that he wouldn’t have survived anyway.”
Of course, the Japanese soldiers were not so easily taken in and naturally suspected Father Miao’s words.
At that time, the Eighth Route Army already had quite a high status amongst civilians, and even normal civilians had been protective of them. The Eighth Route Army had practically become a belief in people’s hearts.
The Japanese had encountered too many civilians who would much rather die than expose the Eighth Route Army. That was why they did not believe Father Miao’s words.
Thankfully, the Miao family had young girls around the age of ten at that time.
Giving it some thought, the Japanese simply shot Father Miao in the leg. The pain was so excruciating that Father Miao hugged his leg and rolled around in pain.
The Japanese soldiers threatened to shoot Father Miao in his other leg if he didn’t confess the truth.
Even under such a threat, Father Miao did not change his statement. Because the soldiers had indeed seen some bloodied clothes at the bottom of the cliff, they finally retreated.
To Father Miao, that shot in the leg wasn’t the end of his disaster but the beginning.
The only ones whom the Japanese soldiers hunted relentlessly were the Eighth Route Army.
Hearing that Father Miao had killed an Eighth Route Army soldier and had even relented in front of the Japanese soldiers for the sake of two yuan, the Miao family had faced the brunt of relentless criticism from the whole village.
Even under such duress, Father Miao had not exposed Old Zhai’s whereabouts. He had chosen to remain hungry so that he could leave some food for Old Zhai. Then, he would send the injured Old Zhai off once the Eighth Route Army got news of this situation.
Father Miao had no other choice. He didn’t know whether he could trust everyone else in the village. If the Japanese soldiers had not believed him and had even placed spies among them, he would not only be unable to protect the Eighth Route Army in the end, but the Japanese would probably even kill off his entire family if he were to tell the truth.
It was all because of protecting the Eighth Route Army that Father Miao’s life had gone downhill.
Because of how important Old Zhai was to them, the Eighth Route Army had repeatedly thanked Father Miao for his care and for saving such a good comrade.
Thanks to the Eighth Route Army’s attitudes, anyone who dared to speak ill of Father Miao was deemed to be pro-Japanese.
Although Father Miao and the Miao family’s names had been restored, Father Miao hadn’t been able to save his leg because he hadn’t gotten treatment in the nick of time.
Apart from that, Father Miao’s position in his family was no longer the same as it had been in the past.
Father Miao’s father had died at the hands of Japanese soldiers long ago, and the whole Miao family depended on Father Miao to support them.
Before that incident, the whole Miao family loved Father Miao. It was only because of Father Miao that their family was able to survive through such a tumultuous period and have food to eat.
But ever since that incident, Father Miao was handicapped and was no longer able to do as much for the family as he had in the past.
The Miao family was already used to Father Miao’s endless contributions and sacrifices. And of course, they were full of complaints toward Father Miao now.
Because of that, the family had gotten even more upset when Father Miao had married a bride without any betrothal gifts and even more so after she had gotten pregnant. “Our house is as big as a bird’s nest. It isn’t even big enough for all of us. How will we stay here once you have a child? It’ll be terribly noisy! Besides, my second brother isn’t young anymore. He’ll be getting married soon too. Where will my second brother and his wife stay then?”
With such disagreements within the family, Father Miao remained silent for a long while. After getting Mother Miao’s approval, the couple eventually moved out of the family home and moved into an abandoned hut in the village. That was the one that Old Zhai had seen.
After learning about the whole incident, Old Zhai was even more silent than Father Miao had been the day before he moved out.
He touched the gun in his pocket and told himself to hold it in. Those heartless people of the Miao family were still people of their country.
His gun was only for defeating his enemies, not his own people.
Even after comforting himself in that way, Old Zhai still felt the need to release his pent-up anger and scold the Miao family. They weren’t worth Father Miao’s sacrifices!
If not for the fact that he was injured and his enemies were looking for him, he would definitely run straight to the Miao family’s house to beat up all those heartless people. Unfortunately, his appearance would only cause more trouble for Father Miao, just like the previous time.
Were people like that still considered family?
When he was useful to them, Father Miao was their brother. Now that he was useless, they heartlessly kicked him out!
Old Zhai couldn’t swallow such a situation.
Old Zhai held it in for a long time before coming to a conclusion. “Brother Miao, I’ve thought it through. If your wife gives birth to a son, name him Miao An. If it’s a girl, she’ll be Miao Jing. Miao An will be my son’s brother, and naturally, little Miao Jing will be my son’s wife. That’s a deal. You can’t refuse. If you refuse, I’ll take it that you’re looking down on me!”
Hearing Old Zhai’s words, Father Miao didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
Someone else had named his son or daughter for him! What was he to do as a father?