Chapter 28: Natural or Human Disaster

Miss Jun was still speaking softly. However, when she paused, the room seemed to fill with an inexplicable silence.

Old Lady Fang and Lady Fang felt a buzzing in their ears. Their brains were all flustered, and many words clashed around in their hearts.

"Nonsense!"

Liu’er, who was standing in the corridor, could clearly hear Lady Fang's raised voice. Previously, although there had always been voices from the room, they were at a low, secretive volume. Compared to the days before, there wasn't even the slightest air of fighting there.

But at the moment, the voice, although filled with grief, contained a complicated amalgamation of anger, sorrow, and fear. Liu'er was too young to distinguish too much, but she knew that Lady Fang was both angry and anxious.

Still believing that Young Miss had endured more unfairness than any normal person, Liu'er perked up her ears and braced her body, waiting for Young Miss' call for help.

Miss Jun's voice did not reach outside. She did not say anything, but merely looked at Lady Fang who had stood up from her chair.

Miss Jun was not tall for her age, and at the moment, she was sitting, making her even shorter. However, Lady Fang, who was standing, felt that Miss Jun was looking down from above at her.

In the girl’s eyes was contempt or maybe pity, sympathy, and even an empathizing sorrow.

These incomprehensible as well as mutually contradicting feelings made Lady Fang even more angry.

"Zhenzhen, you are thinking too much," she said, tamping down her emotions as she enunciated every word.

"It is you who are thinking too little. If you don't want to understand, then don't think." Miss Jun immediately shook her head as she spoke, then paused. "But then you are underthinking it."

Old Master Fang had died of illness. Although his illness had been very sudden and violent, even for people who eat many grain varieties[1] it was impossible to avoid the cycle of birth, sickness, age, and death. Some illnesses do not have warning symptoms and are very virulent.

There are people who fall on their heads on the road and die, and there are many who go to sleep, never to wake up again. There are also those who are cheerfully laughing one moment and then start coughing the next, soon breathing their last.

So at that time, although they were suspicious, they did not put much thought into it.

Then Fang Nianjun had also died. This time, it wasn’t sickness but an unfortunate encounter. The northern part of the Yellow River wasn’t too peaceful. When travelling outside, the future became very unpredictable. Although the Fang Family had a lot of money and could employ an excellent escort for protection, as they saying goes: ‘Even a good dog cannot stop many bad dogs’. It was sort of hopeless against covetous bandits who killed for another’s property.

After Fang Nianjun had met with an accident, the Fang Family had used money to persuade the authorities to eliminate all the mountain bandits. An army was mobilized, and one of the caught bandits confessed that the attack on Fang Nianjun was no coincidence. They had known that the Fang Family had a lot of money, so they wanted to kidnap Fang Nianjun for ransom. However, by chance Fang Nianjun had many guards with him, and they were very strong and capable. This resulted in both sides had struggling to death. In the end, the bandits had forgotten about their original goal, and the guards about fleeing.

That time, although Old Lady Fang and Lady Fang were suspicious, they did not put much thought into it either.

Then it was Fang Chengyu. This time, they obviously knew that it was done by someone else.

“But it’s too late,” said Miss Jun. “If you are punched three times before you understand that a person hit you, then you’ve already gone stupid. What is not clear?”

Old Lady Fang had not stood up, but she tightly gripped her armrests.

“What you said is reasonable,” she said.

Lady Fang looked down at her, not understanding.

“Mother!” she could not help but cry out.

“There is both seeing a bow reflected as a snake in a cup[2] as well as a man from Zhang buying his shoes [3]. It is not strange for you to think so,” said Old Lady Fang. “However, everything has a reason. Why would someone want to harm the three generations of male heirs in our family? Why would they want to harm the people in our family?”

“It is not because of hatred, but because of money,” said Miss Jun.

Old Lady Fang smiled.

“Everyone in the business hates us. Our Fang Family runs an exchange firm which is doing very well. In a few short years, we have surpassed many exchange firms in Shanxi. I reckon that every single exchange firm would want us to die. Our Fang Family is rich, and for the poor people, the rich are to be hated. Any number of people curse us to die while grinding their teeth in the darkness,” she said. She looked at Miss Jun with the kindness of a senior. “But, you see, Zhenzhen, there are also many people who do business in the world and live good lives. Moreover, new businesses are always being opened, and those wealthy people will also live good lives, and more people will become rich.”

Miss Jun looked at her without saying anything.

“So the world is very dangerous, but not that dangerous,” said Old Lady Fang seriously. “You cannot believe that the world is full of bad people only because the Ning Family abandoned the engagement and the Fang Family did not lend you a helping hand. That does not mean everything is a conspiracy.”

“But this is a conspiracy. Three of your family will have died. Your Fang Family is undergoing a human disaster, and a human disaster must be solved by a human,” said Miss Jun. Her expression was still calm, but more stubborn now, like that of a peeved child. “And this person will be me.”

Lady Fang suddenly wanted to laugh, but managed to reign it in in time.

“What happened to Chengyu was a human disaster, but what happened to the Fang Family was not,” said Old Lady Fang again, patiently appeasing a child.

She hadn’t the patience to talk like this with a child for many years. She was just too busy and had no time to do such senseless things.

“Grandfather, father, and grandson – two of them have already died, while the remaining one will soon be joining. This cannot be a coincidence. There is someone who wants to harm you,” said Miss Jun, still stubborn.

“Grandfather, father, and grandson have all just met with accidents, but our Fang Family has not been massacred. Even if the male heirs have met with accidents, we women are still safe. Moreover, we can find some son-in-laws to birth kids to inherit. I have three granddaughters. These three girls can have at least nine children, and then those nine can give birth again. Our Fang Family is still a leafy branch, and our Fang Family’s business will not fall,” said Old Lady Fang. “So what is this human disaster’s schemes?”

“A human disaster is a human disaster. If you don’t see the schemes, it doesn’t mean there isn’t any,” said Miss Jun.

There was no more patience in Old Lady Fang’s eyes.

“This is not a human disaster. What has happened to our Fang Family is the will of Heaven. Except for Heaven, no one can stop it.”

“What will of Heaven?” asked Miss Jun immediately.

“Heaven…” began Old Lady Fang, the word sliding off the tip of her tongue. She soon regained her wits and closed her mouth.

Because she acted too quick, she bit her tongue. The pricking twisted her expression and cold sweat appeared on her body. She looked at Miss Jun with surprise.

Miss Jun seemed to not notice her state and snorted lightly.

“What will of Heaven. Heaven is impartial, however people use the Will of Heaven as a pretext,” she said with the noble virtue of a stubborn child who believes himself infallible.

Old Lady Fang smiled.

“So you say,” she said. “But what are you going to do?”

Lady Fang felt that the atmosphere in the room had changed. Although nothing had been said, she faintly felt like she was listening to a nerve-wracking part of a story. But in the blink of an eye, Old Lady Fang’s words had turned over the page.

There were secrets in this Fang Family, but it was just a pity that Old Lady Fang had recovered herself and not spoken them.

Regret flashed through Miss Jun’s heart, but she could at least confirm this matter. Moreover, she would be able to learn an even more important secret. This had to be enough.

Master had said that people could not be greedy, or else one might bite off more than he could chew. He then had made her study one skill for a year.

“I said, I can save Little Cousin and I will save him, “she said. “But could it be that you don’t want Little Cousin to live?”

Her expression was calm, like they had always been discussing this matter.

[1] Eat many grain varieties: have a healthy diet

[2] Seeing a bow reflected as a snake in a cup: being overly suspicious

[3] Man from Zhang buying his shoes: A man from Zhang was going to buy a new pair of shoes, so he measured his feet with some string. When he went to the market to buy shoes, he picked out a pair to check its size and discovered that his measuring string was left at home. He hurried home to get it, but when he came back to the market it was already closed. Some said that he should have just used his foot to test the shoe, but he only believed in using a string.

TL; DR: being too stuck in your ways