Chapter 3 Buying Medicine for Treatment
"What's going on?" A majestic voice suddenly broke in.
Old man Liang was working in a field far away at the foot of the mountain in the west today. When he heard from the villagers that his granddaughter had fallen into the river and drowned, he ran back carrying his hoe.
But when I got home, I saw my second son and his wife kneeling on the ground.
"Second brother, your leg injury hasn't healed yet, stop kneeling on the ground, get up quickly, be careful not to hurt it again."
Old Man Liang walked over and held Old Man Liang's arms with both hands, helped him up, and then helped Old Man Liang sit down on the stool.
Although he usually favors his grandchildren more, he is very concerned about his three sons.
Old Man Liang glanced at Liu who was still kneeling on the ground and said, "You should get up quickly too."
When Liu heard her father-in-law's words, she stood up immediately, picking up the crutch on the ground and handing it to Liang Laoer.
Liang Laoer felt confident when he saw his father coming back.
Although his father liked his grandsons more, he never treated his two granddaughters harshly. As the head of the family, his father was generally fair.
At a time when human lives are at stake, Liang Laoer believes that his father will not stand by and watch him die.
So Liang Laoer quickly told his father about the current situation.
As expected, after listening to what was said, Old Man Liang turned to Old Lady Liang and asked, "How much of the six taels of silver is left from selling grain at home?"
"There are only 5 taels left. I plan to save it for Wenyong to get married, and for Wenzhi, he also needs money for his studies." Old Mrs. Liang's eyes turned cunningly. Not long after the silver from selling grain came into her hands, one tael was missing.
"It's been less than a month since we sold the grain, and already an ounce of it has been spent so quickly?" Old Man Liang was a little skeptical.
"I'm in charge of the expenses of such a large family, so naturally I spend money quickly. Wenzhi also needs to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone from time to time when he studies, and those things are not cheap." Old Mrs. Liang argued loudly.
Old Man Liang was silent for a while, then he said to Old Lady Liang: "Hurry up and take out three taels of silver to buy medicine for the second son's family."
"Old man, you can't take out the money. What will happen to Wenyong's marriage after buying the medicine? What about Wenzhi's studies?" Old Mrs. Liang still refused to take out the money.
"Things have their priorities. Right now, human lives are at stake. No matter how serious the situation is, we must save Qianhuan's life first. If you don't even have this much foresight now, how can you manage this family well?"
Old Man Liang loudly scolded Old Lady Liang, saying that his wife was becoming more and more confused and couldn't even handle such a small matter.
When Liu and Liang Laoer heard what their father said, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief. They said to Old Man Liang gratefully, "Thank you, Dad."
Even though Old Mrs. Liang was unwilling in her heart, she dared not disobey the head of the family since he had spoken. She was afraid that her old man would get angry and really take away her power as the head of the family.
She went back to the house dejectedly to get the silver, and threw the three taels of silver wrapped in coarse cloth at Liang Laoer.
She said unwillingly, "She's just a little girl. Keeping her at home is a waste of food, but you're still protecting her like the apple of your eye. In two years, when she gets married, she'll belong to someone else's family. If you don't think about your nephews, who will take care of you in your old age? A hundred years from now, who will break a pot for you?"
Liang Lao Er did not answer. He took out one or two taels of silver and gave it to Doctor Huang, and asked Liu to follow Doctor Huang back to get the medicine.
He then called his eldest nephew Wen Yong to his side and handed him the remaining two taels of silver and the prescription.
"Wenyong, keep these two taels of silver and the prescription. Go to the home of old man Wang from the same village and borrow a bullock cart. Tell him that I, Liang Laoer, will pay you back double the amount in the future. After you borrow the bullock cart, drive it to Renjitang in the county town and buy the medicine according to the prescription."
Liang Laoer instructed his eldest nephew that he just wanted to get his daughter's medicine back before dark.
"Uncle, I understand. I'll go right away." Wen Yong took the silver and prescription and put them carefully in his arms.
He opened the curtain blocking the middle of the room, walked out of the small compartment where Qianhuan lived, took a few steps out of the wooden door of the west room, and then headed straight for the front yard door. He also knew that his cousin Qianhuan was in danger, so he had to buy the medicine as soon as possible and boil it for her to drink.
"Dad, my second brother's injury has drained our family's wealth. The three of them haven't earned a penny in the past few months and have been relying on Zhonggong's money. Now you're spending so much money on Qianhuan's medicine. What will happen to Wenyong when he gets married? It's not that your wife has a problem with you, but Wenyong is already 18 years old this year, and I, as a mother, am really worried."
Seeing that her father-in-law had decided to use the money intended for her eldest son's marriage to buy medicine for Qianhuan, Zhu was so dissatisfied that she could not hold it in any longer.
"Wait until the second son's leg injury heals, and he can go up the mountain more often, hunt some game and sell it, and then he'll make back the money." Old man Liang also knew that Wen Yong's getting married was the top priority, but at this critical moment, he could only save his granddaughter's life first.
"Who knows when my second brother's leg injury will heal? People in the village say that he might be a cripple for the rest of his life." Zhu couldn't help but retort.
"Who told you that? It's fine if someone outside said that, but how can you, as a sister-in-law, curse your own uncle like that? If I hear someone in the family gossiping about you again, don't blame me for being ruthless and punishing you according to the family rules."
Old Man Liang scolded Zhu angrily, and he almost slammed the table in excitement.
Zhu was scolded by her father-in-law and was so frightened that she immediately fell silent and unconsciously hid behind Boss Liang.
Liang Laoer felt very uncomfortable when he heard what Zhu said.
But since she was his sister-in-law, he couldn't say much to blame her. He sat on the stool in front of the bed, watching over his daughter without saying a word.
Liang Cuihua was extremely anxious upon seeing this. She wished Qianhuan would die quickly and didn't want her to be rescued at all.
She usually hated Qianhuan. This cousin of hers had prettier facial features than hers since she was a child. She was famous for her good looks in the village. When she was only 10 years old, she was spotted by the mother of Jiang Lin from the same village and got engaged.
There are only three educated people in the entire Yunfeng Village. One is her younger brother Liang Wenzhi, one is the village head’s grandson Hu Zhixiong, and the other is Jiang Lin.
The three of them took the Tongsheng examination together in February this year. Her younger brothers Liang Wenzhi and Hu Zhixiong did not even pass the first level of the county examination. Only Jiang Lin not only passed the county examination, but also passed the provincial examination in April.
Jiang Lin has now become the youngest student in the entire Yunfeng Village.
She is almost turning fifteen this year, but no matchmaker has come to propose marriage to her yet.
Qianhuan is two years younger than her, but she has such an outstanding fiancé like Jiang Lin. She is really jealous to the point of going crazy.
Her grandmother favored boys over girls, and her mother, Zhu, was influenced by her grandmother and usually only cared about her brother and younger brother. She would give any delicious food to her brother and younger brother first.
Qianhuan was a girl like herself, but her second uncle and second aunt protected her like the apple of their eye, and saved all the delicious food for Qianhuan. She felt extremely unbalanced, wondering why Qianhuan had such a good life, with her parents protecting her and her fiancé being so outstanding, while she had nothing.
Every time she saw Qianhuan's seductive and charming face, she couldn't help but hate her.
Finally, his second uncle broke his leg and had to lie in bed all day. No one was there to protect Liu and Qianhuan, so her grandmother, Old Lady Liang, began to torture them even more.
Qianhuan was ordered by Old Lady Liang to go to the mountains to cut grass for pigs and dig wild vegetables every day. Gradually, she was tanned dark and looked very haggard. In addition, she ate little, so Qianhuan is now yellow, dark and thin.
Although her facial features were still beautiful, she was no longer as radiant as before. People in the village said that Qianhuan from the Liang family was getting uglier as she grew older.
She felt so happy in her heart that she even hoped that her second uncle's leg injury would never heal. Without anyone to protect Qianhuan, she would be tortured and become more and more unrecognizable.
Originally, Qianhuan's family suffered a disaster, and she felt a little better and didn't think of harming her again. Who knew that she took away her beloved, which was the only thing in her heart.
She was filled with hatred, so she called Qianhuan to play by the river, and when she was not paying attention, she pushed her into the bottomless river.
Seeing Qianhuan struggling for a while and about to sink to the bottom of the river, Liu Tiedan from the neighboring house suddenly appeared, followed by a group of villagers who were working nearby. The villagers rescued the drowning Qianhuan.
At this moment, she was anxious and scared. What if Qianhuan was rescued and told everyone the truth?
Liu followed Doctor Huang to get the medicine and returned soon.
By the time her eldest nephew Liang Wenyong bought other medicinal materials from Renjitang Pharmacy in the county town, it was already getting dark. Liu hurried to the kitchen to boil some medicine and feed it to her daughter.
Qian Hua felt the original owner's mother helping her up and handing the bowl of medicine to her mouth.
Fortunately, although she couldn't speak or move, she still knew how to swallow. In order to wake up as soon as possible, she could only swallow all the medicine while enduring the nausea.
Usually it was Liu who cooked, but today she had no intention of cooking, so Zhu and Liang Laosan's wife Chen prepared dinner together.
Liu was worried about her daughter's health and did not go out to eat. She stayed by her daughter's bed and changed her daughter's cooling towel from time to time.
Liang Laoer was worried about his wife and daughter, so he only ate a few bites of the food.
He walked into the room with a cane in his left hand and a bowl of rice left for his wife in his right hand: "Chunxiang, eat first. I'll stay with my daughter. Don't let her wake up and you fall down again."
Liu raised her hand and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, and said to her husband Liang Laoer: "Dad, the child hasn't woken up yet, and I have no appetite at all now."
"Eat a little bit, don't ruin your body." Liang Laoer still persuaded his wife to eat a little.
Knowing that her husband cared about her, Liu picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started eating. She felt that the food was tasteless, and after a few bites she couldn't eat anymore. Liang Laoer stopped trying to persuade her.
The young couple stayed by the bed and took care of their daughter.
In the east room, Zhu complained to Boss Liang, "I don't know if Qianhuan can be saved. That's the money our Wen Yong used to marry a wife. If she can't be saved, it's better not to waste the money in the first place."
When Boss Liang heard this, he immediately became unhappy. He scolded Zhu, "What are you talking about? The second brother only has one daughter, Qianhuan, in all these years. As long as there is still hope, we should do our best to save her. How can you say such sarcastic words?"
Zhu became even angrier when she was scolded by her husband.
She grabbed Boss Liang's ear and scolded him, "Liang Shifu, you are so bold to criticize me. Our Wen Yong is still unmarried at this age, and you, as a father, are not only not in a hurry, but also side with an outsider. Do you still have a conscience?"
Liang Lao Da usually listened to Zhu's words. When he saw Zhu was angry, he immediately said in a flattering way: "Hey, wife, please be gentle. I am doing this for your own good. If our father heard you say this, he would definitely scold you."
Zhu also understood that she must not let her father-in-law hear this. Today, she just said that her second brother might become a cripple, and her father-in-law got furious.
In fact, how could Boss Liang not be worried about his own son?
In the past, Liang Laoer handed over the money he earned from hunting to his mother, and basically used it to support Wenzhi's studies. The harvest in the past two years was not good, and the family had no surplus grain to sell.
This year, the second son broke his leg and all the money he had earned from hunting was gone, so he still had to use money from his grandfather's house to support his family of three.
After finally having a good harvest and making some money from selling the grain, something like this happened to the second son's child.
Now his son Wen Yong can’t get married again, and he, as a father, is very worried.
Alas, he can only work harder on farm work in the future. Apart from farming, he doesn’t know how to do anything else.