Chapter 76 - 76: 73: Filial Piety
Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family
The scene suddenly fell into silence, with no one speaking.
The faces of Ms. Wang, Ms. Zhao, and others changed from pale to green, and Di Gaoyuanâs face also looked bad.
Only Di Ah-bao seemed unperturbed, yawning loudly, rubbing his eyes, and turning to leave the room: âUgh! Iâm so sleepy, you guys stay here, Iâm going back to sleep.â
As he passed by Liu Sisi, he reached out to pull Di Xuanâs ear, which frightened the two children and made them hide behind Liu Sisi.
Liu Sisi was annoyed and glared at Di Ah-baoâs retreating back, thinking that he had grown up crooked indeed!
What would become of him in the future?
Seeing Di Ah-bao leave, Ms. Wang also wanted to slip away but was stopped by a fierce glare from Ms. Zhao, forcing her to return.
âWhy is it that he, as their son, can leave, but I, as their daughter-in-law, have to stay and serve by my father-in-lawâs sickbed? Iâm not afraid of being laughed at if I say it out loud!â
Naturally, Ms. Wang was not one to be trifled with and couldnât help muttering a few complaints.
âWhat a joke! Who dares to laugh at you, Ms. Wang? Ha!â
Di Ah-bao was Ms. Zhaoâs darling, and when she heard Ms. Wangâs complaint, she couldnât help but scold her loudly: âItâs all because of you, the troublemaker, who keeps stirring up trouble and making a fuss! My husband ended up spitting out blood and passing out, and my Di family must have had bad luck for eight generations to have married such a white-eyed wolf like you!â
âHow am I the white-eyed wolf or the troublemaker? Why donât you talk about your precious baby boy? If he hadnât repeatedly defied Mr. Land Officer, how could Mr. Land Officer have scolded my dad for not disciplining him properly? If Mr. Land Officer hadnât scolded my dad, would my dad have used family punishment?â Ms. Wang retorted without a second thought.
Ms. Zhao couldnât let her daughter-in-law get the better of her and immediately returned the scolding: âItâs you! How come this troublemaker doesnât say that the whole thing started because of you! Thatâs 20 taels of silver, and when it was just a little bit to honor your parents, you pushed and pulled. I think your conscience has been eaten by dogs!â
âThat money is from my family! Why do you want ten taels just by stretching out your hand? Do you think thatâs ten wen? If my conscience had been eaten by dogs, I would have left and been snoring long ago! Why would I be staying here guarding this place?â
Ms. Wang scolded ambiguously, smugly responding: âYour precious baby boy even hit his own father, and then he covered his head and went back to sleep! Such an unfilial son, and you still treasure him! I spit!â
After being accused like this by her daughter-in-law, Ms. Zhao was enraged!
âIf it werenât for your big brother Gao constantly instigating, would my husband have coughed up blood in anger? Let me tell you, Ms. Wang, if anything happens to my husband, this account will be on your headâ¦â
In a short time, the quarrel between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was in full swing.
Their loud quarrels grew louder and louder, while Liu Sisi held her lips tight and hugged the two children, not saying a word.
Seeing the two becoming more and more excessive, she suddenly roared in anger!
âShut up! When are you going to stop?â
Liu Sisi was truly angry!
In her previous life, her parents died early, and she had to rely on her grandfather for survival. She longed to be by her parentsâ side, holding their arms at all times, but her loneliness and hardships from a young age were a pain that would never leave her heart!
Now, the way these two were acting naturally enraged Liu Sisi!
âMy father-in-law is still unconscious, and if you two arenât worried, so be it! But to be standing by his sickbed, arguing loudly, what kind of heart do you have?â
Ms. Zhao and Ms. Wang opened their mouths wide, obviously not expecting Liu Sisi to confront the two of them.
âGood! Who gave you the courage of a bear and a leopard? You actually, actually dare toâ¦â
Ms. Zhao was quite angry, she couldnât believe this wretched woman dared to yell at her here.
âYouâre nothing but a piece of merchandise our Di family spent ten taels of silver to buy! Who do you think you are!â
Liu Sisiâs face was frosty as she scanned everyone.
âWhat if Iâm just merchandise? My father-in-law is still lying in bed, and one of you is his concubine and the other is his daughter-in-law, and you have the nerve to argue here? Do you want to anger him to death?â
Suddenly, she turned around, not giving the two a chance to react, and unexpectedly grabbed a broom by the door, sweeping her sharp gaze over them, her cold voice saying, âIf you dare to make a scene again, donât blame me for being rude to you two!â
âYou?⦠Humph! I wonât yell if I donât want to, who cares!â
Angry, Ms. Zhao and Ms. Wang were intimidated by Liu Sisiâs ferocity. They dared not say more, stared at each other angrily, and sat down in separate places.
Time slipped away quietly.
Liu Sisi ignored the two, and quietly put down the broom, leading the two children to sit down on a long bench next to the door.
In such a situation, it was hard on both of the little children, who were neither noisy nor troublesome.
YingEr somehow curled up in Liu Sisiâs arms and fell asleep, while Di Xuan leaned on her shoulder, sleeping soundly.
Such a sensible child!
After an unknown amount of time, a noisy commotion suddenly came from outside.
Liu Sisi, delighted, hastily woke up the children and went out to meet them.
The figure of a tall man suddenly broke into the main entrance. It was Di Yelei, carrying an elder doctor on his back, stepping into the old house.
Before Liu Sisi could speak, Di Gaoyuan, who had been silent next to her, quickly passed her and approached the doctor.
âAiyo! Itâs the famous Dr. He from the town! Thank you for making the effort to come all this way. Please, come inside quickly. Ms. Wang! Ms. Wang! Quickly serve Dr. He some tea!â
Di Gaoyuan kept shouting, trying to help the elder doctor.
âNo need for the tea! Saving a person is like putting out a fire! Whereâs the patient?â
The elder doctor got off Di Yeleiâs back, shook his limbs, and walked inside.
âHeâs in the wing room! We appreciate Dr. Heâs help in diagnosing my father. Please go ahead!â
As he spoke, Di Gaoyuan swiftly escorted the elder doctor inside.
Di Yeleiâs face was pale, and after setting down the elder doctor, he could not help but fall to the ground, unable to get up for quite a while.
âYe Lei, whatâs wrong?â
Liu Sisi was shocked and hurriedly tried to help him up.
Di Yelei weakly waved his hand, his whole body appearing as if he had just been fished out of the water.
âYe Leiâ¦â
Liu Sisi tried several times but could not pull him up and was terribly worried.
âDad! Dad, are you okay? Dad!â
Di Xuan, who was beginning to understand, saw his fatherâs distress, and with tears in his eyes, he almost cried on the spot.
âI-Iâm fine! I justâ¦ran too fastâ¦â
Di Yeleiâs pale face was dripping with large beads of sweat, and after a long while, he barely responded, smiling faintly: âIâ¦just need to rest for a bitâ¦â
âGet up! Ye Lei, you canât suddenly stop after running so fast. You have to get up and walk a few steps.â
Liu Sisi understood that Ye Lei had run too quickly, and suddenly stopped to squat down to help the elder doctor, causing him to feel dizzy and lightheaded from insufficient blood supply to the brain.
âIâm fine. Iâm catching my breath now. You and the kids stay here, Iâll go in and check on Dad.â
Di Yelei persisted in standing firm and gently squeezed Liu Sisiâs small hand.
Liu Sisi could only let him stagger inside.
âOh! Iâm so tired! This big brotherâs pace is so fast, even with someone on his back! Let meâ¦rest for a while, Iâm exhausted! Oh, oh!â
A medicine pageboy carrying a medicine box finally stumbled into the doorway behind them.
He wiped a handful of sweat off his brow: âFortunately, I came here a few years ago; otherwise, I would have gotten lost.â
Liu Sisi hurriedly approached with an apologetic face: âItâs been tough on you, coming out to see patients so late at nightâ¦how about you take a break in the next room?â
âNoâ¦healing the sick and saving lives is a healerâs duty! My master will need me soon, so Iâll go in first.â
The medicine pageboy protected his medicine box like a precious treasure, barely managing to stand up from the ground and enter the wing room.
Inside the wing room.
âMy father suddenly vomited blood and fainted at night, and he hasnât woken up yet. So weâve asked Dr. He to take a look. How is my father now?â
Di Gaoyuanâs face was full of worry as he ushered in the elder doctor. Ms. Zhao and Ms. Wang on the side were also constantly wiping their eyes, their grief and pain making the onlookers cry.
âDonât crowd in here, everyone go out! Quickly open the window; the patient needs good ventilation while unconscious!â
The elder doctor casually sat down on a stool nearby, flicked his robe, and said, âWorry not! Old me is not tired from the journey. Thanks to that young man who carried me all the way here. If it were up to my pace, I would not have arrived by daybreak. He truly went to great lengths to not even take a break or drink a single drop of water on this trip!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
As he spoke, he directed everyone to open the doors and windows, and, after cleaning his hands, he began to prepare to take the patientâs pulse.