He's only recovering by getting anti-inflammatory injections. If there's any blood stasis inside, he probably won't survive.

I don't know if this old lady truly loves her son, or if she wants him dead.

After Grandma Ma and the others left, they brought over a bowl containing egg water.

"Don't listen to the doctor's nonsense. It's just a minor injury. Drinking some egg water will heal it! If we go to the hospital now, it'll cost at least several tens of yuan."

"But I feel terrible and can't sleep." Zhou Wen coughed violently. He didn't expect his brother to be so violent, almost killing him.

Furthermore, the villagers didn't help them at all; the eldest brother just brazenly beat them up and left.

He had an affair with a widow, and when his wife caught him, his brother-in-law from her family came but didn't beat him up. Instead, he bluntly asked for money.

Later, after her mother took the family's assets, she was able to successfully divorce her daughter-in-law, ending her first marriage.

After the divorce, he wanted to find another wife, but women with similar family backgrounds and conditions as his ex-wife wouldn't even consider him. So he had to offer more money to find a good one.

Then they set their sights on the eldest brother, saying that he could get married for a few hundred yuan.

That's what the mother and son both thought, but things didn't go as planned. Now they've come up empty-handed and even got a good beating.

Looking at her youngest son's state, Old Mrs. Ma felt a pang of sadness, but the little money she had was her savings for her funeral.

What if I take it to the hospital and something happens to me?

People are selfish; I already helped my younger son clean up his mess last time.

"Just bear with it a little longer, maybe it will get better in a few days."

"But what if I die?" Zhou Wen said loudly, which then triggered a violent cough, as if he felt his lungs were about to come out.

Grandma Ma said, "How could you possibly die? You're so young, you just need to rest. Going to the hospital would just mean getting an IV drip."

Zhou Wen felt extremely uncertain, as he felt his injury seemed to be getting worse.

But now he can't get off the kang (heated brick bed), so he can only lie there, watching his mother feed him egg water spoonful by spoonful, thinking to himself that maybe a nap will make him feel better—

Old Mrs. Zhou cursed Zhou Cheng in her heart. She really wanted to be exposed yesterday, which meant she couldn't go to see anyone in the short term.

Zhou Zhu returned from outside carrying a bottle of wine, glanced at them once inside, and then turned and went back to another room.

Now, whenever I go out, people from the village will gather around and ask me how much money I collected back then.

Then how much money has Zhou Cheng given him over the years?

His business is guaranteed to make a profit.

In short, all sorts of harsh words left him no choice but to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

"Dad!" Zhou Wen called out to the door, but received no response from the old man, and his heart sank.

He knew that his father liked his older brother because his brother was hardworking and had achieved everything he had without relying on his family.

But he wasn't a member of the Zhou family by blood; his parents raised him, and he was obligated to repay them.

Old Mrs. Zhou knew that the old man had bought and drunk the wine, but she dared not speak out against it.

In those days, people could starve to death, and she even went a year or two without menstruation, thinking she couldn't have children.

So when the village chief brought Zhou Cheng over, she liked him from the bottom of her heart.

After receiving that money, the family's financial situation improved somewhat, and she started menstruating again. She became pregnant when Zhou Cheng was three years old.

From that moment on, she changed. After all, everyone loves their own biological child; how could anyone raise a child with whom they have no blood relation?

So she did nothing wrong, and nobody can criticize her!

——

Lu Zhixia had peeled all the grapes on the plate, intending to bring them to the children later. She noticed that Gu Lingxiao was unusually quiet today. He only said a couple of words when he arrived, and then remained silent the rest of the time.

Something was definitely wrong with her. Suddenly remembering that his parents had arrived today, she asked him, "Have you picked them up yet?"

"I received them and have already arranged for them to stay at the hotel." Gu Lingxiao wanted to be honest, but he was afraid that Lu Zhixia would back down and not want to date him anymore.

Lu Zhixia poured the grapes into a plastic bag, tied it up, then put it into a cloth bag, and turned to face him.

"Tell me if something happened. Why are you so silent?"

“Something really happened, they—” Gu Lingxiao said.

Lu Zhixia immediately guessed the general idea, "Is it because they are afraid of me being divorced that they don't agree to you being with me?"

Gu Lingxiao shook his head, "I haven't mentioned your divorce yet, I've only mentioned your age."

Lu Zhixia, "And then they disagreed?"

Speculating is one thing, facing it is another.

Gu Lingxiao said, "Then Xiao Wang told me that my parents might have found me a partner, and I guess that's what I thought too."