83.083 Forcibly helping people to wake up

Old Su stood in the courtyard. Hearing the voices outside cease and heavy footsteps return to the neighboring yard, he took a deep breath and walked towards the gate. Seeing his wife squatting outside, the tightness in his chest suddenly dissipated. Looking at the dark figure, he calmly said, “See? This is the son you've protected since he was a child. Before, when he argued and fought with me, you always turned a blind eye, playing the good guy behind my back. With me, the father who yelled and scolded, as a contrast, your son would definitely consider you a good mother. Now that I'm no longer there to stand up for you, you're suffering the consequences, aren’t you? You've enjoyed so many years of comfort; the retribution for not raising your child properly has finally arrived.”

"Yes, retribution has come. You couldn't raise your son well. The root is rotten, and the fruit you bear is crooked and broken. I'm sorry to your Su family. Two generations have been ruined." In the hardest times, the father became the village chief. When conditions improved, the son became a spineless coward. Now, the grandson doesn't even have the hard shell of a spineless coward.

Old Su kept repeating the phrase "The Su family has been ruined for two generations." He thought that the ruin might extend beyond just two generations, but he didn't care anymore. A few years ago, he was also thinking about correcting the next generation. Now he had long since come to terms with it. It would be better not to have had a son if he couldn't raise him well. Compared to a daughter, a son was only good for continuing the family name. He didn't think much of his son.

But surnames are a thing; there are so many people with the surname Su in the world, how could they possibly be extinct? Even ancient emperors couldn't guarantee that their descendants would continue generation after generation. As for burning paper money at graves, ha, those old graves that were dug up by those brats a few years ago have long since turned into fertilizer for crops, and he hasn't seen any ancestors come up to settle scores. It's clear that when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; burning paper money as an offering is just the living creating ghosts in their hearts and mouths. Some people are sincere, some are just saving face.

"Come in." Old Man Su stepped aside to let her into the house, and even helped her up as she stood up. After closing the door, he said, "I feel really bad for you, but seeing that you've also suffered retribution makes me feel much better. As for feeling sorry for the Su family, that's not the case. I have more than one child."

Hearing his words, Yu Anxiu paused in her steps as she walked into the house. She asked in a low voice, "Are you still angry with me?"

"Yes, of course you have. You insisted on living with your son, and even went to great lengths to bring fruit back from your youngest son's house for your grandson. You also managed to get rice, flour, and cooking oil into his stomach. Now you've come back empty-handed after being scolded and cursed, and you can only blame me. I'm not only angry, but I'm also worried. I'm afraid that now that you've been scolded and come back, if someone says something nice to you, you'll be blinded by greed and start sneaking food and drink to feed that ungrateful wretch again." Old Man Su said harshly as he entered the house before her.

Having lived with the old man for forty or fifty years, Yu Anxiu felt terrible to be subjected to such heartfelt complaints in her old age. Her previous sadness and disappointment had turned into shame and embarrassment. She went into the kitchen but didn't boil any water. Instead, she scooped a ladle of cold water from the water tank to wash the paste off her face.

“I will no longer pay attention to Rongbing, and I will not send his son to school anymore,” she said, lying in bed.

"Who knows? You readily agreed when I suggested dividing the family property. You old woman, you're just a fickle old woman. No one can tell if you're saying one thing but meaning another. In the future, your son and grandson will cry to you and soften your heart, and you'll be their sweetheart again." Old Man Su said sarcastically.

This time, Yu Anxiu didn't say anything. She buried her head in the quilt and cried. For Rongbing's sake, she had relied on his not hitting women to cause trouble when she was young. She had been blind and heartless for decades. Now she had become a heartless old thief in the old man's heart. She deserved it.

At night, Old Man Su was awakened by the old woman's mumbling. He sat up and saw that her head was buried in the quilt. He thought she had blocked her mouth and nose, so he quickly pulled the quilt off. But even after the quilt was pulled off, she was still muttering.

"Had a nightmare? Open your eyes, it's dawn." He patted her stomach.

Yu Anxiu opened her eyes with difficulty, listened to the rooster crowing outside, and said, "I dreamed of your parents, and they scolded me all night."

"Oh, you're right," Old Man Su replied uninterestedly, then lay down to continue sleeping after seeing that she was awake.

But Yu Anxiu couldn't sleep. She felt cold and her whole body ached. After lying on the bed for a while, she called out, "Old man, I think I have a fever. Get up and burn some paper money to see if your parents have come."

Old Su sat up and touched her face, finding it covered in cold sweat. Her face was still hot. "You weren't even cold, so why are you feverish? Did you get your clothes wet while washing them during the day, or did you catch a chill after washing your hair?" Old Su ignored her words, got dressed, got out of bed, and went out.

It was probably just past midnight, and he didn't want to bother his neighbors in the middle of the night, so he stood in the yard and called out to the neighbor next door, "Rongbing, Rongbing..."

"Who's calling you in the middle of the night? It's so noisy." Mei Danan rolled over and covered her head with the blanket.

"The voice sounds like an old man. I'll go check on him. You can continue sleeping."

"Your mother has a fever. Do you have any medicine at home?" Old Su asked directly after hearing the noise from next door.

"Why did she develop a fever at this time?" The man irritably pulled at his hair and went back into the house to ask his wife, "Do we have any fever reducers at home? My mother has a fever."

"No, she's really a landlady. At her age, she still needs medicine for a fever. Just pressing her head under the covers to make her sweat will bring the fever down."

“I don’t have any medicine in my room either. My daughter said that if I let my mom bury her head in the blanket and sweat it out, the fever will go down,” he said as he came out from behind the wall.

"Go to your third sister's village now and find the barefoot doctor to get some medicine. Your mother is too old; don't let her die from being suffocated in bed." Old Man Su spoke kindly.

Su Rongbing hesitated, glanced at the sky. The roosters had stopped crowing, and he dared not go out at night. He said in a rough voice, "I have to go to the fields tomorrow. I won't have the energy if I don't sleep. Please cover my mother with an extra blanket to keep her warm. If she still has a fever when it gets light, I'll go get her some medicine." After saying that, he left.

After the sound of shoes hitting the ground faded away, the surroundings were completely silent. The silence felt like it was suffocating. Old Su's ears were ringing. He turned around and went into the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and said, "You heard everything? Your old life is not as important as him getting a full night's sleep."

"I heard it, I heard it all." Yu Anxiu felt cold and aching, and her lips trembled as she cursed, "That black-hearted devil, that bastard will never be any better."

Old Su lit the kerosene lamp, changed back into the shoes he had worn during the day, buttoned up his clothes, and rummaged through the trunk for thick clothes to prepare to go out.

Where are you going?

"Wuhe Brigade, I'll go get you some fever reducer."

"No need to go. Burn two pieces of yellow paper and chant some prayers, then lie in bed and warm me up." Yu Anxiu stopped him in a hoarse voice. Although the road was not far, it was dark, and the old man was old. If he fell and landed in some ditch, no one would be able to call for help. If he fell hard, he would be cold by the time they found him at dawn.

"Boil another pot of water for me. I'll get better faster if I drink more water. Don't go out. If anything happens to you, those girls will hate me to death." She sat up in bed and called out to him.

"I'll go find Qingguo and ask him to make the trip."

"Forget it, don't bother them. I'm much better now. I guess it was your parents who came and scolded me. Burn some joss paper and chant a few words. This stuff won't help with medicine." She understood now that she couldn't rely on her son, so she shouldn't bother outsiders. They had their own families to support.

"If your fever doesn't break by daybreak, I'll have someone take you to town." Old Man Su compromised and burned two pieces of yellow paper by the bedside as she requested. He then took a kerosene lamp to the kitchen to boil water for her.

"I'll sleep for a while, and I'll be fine by dawn. I'm healthy, and I'll recover quickly. I'll take care of you from now on." Those who live nearby are ruthless, while those who are soft-hearted and willing to take care of you are far away. Yu Anxiu realized that in the end, it was still her husband who stayed by her side.

Old Su didn't dare to sleep for the rest of the night. He waited until dawn, when the village roosters started crowing, before touching his wife's forehead again. He had been checking her temperature so frequently that he couldn't be sure if it had gone down.

"Old woman, it's dawn. Get up and get dressed. I'll go to the kitchen and cook two bowls of noodle soup. After we drink that, we'll go to the town hospital." He woke the drowsy woman and only went out after seeing her sit up.

After being cooped up all night, the cold wind mixed with mist as he stepped outside made Old Man Su shiver and immediately perk up.

"Uncle and Aunt, where are you going so early in the morning?" Su Qingguo asked two elderly people on the roadside while slurping porridge at the door.

"Go to town, Qingguo. Yangzi, find someone to take care of things for me for a couple of days. Your aunt has a fever, I'm taking her to the hospital."

"You have a fever? Then I'll take you both there in an oxcart." Su Qingguo put the bowl on the stool by the door, went into the cowshed, and pulled the ox out.

"I'm sorry to trouble you again, Qingguo. I haven't even had a proper meal," Yu Anxiu said somewhat apologetically as she got into the car.

"Oh, it's nothing. We can eat when we get back. Getting medical treatment is the priority. We all have the same ancestors, so don't be so polite."

Hearing this, Yu Anxiu felt even more heartbroken. A nephew who was almost five degrees of kinship with her would put down his rice bowl to take her to town, but her son, whom she had raised for so many years, wouldn't even go to the next village. She was the one who had raised an ungrateful child, and it had nothing to do with anyone else.

"Uncle, should I go and inform my younger sister?" Su Qingguo asked after arriving at the hospital.

“No, she has to go to work. We’re already at the hospital. It’s just a shot. She’s not unable to walk. You should go back now. Once your aunt’s fever goes down, we’ll go back ourselves,” Old Man Su said hurriedly. He didn’t want him to go to his youngest daughter. It was just a fever and a shot. It wasn’t worth her going to the hospital. He couldn’t blame everything on her.

After receiving two IV drips, Yu Anxiu's fever subsided, but she had a bitter taste in her mouth, no appetite, and a rumbling stomach, yet she still said she didn't want to eat.

"Then let's walk back. If you work up a sweat, you'll have an appetite. When we get home, you can cook whatever you want to eat." After paying for the injection, Old Man Su took her out of the hospital.

In the evening, he went to town alone again. Ping An opened the door for him. He looked back and asked, "Grandpa, Grandma didn't come?"

"No, she's having dinner at her son's house, she's not coming over."

Su Yu peeked in and said, "The meat is almost cooked, wash your hands first."

At the dinner table, she asked when her mother's matter would be resolved. "The hotter the weather gets, the less I can leave. I'll take you there as soon as possible while I can take some time off."

"It won't be long. Your mother got scolded again last night. I saw her face getting longer and longer. She'll wake up soon. It'll only be a few days." Old Su said smugly, "After I finish eating the meat, I won't wipe my mouth. I'll take the smell of the meat back with me and make her drool."

Old Su didn't plan to tell his daughters about his wife's fever and illness. They could handle minor illnesses themselves, so he didn't want to bother them. Even if they knew, they would at least have to go back and visit her, but it wouldn't do any good. If his wife cried, and they tried to comfort her, all the pent-up frustration he had managed to build up would dissipate.

Being sick and feeling unwell can help one stay alert, and that's how he felt; he also intended to help the old woman in the same way.