Chapter 58: Weak Breath

The eleventh day of the lunar year was her birthday. On that day, she was out driving with Xue Lianxing. The Lantern Festival was approaching. By then, Ping'an Town would be decorated with lights and colors everywhere. It should be more lively than the Chinese New Year.

Xue Lianxing ordered a bowl of Yangchun noodles at a noodle shop, along with an egg, and brought it to Chen Shiyi.

"You have to run around with me outside on your birthday."

Chen Shiyi took the noodles, took a deep breath, and said, "Hmm, they smell so good."

"My name is a constant reminder of how much my parents dislike me, so I never celebrate my birthday."

Xue Lianxing felt very sorry.

"I had prepared a birthday gift for you, but it seems like it's not necessary."

Chen Shiyi’s eyes widened.

"Then show me quickly. You can skip the birthday, but you must accept the gift."

He took out a silver necklace from his cloth bag. There were three big bells on it. He picked it up and swung it, and there was a sound.

Chen Shiyi was dumbfounded.

This is for a little girl, right? She is already fifteen years old, isn't it inappropriate for her to wear this?

"I was in the Chashui Town next door and saw many girls like you wearing necklaces, silver flower arrangements in their hair, and silver bracelets on their hands. They were very beautiful. I can't afford them now, so I'll get you a necklace first, and then buy you something else when I make money."

Chen Shiyi was very happy to hear this.

This is what it feels like to be loved by your family.

It's nice to have someone thinking of you.

When they were returning, they saw Pei Luoshu at the entrance of Ping'an Town.

He seemed to have been waiting for a long time; his ears were red from the cold and the corners of his mouth were a little chapped.

Xue Lianxing asked Chen Shiyi.

"How about I go back first?"

Chen Shiyi shook his head.

"No, I won't get off the car."

She saw Pei Luoshu slowly approaching the donkey cart, his head slightly lowered, his eyes shining.

"Eleven, can I have a word with you?"

Chen Shiyi sat on the donkey cart and slowly turned his head and spoke.

"Just talk about it here."

Pei Luoshu lifted up the small wooden box that he was holding tightly in his hand. When he opened the box, a beautiful silver bracelet appeared before his eyes.

"Happy birthday, Eleven."

Chen Shiyi looked at the bracelet in silence for a while.

"I'm sorry to have cost you money, but I'm not celebrating my birthday."

Pei Luoshu turned pale when he saw Chen Shiyi reject his gift.

"You don't like it? If you don't like it, I can change to something else."

"Very good. It's not my birthday, so I won't accept any gifts. This is quite expensive. Go back and change the money into silver and give it to Aunt to buy medicine."

Pei Luoshu looked at Chen Shiyi stubbornly, with his hand raised, as if he would not leave unless she took it.

Chen Shiyi couldn't bear it and just said something to the front.

"Brother Xue, let's go!"

Xue Lianxing whipped the car and it moved slowly forward.

Pei Luoshu's eyes were bloodshot, he was in disbelief.

He stood where he was and shouted at the person who was getting farther and farther away.

"eleven!"

Chen Shiyi didn't even turn his head.

Xue Lianxing felt very sorry.

"Mr. Pei looks very pitiful!"

Chen Shiyi murmured.

"But everyone thinks that what I did is right, Brother Xue. In fact, I am more pitiful than him. I fell in love with that silver bracelet at first sight and liked it very much, but I had to pretend that I didn't like it and then hurt others."

The donkey in front growled impatiently.

Chen Shiyi continued.

"Brother Xue, let's take a different route from now on!"

The days of constantly being out delivering goods go by so fast.

Every day was very busy. In addition to the cotton cloth business, they also gradually started to do some other miscellaneous businesses, and slowly, they all showed the same trend as the cloth business.

Xue Lianxing sometimes joked.

"Why don't I just open a grocery store in Ping'an Town? I don't have to work in the sun or rain. It's really hard."

"It's actually quite good for us. It doesn't cost anything. We just go out early and come back late. Sleeping outdoors is nothing. Making money is hard."

They are not going out today.

It was quite windy outside and it was raining heavily. It was really cold.

Chen Shiyi would go to Xue Lianxing's house every day no matter how big or small the matter was.

If she stayed in the courtyard, Mrs. Wen would be very anxious, fearing that she would not go out to make money again.

Chen Shiyi touched the five Xining Pills in his sleeve pocket, thinking about asking Xue Lianxing to give them to Pei's mother later.

They were chatting when suddenly a man came in.

"Old Xue, go quickly. Mr. Pei, the scholar you know, is taking his mother to see a doctor. I heard that she is dying."

When Chen Shiyi heard this, he was immediately panicked and ran straight to the clinic without even bothering to open his umbrella.

Behind him, Xue Lianxing was calling out to Chen Shiyi anxiously, but when he saw that he couldn't get him there, he quickly pulled out the donkey cart, took an umbrella, and ran to the clinic.

When Chen Shiyi ran to the clinic, Pei Luoshu was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing and begging the doctor.

"My mother is still alive, doctor, please save her!"

The doctor was angry and anxious.

"You are a scholar, how can I not make sense of you? My medical skills are limited. You should go to the county town to see a doctor. Maybe I can save him..."

Chen Shiyi quickly hugged Pei's mother with both hands, looked up and spoke to the heartbroken Pei Luoshu.

"Hurry, we have a donkey cart, let's go to the county town."

After saying that, he carried Pei's mother outside. Pei Luoshu woke up in shock and quickly followed him.

Xue Lianxing drove the donkey carriage at a very fast speed in the front, and added a carport to the carriage at the back. Chen Shiyi handed Pei's mother, who was breathing weakly, to Pei Luoshu for holding, and took out an extremely thin quilt from the compartment of the carriage and wrapped Pei's mother up.

"Why is it so serious all of a sudden?"

Pei Luoshu lowered his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

"She's just holding on."

Chen Shiyi's eyes suddenly turned red as he looked at the pale face of the unconscious Mother Pei.

"It will be fine. There are many skilled doctors in the county. They will definitely cure it."

Pei Luoshu raised his head and looked at Chen Shiyi blankly.

Chen Shiyi seemed a little embarrassed, but looked at him firmly.

"You need to be well."

When they arrived at the county town, Pei Luoshu was holding Pei's mother, Chen Shiyi was holding an umbrella for them, and they rushed into the clinic.

There were a lot of people lining up at the clinic. According to Xue Lianxing, the clinic here had the best medical technology in the entire county.

Chen Shiyi quickly shouted to the people inside.

"Doctor, help!"

The doctor who was taking someone's pulse inside raised his eyelids and said without any pain or itching.

“Go get in line.”

Pei Luoshu knelt down quickly.

"Doctor, please help my mother first. She is breathing weakly and unconscious..."

"We have to queue up, too. Everyone is in a hurry. There's even a person with a broken leg who's still waiting."

The three of them couldn't help but feel a little hopeless.

"She's almost dying. Shouldn't we see the one with the most serious illness first?"

The doctor said unhappily.

"Everyone who comes here for treatment is in critical condition."

Chen Shiyi took a deep breath, took out a purse from his pocket, and slapped his hand on the doctor's table.

"Help me save people first."

On the table, there was a pure golden ball.

The doctor glanced at Chen Shiyi with a complicated expression and shouted into the curtain behind him.

"Doctor Shi, please come over and check my pulse. I'm in critical condition."

After saying that, he squatted down and turned over Pei's mother's eyelids, then took Pei's mother's pulse. He pondered for a while, and a trace of regret flashed in his eyes.

"The poison has invaded the bone marrow. He can't be saved. Prepare for his death!"

Chen Shiyi couldn't believe it.

"Doctor, please take another look at her. Why can't she be saved? She's still alive..."

The doctor shook his head, pulled out a silver needle, and injected it into Pei's mother.

"I woke her up and let you see her for the last time!"