Two days later, Shi Qingluo wanted to drink fish soup, so he went to a river connecting the two villages to catch fish.
On the way, I also heard a few women gossiping.
"Xiao Xiucai from Xiaxi Village is so miserable. He finally passed the exam to become a scholar, but he fell down the mountain and became unconscious. I heard that his family has no money to buy medicine, and I don't know if he can be saved."
"The Xiao family doesn't care?"
"Haven't you heard about the Xiao family yet?"
"I just came back from the town. What's going on with the Xiao family?"
"Xiao Xiucai's father went to serve in the army before, but who knew he would become a general. He came back a while ago and brought a young wife with him."
"I don't know what happened. Mr. Xiao's mother pushed the woman down, and the woman had a miscarriage."
"Xiao Lao Er was so angry that he wanted to demote his wife to a concubine. I don't know how the discussion ended, but they divorced amicably."
"Xiao Xiucai and his siblings followed their mother, and then separated from the Xiao family and lived on their own."
"Xiao Xiucai is a man with a conscience. I heard that General Xiao originally wanted to bring him back to the capital to train him, but he refused and chose to set up a separate household and live with his mother, brothers and sisters."
"This also angered General Xiao, and he wrote a letter of severance of ties with Xiao Xiucai and his sister. They returned to the capital a few days ago, so the Xiao family couldn't possibly do anything about it."
"When Xiao Lao Er went to the army, Xiao Xiucai's mother had a hard time in the Xiao family. She was often scolded by her mother-in-law and bullied by her sisters-in-law. If it weren't for Xiao Xiucai's protection, she would have been tortured to death long ago."
"What a sin! That Xiao Lao Er is really cruel."
"The people in the Xiao family are cruel. Ever since Xiao Xiucai's family died, they have been treating them more and more harshly."
"If it weren't for Mr. Xiao's success in the imperial examination, he wouldn't be able to make the decision for his mother this time."
"What's the point of passing the imperial examination and having a general father? You're going to die soon anyway."
"He used to be a famous scholar in the town. What a pity! Alas!"
After listening to the gossip, Shi Qingluo walked towards the river.
Who knew that as soon as I got nearby, I saw a child drowning in the river.
So he ran over without hesitation, jumped into the river and rescued the man.
After first aid measures were taken, the child opened his eyes after choking on some water.
"Am I not dead?" he asked confusedly.
He originally wanted to catch fish in the river, but his legs suddenly cramped and he drowned. He thought he would die.
Shi Qingluo looked at his confused expression, smiled and patted his head.
"Of course someone rescued you, so you didn't die."
Xiao Erlang looked up and saw his sister, who was covered in water, looking at him gently.
He was not stupid and realized quickly that it was this sister who saved him.
"Thank you, sister. I will definitely repay you for saving my life in the future."
Now he is the only available male in the family.
My brother was already in a coma. If he died, I don’t know how sad my mother and sister would be.
Shi Qingluo looked at the eight or nine-year-old boy and saw how sensible he was, and had a very good impression of him.
"Okay, then I'll wait for you to repay me later."
It's good for a child to have a goal.
"Where is your home? I'll take you back."
Xiao Erlang originally wanted to decline politely, feeling embarrassed to trouble his sister again.
Who knew that when he stood up, his foot suddenly hurt. He could only say embarrassedly: "Then I'm sorry to bother you, sister. My home is in the next village."
Shi Qingluo carried the child on his back and walked in the direction he pointed.
The child’s home is in Xiaxixi Village, just across the river, and there is a wooden bridge to walk across.
Only then did he discover to his surprise that he was actually the younger brother of Xiao Xiucai whom those women were gossiping about.
His brother fell down the mountain and injured his leg, then suddenly had a high fever that wouldn't go away. After taking medicine, the fever kept coming back, and in recent days it got so serious that he fell into a coma.
His eldest aunt and third aunt took advantage of his brother's coma and stole most of the food in the house.
He didn't get much money when the family was divided, and now his family can't even afford medicine.
Her mother went up the mountain every day to pick herbs to make drinks for her brother, while her sister picked wild vegetables to feed the family.
He saw his brother getting thinner and thinner, and heard people say that feeding him more meat broth could keep him alive. Since the family couldn't afford meat, he thought of catching fish and making fish soup.
Who knew that he almost drowned.
After Shi Qingluo understood the situation, he felt quite sympathetic towards the child. It was truly tragic that it rained on top of a leaking roof.
The house that Xiao Erlang's family has been allocated now was once the old house of the Xiao family, so it is located at the end of the village, close to the mountain.
Shi Qingluo carried Xiao Erlang on his back and walked for nearly half an hour before arriving.
A dilapidated courtyard appeared in front of me. There were houses around it, but they were not close.
When I pushed the door open and walked in, I heard two people crying.
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, a middle-aged woman with red and swollen eyes from crying ran out, followed by a girl of about twelve or thirteen who also had red eyes.
When Xiao's mother saw her son who had disappeared suddenly come back, she breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but ask, "Erlang, where have you been? You scared me to death."
Xiao Erlang looked at his mother guiltily, "Mom, I just wanted to go fishing, but I drowned. It was this sister who saved me."
When Xiao's mother heard this, she was almost frightened to death, and her body went limp.
Fortunately, her youngest son was rescued, otherwise what would she do? This is like digging her heart out.
She looked at Shi Qingluo and said gratefully, "Thank you, thank you so much."
She wiped away her tears and pretended to be strong before continuing, "We will definitely repay you for your kindness in the future."
What happened in these days almost crushed her.
If she didn't have several children, she would want to die.
Shi Qingluo looked at Xiao's mother, who was said to be weak and vulnerable, and found that she was indeed soft-hearted. At this time, she was pretending to be strong and calm.
But you can see that she really loves her child. When she heard that her son almost drowned, her expression of nervousness and almost despair was very real.
She smiled and said, "I just happened to see him and saved him. It's nothing."
Xiao's mother was more attentive. Seeing that Shi Qingluo was still wet, she said, "If you don't mind, just put on my clothes first. I'll help you wash and dry them. The sun is strong now, so they will dry quickly."
"It's summer now, but it's easy to catch a cold if your clothes are wet."
Shi Qingluo was indeed feeling uncomfortable with wet clothes. She saw that Xiao's mother was wearing patched clothes, but they were very clean and tidy.
So I nodded, "Okay, thank you for your help then."
Mother Xiao waved her hands hurriedly, "No trouble, no trouble!"
Then she took Shi Qingluo in to change clothes, took out her best set of clothes for Shi Qingluo to change into, and then took the clothes she took off to the yard to wash.
Shi Qingluo changed her clothes and came out, then sat in the yard waiting, chatting with Xiao's mother and the other two.
As a result, a lot of information was extracted from them. It turned out that these three people were too naive.
If the person lying down can't wake up and no one protects him, I don't know how these three people will survive.
Shi Qingluo suddenly had an idea.
After Xiao Xiucai separated from his family, the relationships among the people in the countryside were considered to be very simple.
There is no need for a large family to squeeze together, no grandparents to put pressure on them, no uncles and aunts to interfere, so there will be fewer conflicts and it will be easier for family members to get along with each other. This kind of family is the first choice for marriage.
(End of this chapter)
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