Chapter 179 My Family Doesn't Support Idlers
"He actually made me use my broken leg... to do his laundry!"
Zhou Huai'an closed his eyes in embarrassment and said angrily.
Li Nanke looked bewildered.
"Wash...wash clothes?"
"Hey, get this straight, there are not only my clothes here, but also yours. What do you mean by 'helping me wash my clothes'?"
Huang Sheng pointed confidently at Zhou Huai'an's throbbing broken knee.
“Look at this lump of soft flesh on his broken leg, it keeps twitching. I thought, since it’s going to twitch anyway, we might as well use it as a washing stick.”
This way we can save a washing stick; making the most of everything!
Zhou Huai'an's mustache twitched, and a hint of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.
"You know perfectly well that I have a broken leg and can't do anything, yet you still... I am a disabled person, what else is this but bullying me?"
Huang Sheng frowned and looked at Li Nanke.
Are disabled people not human?
Li Nanke blinked and nodded with a smile.
"Of course."
Huang Sheng shrugged.
"Isn't that it? Anyone can do washing clothes. Since you're a human being, why can't you do it?"
Don't give me that disabled person thing, look at me..."
He pointed to his pockmarked left eye and sneered, "So what if you have a broken leg? I've also lost an eye."
"I'm disabled too. Does being disabled mean I don't have to work?"
"You...you're only blind in one eye, you still have one eye to see! But what about me? I've lost a leg, the leg I use to walk!"
Huang Sheng was so angry he laughed.
"Ha, you've lost one leg, but you still have one leg left, right? It's not like you only had one leg to begin with."
"You can see with one eye, but how can you walk with only one leg?"
"Why can't you walk on one leg? Didn't you just hop around?"
"I...you one-eyed bastard, how can you speak so rudely? You have no idea how much I'm suffering! I've not only lost a leg."
I also... my whole family is gone, they're all dead, dead!
Zhou Huai'an suddenly erupted in anger, his deep-set eyes staring intently at Huang Sheng, his eyes reddening as if he wanted to devour him.
"When the dike broke, the floodwaters were devastating, washing away our houses and separating my son's family and my daughter's family."
My husband and I escaped the disaster because we weren't home, but I had my leg broken by a rock that rolled down the mountain.
My wife was taking care of me and didn't have time to look for the children. By the time we found them, they...they were all gone...
Two lines of tears slid down his cheeks. Zhou Huai'an clutched his head in anguish, his voice trembling even more violently.
"My wife couldn't bear the blow and hanged herself that very night."
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't delayed things, the children might have been saved. It's all my fault!"
It's hateful that I can't even hang myself like my wife, to reunite with my family in the afterlife. I... I'm just a useless piece of trash!
Zhou Huai'an seemed to have gone mad, constantly hitting himself.
Li Nanke squatted down beside him, her heart heavy with sorrow.
She wanted to comfort him, but felt that any words of comfort would be inadequate for Zhou Huai'an.
Huang Sheng stepped forward, grabbed Zhou Huai'an by the collar, and almost pulled him up.
His left eye, covered in scars, suddenly loomed in front of Zhou Huai'an, looking even more ferocious.
"You want to compete in misery? Do you think I'm not miserable? Your whole family is dead, but do you think my whole family is still alive?"
My wife, son, and two daughters—they're all dead! They were brutally raped by bandits right before my eyes!
Those beasts, they wouldn't even spare my youngest daughter, she's only seven years old! Only seven years old, do you know that?
I rushed forward desperately, trying to save them, but it was no use, no use at all. They even gouged out one of my eyes and almost killed me..."
Huang Sheng's hand, gripping Zhou Huai'an's clothes, showed prominent veins.
"Do you think I'm not in pain? Stop pretending to be disabled in front of me!"
Zhou Huai'an hadn't expected that Huang Sheng's past was even more tragic than his own. For a moment, he forgot to shed tears and stared at him blankly.
Huang Sheng reluctantly loosened his clothes.
"Let me tell you, in Zhiguan Hall, I'm the one who calls the shots!"
“If you stay here for a day, you have to do a day’s work! Now go and pound the clothes.”
Huang Sheng flicked his sleeves, turned around, and went back to his room.
Zhou Huai'an sat on the ground, motionless, except that his right knee was still shaking rapidly.
After a long while, he looked at Li Nanke and asked hesitantly, "Is everything he said true?"
Li Nanke rested her chin on her hand, looked at him, then at Huang Sheng in the room, and nodded gently.
Zhou Huai'an fell silent again.
Li Nanke said, "Grandpa Zhou, I think what Master Huang said makes sense. I brought you back so that you could repay my kindness."
"It's not to support you. My family doesn't keep idle people. I can't bring you back to repay a debt of gratitude and then send servants to wait on you, can I?"
Zhou Huai'an tugged at the hem of his clothes, looking disheveled.
Li Nanke continued, "So, from now on, you'll have to wash your own clothes, fetch your own food, and make your own bed."
"At most, I can only offer you a walking stick."
As she spoke, she ran to the corner of the yard, picked up a wooden stick as thick as her arm, and then ran back to place it next to Zhou Huai'an.
"Here, take this and get to work."
She clapped her hands and followed him into the house to find Huang Sheng.
"Master, could you please move a small table to the corridor for me? I need to copy books."
Zhou Huai'an listened to the voices inside the house, remained silent for a long time, then picked up a wooden stick next to him and used it to support himself as he stood up.
Then he hopped on one leg to the well and clumsily and laboriously drew up a bucket of water.
Soak the clothes, apply soap, and then place them under your right knee.
The soft flesh on his knee throbbed and slapped against his clothes, even faster than when he swung his arm to pound the clothes.
He used to be a renowned Confucian scholar, and he was always served by others whenever he went out.
Not to mention washing clothes, even dressing them is done by a wife or maid.
This was the first time he had ever done laundry, so he was very slow. It took him a full hour to wash just four pieces of clothing.
He was sweating profusely, but after hopping on one leg to hang the clothes on the line, his long-standing gloomy mood suddenly felt a little lighter.
It turns out that even with a broken leg, he can still do many things.
Even a broken leg can help with washing clothes...
Zhou Huai'an, leaning on a wooden stick, hopped step by step towards the corridor.
Exhausted, he plopped down on the steps, panting heavily.
Their gaze fell on Li Nanke, who was writing with his head down.
The little girl knelt on the prayer mat, her posture upright, diligently copying the Classic of Filial Piety.
The familiar scent of ink lingered in the air, causing Zhou Huai'an to unconsciously sniff and quietly move closer to Li Nanke.
He picked up a piece of paper at random, on which was written: "Be careful in your conduct and frugal in your spending, so as to support your parents."
Zhou Huai'an couldn't help but frown.
Li Nanke put down his pen and deliberately asked, "Grandpa Zhou, can you read?"
Zhou Huai'an quickly threw the paper back onto the table. "How could a refugee like me possibly recognize words?"
Li Nanke smiled slightly and did not expose him.
"Does Grandpa Zhou think my handwriting is beautiful?"
"Of course...it doesn't look good!"
Li Nanke...
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