30 Tian Yaozu
◎One is old and weak, the other is sick and disabled.
Tian Yaozu was sobbing and wanted to say something, but suddenly there was a loud "bang" and the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground startled him and made him lose his breath.
Tian Nongxi frowned and looked over, only to see Huang, who had just heard her grandson's words, fainted on the ground without a word.
She let Tian Yaozu in and had no time to care about him anymore. She rolled up her sleeves, picked up Huang from the ground, and carried her to the bed by herself.
Tian Yaozu followed closely behind him, crying even louder and louder than when he was crying at a funeral.
Tian Nongxi settled Huang down and was hesitating whether to find a doctor. He turned around and saw his useless brother, and his hands were about to move.
She still held back.
She stretched out two fingers, grabbed Tian Yaozu's collar and led him out of the hut. She squatted down and said to him kindly, "Stop crying. Are you going to disturb grandma?"
Tian Yaozu cried and shook his head, the snot that he hadn't sucked in hung in the air, sparkling in the moonlight, swaying with his sobs like a slick worm.
Disgusted by his own thoughts, Tian Nongxi shuddered and threw a handkerchief to Tian Yaozu with a grin.
Seeing Tian Yaozu sobbing in his handkerchief, she hesitated to speak, "Don't cry... please don't cry, okay?" If he still wanted to cry, could he please raise his head?
Tian Yaozu did as he was told, still holding the handkerchief in his hands.
Tian Nongxi looked at the crystal-clear handkerchief in Tian Yaozu's hand, his face full of black lines. He muttered, "I gave it to you," and then asked, "Why did you come back alone?"
Tian Yaozu kept saying the same thing, talking about divorce over and over again.
After a deep sigh, Tian Nongxi motioned for Tian Yaozu to sit on the stone bench with him and asked, "You came back alone? Where's your second uncle?"
Tian Yaozu hesitated and couldn't explain clearly. Tian Nongxi listened attentively for a while, barely understanding some of his meaning. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Was it the Zhuang family who sent you back?"
Tian Yaozu nodded. "The Zhuang family sent someone to bring me back. Second Uncle, Second Uncle..." He glanced at Tian Nongxi carefully, and seeing that she had no objection, he continued, "He asked me to come back first, saying that he had something to discuss with Aunt."
He pursed his lips, tears welling up again, "Is grandma okay?"
"It's okay, he probably fainted from anger." Tian Nongxi said concisely.
"Do you know why they divorced? Tell me everything you know."
Although Tian Yaozu is only six years old, he is the protagonist of this book after all. After he recovered, he spoke in an organized manner that did not seem like someone of his age.
This afternoon, he should have been sent back to the ancestral hall after attending the funeral, but Tian Nong Le said that the road to the ancestral hall was too far and it was not safe to rush back tonight, so he took him back to the farm and would personally send him back to the ancestral hall tomorrow.
The Zhuang family's house was very big. As soon as he arrived at the Zhuang family's house, Tian Nong Le disappeared, and there was no sign of Zhuang Xueling either. The Zhuang family didn't allow him to wander around, so he had to stay in the house alone.
After an unknown number of hours, he was taken to a strange place, still in the banker's house, but he had never been there before.
Tian Nong Le and Zhuang Xue Ling were waiting for him in the strange house.
"My aunt said, Tianci, your father and I are getting divorced, who do you want to be with?" Tian Yaozu recalled vividly.
"I mean uncle, and they all laughed."
"Laugh?" Tian Nongxi asked while holding up his face.
"Yeah!" Tian Yaozu nodded heavily, certain, "They looked at each other and smiled for a long time."
“…”
After pondering for a moment, Tian Nongxi asked in doubt, "Could it be that the adults made you cry and you sneaked out?"
Tian Yaozu shook his head like a rattle, and eagerly climbed onto Tian Nongxi's little arm, while the latter sat away calmly.
"No, sister, they really want to divorce. There's a divorce agreement on the table." Tian Yaozu continued with a stutter, "Aunt showed it to me and asked me if I knew the words on it. I know my uncle's name."
"Aunt also said that even if I wanted to be with my uncle, it wouldn't work because the adoption list had already been registered with the government."
Tian Nongxi was confused, "Then why did you come back?"
"Uncle told me..." Tian Yaozu kept glancing upward to the left, and finally remembered, "Let me come back and hide for a while."
As he spoke, his voice became tearful again, "They lied to me, they just don't want me anymore."
While Tian Yaozu was crying loudly, he glanced at Tian Nongxi's face through the gap between his fingers. Seeing that she looked normal, he gradually stopped crying.
Hide for a while?
Tian Nongxi seemed to be lost in thought. Her intuition told her that this matter was different from her first reaction.
They divorced not because one party betrayed them, but because of force majeure, which required them to "hide for a while." This force was directed at the banker, so Tian Yaozu was forced to return to the Tian family to hide.
But what force could possibly shake the wealth of the Zhuang family? It was so dangerous that Zhuang Xueling, facing suspicions of an affair, was willing to divorce her husband to protect him and his nephew.
Could it be related to the person Jing Wenshu mentioned yesterday?
Li Ji Pharmacy...
General Manager...Jin Lu...
She muttered the name aloud until her vision was occupied by a waving hand.
Tian Yaozu finally called his sister back to her senses, but he couldn't squeeze out any tears. He just pointed to his rumbling stomach and said, "Sister, I'm hungry."
Tian Nongxi clicked his tongue, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen, threatening Tian Yaozu as he walked, "Since you're already registered, you're a legitimate member of the Zhuang family. Even a divorce can't change that. You can't hide from anything."
When Tian Yaozu found the leftovers covered in a bowl on the stove and took them out, he was still crying silently.
She handed the chopsticks to him, and Tian Yaozu stuffed rice into his mouth while sobbing. His tears fell into the leftovers, and were then brought to his mouth along with the food and swallowed.
Tian Nongxi was stunned.
Tian Yaozu finished his meal in a flash, pushed the bowl in front of Tian Nongxi, who was doing nothing, and said as a matter of course: "Sister, I'm done, you go clean up."
“…”
Tian Nongxi stood up but did not take the bowl away.
She walked to the kitchen and stopped, wrapped the handle of the medicine pot with a rag, poured the bubbling medicine into a bowl she took out from the kitchen, and waved to Tian Yaozu.
"If grandma wakes up, let her drink this. After she finishes drinking it, you can go wash the dishes." This medicine was sent by Madam Qi after she took Huang's pulse. It was said that it could invigorate blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and calm the mind. Huang probably had not opened it, and there was still a full packet left.
Watching Tian Yaozu enter the house holding the medicine, Tian Nongxi stretched his neck and turned to wash up.
She probably walked at least 50,000 steps today and felt sore and weak all over, so she boiled some hot water for herself to soak her feet.
When he was feeling drowsy while soaking, the water temperature gradually cooled down. Tian Nongxi wiped himself dry, stood up and poured out some water. Suddenly, a warm current surged into somewhere in his lower body.
She was stunned, frowned briefly, and then let out a long sigh.
She has been here for more than a month, and her period has not come in this body yet, but she has never forgotten it.
Tian Erniang was malnourished and had her period only once a year, but she was unaware of the dangers of irregular menstruation and never told anyone about it, let alone went to see a doctor.
Now that her period has finally come, it at least proves that her nutrition is adequate, and she no longer has to worry about physical and psychological problems caused by irregular menstruation.
Following her memory, Tian Nongxi found the menstrual belt in the cabinet that looked both troublesome and unhygienic. Her eyes twitched, and she felt even more eager to go home early.
After finally changing, he went to get some hot water to wash his blood-stained pants. After he was done, he lay on the bed, his eyelids drooping. Tian Nongxi felt dizzy and about to fall asleep, but he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen.
She rubbed her palms together to warm them up and covered her belly, finally coaxing herself to sleep when she suddenly heard a commotion in the main house, which was particularly noticeable in the quiet night.
Soon, someone called out in a loud voice, "Second Mother!"
Tian Nongxi was forced to open her eyes and looked at the ceiling helplessly. She unexpectedly found that the missing tile had been replaced at some point. Just as she was stunned, the sound of "tapping" footsteps came closer and stopped at the door. At the same time, a knock sounded, "Sister, grandma is awake and calling you over."
Life is good but hard.
She opened the door with a "swish", and Tian Yaozu finally stopped knocking on the door. He said "Grandma is calling" again with a sad face, without any embarrassment for waking up others.
Tian Nongxi went to Huang's room with a pale face. Before she could say anything, Huang struggled to sit up and took her hand, "Girl, Grandpa said it was you who made the medicine."
Tian Nongxi nodded.
Huang added, "I was already sad when your grandfather died, and now your second uncle has left me. I couldn't handle it and fainted. It's hard for you to run around like this."
"It's late at night, you should get some rest. These are what I should do." Tian Nongxi was very sleepy and didn't want to say more.
There was an empty supply of medicine on the bedside table, and the bitter smell in the room lingered for a long time.
She broke free from the shackles, picked up the bowl and prepared to leave, but was stopped by Huang.
"Take Grandpa to see a doctor tomorrow. The wound on his hand is heartbreaking." Huang took out a torn purse from under the pillow and handed it to Tian Nongxi.
After she said this, Tian Nongxi looked at Tian Yaozu who was sitting next to her, with surprise in her eyes.
Injury? What kind of injury?
Tian Yaozu lowered his head, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing the dense red marks on his forearms.
The strip-shaped wounds were all red and swollen, and looked shocking.
Tian Nongxi took a breath as if he had a toothache.
"Your brother said the teacher beat him. He's always been smart, how could he be beaten like this? And he refused to tell me when asked." Huang couldn't bear to watch any longer and sighed, "It was your aunt who begged your grandfather to take him away. Who would have thought that they would end up like this?"
"A-Zu was beaten like this when he was just a little kid. It's better to divorce him. He won't go to the Zhuang family anymore and can stay at home. We can also raise him to be a scholar like your uncle." Huang murmured.
Tian Nongxi responded with a forced smile.
Huang and Tian Nongle.
One is old and weak, the other is sick and disabled.
I'm afraid I don't even have the energy to support myself, let alone a child who has nothing to do but rely on others for food and clothing.
In a trance, the character Tian Erniang in the book who was eaten and drank blood appeared in my mind.
Tian Nongxi's sneer was hidden in Huang's next words.
"By the way, ask your uncle to come over tomorrow. He didn't even tell me about such a big thing..."
"Okay." Tian Nongxi agreed and postponed the plan of preparing food until after returning home.
She closed the door, took the bowl to the stove and ignored it, her fingertips touching the cold spring water and then leaving.
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