When Mr. Xia left the village head's house, the moon had already risen to mid-sky, but its light was obscured by dark clouds that had drifted in from nowhere. Only a few stars could be vaguely seen.
The village head was afraid that Mr. Xia was absent-minded and might fall and get hurt. He would be held responsible, so he forcefully stuffed the small paper lantern into Mr. Xia's hand and asked him to light the way.
She kept advising him to be more open-minded and be careful on the road.
Old Master Xia nodded in agreement, but his mind was clearly not on this.
Wang Lizheng watched as Mr. Xia left, his steps unsteady but steady. He then locked the door and went back to his room to sleep.
The headman's wife was still awake. Seeing that Old Man Xia had finally left, she asked Wang the headman impatiently:
"Old Man Xia is usually not a tactless person, so why has he stayed in our house for so long today? What happened?"
The village head sighed, slowly took off his shoes, and tucked his slightly cold feet into the quilt.
"Alas, every family has its own troubles! The Xia family has so many things to worry about. There will be more troubles in the future!"
The village head's wife was so upset that she said angrily:
"Go down and wash your feet! You're trying to get away with it again! If you do that again, I'll pull out all your beard!"
The village head hurriedly got off the kang and shouted, "Madam, spare my life! I will go wash up right away!"
Turning around, he muttered quietly, "No one's family's sutras are as difficult as mine!"
…
Old Master Xia didn't go home directly. Halfway through his walk, he turned into the fields to take a look.
The crops in my own fields are growing well.
But no matter how you look at it, they are all in the fourth brother's field, and the wheat seedlings are growing more pleasingly.
The wheat seedlings are thick, upright and dense, and look much taller than the wheat seedlings in my field and the fields of other families.
It is obvious that the conditions in these fields are no different, and the fertilizers applied are not much different.
Could it be that the problem lies in the seeds?
No, I have to ask Fourth Brother Wen about this tomorrow!
Old Master Xia pulled out two weeds in the field, walked around the field twice, and then reluctantly returned home.
If I don’t go to bed now, I might not be able to get up tomorrow morning.
When he got home, Zhou was still waiting for him.
As soon as Old Master Xia told the village head what he had said, Zhou immediately understood:
"As long as Erlang is alright, it's fine. It's not a big deal if he can't come to his senses for a while and becomes estranged from his family. Are you hungry? I've left some dry food in the pot for you. Eat a couple of bites to fill your stomach, and then you can go wash up and go to bed!"
Old Master Xia nodded and could only think so.
Erlang is such a good kid! He must be really sad this time. Otherwise, he would definitely not have failed to send a message home.
Zhou fell asleep. Old Man Xia ate the dry food in the pot, rinsed the bowls and chopsticks with cold water, and put them back into the pot. The old woman would clean them up carefully tomorrow.
He poured some hot water from the kettle on the tea stove, washed his feet, and was about to go to bed when he heard some movement in his daughter's room.
"Jiao, why are you still awake so late?"
"Ah, Dad, I'm thirsty and want some water. What's wrong with you? Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night?"
"Ah, I went to the village head's house to ask about something, and I just got back a short while ago. Why do I hear strange noises in your room? Did you choke on the water? Or did you spill it?"
"I'm fine. I kicked off the covers in the middle of the night. My stomach felt a bit cold. I'll be fine after drinking some hot water."
"Hey kid, how come you're so careless even though you're already grown up? Catching a cold is no joke. Drink some ginger and sugar water!"
"Just drink some hot water now and I'll drink the ginger and sugar water tomorrow morning."
"Okay then, go to bed early!"
"Hey! Dad, go to bed early too!"
Old Master Xia washed his feet, poured out the footbath water and went to sleep.
Xia Yujiao tried her best to cover her mouth, but she couldn't hold back the feeling of vomiting, and in the end she couldn't hold it back.
In fact, she hadn't dared to eat much in the past two days, and had been staying indoors without venturing out. But even if there was nothing in her stomach, she couldn't stop vomiting.
The most important thing is that this matter has no pattern. It always starts suddenly regardless of time, occasion or status.
In order to keep this matter secret, Xia Yujiao hadn't dared to go out for the past few days. She had come up with all kinds of excuses to stay in the house. Every night, she would wait until everyone was asleep before she dared to quietly go to the toilet to deal with her vomit.
However, if this continues, my mother Zhou will definitely become suspicious.
Xia Yujiao's face was very pale.
She looked down at her belly which was still flat and hadn't changed much.
I'm afraid this matter can no longer be concealed.
Fortunately, her family had already broken off the engagement with the Xie family, so she didn't feel too sorry for Xie Jiabao.
I heard that thanks to Doctor Wang’s treatment, Xie Jiabao’s illness has improved a lot.
I believe he will be able to marry a virtuous wife in the future!
Xia Yujiao couldn't help but smile bitterly.
I have fallen into this situation, but I still have the time to worry about Xie Jiabao's affairs. I am really bored!
Jin Yong is not her ideal man.
It was not her wish to come to this point.
But she was completely at a loss and had no idea what to do next.
Xia Yujiao lay on the kang, tossing and turning for a long time. When it was almost dawn, she slowly fell asleep.
The rooster crowed, but Xia Yujiao still hadn't woken up.
Zhou quietly walked into Xia Yujiao's room and placed a bowl of ginger sugar water on the table. She originally wanted to tuck Xia Yujiao in, but unexpectedly saw her wet pillowcase.
Zhou carefully checked Xia Yujiao's room but found nothing. She planned to wait until Xia Yujiao woke up and then ask her daughter why she was crying like this.
Zhou left Xia Yujiao's room with heavy steps.
After she went out, Xia Yujiao opened her eyes.
When Zhou put down the ginger sugar water, she had already woken up, but she was unwilling to open her eyes.
Xia Yujiao has been having trouble sleeping these days.
Not only is it difficult to fall asleep, but even when I do fall asleep I have many nightmares, and I can only sleep for an hour at most before waking up again.
At this moment, Xia Yujiao wished she could hang herself with a rope.
My mother must have become suspicious.
But what could she say to her mother?
Those things were not what she wanted from the beginning; now, she couldn't say a word.
But Jin Yong is now silent and seems to have forgotten all those sweet words... Could it be that the last time he came home, that guy was just bluffing to calm her down and stop her from making a fuss?
She didn't know where the road led, but she didn't want to die like this.
Maybe she can only remain silent.
Whatever, I'm going to die sooner or later anyway. Let's just put it off for a day and count it as a day!
…
While working in the fields, Old Man Xia looked at his sons and finally said to Xia Yougui:
"I've inquired with Li Zheng Wang. Erlang is fine and living a good life now. I heard that someone above him appreciated him and promoted him to a small official position."
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