Chapter 10 Kindness Must Have an Edge
Li Mingfang glanced helplessly at her grandson, pointed at him with her finger, and then went over to rescue Gu Yin.
"Alright, alright, a couple of hits are enough. You still have a head injury!" He then pulled Gu Yin up.
Li Mengxin straightened her clothes, looked at the silent crowd in the courtyard, and forced a smile: "Sorry, I got a little excited."
The people who came were the family of the boy who drowned during the day. The family lived in the center of the village. Today, the whole family went to harvest rice. On the way back in the afternoon, the three children went to play in the water. This was the usual routine, and no one thought that an accident would happen.
Who would have thought that the youngest one would drown today? If it weren't for Gu Jia's daughter, the doctor said that if they had come any later, he would have died. So after dinner, they brought a thank-you gift.
They hadn't expected that their child wouldn't tell the adults about such a big thing. Now that they saw Gu Yin being beaten, they wanted to help but felt embarrassed. To be honest, if it were their child, they would have hit him too. So they could only sit there awkwardly.
Seeing that Li Mengxin had let go, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said with embarrassed smiles, "Not at all, we understand, we understand!"
"That's right, we are really grateful for Ayin's help with Xiaomu's matter today. I know that children are the apple of their parents' eyes. Maybe you parents think she was reckless, but for our family, this fearless act is a lifeline!" Xiaomu's father choked up as he said this.
"Brother Gu, you don't know, we tried every old method, but Xiao Mu just wouldn't budge. I just collapsed there! I didn't even have the strength to stand up. There were so many people around, but not a single one dared to come forward to help!" Xiao Mu's father choked up as he said this. He was really scared to death at the time!
"Of course, maybe they couldn't do anything either, I don't blame them. But do you know what despair is? It's watching a little child slowly grow colder and colder, and you can't do anything about it. You don't know how excited I was when Ayin told me she saw doctors resuscitate drowning people at the hospital! I! I thought I didn't ask for much. Even if he was paralyzed or mentally impaired after being saved, we wouldn't care, as long as he was alive! Really! In that situation, she was a child, and an injured child at that, yet she dared to help! Even if he couldn't be saved, I'm still very grateful to Ayin for her help! I'm not good with words, I don't know how to express how I felt at that time, can you understand?" After saying that, tears and snot streamed down her face.
Gu Qinglang patted his shoulder: "I understand. When A-Le was abducted, I kept thinking that I would do anything to buy him even a few minutes of time. I totally understand! Don't cry. What did the doctor say? When can Xiao-Mu be discharged?"
Xiao Mu's father covered his face, calmed himself down, and then smiled and said, "His trachea has a bit of an infection, and he needs to be observed in the hospital for a week, but it should be fine. His mother is with him, otherwise she would have come today too!" After saying that, he took out a bag of apples, two boxes of milk, two packs of cigarettes, and two bottles of wine.
"We didn't know how to thank you, so we brought some simple things. We hope you don't mind!" After saying that, she turned around and carried two baskets over with Xiao Mu's uncle. Inside were three old hens, a rack of ribs, and a basket of farm eggs.
Gu Jianguo quickly stood up: "Child, this is an act of bravery. If you give him so much stuff, won't it spoil? Take it back, take it back. Xiao Mu is still in the hospital. Shouldn't he eat something good to replenish his strength when he gets back? We're all from the same village, no need to be so formal. Take it back quickly!"
These things are too valuable! There's not much income in the countryside, just from that small plot of land. Once these things are delivered, and the medical expenses at the hospital are paid, Xiao Mu's family won't need to eat meat for six months!
Xiao Mu's father gripped Grandpa Gu's hand tightly: "Uncle! You have to understand me! These things are nothing compared to Xiao Mu! Really! We had some savings at home that we were going to bring, but school starts in half a month, and we can't delay the tuition for the three children, so I shamelessly only brought this much! You have to understand me, Uncle! If they find out I didn't give anything, they'll call me an ungrateful wretch! Uncle! Do you understand?!"
Gu Jianguo nodded: "I understand, but there's no need for so much! Just keep the fruit and milk, take everything else back! Otherwise, people will talk about us!"
After they finished speaking, the two of them pushed and shoved each other, pulling and tugging at each other. Outsiders would have thought they were fighting! Gu Yin's lips twitched as she watched.
In the end, Xiao Mu's uncle couldn't stand it anymore, so he grabbed his older brother and ran away!
The courtyard finally quieted down.
"Adults are so hypocritical. This back-and-forth is like when I'm trying to get a red envelope during Chinese New Year. They give it to me, but I just keep pushing and refusing. Heaven knows how much I really want to take the red envelope and run away!" Gu Shu sighed and then picked up an apple and ran out the door.
Just as he ran out the door, he heard a "smack" on the door. Turning around, he saw that one of his slippers had been destroyed. Gu Shu patted his chest, thinking, "Luckily I ran fast! Otherwise, the back of my head would have been in serious trouble!"
"You little brat, if you have the guts, don't come back tonight!" The old man's chest heaved with anger. He turned around and saw his eldest son, who had just come out of the shower, picking at an apple. He was so angry that he grabbed another slipper and threw it at him: "How do you discipline your children?! Eat, eat, eat! You still have the nerve to eat!"
Gu Qingming bent down to dodge the old man's slippers and hurriedly followed his son out, saying, "I'll go after him and bring him back!"
Seeing her older brother and uncle like this, Gu Yin burst out laughing.
Li Mengxin reached out to grab her.
Gu Yin quickly hid behind her grandmother, pleading repeatedly, "Mom, Mom, I really know I was wrong! I'm so old and you still spanked me. Ah Le is laughing at me. How can I, as the older sister, maintain my authority in the future?"
"You still want to be authoritative! You're like a tiger climbing on the roof if you don't discipline her for three days. I think you've grown bolder from recuperating! Mom, get out of the way. She doesn't know her place if I don't hit her! There are so many adults around, and you think you're so great! Have you thought about the consequences before you go up there?" Li Mengxin trembled with fear at the thought of what would happen to Gu Yin if she couldn't be saved!
"Do you know that a young woman from the next village took her child to someone's house to play mahjong? The baby was only a few months old and couldn't sit still. The host's daughter was watching TV, so the young woman asked her to hold the baby and watch her for a bit. The girl was about eight years old. But the baby kept moving around, and the girl couldn't hold her properly. The baby fell and died on the spot! Then the baby's father took advantage of the fact that no one was looking and secretly took the little girl out and buried her!"
After Li Mengxin finished speaking, she paused for a moment. Seeing that the children were frightened, she said gently, "It's not that I don't want you to do good deeds, but I hope that before you do good deeds, you will consider your own safety and your family, and not act recklessly! I don't want you to pay with your lives!" After saying this, she choked up and went into the house.
The old lady patted Gu Yin on the shoulder, then got up and went into the kitchen.
Gu Qinglang looked at Gu Yin and smiled to comfort her: "Don't blame your mother. That girl used to be her student."
Gu Yin shook her head, got up, and went to Li Mengxin's room.
Li Mengxin was in a daze in the room when she saw Gu Yin come in and waved to her.
Gu Yin sat down next to her, hugged her, and apologized: "I'm sorry, Mom, I've made you worry."
Li Mengxin shook her head and patted her back: "Mom got emotional, but Ayin, you have to know that people's hearts are really fickle. The thing people like to do most is to shift the blame for their mistakes onto others. If that child can't be saved, I can tell you for sure that the rumors will change from that the child drowned to that it was all because Gu Yin was reckless, otherwise the child wouldn't have died. I don't want your kindness to ruin yourself!"
She sighed after saying that, and continued, "Of course, Mom hopes you will always remain kind, but kindness must have an edge, principles, and a bottom line. In that situation, you could have told the adults how to handle it, and let them deal with it. Even if something went wrong in the end, no one would dare to say anything. But you are different. You are a child, and children are often perceived as unreliable. If nothing goes wrong, it's fine, but once something does, you'll be the easy target. Do you understand what Mom means?"
Gu Yin understood perfectly well. No one had taught her these principles in her past life. She had suffered countless times in the mountains. Even if she knew these principles now, even if she had the system, even if she was confident, her mother didn't.
Gu Yin snuggled against Li Mengxin's chest and said, "Mom, I know, I won't do it again."
Li Mengxin sighed: "When I get up in the middle of the night, I often see your grandpa, grandma, dad, and uncle going to your and Ale's window. They stay for half an hour each time before leaving. Although no one says anything, I know that they are still very uneasy, afraid that your return is just a dream and that you still won't be found when you wake up. So, Ayin, don't worry your family. They all love you very much."
Gu Yin nodded, her voice choked with emotion.
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