Song Anxin asked Lin Fengnian to get a wooden plank to lift Zhang Mei up.
The two men carried the unconscious Zhang Mei out of the village.
Lin Fengnian frequently looked anxiously at Zhang Mei lying on the wooden board, and his sister-in-law also looked worried.
"Don't worry, she's still alive. I guess she just fainted," Song Anxin reassured them. "However, just in case, we should still go to the county to see a doctor for her."
Sister-in-law Lin also agreed: "However, it takes an hour to walk from Dawu Village to the county. With Fengnian and Fengshou carrying someone, the journey will definitely be slower than usual. Besides, can Fengnian and Fengshou withstand carrying someone all the way like this?"
Song Anxin was also a bit troubled. Although Zhang Mei was quite thin, she was still an adult. It would probably be difficult to carry her all the way to the county like this.
“Mother, we can do it. We’re very strong. It’s alright.” Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengshou said in unison.
Song Anxin shook her head in disapproval, then said to her second son, "Fengshou, go back and see if you can borrow an oxcart from the village. We'll pay for it."
Lin Fengshou agreed and went immediately.
This is an outer village, and farmers usually wouldn't lend their precious oxcarts to strangers. But Song Anxin felt at ease letting her second son go because he was quite clever.
As expected, Lin Fengshou borrowed an oxcart, and everyone quickly lifted Zhang Mei onto it.
"I won't go with you. It'll be faster for the oxcart if there's one less person. Second brother's wife, Zhang Mei is pitiful, beaten like this. You should take her to see a doctor right away. If you don't have enough money, you can pay on credit first. We'll figure out how to raise the money together when we get home," Sister-in-law Lin instructed.
Song Anxin agreed and got into the oxcart. Lin Fengshou was in charge of driving, while Lin Fengnian picked up a large broad leaf from the roadside to shade Zhang Mei and Song Anxin who were lying down from the sun.
With the oxcart, it was much easier and faster. After more than half an hour, Song Anxin and the others arrived at the entrance of the county town.
This was Song Anxin's first time seeing an ancient city gate. It looked quite grand and antique. The three large characters "Ningdu County" were prominently displayed on the gate. There were soldiers guarding the gate, and after a brief inquiry, they were allowed to pass.
Once inside the town, the view broadened considerably, with rows of neat and uniform shops and street vendors hawking their wares. However, Song Anxin and the others had no time to stroll around and drove the oxcart straight to the Ren Shan Hall in town.
Ren Shan Guan was neither too big nor too small. At this moment, there was only an old man practicing medicine inside, and a young apprentice was dispensing medicine next to the medicine cabinet. When he saw Song Anxin and others carrying in a person whose face was covered with injuries, he quickly came forward to receive him.
"Doctor Zheng, come quick! There's someone here who's badly injured," the young apprentice cried out.
Just moments before, Doctor Zheng had been calm and composed. Hearing the shouts, he rushed over to check on her. He glanced at Zhang Mei's eyes, took her pulse, and then breathed a sigh of relief, saying:
"It's nothing serious. Although these injuries look terrible, they are just superficial wounds and nothing to worry about. It's just that this girl is too weak. She has been working for a long time without rest, which has led to a deficiency of qi and blood. In addition, her emotions fluctuated too much, and she was also stimulated by external factors, which is why she fainted."
Song Anxin understood. Simply put, it meant working harder than an ox but eating less than a chicken, and being both exhausted and hungry.
As Dr. Zheng spoke, he glanced at Song Anxin. He knew that some mothers-in-law would mistreat their daughters-in-law, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone beaten like this. This woman looked rough, but she was ruthless when she got going.
Song Anxin knew what the doctor was thinking when he looked at her. She wanted to explain, but she was so tired!
If Song Anxin knew that this old doctor was secretly saying she was rough, she would probably spit out a mouthful of blood.
Just then, Zhang Mei slowly woke up.
"Aunt Lin?"
"The eldest and second eldest sons of the Lin family?"
"How did I get here? Where are my brother and sister-in-law?" Zhang Mei said, her face pale, as she tried to get up, but she had no strength and fell heavily back onto the wooden board as soon as she got up.
Seeing this, Song Anxin quickly helped her up and told her in detail what had happened after she fainted.
Zhang Mei was initially surprised, then tears slowly welled up in her eyes and her body began to tremble slightly: "Thank you, Auntie. You bought me and saved my life. I will serve you like a slave for the rest of my life. No, I will serve you like a slave in the next life too."
Zhang Mei's tears fell uncontrollably, her eyes filled with gratitude.
Before she was divorced, she often heard her mother-in-law speak ill of Lin Ershen in Linjia Village. She originally thought Lin Ershen was not a good person, but she never expected that she would spend two taels of silver to buy her, a half-dead person.
They even brought her to the county to see a doctor. If this kind of person isn't good, then who is? She misunderstood him and only listened to what others said.
Zhang Mei herself didn't realize that she subconsciously filtered out the image of the original owner of the body that was hated by everyone in the village.
Upon hearing this, Dr. Zheng realized he had misunderstood the woman and immediately felt a little ashamed. This woman looked mean-spirited, but he hadn't expected her to be so kind-hearted. The girl crying her eyes out was also pitiful. The little doctor next to her, Tong Nianji, was also crying her eyes out when she heard about Zhang Mei's story.
If Song Anxin heard that this doctor thought she was not only rough but also had a mean face, she would probably want to find a block of tofu to smash her head against.
"Alright, we don't need you to be our servant. We're just looking for a daughter-in-law, what do you think?" Song Anxin said, deliberately teasingly.
Zhang Mei was crying and was a little confused when she heard Song Anxin's words.
“I understand your situation. Don’t worry. It’s because Fengnian likes you. Your aunt doesn’t mind. Fengnian has been begging me at my door for a long time. He will treat you well. Of course, if you don’t want to marry Fengnian, I will never force you.”
In an effort to appear more benevolent, Song Anxin addressed herself as "Auntie." She said, "Eldest son, this is all I can do for you. If Zhang Mei doesn't want to marry, even though I bought her, I really can't bring myself to force her into a marriage."
When Lin Fengnian heard his mother so bluntly express what he was thinking, his face turned red all the way to his ears. At the same time, fearing that Zhang Mei would not want to marry him, he hurriedly said, "Yes, yes... I... I... I will... I will definitely... treat you well..."
Lin Fengnian finally managed to finish a sentence, albeit haltingly.
Faced with this sudden confession, Zhang Mei blushed instantly and whispered, "Did you... secretly come to see me when I was sixteen and unmarried...?"
Lin Fengnian's eyes widened: "How did you know?"
Zhang Mei kept her head down and didn't say anything, her whole body as red as a boiled shrimp.
"Oh, so it turns out that my elder brother and sister-in-law had already fallen for each other. It was all because of Lin Gangzi's family's meddling." Lin Fengshou glanced at his elder brother with a mocking look.
Doctor Zheng, who was standing to the side, could not hold back any longer. Seeing that the good thing had come to fruition, he stroked his goatee and said with a smile, "Then congratulations to the newlyweds. May the newlyweds have a long and happy marriage and have a baby soon."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Mei's eyes darkened immediately, but Lin Fengnian didn't seem to care much and thanked her with a silly grin.
Song Anxin knew what Zhang Mei was thinking. Although she had told her that she didn't care, this matter was still a pain in her heart. Oh well, she would take it slowly in the future and believed that Zhang Mei would figure it out one day.
After thanking the doctor and paying the consultation fee, Song Anxin left with her two sons and her new daughter-in-law, Zhang Mei.
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