Li Xiuju stood by Zhou Chenyu's side with heartache, "Baoyu, what about your sister?"
"Mom, don't worry, Dad will definitely not let anything happen to my sister. Leave it to me." Zhou Baoyu ran over excitedly. "Sister, wake up, wake up."
"Baoyu, what's wrong with me?" Zhou Chenyu opened her eyes dramatically.
Zhou Baoyu suppressed a laugh and feigned madness, saying, "Sister, you had a relapse just now, don't you remember?"
"What? I'm having another episode?" Zhou Chenyu glanced around, her gaze settling on the terrified Qian Rushan. "My dear Uncle Qian, what are you hiding there for? Did I have an episode just now and hurt you? Baoyu, help me over there."
“Sister, Father didn’t even give him a kind look, why are you bothering with him? Father should have taken him with him just now.” Zhou Baoyu saw that Qian Rushan was half-dazed, and although he was cursing, he still obediently helped his sister up.
Zhou Chenyu, looking like a sickly beauty, approached Qian Rushan, reached out and touched his cheek, and said aggrievedly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you so much you wet your pants."
When Qian Rushan saw Zhou Chenyu's hands covered in blood, he gasped in shock, his vision went black, and he completely fainted.
"How did he faint?" Zhou Chenyu covered her mouth in surprise, winking triumphantly at Zhou Baoyu. "You know what to do next, right?"
"Alright then." Zhou Baoyu picked up a broom from the side and pointed it at the group of burly men who were paralyzed with fear. "Your master's debt with our family is already settled. What are you still standing here for? Do you expect us to invite you to dinner before you leave? Now take your master and get out of here!"
"Let's go, let's go right now!" Several burly men scrambled to their feet, hoisted the unconscious Qian Rushan onto their backs, and vanished without a trace in no time.
Zhou Baoyu chased after them for half a day, and seeing them leave the village, he hurried home to report the good news, "Mother, sister, they really ran away."
"It would be a bad thing if they didn't run away." Zhou Chenyu looked like she had accomplished something and left without a trace, exhausted and slumped there.
Suddenly, everything fell silent. Li Xiuju watched as the two women coughed up blood and were injured, and as their mother, she felt helpless and could do nothing to help. She covered her face and cried.
Zhou Chenyu is usually quick-witted, but when she sees someone crying, she doesn't know how to comfort them, especially since this person is her "mother".
She sat there, giving Zhou Baoyu a meaningful glance.
Zhou Baoyu hurriedly sat down next to Li Xiuju. "Mother, my sister and I have chased away all the bad guys, and we've torn up the IOU. Why are you crying?"
Li Xiuju looked up, her bloodshot eyes brimming with tears. "If I hadn't signed that note, Qian Rushan wouldn't have swindled so much money from me, they wouldn't have come to collect the debt, and you wouldn't have suffered like this. It's all my fault, all my fault."
“Mother, this is not your fault. Qian Rushan and that wretched uncle knew you were desperate to raise money to save Father, so they deliberately tricked you. Even if this happened to me, I would easily fall for it. Don’t cry. If Father were here, he certainly wouldn’t want you to be like this.”
Zhou Baoyu pulled his hand back, revealing his sleeve, and carefully wiped away the tear stains on Li Xiuju's face.
Zhou Chenyu sat there alone, unsure whether to offer comfort or not.
She coughed. "Have you all finished crying? I'm so hungry, can you get me something to eat?"
Zhou Baoyu smiled and began to whine, "Yes, Mother, my sister is hungry. Please stop crying and make us something to eat."
Since Zhou Chenyu woke up from her illness, she has been either talking nonsense or threatening suicide every day. Today, she actually asked for some food.
Li Xiuju immediately stopped crying and smiled happily: "Then wait here, I'll make you something delicious right away."
After saying that, she hurriedly went into the house. Zhou Chenyu sat in the yard like a big shot, watching Zhou Baoyu pick up a broom and clean up the trash bit by bit.
The sun, hanging over the distant western mountains, resembled a bright red, oily salted duck egg yolk against the backdrop of the rolling mountains.
As darkness fell, white smoke billowed from the chimneys of every household in the village, and farmers carrying hoes returned home after spring plowing.
The aroma of food wafted over from who-knows-where, and Zhou Chenyu's stomach rumbled as she leisurely glanced toward the kitchen.
Li Xiuju came out carrying a large basin of food and shouted happily to them, "Chenyu, Baoyu, dinner is ready! Hurry up and wash your hands and eat!"
What delicious food should we eat?
Let me see.
Zhou Chenyu ran over like a cat, following behind Li Xiuju. When they entered the house, all they saw was a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables that looked like grass, and a pot of porridge mixed with reddish-purple sweet potatoes and rice grains.
"Come on, eat up." Li Xiuju scooped out two full bowls and placed them on the table while they were still hot.
That's it... that's it.
Zhou Chenyu stood there dumbfounded, suddenly feeling an intense longing for the cheap and delicious 15-yuan bowl of Longjiang braised pork trotters rice that she used to always complain about, as well as snail rice noodles, hot pot, rice noodle rolls, and spicy hot pot...
It's over, the lost youth is truly gone forever.
However, she hadn't eaten for two days and two nights, so she didn't care whether the food was good or not; filling her stomach was the most important thing.
Zhou Chenyu picked up the bowl, took a big bite of vegetables, and put it in her mouth.
Zhou Baoyu was pleased to see his sister's good appetite, but when he saw his own bowl and then Li Xiuju's bowl, his smile vanished. "Mother, are we out of rice?"
No rice?
Zhou Chenyu stopped, remembering the takeout she hadn't finished and had thrown away. Compared to the bland soup she was eating now, it was such a waste.
Li Xiuju picked up the bowl, took a small sip, and said, "We're out of rice, but we still have plenty of sweet potatoes, enough to last us for a while. You're at the age where you're growing, so eat more. Your mother is getting old, so it's okay if she eats less."
"How can this be?" Zhou Baoyu snatched the bowl away and gave her half of it.
Li Xiuju's eyes reddened again at the sight of her filial and sensible child. She recalled the difficult days when her husband was sick, when she was so busy taking care of him that she had no time to think about anything else.
Now that the person is gone, those who survived should get their lives back on track.
Her eyes lit up, and she smiled, "Now that spring plowing has started, the bamboo shoots in the forest must have grown a lot. Baoyu, tomorrow morning I'll go into the mountains with you and pick some to sell. Once we've saved enough money, the three of us can fence off that wasteland behind the house, and then plant some vegetables and fruits, and raise chickens and ducks, which will be enough for us to eat."
"If we have any money left, let's buy another piece of land and grow some rice. Life will definitely be better than it is now. What do you think?"
Looking at his mother, whose hair was starting to turn white, and his sister, who was acting strangely from time to time, Zhou Baoyu patted his chest confidently and said, "Mother, your legs aren't good, I can go by myself. From now on, I'll take care of you and my sister."
Zhou Chenyu looked up from the bowl and saw the naivety in his clear eyes.
After much deliberation and struggle, she decided to rely on herself.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com