Chapter 137
That day, Aunt Feng, who had just returned from working in the fields and was carrying laundry to be washed, squatted down and couldn't wait to speak: "Did you hear? Not only did Yin Dazhu and his wife not give money for medicine, they also asked Yin Zheng to go to the mountains to hunt a new roe deer to pay Yin Youcai's tuition!"
The riverside to the west of the village has always been a place where the aunts and ladies in the village gossip.
"Buying medicine?" Aunt Zhang shook the patched clothes in her hands and asked in surprise, "What happened to the kid from the Yin family? Was he beaten by Mr. and Mrs. Yin?"
"Hey." Aunt Li stopped beating the clothes and said, "It was cold a few days ago. I didn't pay attention while working and caught a cold and got a fever!"
"This kid Yin usually looks as strong as a bull, but I didn't expect him to catch a cold after just a few rains."
"Hey, I heard that people who don't get sick all year round will get very sick when they do. I don't know how Yin Dazhu and the others let people go up the mountain to hunt roe deer. Are roe deer that easy to hunt? Last time, Yin Zheng stayed in the mountains for three consecutive days before he caught one."
"Oh my god! I was wondering why I saw Yin Zheng walking so unsteadily this morning. So this is what happened. Didn't he go up the mountain to give Blind Bear more food?"
"I don't know what Yin Dazhu and his wife are thinking, but they keep torturing such a good kid like Yin Xiaozi. If my child was half as good as Yin Xiaozi, I would wake up laughing in my dreams!"
"That's right. Over the years, Yin Xiaozi has earned quite a bit of money, but it was all taken away by the couple. They don't even have enough money to pay for the ox cart ride to town. Even though all that money goes towards Yin Youcai's schooling, it shouldn't be so bad that they can't even afford medicine!"
"It's impossible to dig it out. It's obvious that they are reluctant to dig it out. Not only are they reluctant to dig it out, they are also trying to dig it back out!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, this is going to chill Yin's heart!"
"you do not say!"
Before Yin Zheng went to the mountain, he took Jiaojiao to the village chief's house and asked the village chief's family to help take care of her.
He was worried about leaving Jiaojiao at the Yin family, so he chose to temporarily place Jiaojiao at the village chief's house.
Doing so would not only make him feel a little more at ease, but also allow him to use the village chief's family to spread the news that he had a fever and could not get money for medicine but still went hunting in the mountains, so as to leave the villagers with the impression that he was in a weak position.
Most people sympathize with the weak. Many times, regardless of whether they are right or wrong, they will subconsciously choose to stand on the side of the weak and condemn the strong.
This is the truth that Yin Zheng has figured out through his own experience over the years.
In the courtyard of the village chief's house, Yin Zheng instructed Jiaojiao on many things through words and gestures.
Jiaojiao raised her head and looked at her father with her big, watery eyes. After understanding what her father said, she nodded obediently: "Jiaojiao, be good, no, be obedient."
Yin Zheng's eyes softened, he touched his head, put two boiled eggs into his pocket in front of his belly, and stood up to leave.
Jiaojiao reached out and tugged at her father's trouser leg. Seeing him looking over, she lowered her head and took out a boiled egg from her pocket. She tiptoed to hand it to him and said in a childish and vague voice, "Jiaojiao, Daddy."
Yin Zheng looked down at the egg in his little hand. These past few days, he had deeply experienced Jiaojiao's stubbornness in wanting to share half of the food with him.
He squatted down helplessly and put his hand in front of Jiaojiao in a compromising manner.
A boiled egg was a little too big for Jiaojiao, and his little fingers had to use a lot of force to prevent the egg from falling. Seeing his father squatting down, he quickly put the egg on his father's open palm.
After putting it away, she saw her father was about to take his hand back, so Jiaojiao quickly grabbed his fingers, took out a piece of candy from her pocket and put it in her father's hand.
Looking at the malt candy in her father's hand, Jiaojiao tilted her head, opened the pocket in front of her belly, looked down, then reached out to take the malt candy back from her father's hand and replaced it with a bigger piece of malt candy.
Yin Zheng looked at the piece of malt candy in his hand, which was much larger than the previous one, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
He retracted his outstretched hand into a fist, then poked Jiaojiao's soft face with his index finger.
Jiaojiao, whose face was poked by her father, raised her fair and tender face and earnestly told her father: "Be good, Daddy. Ah Hui, Jiaojiao will wait."
The sunlight fell into the bright, dark eyes, breaking into countless tiny pieces of light. In each of the tiny pieces of light, Yin Zheng's figure was reflected.
Yin Zheng raised his hand and gently touched Jiaojiao's eyelashes. Looking at the hideous scar on his face reflected in Jiaojiao's eyes, his heart sank slightly. He felt that this scene was familiar.
Coming back to his senses, he withdrew his hand and said in a low voice, "Yeah, I'll be back soon."
After he finished speaking, Yin Zheng stood up and walked out. Jiaojiao followed him unsteadily with her short legs, and did not stop until they reached the door. She held the door frame with her little hands, and looked eagerly at her father's back as he left.
Only after Yin Zheng's figure completely disappeared from sight did Old Wang come forward and pick up Jiaojiao. She gently patted Jiaojiao's back with her big hands and said soothingly, "It's okay. Your father will be back soon. Don't cry, don't cry."
Jiaojiao looked up at Old Wang, shook her little head and said seriously, "Jiaojiao, be good, don't whine."
The two sisters-in-law, Chen and Zhao, who were following behind Old Wang, couldn't help but cover their chests. This child is so adorable!
Among the two sisters-in-law, Chen was especially fond of Jiaojiao. She stared at her and was reluctant to take her eyes off her. She felt extremely curious about the child. If she had known that she could find a child in the mountains that day, she would have asked Changqing to go up the mountain no matter what.
Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law's eyes sparkling, Old Wang sighed inwardly and handed Jiaojiao in her arms to her: "Here, hold her too, and try your hand at being a child. Give me a big fat boy next year, too."
Chen hurriedly took Jiaojiao in. As the child's soft body fell into her arms, her heart melted.
Unlike Zhao, who had just entered the family, Chen had been married to Li Changqing for almost ten years. It was no exaggeration to say that Li Changyuan was raised by her, the eldest sister-in-law.
For years, Chen hadn't been able to conceive. She'd tried every remedy and doctor she could think of, and even consulted every fortune-teller in the nearby villages. She even had several statues of the Goddess of Childbirth in her room, which she worshipped daily, but she still hadn't conceived.
Fortunately, the parents-in-law were good people. Although they were anxious to have a grandson, they did not ask Li Changqing to divorce her because she could not get pregnant.
But Chen herself was filled with guilt and anxiety, dreaming of having a child. Over time, she developed an obsession with having a child. Whenever she saw children in the village unable to walk, she would often ask for old children's clothes from the homes of those she knew, take them home, and put them under her pillow, hoping to get a little bit of childishness and get pregnant the next day.
On the mountain, Yin Zheng, who was carrying a roe deer, shook his dizzy head and glanced at the hunter who was holding his breath and waiting for prey not far away.
This hunter is a young man. He is obviously the son of the old hunter at the east end of the village. Among the hunters in the nearby villages, his son is the only one of his age.
When I was hunting before, I heard the old hunter say that his son was too honest and upright, and he was always worried that his son would be bullied after he left.
Thinking of this, Yin Zheng's eyes moved, and he moved his feet and rolled down from a high place.
The sudden sound startled Li Daqiang, who was holding his breath waiting for his prey.
There was such a loud noise, but he was as frightened as a blind bear and his heart was beating fast. He wanted to turn around and run but he couldn't suppress his curiosity. After hesitating for a while, he finally mustered up the courage to look over there.
When he saw that the figure seemed to be a person, he immediately widened his eyes and ran over hurriedly.
Li Changyuan, who was busy working in the fields, caught a glimpse of someone carrying a bloody man on his back, running forward in a hurry. He quickly stood up and looked over. When he found that the person carrying the man was Li Daqiang, he shouted loudly, "Qiangzi, who are you carrying?"
Li Daqiang turned around when he heard the voice and saw that it was Li Changyuan. He quickly said, "It's Yin Zheng from Uncle Yin's family. He's in trouble on the mountain. Come and help him."
Upon hearing this, Li Changyuan was so frightened that he dropped the hoe in his hand. Without even bothering to pick it up, he rushed out of the field and asked, "What happened? How did it become like this?"
"He rolled down the hillside and his foot was caught in a trap. Quickly, tell someone to call Uncle Li."
"Oh oh oh."
Everyone who saw this scene along the way hurried out of the fields and followed behind with anxious looks on their faces.
"Yin Da, why are you still busy in the fields? Your Yin Zheng has been carried back here. He's covered in blood and it's scary to look at him. Why don't you go back and take a look?!" Aunt Li Er came to the fields specially and shouted anxiously at Yin Dazhu and the other man who were waving hoes in the fields.
Hearing her cry, Wu dropped the hoe in her hand to the ground. She turned to look at Aunt Li and asked, "Aunt, what did you say? What happened to Yin Zheng?"
"Something went wrong while hunting in the mountains. I'm not saying this to you, but Yin had a fever. You sent him up the mountain, didn't you? He was just asking for death. Now look what's happened!"
Wu and Yin Dazhu looked at each other, then hurriedly carried their hoes out of the field and walked home.
When Mrs. Wu and her husband returned home, the house was already surrounded by people. Yin Youbai and Yin Youzhi were so scared that they were crying loudly and were being comforted by little Mrs. Wang.
The two men pushed through the crowd and walked in, and at a glance they saw Yin Zheng lying on the bed with pale lips.
The two men were startled and their eyes fell on his bloody calf.
Seeing Yin Dazhu and Wu, the village chief Li Gensheng's face looked very ugly. He stared at the two of them, his loose eyelids covering a little of his eyeballs. He didn't say a word, but he saw that the couple felt panicked.
In fact, Yin Zheng's injuries were not serious, just some superficial injuries. He had twisted the trap loose and clamped it on his leg. In order to prevent being discovered, he had almost taken the trap off his ankle when Li Daqiang came over.
In the past, in pursuit of truth, he would probably have let the trap get caught on his leg, but now that he has Jiaojiao, of course he has to prevent anything that might put him in trouble.
"Third brother, what do you say?" Li Gensheng looked at Uncle Li who was standing beside him.
Uncle Li frowned and shook his head. After Yin Zheng's nonsense, and because of his own old eyesight and the fact that he had only learned the basics of treating bruises and injuries, he was confused.
Unable to tell the severity of Yin Zheng's leg injury, he could only say, "It's quite serious. I can't treat it. We need to send him to the town clinic quickly to avoid any further problems."
"Send him to town for treatment?!" Mrs. Wu couldn't help but raise her voice: "This clinic is so expensive! Who knows how much it would cost. Third Uncle, please treat him again!"
Uncle Li, feeling overwhelmed, shook his head and said, "It can't be cured, it can't be cured. Go to town and get treatment quickly. This injury can't be delayed."
Mrs. Wu frowned. "But I don't know how much it will cost to go to town. What if I don't bring enough money? That would delay things even more!"
"It should cost four or five taels. A few years ago, my cousin broke his leg and was sent to the town for treatment, and it cost four taels and three cents." Li Daqiang said.
"Four taels and three cents?!" Wu's heart trembled when she heard that it would cost so much money.
Seeing that Wu didn't want to pay, Aunt Li couldn't help but say, "Sister, you can't save this money. If you don't treat your leg, it will leave you with a lame leg problem, and you won't be able to do heavy work in the future."
"Yes, if this leg gets damaged, it will ruin my life."
"Yeah, don't be stubborn."
Under everyone's persuasion, Mrs. Wu nodded and promised to treat it, no matter what.
Upon hearing this, Li Daqiang immediately carried Yin Zheng on his back on the ox cart. Wu and Yin Dazhu quickly got on the ox cart and headed towards the town together.
The people in the village lamented that although Yin Dazhu and his wife were usually partial, they were still reliable at critical moments. However, they did not expect that when Li Daqiang and others came back from the town at Youshi, Yin Zheng was the same as when he left and when he came back.
I'm asking for leave, I really am! Humph~
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