Yu Qizhe is the fifth among all the brothers in the Yu family. Family members often call the children according to their ranking.
Yu Qizhe didn't say anything, nor did he stop. He held the bowl of water steadily and walked towards the small house in the corner of the yard.
Old Madam Yu was so angry that she threw the cane in her hand and said, "The good son raised by the second wife is sickly all day long and always goes against me!"
The third wife, Zhao, followed up with gritted teeth and said, "It's just that he won the third place in the imperial examination when he was young. He has been useless all these years and has been taking medicine all day long. The second wife has spoiled him to death!"
Yu Qiaoshan, the boss who was compiling the grain buckets nearby, couldn't stand it and said in a muffled voice, "Fifth brother is held back by his health, otherwise he would definitely pass the exam and become an official."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Yu remained silent. The old man was still hoping that Yu Qizhe would be well enough to take the exam and come back as a juren.
Yu Jiao also heard the voices outside, but they were not very clear. She closed her eyes and forced herself to fall asleep, but she did not feel sleepy at all.
The wooden door creaked, and the small room was once again filled with light. Yu Jiao opened her eyes and saw a coarse porcelain bowl filled with water placed in front of her. The hand holding the bowl was slender and clean, with neatly trimmed nails and fingertips as white as jade. The white wrist was hidden under the wide sleeves of the green shirt.
Yu Jiao glanced at the young man's handsome face, curled her lips and showed what she thought was a very charming smile. Thinking of the lines in the TV series, she boldly teased, "Little brother, my chest hurts, can you feed me?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Qizhe frowned, his lips tightened, and he whispered, "Shameless!"
After he finished speaking, he picked up the bowl of water and turned away.
Yu Jiao let out a soft "eh" in her heart. How come this was so different from the beautiful dream she had imagined? Why was this handsome boy who was as handsome as Pan An so cold to her?
But she was very thirsty. Seeing that the handsome boy was about to leave the hut, she said softly, "Little brother, my ribs are broken and my chest hurts so much that I can't move. Can you bear to see me die of thirst?"
The young man's thin figure turned around, his jade-like face and cold eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, and there was a hint of disgust in his peach blossom eyes. He half squatted down and placed the porcelain bowl heavily on the ground next to Yu Jiao.
"It's better to die." Yu Qizhe whispered a few cold words.
The young man's voice was cold and even though it was a sunny day in May and the sunlight was extremely warm, it could not hide the chill in his eyes like icicles in the morning of winter.
After he finished speaking, he stood up, his long green sleeves rolled up in obvious rejection, and turned to walk out. His green back was like a cloud of green smoke on the colorful river bank. Although he looked a little weak, his back was as straight as green pine and bamboo. His figure disappeared at the closed wooden door, and the light in the small house became much dimmer as the wooden door closed.
Yu Jiao gave a bitter smile, picked up the porcelain bowl on the ground with great effort, brought it to her lips, and gulped down several big mouthfuls. After drinking the last drop, her dry and cracked lips were finally moistened a little.
After quenching her thirst and with an empty stomach, Yu Jiao grabbed the black steamed bun from the coarse porcelain bowl and brought it to her mouth. She was very doubtful whether she would get food poisoning after eating it. She took a small bite hesitantly, tasted the flavor of the mixed flour steamed bun, and then began to eat it slowly.
After relieving her hunger, Yu Jiao closed her eyes again, hoping to wake up and return to the real world.
But the dull pain in her chest and the burning scars on her legs reminded her that this was reality.
True and false, false and true, it's nothing but seeing flowers in the fog and the moon in the water.
Yu Jiao fell asleep again in a daze.
Seeing Yu Qizhe return to his room, Second Housewife Song asked with concern, "How is Miss Meng? Was she seen by your grandmother just now?"
"I'm awake." Yu Qizhe said briefly, then went to the inner room to read.
Yu Mengshan, who was lying on the bed, felt relieved after hearing this and said to Song, "Leave some lunch for Miss Meng secretly."
Song nodded and said, "I'll go cook. If you want to get up and go to the bathroom, call Qizhe."
Yu Mengshan glanced at his wife, his eyes warm, and responded with a smile.
Song also smiled and walked outside.
Yu Qizhe, the only son of the second wife, was born with a weakness and was frail and sickly since childhood, but he was extremely talented and intelligent. When he was twelve years old, he took the imperial examination. Although he won the first place in the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the academy examination, and won the top three prizes and became a scholar, his health was damaged. Since then, his body has been like a sieve, weak and fragile, and he has been suffering from major and minor illnesses all the time. He has taken countless medicines but none of them worked.
The Yu family had an imperial physician in their ancestor's family, but he was later demoted for a crime. The descendants of the Yu family gradually declined, but they were still considered to be in the medical field. However, up to now, the descendants of the Yu family only know a few basic medical skills. Old man Yu still knows some minor medical skills and is a local doctor in the village, but he cannot cure Yu Qizhe's health.
They asked a doctor from the best clinic in the county to examine him, but he concluded that Yu Qizhe was no more than 20 years old. Normal people have vitality and essence in their bodies, which circulate endlessly and nourish the body, but Yu Qizhe's vitality is waning as it is used, and there is no cure unless a great immortal comes down to earth.
But Yu Qizhe was a rare talent. He won the top three places in the imperial examination when he was only twelve years old. Old Master Yu wanted to bring honor to his family. He only hoped that one day Yu Qizhe's health would get better so that he could take the imperial examination again and win fame for the Yu family. That's why he kept spending money on medicine for the second wife.
Song went to the kitchen, washed rice, lit a fire and cooked, but she couldn't help wiping away her tears quietly, feeling very bitter in her heart.
Qizhe was originally from a poor family. He had always been weak and sickly, and the medicine never worked. The old lady and the third wife had long been dissatisfied. But fate played tricks on people. When it rained, it rained. Her husband Yu Mengshan went to the mountains to collect herbs some time ago. He happened to encounter a wild beast and had his leg bitten off. How would the second wife live in the future?
"Second brother's wife, are you cooking? Let me give you a hand." Zhang, the eldest wife's daughter-in-law, had just seen Song Chun coming to the kitchen. She knew that she was going to light the fire and cook, so she followed over to help.
Song wiped the tears from her face and said, "It's okay. I can handle it by myself. You should help mother weave the grain bucket."
Zhang had already walked to the stove to help light the fire. She added some firewood to the stove and caught a glimpse of Song's slightly red eyes. She smiled and said, "Qiaoshan and the third room are here. I'm not a big deal. The wheat harvest will be next month. We can always weave it."
Song didn't say anything else. She skillfully cleaned the pot, poured in a little lard, put the soaked eggplant strips into the pot, added some mushrooms, and started stir-frying.
Amid the sizzling sound of the frying pan, Zhang whispered to comfort him, "Second sister-in-law, you have to look forward to the future. Things will get better. Don't be too sad. The Second House still depends on you to support it!"
Song Chun's nose was sore when he heard this, and he smiled with tears in his eyes, "I know, but why is life so difficult these days? It makes me feel hopeless."
Zhang knew that the second house was in such a difficult situation that any woman would feel miserable. She felt quite sympathetic towards Song's situation and consoled her, "Why don't you have hope? Who knows when the fifth brother will get better. You have to think positively."
"If it can really get better... I would be willing to shorten my life by ten or twenty years." Song was willing to exchange her own life for her son's.
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