☆, Chapter 74: He raised the knife and stabbed Xiao Wu hard!
Xiao Wu hid to the side, watching Doctor Li come out carrying his medicine box.
Uncle Zhou came out limping on one leg, his face full of worry: "Dr. Li, when will my mother wake up?"
Doctor Li shook his head: "I can't say for sure. You'd better take her to Huichuntang to see Doctor Lu. Doctor Lu is highly skilled and has treated many important people in the capital. He says when she will wake up and that's when she will wake up. If he tells you to carry her back, then you should... do your best and leave the rest to fate!"
Dr. Li shook his head and left. Zhou Erbo and the fourth son of the Zhou family came out of the house and asked Zhou Dabo, "Brother, what should we do now? Should we send Mother to Huichuntang?"
Uncle Zhou said in a low voice, "We can send it, but it would be a waste of time. We only have the little silver that the Zhao family sent. Huichuntang charges so much money that you can't get out without spending ten or more taels of silver."
Seeing that his brothers remained silent, Uncle Zhou continued, "Dr. Li is the best doctor in the surrounding villages, and he's a local. Doesn't he know more about the area than that Dr. Lu from the capital? He must have seen many injuries similar to our mother's, and even he said he didn't know anything about them. If we replace them with Dr. Lu, who doesn't know anything, will he treat our mother better?"
Second Aunt came out of the house and whispered, "Doctor Li said that Mother's injuries are too severe. Even if she wakes up, she won't be able to get out of bed and will need someone to take care of her for the rest of her life. I am willing to take care of her, but Mother has always been a strong-willed person. If she wakes up to find herself paralyzed, she definitely won't want to live. If a little trick leads her to commit suicide, then we will lose both money and face. Wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?"
The third daughter-in-law also spoke up: "I think what the second sister-in-law said makes a lot of sense. Of course, we are not our mother's biological children after all, so we can remain calm. Eldest brother, second brother, and fourth brother, you should discuss it again. Whether we send her to Huichuntang or continue to be treated by Doctor Li, I have no objection."
"I have no objection either," the fourth daughter-in-law also stated.
Everyone said they had no objections, but their minds were filled with the fifty taels of silver that the Zhao family had sent yesterday.
Dr. Li charges very little for his consultations, and the prescriptions he writes are mostly based on herbs that are available in the mountains, so they don't cost much. In total, it only costs about an ounce.
Doctor Li explained that these two or three days are crucial, and the medicine cannot be stopped. He will come to observe every day. Even if he charges one or two taels of silver per day, he will only charge three or four taels at most in three days. If the old lady dies, the funeral will cost two taels. At that time, there will be fifty taels of silver, and at least forty taels will be left.
While Aunt Zhou was still alive, the Zhou family did not divide the property. After Aunt Zhou passed away, the brothers would definitely have to divide the property. The forty taels of silver would be divided among the three brothers. No matter how it was divided, each of them would receive at least ten taels.
Ten taels of silver would allow each of them to spend a considerable amount of time.
Moreover, Zhou Mujiao is so good at making money now. Although she is indebted to the Zhao family, the fact that the Zhao family sent money this time must be her idea. She doesn't want to completely sever ties with the Zhou family. When the funeral is held, she will have to continue sending money, right?
If she doesn't give it to them, they'll cry and make a scene. For the sake of their future reputation, she'll definitely give in and obediently hand over the money.
Zhou Mujiao's embroidery workshop has more than thirty embroiderers, each earning half a tael of silver per month. With more than thirty people, that's more than ten taels of silver. When they ask her for three to five hundred taels, it shouldn't be a problem at all.
After dividing the money among several hundred taels, each household would receive more than a hundred taels. With more than a hundred taels in hand, as long as they were frugal, it would be enough for their son to get married and their daughter to marry off. Perhaps if they used it to start a business, the money would multiply several times over. After that, they would move to the county and become city dwellers, no longer farming.
The Zhou brothers looked at each other. None of them really wanted to send Aunt Zhou to Huichuntang, but none of them wanted to be the first to speak up, because the one who makes the decision often has to bear more blame and criticism.
“Brother, now that Mother has fallen ill, you are the eldest brother and you are in charge of this family. If you say you will send a gift, we will send one; if you say you won’t, then we won’t!” said the fourth son of the Zhou family.
Just as Uncle Zhou was about to speak, Aunt Zhou came out: "Send it! Of course we'll send it! Mother is our pillar of strength. If she's not here, our family will fall apart! Our family can't just fall apart like this. For the sake of this family, we'll sell everything we own to send her off!"
“Since it’s your sister-in-law’s idea, let’s send it. Otherwise people will say we don’t want our mother.” The second daughter-in-law spoke up. “Fourth son’s wife, Dr. Li’s family has a cart. Come with me to borrow it. While you’re at it, let him take a look at how to move it so as not to hurt Mother’s wound.”
Doctor Li returned: "We borrowed the cart from another family, and Aunt Zhou shouldn't be moved right now. Observe her for another day. If she hasn't woken up by this time tomorrow, then don't do anything else. We'll try anything, even if it seems hopeless."
This is what Doctor Li said. It's not that they were unwilling to send her to Huichuntang. If Aunt Zhou dies later, it's her fate. They have done everything they could!
Xiao Wu pursed his lips.
Before coming down the mountain, he still had some expectations for this family, but now it seems that the clown is himself.
He came from this family and knew their character perfectly well. Even if Granny Zhou fell down, they would only think about how to get the last copper coin from her. How could they suddenly unite because of Granny Zhou's injury?
Aunt Zhou's current situation, and the Zhou family's current situation, are all their own fault, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
As Xiao Wu was about to leave, he turned around and met a pair of eyes full of malice.
That's his cousin, Zhou Dalang!
Looking at Xiao Wu, who had grown taller and stronger and was wearing nice clothes, Zhou Dalang's eyes were filled with jealousy and hatred.
He is twenty-three years old this year and should have been married long ago. However, his family was too poor to afford a matchmaker. Since he was fifteen, his grandmother and mother had been working hard to find him a wife. They finally managed to sell Liuya for two taels of silver to arrange a marriage. Just when it seemed that the other party was about to marry him, the news of the Zhou family burying Xiaowu somehow reached the girl's family, and the marriage fell through.
Last time they got a lot of money from Liu Ya, but it was as if they were possessed. After returning home, their family members were either injured or sick, and he himself was inexplicably bedridden for half a month, as if he were haunted by a ghost and just couldn't get up.
After all that trouble, he had spent all the money on medicine and medical treatment, leaving him with nothing. As a result, his marriage prospects were ruined once again.
While his peers in the village had long since married and become fathers, he remained a bachelor. The reason he ended up in this situation was because of Liu Ya and Xiao Wu!
If Liu Ya had obediently followed Butcher Zhang back then, how could the Zhou family have tricked and buried Xiao Wu? If the Zhou family hadn't tricked and buried Xiao Wu, he would have gotten married back then!
Zhou Dalang grew angrier the more he thought about it. He regretted not stabbing Xiao Wu first before burying him!
Xiao Wu had an innate fear of Zhou Dalang, and when he saw the murderous intent in Zhou Dalang's eyes, he didn't hesitate any longer and ran away.
"Trying to run?!"
Zhou Dalang drew his wood-chopping knife from his waist: "I'll send you to the Western Paradise right now!"
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