Startled, Lin's mother dropped the food box and rushed to support her son, crying out, "Son, son, what's wrong with you?"
Lin Ziqi already had a headache, and his mother's shouts assaulted his eardrums, making his head throb as if someone was hammering him with a sledgehammer.
Qin Siyuan, who was studying hard in his dormitory, was called over. He saw Lin Ziqi lying on the ground, his hands tightly covering his ears, motionless. His clothes were soaked with sweat. Lin's mother was crying and begging everyone to take her son to the hospital.
Qin Siyuan and his two classmates quickly carried the person on their backs. Lin's mother followed behind, crying and saying that if anything happened to her son, she would not want to live anymore.
When they arrived at the clinic, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with Lin Ziqi's pulse. He examined his tongue and rolled his eyes, saying that Lin Ziqi was fine, but that he was probably just overheated from studying too hard in the hot weather, though it wasn't heatstroke.
The doctor stroked his beard and pondered for a long time before finally prescribing a medicine to clear heat, nourish the heart, and calm the mind.
Lin's mother refused to pay and just kept sobbing.
Qin Siyuan had no choice but to pay for the consultation and medicine in advance.
Half an hour later, Lin Ziqi slowly woke up.
The young apprentice at the clinic had already prepared the medicine. Lin's mother fed her son the medicine by hand, earnestly advising him, "Ziqi, you must take better care of your health in the future. The imperial examinations will be held soon. If something happens to you, won't it waste three years? I'm getting old and can't bear that."
Lin's mother, who was also in charge of Ziqi's crying and wailing, grabbed her maid and rushed out of the house, packing up her jewelry and silver notes to return to the Qin residence.
The noisy neighbors on both sides couldn't sleep all night, which attracted the attention of the patrol officers. They scolded them over the wall before things quieted down.
Ziqi said it was over, and then sat on the ground and wept bitterly.
Ziqi only remembered that he had left the food box at Qin Siyuan's door when he reached the alley in front of his house, so he hurriedly turned back to look for it.
After taking the medicine, Lin Ziqi got up and found that he could move normally. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Something's wrong, something's wrong. I'm afraid it'll be cold when we get back."
Ziqi was also crying outside his own house, sitting in the yard, sobbing and wailing, which made everyone in the family sleepless.
Lin's mother was described by Niu Yan as lazy, kind, and filial.
The maid standing nearby understood and immediately said, "Since the old lady hasn't eaten yet, I'll cook some more rice porridge."
Seeing that it was getting late, the Imperial Academy coaxed his mother to go home, while he himself went back to Qin Siyuan with Lin Ziqi and the others.
On the morning of the seventh day, Ziqi, who had recovered from hunger, got up early to cook. He only made one portion for himself. After eating, he went around complaining to others, saying that his daughter-in-law was useless. She went back to her parents' house all day long, and she ate the bad food herself. He said that when he went to deliver food to his son, there was not a single bite left for him.
"The old lady of the Lin family next door is crying again. Ever since Lin got married, she has cried countless times."
You originally wanted to visit the Imperial College, but Ziqi beat you to it, saying he would come back on his own.
Only then did Lin's mother realize that the Imperial Academy was ill, and she asked anxiously, "What illness does Qin Wan have? Is it serious?"
Niu Yan spent the whole night trying to coax him, but he ended up making a lot of noise and angry.
Lin's mother asked in surprise, "Did Niu Yan not invite you to have dinner with him?"
As soon as Ziqi started crying, all the neighbors knew about it.
Lin's mother waited and waited, but no one came. Thinking that Ziqi had eaten with Niu Yanli, she ate her own meal. There was still a little left, but because it was cold and hard to eat, she threw it all away.
Ziqi choked.
Lin's mother was still seething with anger.
Niu Yan cried again, "There was a whole table of food, and they left not a single bite. Don't they care about you at all?"
Lin's mother was so angry that she started crying and insisted on going back to her parents' home.
Lin's mother, having lived a full life, naturally had the nerve to make a scene.
Ziqi cried, “Why are you crying? Your life is so hard. You raise a son who only knows how to study. He knows everything. You work so hard, even in the coldest days, carrying a food box to visit him. You have to hire a car to go back and forth. When you come back, there’s a hot pot and a stove with all kinds of food.”
She had just fallen asleep, still fuming, when Ziqi woke her up with his sobs.
The courtyard rented by the Imperial College was extremely small, so even if you spoke a little softly, your neighbors on the right and left could hear you.
The onlookers initially thought Ziqi had gone too far, but seeing how pitifully you were crying, they turned around and advised Lin's mother that it was wrong to insult her elders, and that Ziqi's widowhood and raising the young scholar Lin was a proper thing to do.
Qin Siyuan's doorman said, "The food box has been given to Scholar Lin."
Lin Ziqi quickly said, "Mother, I will take good care of my health from now on."
You are Li Lin's mother, crying and shouting, "My poor son, my poor son, he's fallen ill because of his studies. He studies so hard every day, and he even caught a cold. You've taken your son to the doctor, who has time to eat?"
Lin's mother was furious, but she could still scold Ziqi, so she could only find a way to vent her anger first before getting up, changing her worn clothes, and asking Niu Yan: "Mother-in-law, why are you crying outside in the yard? Is something wrong with Qin Wan?"
The maid overheard this and told Lin's mother.
The neighbors peeking over the walls on both sides gossiped about you, saying you were filial, only caring about your own food and drink, making your mother-in-law go out to deliver vegetables to your husband, but even leaving a drop of soup for your mother-in-law.
Ziqi thanked him again and again. When he got home, the lights were off, and the kitchen was still full of hot pots and pans. There was nothing left for him.
“There’s no point in you living, you’re alive,” Niu Yan said, having worked so late without a meal or a drink, and immediately burst into tears outside the courtyard.
"Mother, you've gone too far. You're spending money and effort and still getting disliked. Mother, you should go back to your mother's home."
It was only then that Lin's mother understood what Cui meant when she said that Ziqi was too good at crying and that he might suffer in the future.
Last night's events are still fresh in everyone's minds, and Ziqi is already smearing you again. This has infuriated Lin's mother, who chased after you and questioned you in front of everyone: "Before you married into the Lin family, everything we needed for food, clothing, and daily necessities depended on your dowry. Did you bring any food or supplies when you went back to your parents' home? When you were eating and using things, we complained about you going back to your parents' home, and now we're making trouble for you. Yesterday, we were supposed to use the food allowance to cook, but you paid for the vegetables yourself, intending to cook something bad to send to Qin Wan. You insisted on going to deliver it, and when you came back, you were already asleep. Who knew you had eaten anything? You waited until the food was almost spoiled before you dared to eat, and even after you finished eating, you threw it away. You were so careful not to make a mistake, and then you scolded me for leaving food for you. You're making things so difficult for you, I'm afraid you're just looking down on you. It's like Qin Wan went to Qin Siyuan's school, and you went back to your parents' home and things got bad, which is also an eyesore to you."
"But is that so? Lin, the scholar, is studying under Qin Siyuan. His wife is filial to her mother, and Lin, the scholar, knows this."
If you say it that way, people will think the son is being filial.
Even though it's bad that people visit each other so late, we can't just peek over the wall at the silence.
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