Chapter 45 You tell your mother, can you leave her behind?
Li Shiyue also heard the argument, but it was just like the argument between Li's grandmother and father before. It was their own family matter, and no one else could interfere.
Therefore, Li Shiyue only got up and glanced in that direction twice before sitting down again.
She whispered to Li's mother, who was cooking porridge nearby, "Mother, I observed carefully today, and most families with sick members drink unboiled water!"
Those families who follow our example and drink water that's been boiled at least three times haven't gotten sick!
Li Shiyue crouched down and whispered in her mother's ear, "But Qin Tao and her family also drink boiled water, so it can only be that Father got it when he went to the prefectural city that day. I wonder what he was doing in the prefectural city."
"I'm afraid he ate it himself."
Seeing Li's mother shake her head at her, signaling her not to say anything more, Li Shiyue turned around and saw Li's grandmother lying on the donkey cart.
Li Shiyue could only nod, then changed the subject: "I wonder how things are in the prefectural city?"
Did the rockets at the city gate drive away the refugees?
Judging from what Doctor Chen in this county town said, every day we linger here increases the danger, so it's definitely best to get to Dengzhou as soon as possible.
Li Shiyue's idea was shared by other villagers in Lijia Village who did not have sick family members.
Dog Lao San brought the porridge, which had cooled down a bit and was no longer scalding hot, to his third aunt. The two ate their dinner in silence.
They lit some mugwort leaves by the fire, and Dog Lao San chatted with his third aunt.
"Poor little lamb, sigh."
The family that Third Aunt was referring to was the one that had just been arguing.
The lamb's parents were killed by refugees that night. Li Youfu took it upon himself to give half of the lamb's family's grain to the lamb's cousin's family, meaning that the lamb would live with them from then on.
However, the lamb drank untreated water on the way and caught a disease. He was young and weak, and his illness was much more serious than that of Li's father. He couldn't even get up now, and all he could do each day was feed him some water.
Therefore, the uncle of the lamb's cousin wouldn't let his aunt brew the medicine for the lamb, even though they had spent money to buy it. The implication was that the lamb couldn't be saved and should just be left to fend for itself.
Although my aunt wasn't a very righteous person, the lamb was still a human life, and they had taken the food from the family. How could they just abandon the child because it was sick? Wouldn't that be like eating people and causing them to die out?
That's how the couple started arguing.
Third Auntie was pitying the lambs, but on this journey of fleeing famine, Third Auntie herself had to rely on her dog Lao San for care, so where would she find the extra kindness to take care of the lambs?
So, Third Aunt was just saying it casually, and after that, she didn't say anything more.
In the end, the lamb was able to drink the medicinal soup that its aunt had prepared. The aunt stroked the lamb's head, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Lamb, you must live, you must live."
At this moment, Li's father also drank the medicine Qin Tao had prepared. The medicine tasted bitter, but adhering to the principle that good medicine tastes bitter, Li's father endured it and drank it all in one gulp.
Qin Tao was very good at handling people. She took out a handkerchief to wipe the corner of Li's father's mouth, picked up a palm-leaf fan, and sat down next to him to fan him.
Qin Tao endured the nauseating smell of sour and medicinal odor emanating from Li's father, carefully maintaining her distance as she fanned him with a palm leaf fan, acting like the most caring wife.
After a while, just when Qin Tao thought that Li's father had fallen asleep, she suddenly heard him say in a hoarse voice, "Tao Niang, don't worry, once I'm fully recovered, I will definitely go to find my mother and get back all the gold that my father left me."
With gold, we'll definitely have a better life from now on!
"Give birth to your baby safely, and let our children go to school. Life will definitely be good!"
Qin Tao is such a good actress. She suppressed her disgust and reached out to hold Li's father's hand. "Wangguang, you just need to focus on getting better now. Once you're better, everything will be alright. Our lives will be better with you in them."
In the short time it took to say those two sentences, Qin Tao's hot tears fell onto the back of Li's father's hand, burning his heart with their intensity.
Therefore, the next day, after drinking the medicine that Qin Tao had prepared, Li's father, supported by Qin Tao, staggered over to find her.
Li Shiyue didn't even bother to drink her porridge. She just stood aside, ready to watch the show and see if the system would give her a mission or something. She really wanted a power pill right now—no, she really wanted a fertility pill as a reward.
Grandma Li sat eating porridge, seemingly oblivious to Li's father and Qin Tao.
Li Wangming sat to the side. He looked up at his father, then lowered his head again, without even calling him "elder brother".
Last time, for the gold and silver left by his grandfather, Li's father actually pushed Li's grandmother away. If Li Wangming hadn't caught her in time, Li's grandmother would have fallen hard.
Therefore, Li Wangming truly harbored resentment towards Li's father.
With a "plop," Li's father knelt down in front of Li's grandmother!
Then, without uttering a single word, he started slapping himself across the face!
"Huh? This turn of events is truly unexpected,"
Thinking this to herself, Li Shiyue stood up and took a few steps forward, wanting to see up close what tricks her father was going to pull today.
One blow after another, even while he was ill, Li's father must have been determined, for every blow was delivered with such realism and force.
How could a mother bear to see this?
Even if Li's father was a scumbag, he was still the son whom Li's grandmother had loved for most of her life.
Therefore, Grandma Li finally put down her bowl. With the help of Li Wangming, she leaned on her wooden cane and came to Father Li. Grandma Li reached out and stopped Father Li's hand from hitting her face.
Her voice was choked with sobs as she spoke: "You unfilial son, you're not hitting yourself, you're hitting your old mother's heart!"
"Mother, I was wrong, I know I was wrong, Mother, please don't abandon me!"
"I know I was wrong, Mother, Mother, sob sob..."
Li Shiyue looked at the mother and son who were crying in each other's arms and curled her lips in disdain. She knew that a leopard can't change its spots. What kind of man would kneel down and beg for forgiveness?
She was his own mother; which woman present could believe Li's father's nonsense?
Or rather, even if Li's grandmother, his biological mother, knew in her heart that Li's father was faking it, she couldn't deny that he was her own son and had truly loved him for half her life.
As the two of them cried, Grandma Li ended up sitting on the ground, half-embracing most of Grandpa Li's body.
"Mother, I'm not going to make it. I'm afraid I'm going to die. I'm going to see Father soon..."
Mother, Mother, I can't bear to leave you! I haven't passed the imperial examinations yet, so I can't ask you for an official title. Mother, sob sob... Mother..."
"And fame and fortune?"
Li Shiyue laughed out loud in her heart.
"He can't even pass the preliminary examination, yet he's thinking about asking for an imperial title. That's really shameless."
"Only the family members of officials of the fifth rank or above could request an imperial decree."
Grandma Li was truly heartbroken. Li's father looked utterly miserable. Not only was he disheveled, but his complexion was no longer flushed; it was pale, and his lips were bloodless. He looked as if he were on his deathbed.
However, Li's father's shouting and crying were quite loud.
But Grandmother Li was so worried that she didn't notice this. She just hugged Li's father and cried, "Don't say that, sob sob, don't let your mother, an old woman, bury her young son!"
"It's just an illness, we'll treat it, we'll take medicine, son, you'll get better!"
Then, at this moment, Li's father stammered that he had no money, as all his money had been spent.
Grandma Li became wary again when she heard the word "money".
Grandmother Li looked up at Qin Tao standing to the side, then lowered her head and asked Father Li, "Wangguang, as long as you give up Qin Tao, then your mother will pay for your medical treatment!"
Tell your mother, "Can you leave her behind?"
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