71.071 A break can also be a turning point
On the tenth day of quitting smoking, Old Su's mental state visibly deteriorated. He became so irritable that he would only respond when Su Yu spoke to him. His appetite decreased significantly, and his cough worsened.
Su Yu suspected that he didn't smoke and had nothing to do, so he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't ignore even the slightest itching in his throat and had to cough it up to feel better.
That night, Su Yu was awakened again by the coughing in the inner room. She turned on the light bulb, poured a porcelain jar of water from the thermos, and brought it in.
"I woke you up again. Go back to sleep. I'm not thirsty." Old Su leaned against the wall, took the cup and placed it on the bedside table. He coughed a few times and said, "I plan to go back tomorrow. I don't like living in town. I'll go back and chat with your uncle, collect cow dung, and life will be easier." His youngest son suffers here too. He can't sleep well at night and has to work during the day. He even gets up early every day to sneak out and buy pork. He can't feel at ease living a life where he can't go without meat at every meal.
This time, Su Yu didn't object. He sat in the courtyard all day long, becoming more and more listless the more he idled away his time.
"I'll leave the day after tomorrow. I bought some loquat syrup from someone; it's good for the lungs. I won't receive it until tomorrow or the day after. When you get it back, please take it with you so I don't have to make another trip."
Old Su was silent for a while. After watching his little girl walk out, he sighed and said, "Girl, it's not easy to make money. Don't spend it recklessly. It's much better if I have something to do. We are destined to be busy. The more precious we are, the less likely we are to live long."
"It's just a thick paste made from loquat leaves, what's so precious about it? I'll plant a few trees myself next year, brush off the leaves and make it myself, you can drink as much as you want. Is drinking loquat paste something precious? I think you're just too idle and overthinking things."
Hearing the smile on his little girl's face, Old Man Su felt a little more at ease. His wife had been frowning and sighing all the time these days, and he couldn't even bring himself to make a joke.
The next day, Su Yu came home from get off work and took a jar of loquat syrup home. She then went to the hospital and bought dried lily bulbs, instructing the old lady to add a handful to the porridge when she cooked it. The two of them would drink it, as it would soothe their lungs and relieve dryness.
"Then Ping An and Xiao Yuan will take you two back. I won't go. I'll come see you again in a couple of days." Su Yu stood at the alley entrance talking to them. The old man didn't want her to see him off, telling her to focus on her work. Su Yu thought that if she followed, she would nag him, so she simply went along with his wishes.
"Hurry up and go, don't throw away my pipe, I still need it." What he was most worried about was his old companion who had been with him for one or two decades.
"Don't smoke anymore, or I won't give you any more cigarettes."
Old Su turned and left immediately. He realized that if he didn't leave, the youngest son could keep standing there talking.
Su Yu rode her bike fast the whole way, sweat streaming down her face. After stopping her bike, she ran her fingers through her sweaty hair, and it seemed as if all her frustration was released with the sweat. Her brows finally relaxed.
When Yu Yuan'an saw her, he pointed to the side and said, "There's water in the melon patch, why don't you go wash your face?"
"Never mind, I'm too lazy to wash anyway, I'll still sweat later."
"Go take a shower, I have something to tell you." Yu Yuan'an hesitated.
"Okay then." Su Yu glanced at him, then followed him, but he didn't say anything until they reached the melon patch. She didn't urge him either. She found a small melon about the size of a fist in the melon patch, washed it casually, and chewed it whole, skin and all, without even eating the skin.
"Hey, didn't Brother Qiu say Liu Quan was leaving? Why is he still here?" She squinted at the person in the vineyard, confirming that it was indeed Liu Quan.
"The salary is low. Sitting in an office is easy, but the pay is only thirty or forty yuan. He thought it was too little, so he didn't go. He's working at the vineyard now, and I don't take him with me anymore," Yu Yuan'an said absentmindedly.
"Brother Yu, if there's nothing else, I'll head over first. Brother Qiu wants to expand the orange tree planting, and I need to check the soil." After finishing his melon, he still didn't say what was wrong, and Su Yu didn't want to pry.
"Wait a minute." Yu Yuan'an looked around and asked in a low voice, "How is your father? Has he seen any other doctors?"
"No, he still coughs all day long. The main problem is that he's quitting smoking now. He should feel much better once he's out of the habit." Su Yu bought the loquat syrup from Yu Yuan'an. He has a wide network of connections and works in agriculture and forestry, so he can get good quality loquat syrup. She also told him a little about her father's condition.
"Have you thought about taking him to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor?" Yu Yuan'an looked at her expression and continued only after seeing that she was not opposed: "We have known each other for more than two years. I would not have said this if it were not for your own good. Although traditional Chinese medicine is suppressed now, many diseases can be cured by traditional Chinese medicine. The old saying that folk remedies can cure serious diseases is not just made up."
Understanding the unspoken meaning, Su Yu asked eagerly, "Brother Yu, do you know any traditional Chinese medicine doctors who can treat this illness? I've considered seeing a TCM doctor, but I can't find a way and I don't dare to ask around. If you have any ideas, please point me in the right direction. Whether or not you can cure my father's illness, I will be grateful to you."
“My hometown is a small town under Jincheng. I remember there was a very skilled old doctor there, but I don’t know if he’s still alive or if he’s been persecuted. I’ll write a letter home and ask someone to inquire. If he’s still alive, you can take your father to see him. That old doctor is very good at acupuncture and his prescriptions are also good. My father had his stomach problems treated by him.”
"Send a telegram, Brother Yu. I'll pay for it. The faster it goes, the less my father will suffer." Su Yu grasped at this as if it were a lifeline. Western medicine treats the symptoms, while traditional Chinese medicine treats the root cause. If the old man really met a skilled traditional Chinese medicine doctor, even if he wasn't completely cured, just relieving his cough would be enough. Otherwise, with the way the old man was coughing, she was worried that his health would collapse in less than a year.
“Money is a small matter, and I don’t need a dollar or two. Since you’re in a hurry, I’ll go to the county to send a telegram tomorrow.” Yu Yuan’an pondered how to say it more naturally. He didn’t want to ruin the relationship, nor did he want to use this matter to threaten anyone.
"Thank you, Brother Yu." Su Yu quickly expressed her gratitude, and then she said, "Whether it works out or not, I will remember your kindness. If there is anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to do so."
“You really are helpful.” Yu Yuan’an’s dark face flashed with embarrassment. “I’ve always been curious about your method of determining soil acidity, but you’ve always said it’s a talent, so I haven’t dared to investigate. Tell me the truth, is it really a talent?” he said jokingly, but his eyes were fixed on her.
Su Yu smiled, neither refuting nor admitting, letting him guess. To be honest, she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that he was "curious" about determining soil acidity. Why was he so concerned about her father, especially when it involved the dangerous topic of traditional Chinese medicine? She was starting to suspect that his motives were not so good.
Indeed, in the adult world, relationships based on mutual benefit bring a greater sense of security.
"Brother Yu, let's exchange our views on soil identification after we're done with this busy period, so we can learn from each other." Su Yu made a promise.
Yu Yuan'an was satisfied and happy. He withdrew his probing gaze and said with a smile, "You've been busy lately. We'll talk again after you've dealt with things at home. I'll send a telegram to my older brother when I get back. If the old Chinese medicine doctor is still around, you should also ask for leave to take him to see him. That way, you'll be prepared for whatever outcome may be."
"Thanks, Brother Yu. You're busy, but I'll go check on things so Brother Qiu won't think I'm slacking off." Su Yu tossed aside the melon leaves in her hand, got up, and left.
On the other side, after returning home, Old Man Su rested for a while, ate half a bowl of rice, and wanted to go out for a walk. But as he was about to leave, he remembered the loquat syrup his little daughter had prepared for him. Thinking that it was her good intention regardless of whether it was useful or not, he turned back to boil some water and prepared to make two spoonfuls.
"What are you doing?" he asked the two children inside the house in a cold voice.
The girl carrying the jar was startled, and the jar fell to the ground, filling the low earthen house with a cool, sweet aroma.
Su Changguo strode over, pushed his granddaughter aside, picked up the sticky jar, and found that only a small portion of the original jar of loquat syrup remained. A thick layer of syrup had dripped from the outside of the jar onto the ground in a stringy manner.
"Stealing food? You even took the medicine I was taking? When have I ever hidden anything I could eat from you? Huh? You have no conscience!" Su Changguo dragged his granddaughter and grandson out, picked up a cane leaning against the wall, and lashed the two children's bottoms several times while hitting and cursing, "You little brats are rotten to the core, just like your father. I'm coughing like this and none of you have come to check on me, all you remember is eating, cough cough..." He shouted so hard that his throat started to itch again.
"Get out of here, all of you. Don't come into my house." He said disappointedly. After saying that, he took a shovel, scooped up a shovelful of soil, and went inside to cover the spilled loquat syrup. It was heartbreaking. His youngest brother had gone to great lengths to buy it, and half of it was gone before he could even touch it.
The more he thought about it, the more heartbroken he became. He carried the sticky canned food jar into the kitchen, washed off the dirt at the bottom, and scraped all the loquat syrup off the jar into a bowl. He washed the parts that he couldn't scrape off with water, poured the sweet water into a pot, boiled it, and then ladled it into the bowl.
"You old hag, have you no shame? At your age, you beat your grandchildren for a meager meal. I want to see what kind of amazing treasure you have." Mei Danan, still covered in cotton leaves, rushed in, grabbed the jar, opened the lid, smelled it, and handed it directly to her two children. She also smashed the bowl of loquat juice. "You dare hit my children? I won't let you get away with this!"
Old Su glared at the greasy-haired, dark-faced shrew, then glanced at his grandchildren outside the kitchen, who were stirring loquat syrup by hand. He no longer tried to reason with them to ease the conflict as he had done before.
“If you’ve separated from the family, you should act like you’ve separated from the family. Keep your children in check and don’t let them come into my room. Also, my son doesn’t even plan to have any grandchildren. You’re calling me shameless, but don’t raise your children to be shameless little ones.” He spoke sternly and mercilessly, completely blocking his own escape route.
"Also, that's not candy or honey, it's cough medicine that Xiaoyu bought for me. You can take it if you want, and if you get sick from eating it, it's your own fault for being greedy and gluttonous." He continued through gritted teeth.
Mei Danan stared at her father-in-law in disbelief. The shock overshadowed her anger at being scolded. She knew that the two elders disapproved of her, but her father-in-law still loved his grandson, and her mother-in-law was easily swayed and doted on her son and grandson. So she acted recklessly and never thought that her father-in-law would turn against her, that her son would disown her, and that her grandson would no longer be loved.
"Eat, keep eating, are you starving ghost?" Mei Danan darted out, snatched the jar, and smashed it on the whetstone. The crisp sound of the glass vented her inner joy. If I can't eat it, you old codger shouldn't touch it either. She flicked the sticky, filthy stuff off her fingers and said, "You better remember what you said today. When you die tomorrow, don't expect your sons and grandsons to wear mourning clothes for you."
"Okay, I got it. You all remember too, don't step into my room again." He suppressed the dryness and itchiness in his throat, his old face turning red. After everyone left, he plopped down on a small stool, buried his head in his knees, and coughed so hard that his eyes turned bloodshot.
"How did all of this spill?" Yu Anxiu returned from picking vegetables in the garden and saw broken glass and yellowish-brown loquat syrup as soon as she entered the door.
"Who dropped it?" She put down the basket, squatted down, reached out to test it, went into the kitchen to get a bowl and a small spoon, and scraped off the clean layer.
Old Su didn't stop her. He sat by the dimly lit stove, gazing at the sunlit courtyard. After a long while, when the old woman came in, he said, "I have something to tell you. I've fallen out with your son's family and we'll never see each other again. They can't step into my house again. I don't want them to wear mourning clothes when I die. If you don't want that, we can separate and live separately. You can move in with them."
"What happened? How did things turn out like this?" Yu Anxiu was at a loss. She put down her bowl, picked at the stove, and tried to calm things down. "There's no such thing as a grudge between father and son. Don't say such hurtful things. How can you not let your children and grandchildren wear mourning clothes? It's not like we don't have sons."
“I’ve made up my mind. I’ll talk to my four daughters another day, and then they can each lend a hand to bury me. I’ve already disgraced myself while I’m alive, so as long as I have a grave to lie in after I’m dead, that’s fine. Anyway, I won’t know anything once my eyes are closed.” Old Man Su stood up and walked out. “Since you have a different idea from me, come on, let’s divide the money and go our separate ways from now on.”
She never expected this to happen. She had only been gone for a short while when this mess occurred in the house.
"There's still over eight hundred yuan left. After deducting the forty yuan for the coffin, let's split it evenly." Old Su took out his savings, counted out four hundred yuan for her, and then counted out eighty yuan and pushed it over. "I'll definitely go before you, who knows when. When I close my eyes, please secretly give this eighty yuan to my third daughter. Of my four daughters, she's had the hardest time. She has a child who gets sick all the time, and now she has another one who's still breastfeeding. She spends more than she earns. This is for her, so she won't have to beg for money for her funeral."
Yu Anxiu took a deep breath; the air she inhaled was sweet, but she tasted the bitterest flavor of her life. She stared intently at the old man in front of her, trying to detect any hesitation in his eyes, but there was none. He had truly severed ties with his son.
With trembling hands, she pushed the money in front of him and said hastily, "I've followed you my whole life, and I still want to spend my old age with you."
Old Su sighed when he heard her trembling voice, knowing how difficult her decision was. He comforted her, saying, "Your son is heartless, and you can't rely on your grandson either. Staying in touch will only make you suffer. You might as well cut ties and live a few more years in peace."
Every morning, Su Yu would take a stroll through the melon patch before going to the orchard. Finally, on the third day, Yu Yuan'an brought her good news.
“Su Meizi, the old Chinese medicine doctor is still alive and secretly treating patients. You should take your father to see him right away. Here, this is the address.” Yu Yuan’an handed over a piece of paper and instructed, “You need a letter of introduction and train tickets, you know that, right?”
"Understood, I'll leave as soon as my husband's sports car comes back." Su Yu put the paper in her pocket, her face beaming. "Thank you so much, Brother Yu. When I get back from Jincheng, I'll bring my dad to thank you."
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