70.070 Concealment
"We're just going to the hospital for a checkup. Why are you packing my clothes?" Old Man Su slapped away his youngest daughter's hand, not allowing her to take it.
“Just go like this, I’ll be right back after one trip to the hospital, I’m not going to be hospitalized.” He shooed her out.
“I was thinking of inviting you and your mom to stay at my house for a few days. Anyway, you two are just chatting with people at home, and you're just killing time. You can help me look after the kids for a few days. They're on holiday and wander around town every day. I'm worried something might happen to them,” Su Yu said patiently, standing at the door.
Su Changguo frowned, looking at Su Yu repeatedly, unsure whether she was lying to him.
"Oh, Xiaoyu's here? What are you all doing?" Mei Danan came in carrying a bamboo basket and asked from the courtyard.
"Is my sister-in-law back from the fields? I'd like to invite my parents to stay at my house for a few days. My older sister said that Dad has a bad cough, so I'm taking him to the hospital to get him checked out."
"They've really got money now. They have to go to the hospital even for a few coughs. They're so precious." Mei Danan felt a pang of jealousy, but she only dared to say a few sarcastic words. This sister-in-law was the one who lived the best life among all the sisters-in-law, and she was the most generous. There was no benefit in offending her.
“Since your youngest daughter has come to pick you two up, then go ahead. Just don’t stay too long, as they’ll be picking cotton in a few days.” She thought she was being very considerate and polite.
"Go find your mother and bring her back. She's talking to your Aunt Chen at the back." Old Man Su sent his youngest daughter away, not wanting her to argue with her sister-in-law.
“Rongbing’s wife, we’re old and can’t work in the fields anymore. We don’t need your help with food and drink, so please don’t assign us two old folks any work,” Old Man Su said calmly to his daughter-in-law.
"If you're so capable, then never count on me. There will come a time when you're bedridden and can't get up."
"If that day comes, I'll smother myself. I can still walk and move, and I'm still suffering from your temper. If I'm bedridden, there's no hope for me. So don't try to sweet-talk me."
Mei Danan, worried that Su Yu might return soon, didn't dare to say anything more. She turned around and left the yard, ignoring the two children standing outside the gate.
"Grandpa, why don't you hit her?" Xiao Yuan no longer calls her aunt. He said, "If my mom were here, she could slap her so hard she wouldn't be able to speak."
"Is your mother that powerful? She can hit people whenever she wants?" Old Man Su sneered, laughing at Su Yu for saying something strange to Xiao Yuan again.
"Really, he did it a few days ago. A few hard slaps, and he didn't dare say a word to the person who was cursing Ping An." Xiao Yuan said excitedly, stretching out his right hand as if to demonstrate to his grandfather.
"What happened?" Old Man Su asked the two children from the steps.
Xiao Yuan and Ping An explained everything clearly, though Ping An, wanting to save face, covered up the fact that his grandmother had stolen his things and that he had been beaten.
"What are you talking about? It's so lively." Su Yu came in carrying a sewing basket, followed by an old lady who was holding a roll of pure black silk fabric.
"You've really made something of yourself by slapping someone, youngest brother."
Su Yu smiled but didn't respond to the ambiguous words, and went into the house with the old lady to pack her things.
"Mom, aren't you taking the clothes you just sewed? I don't think they're finished yet," Su Yu asked.
“No, that’s what your father and I will wear when we get old. It’s unlucky.”
Su Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that "old" meant "dead." Looking at the black silk cloth, which was piled up like a monster, it emitted a black aura that was both intimidating and terrifying.
"If you're too free, make me some clothes. Why make that thing?" Su Yu muttered uneasily as they walked. She suddenly didn't want to take the old man to the hospital anymore; the black cloth seemed like an ominous sign.
"Make it when you're healthy, and air it out every year. It's better than not having it when you urgently need it. Clothes made by yourself fit well and are comfortable." Yu Anxiu had no reservations about Su Yu's feelings. She even told Su Yu how hard it was to get that piece of silk fabric, and that now even if you have money, you can't buy it anymore.
After saying that, seeing that his little girl didn't respond, he turned his head and saw that she looked unhappy, and immediately smiled. "Sigh, everyone gets old eventually. If you're prepared, you can leave in peace. Your father ordered two coffins a while ago. I went to see them. The craftsmen are very skilled. They didn't waste the two good pieces of wood we had stored."
Su Yu felt stifled. The old couple's indifferent attitude made her uncomfortable. Her father was still telling the two children a story in front of her, his voice still loud. She couldn't imagine what it would be like for him to fall down.
"Do other elderly people also prepare things for themselves?" She remembered that when he went to see the old lady, one of the other elderly people was sewing shoe soles, and the other was mending a blue cloth garment.
Yu Anxiu paused for a moment, "They are not as lucky as me. I married a capable man. When I was young, I had extra money to buy good cloth and also bought two pieces of good wood."
That means only her parents are left to prepare for her own funeral. Su Yu felt sad, sad for her two elderly parents. Having a heartless son was the most distressing thing for the old couple. But bound by their old ideas, they still had to consider their son's face in public, all for the sake of their grandson, to ensure the continuation of the family line, and to ensure that someone would burn paper money and kowtow to them after they pass away.
Pitiful and hateful at the same time.
Su Yu swallowed the sarcastic remark about her spoiling her son.
"Let's go, let's go to the hospital to see a doctor right now." Old Su urged them as soon as they got home and hadn't rested for long.
"Let's go in a couple of days." This time, it was Su Yu's turn to be hesitant to go.
Old Su was surprised. He stared at his little girl for a while, then smiled and said, "Let's go today. I'll feel at ease after seeing you. You should go back to work and earn money." Once he decided to come to the hospital for treatment, he never hesitated or regretted it.
"Take me there when the doctor starts work this afternoon," he decided.
Around 1 p.m., Su Yu took the elderly couple to the hospital. At that time, there were no CT scan machines available, and many skilled doctors had been reassigned to lower-level positions. Su Yu went directly to the doctor who had examined Er Ya's bones that time.
"My dad has a bad cough. He coughs the most when he gets up in the morning, goes to bed at night, and at night. He coughs all day long during seasonal changes." This is what Su Yu found out from the old lady.
"Take off your clothes and sit down." The old doctor pressed on Su Changguo's chest, and as soon as he applied pressure, Su Changguo coughed so hard he couldn't straighten up. When the doctor touched his throat, Su Changguo couldn't take it anymore and coughed so hard he felt like he wanted to cut his throat open.
"It's a bit serious. You can't smoke anymore, buddy. You need to watch your diet. No more smoking or alcohol." After washing his hands, the doctor asked, "Do you usually have a fever? Does your cough produce blood? Do you have phlegm? Is there blood in your phlegm?"
"Where's your sister-in-law? Are you living and eating with him? Have you been coughing?"
“No fever, dry cough, little phlegm and no blood, she doesn’t cough, we eat and live together,” Su Changguo replied.
The doctor gave Su Yu a prescription and said, "I can only determine that your father doesn't have tuberculosis. He's your father, right?"
"It's my father."
"Yes, tell him to stop smoking. He absolutely has to quit. His cough is quite bad, and if he doesn't quit, he might not be able to eat. That would be terrible."
Su Yu asked him to check her mother again, and the result was that she was very healthy, had a strong voice, and her eyesight and hearing were not poor. When asked about her appetite, the result was that her digestion was also good. She was not at all the same age as Su Yu.
After getting the medicine and taking the elderly couple home, Su Yu made an excuse to go out to buy groceries and then returned to the hospital.
"It's you? What brings you here again?"
"Um, doctor, I'd like to ask about my father's specific situation. Is there any possibility that his health will improve after he quits smoking?"
"The cough should get a little better, but it won't be cured. As long as you're alive, you'll keep coughing."
"Is it just a simple cough, or will it affect my lifespan?" Su Yu asked hesitantly.
He tapped the table twice and said, "Judging from the force I just used, your father definitely has a problem with his lungs, but I can't find out exactly what it is. Even if I could, there's no cure. His health isn't very good either. My advice is to feed him well, let him move around more, and let him get better. Nobody can say for sure how long it will take, whether it's three, five, or ten years." Of course, there's also the possibility of a year or two.
Su Yu left the hospital looking dejected. When she saw the old man coughing so hard his face turned red after the doctor pressed on his trachea, she had a bad feeling. The old man had a serious lung problem, which would be difficult to cure even in her time, let alone in this era.
Su Yu went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a piece of pig liver and two pieces of tofu, planning to go to the black market the next morning to see if she could buy pig lungs.
Before even entering the house, Su Yu could hear the old man talking to his two children in a relaxed tone. She stretched her cheeks, pushed open the door, and saw the three of them squatting on the ground, weaving something.
"You've been out grocery shopping for so long?" Old Su looked up at her as the door opened, his eyes full of curiosity.
"I was delayed a bit by buying tofu. When I went there, a whole block of tofu had just been sold out. I had to wait for someone to deliver it again before I could buy it." Su Yu pretended to be a little unlucky, as if expressing her displeasure at this coincidence.
"What are you teaching them to weave?" She leaned over and walked to the old man's side, but then moved away in disgust. "It's too pungent. It's making my nose itchy."
"Xiao Yuan, Ping An, your grandpa hasn't been smoking, has he?" She stared at the old man scrutinizingly.
"No."
"No, I'm watching him," Xiao Yuan reported, sounding like a little spy.
"Dad, please remember what the doctor said, you're not allowed to smoke anymore," Su Yu pleaded.
Seeing her series of actions, Old Man Su relaxed his tense nerves. She probably didn't go back to the hospital, which meant that his physical condition wasn't as bad as he had thought.
"Did you hear what I said?" Su Yu said loudly, then, as if she had thought of something, she said to herself, "I don't really trust you. You'll stay at my house for a while longer. I'll have Xiao Yuan and Ping An keep an eye on you. You won't be allowed to go back until you quit smoking."
Old Man Su was unhappy. "I have legs. I can walk back by myself."
“I’ll bring you back after you go back. If you don’t come, I’ll spread rumors in the village that you have tuberculosis. Hmph, then you won’t be able to go back to the village.” Su Yu said smugly.
Old Su frowned, but felt quite pleased. The older people get, the more they are disliked, but to his youngest daughter, he seemed like someone worth fighting for and someone still useful.
"Old man, stop smoking your pipe. Put it away and take it with you when you're buried," Yu Anxiu added, trying to persuade him.
"Here you go." Su Changguo handed the pipe strapped to his waist to Su Yu. "I'll give it to you for now. When I get old, remember to put it in my hand."
Su Yu swallowed hard, took it, and assured him, "I definitely won't lose it, so please don't buy a new one."
"The new one isn't good enough; it can't compare to my old buddy." Su Changguo sighed with a smile. He always said he wasn't afraid of death, but now it seems he was still afraid of dying.
The next day, Su Yu asked Qiu Fuli for help and bought two cans of malted milk powder from the county. After that, she inquired about milk powder coupons, but milk powder was in short supply and was only available through special approvals, so Su Yu was unable to buy any.
"Why are you giving me this stuff? It's for little babies, I won't drink it, don't waste your money." Old Su chewed on peanuts, refusing to drink the malted milk powder. These days, he chewed peanuts when he had a craving for cigarettes, and he had finished most of the basket of peanuts. He didn't want to spend money on food anymore.
“You and Ping An and Xiao Yuan should both drink it, and my mom should too. It’s good for your health, so you can go back to work for your son sooner.”
“Then I’m definitely not drinking it. I need to get my body in order to go back to work,” he retorted.
"Fine, don't drink it then." Su Yu poured the malted milk powder into her own stomach, and before going to bed that night, she made two cups and brought them to the old couple's bedside. "I've put them here. If you don't want to drink them, then let the mosquitoes have them."
“You child, don’t waste money. This kind of expensive stuff isn’t for us people. Don’t buy it,” Yu Anxiu said.
"Does food have to be divided into high and low, expensive and cheap? If I can afford it, you can afford to drink it. Stop nagging, your nagging makes me unhappy." Su Yu lay on Ping An's bed, staring at the glaring light bulb.
"Xiao Yu, do you think I won't live much longer?" Su Changguo suddenly asked.
"Huh? What?" Su Yu pondered how to answer without knowing the answer.
"Then why have you been buying this and that these past few days?"
"I'm just rewarding you because I see you're having a hard time quitting smoking. It's not just for you; there's been a lot going on at home lately, and we haven't been eating well. I'm also helping Xiaoyuan and Ping'an get better. Don't overthink it. Just quit smoking. I'll let you go back home once you've quit."
Su Yu didn't plan to tell anyone else about this. She would pretend that she hadn't heard anything about it. In the absence of a cure, a positive attitude and relatively good health could support the unsuspecting old man to live for a few more years. By the time CT scans became available, the old man's health might have already improved.
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