The sun was high in the sky at the train station.
Su Xiangbei and Jiang Xue stood at the exit of the train station waiting for Su Xiangnan.
Before long, Su Xiangnan appeared in the crowd.
But when they saw him, so thin and frail, sitting in a wheelchair, with a beautiful woman following behind him, Su Xiangbei and Jiang Xue froze on the spot, their faces full of astonishment.
Su Xiangnan sat quietly in his wheelchair, his face haggard, his cheeks deeply sunken, his eyes empty and filled with an indescribable sense of despondency, as if he had experienced a great calamity and his spirit had been drained away.
"My wife, Gu Xue." His voice was low and brief, introducing the woman beside him without a trace of emotion.
Gu Xue seemed oblivious to the oppressive atmosphere, giving Su Xiangbei and Jiang Xue a sweet, innocent smile.
Su Xiangbei and Jiang Xue exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and deep confusion in each other's eyes.
There's something off about Gu Xue; she seems a bit dim-witted!
As soon as she stepped out of the train station, Gu Xue's eyes were fixed on the candied hawthorns sold on the roadside, and she couldn't take her steps.
Her eyes were full of longing as she pulled on Su Xiangnan's wheelchair with both hands, muttering, "I want to eat."
They looked so pitiful, with big, watery eyes that seemed to speak volumes, and their innocent gaze evoked pity in people.
Su Xiangnan looked up and glanced at Su Xiangbei and his wife, who were muttering to each other, and said, "Brother, sister-in-law, it's not too much to buy your sister-in-law a candied hawthorn on our first meeting, is it?"
Su Xiangbei quickly ended his private conversation with Jiang Xue, stepped forward, bought a candied hawthorn and handed it to Gu Xue, saying, "Of course, a candied hawthorn is nothing. Buy whatever you want to eat, sister-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xue's face instantly darkened, and she felt extremely displeased.
If it weren't for the compensation money Su Xiangnan had, she wouldn't bother with this pretense.
However, in order to get the money, I'll just have to bear with it for now. It's just a candied hawthorn; I'll just consider it as feeding the dog.
Jiang Xue forced a smile and moved closer to Gu Xue, trying to get on her good side: "Sister-in-law, what a coincidence! We both have the character 'Xue' in our names. Are you hungry? Hurry home, I've prepared a feast to welcome you back."
Gu Xue was enjoying her meal when she saw Jiang Xue smile, so she smiled too, mumbling, "Okay, okay! Let's go home for dinner."
Meng Family
In the Meng family's courtyard, Meng Shuyun was busy cooking in the kitchen, while Su Xiuju squatted beside the earthen stove, adding firewood to the firebox and talking about what was happening at the hospital.
"Mom, you're really amazing! That old lady Zhao ended up leaving in a sorry state, without gaining anything." Su Xiuju said with a smile, her face full of pride.
"And also, Mother, guess what happened to that child in the ward who was covered in bruises and drinking talisman water? He died the next day. Luckily, we changed wards that day, otherwise, that family would definitely have sued us."
Meng Shuyun ladled boiling water from the pot to scald the chicken. Hearing Su Xiuju's words, she sighed slightly and said, "That child has heavy metal poisoning. But they won't believe it even if we tell them. Let's not meddle and respect other people's fate."
Therefore, feudal superstition is unacceptable.
"Boil some more water, and give your sister a hot bath later. It's so hot today, and she's been through so much giving birth and all that, she's sweating a lot, she needs a bath."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiuju's eyes widened in surprise, and she said, "Mom, isn't it said that you can't touch water during postpartum confinement? Is this okay?"
Meng Shuyun gently tapped Su Xiuju's forehead and scolded, "I've told you, feudal superstition is no good. In this hot weather, not washing properly can easily lead to illness."
Meng Shuyun nimbly caught an old hen, firmly grasping its wing and head with one hand, plucking all the downy feathers from its neck, and then swiftly slicing it up without even blinking. With her other hand, she quickly grabbed the hen's feet, lifted it upside down, and let the chicken blood gush into a small bowl of salt water.
Just then, a shrill voice came from the doorway: "Meng Shuyun, why are you killing a chicken at a time like this, when it's not a holiday? I heard that your Xiulan gave birth to two worthless babies and was kicked out by her in-laws?"
"If you ask me, having given birth to two money-losing babies, she doesn't deserve to eat so well. This old hen would be better off laying eggs; it's such a waste to let these money-losing babies eat her like this!"
“That’s right, Sister Meng, I’ll give you two yuan. Sell me this old hen so I can help my grandson get some nourishment.”
Meng Shuyun looked up and saw several nosy neighbors gathered at the door, pointing and gossiping about her house.
She was furious. If this broken door were fixed, she would slam it shut to keep all the gossip out.
Although these days, every household leaves their doors open during the day, that doesn't mean they can just let anyone come and cause trouble.
Seeing that the chicken blood in her hand had been drained enough, Meng Shuyun suddenly raised her hand and threw the half-dead chicken toward the door.
The old hen, which had just died, was still flapping its wings and struggling, its blood splattering everywhere, even onto the gossipy old women watching the spectacle.
Meng Shuyun put her hands on her hips, glared angrily, and shouted, "These are my chickens! I can feed them to whomever I want, it's none of your business!"
You think you can buy a hen as big as me for two dollars? You're dreaming!
Want to eat chicken?
Come to my outhouse tomorrow and wait there. It'll still be warm when it comes out, maybe even smells like chicken. Perfect for taking back to your grandson to nourish him."
The gossipy women at the door immediately turned extremely ugly. One of them pointed at Meng Shuyun and cursed, "Meng Shuyun, how could you be so vicious! I kindly bought your chickens, but you told me to eat shit. No wonder you gave birth to a house full of money-losing children. You won't have a single son to support you in your old age!"
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