When Zhao Sufang heard that her mother was so seriously ill, she immediately became anxious.
Although she was only five years old when her mother remarried, she had a long memory. Her mother sewed her colorful clothes, braided her hair, and during the New Year, she would put five small red plum blossom-shaped dots on her forehead. At night, she would sing to her to lull her to sleep...
Although her second uncle and aunt insisted that her mother had eloped with a man from western Sichuan, leaving her and her second sister Zhao Sufeng behind, she clearly remembered that her mother was holding her, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to her second uncle, begging him to let her take her daughter away!
Having lived for over forty years, from the old society to the new China, what is there that she doesn't understand?
It must have been his second uncle who couldn't tolerate his widowed sister-in-law and wanted to seize his elder brother's property, which is why he forced his mother to leave!
Therefore, Zhao Sufang harbored no resentment towards her mother; on the contrary, she felt a deep attachment to her, mixed with a sense of sympathy as a fellow woman.
In his previous life, Li Xiangdong and his second aunt's eldest son, Li Hanzhong, went to western Sichuan together.
My maternal grandmother's brigade was located in a very remote area, deep in the mountains. The brigade had more than 200 people, and everyone was scattered in different places where they built houses. You could not see a neighbor for miles around.
Li Xiangdong and Li Hanzhong took a green-skinned train for thirty-eight hours to reach Manjiang County, then took a bus for an hour to reach Hongxing Commune, and finally took an oxcart for four hours to reach the foot of a mountain. Their maternal grandmother's house was on the mountainside, and the path was winding and rugged, so the oxcart could not go up. They walked for more than two hours to reach their maternal grandmother's house!
Thinking back to that distant journey in his past life, Li Xiangdong still feels a bit apprehensive.
Actually, in her past life, Grandma's illness wasn't very serious. She was just old and fell while going up the mountain, lost consciousness, and was a bit weak after waking up.
After all, she was nearly seventy years old, and had experienced famine and political movements. It was rare for someone to live to seventy. As people get older, they become more sentimental, and she couldn't help but start thinking about her daughters.
The old woman was a little disappointed that Zhao Sufang and Zhao Sufen didn't go, but seeing her grandchildren arrive comforted her.
The family at their maternal grandmother's house was not well-off, not even as well-off as the Li family in Lijiapo. Li Xiangdong and Li Hanzhong didn't really have any feelings for this grandmother they were meeting for the first time, and they hurriedly went home after three days.
Thinking about this past life, Li Xiangdong felt a little sad. When he saw them, the disappointment in the old man's eyes was so obvious.
Li Xiangdong comforted Zhao Sufang, "Mom, don't worry. Didn't Uncle say that Grandma is much better? If you want to go to western Sichuan to see Grandma, I'll go with you."
Now that he has money, Zhao Sufang no longer needs to worry about the travel expenses.
Zhao Sufang wiped away her tears. "Yes, I have to go. I don't know how old your grandma is. I was only five years old when she passed away, and now I'm over forty!"
"Mom, we should tell Second Aunt!" Li Xiangdong reminded her.
"Yes, let's go now!"
When Li Xiangdong and his mother hurriedly arrived at Zhao Sufeng's house and told her the news, Zhao Sufeng simply said "Oh" indifferently, which was completely unexpected.
Zhao Sufang looked at her expressionless second sister in disbelief, "Sister, Mother is sick!"
Zhao Sufeng picked up a broom and swept the bedsheets. "Didn't the letter say that?"
"I'm going to visit my mother in western Sichuan in a couple of days, are you coming?"
"I won't go; I can't leave home."
Zhao Sufang was still unwilling to give up, "You really aren't going?"
Zhao Sufeng suddenly lost her temper, "I'm not going! I'm not going! I really'm not going!"
Zhao Sufang was dumbfounded, and Li Xiangdong immediately pulled her mother out the door.
My second aunt sent my eldest cousin to western Sichuan in her past life, what's gotten into her this life!
However, Li Xiangdong didn't care whether his second aunt went or not. Let her go or not, it's all about each person showing their filial piety.
"Mom, don't worry about Auntie. She has elderly parents and young children to take care of, so it's normal that she can't leave. Now you should think carefully about what we need to bring to western Sichuan. This trip will take at least ten days to half a month. How should we arrange things at home? How should we arrange things at the cannery? You need to think about all of this."
Li Xiangdong's words caught Zhao Sufang's attention. It was true, things were easy to arrange at home, but there was still a lot to do at the factory!
Without thinking about her second sister any longer, Zhao Sufang rushed straight to the cannery.
After the mother and son parted ways, Li Xiangdong walked home by himself, thinking that he should ask Doctor Gu to prescribe some nourishing medicine for his grandmother to take with her. Now that he had money, he could buy more food and supplies. However, transportation was inconvenient at the moment, and it would be difficult to take the train with too much stuff. He missed the luxury SUV he had in his previous life!
By the time Li Xiangdong arrived home, the people who had come to watch the commotion had all left.
Looking through the glass window, I could see my great-grandfather Li Jinshan, my grandfather Li Qingshan, and several other elderly people from the village sitting inside. Li Wanshi had stopped making a fuss and was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) with her face turned towards the wall, not looking at anyone. She was sulking!
Then Li Jin's voice came out, "Third Grandfather, Fifth Grandfather, Eldest Uncle, Third Uncle, Father, I invited you all here today to be my witnesses."
“I’m the eldest son. Even though we’ve separated from the family, I still have to take care of my parents. There’s no question about that.”
“But I also have a large family to support. My mother always wants me to give money to Li Songhua. I used to give it to her, but now I don’t want to.”
"Also, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me, but my mother asked my daughter Li Zhen to arrange a marriage between her and Li Song, and I almost agreed."
As Li Jin said this, he lowered his head in shame and slapped himself hard across the face!
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, and Li Qingshan stammered, "Boss..."
Five red finger marks were left on Li Jin's face. "I'm not human. I almost pushed my daughter into a fire pit!"
“These past few days, I haven’t been able to sleep. I keep thinking, my mother gave birth to me and raised me. If she wanted me to die, I wouldn’t even give up.”
"But Sufang and these children cannot be treated so badly by my mother!"
"You forced Zhenzhen into a marriage arrangement before, and now you're colluding with outsiders to swindle me out of three hundred yuan. You're even using Sufang's family's letter to exchange for money. Mother, do you dare to say to your uncles and elders that you did the right thing?"
No matter how angry Li Jin was before, she always kept it a secret from others. This time, however, she was going to expose her mother's shame in public.
Li Wanshi didn't say anything, got off the kang (a heated brick bed), stood up, and was about to bang her head against the wall!
Li Jin grabbed Li Wanshi, saying, "Mother, if you die today, we'll die together!"
As he spoke, he picked up the scissors he used for sewing from the winnowing basket on the kang (a heated brick bed) and stabbed them into his throat!
Li Xiangdong was so frightened that his heart almost stopped. He quickly kicked open the door and rushed into the house!
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