Chapter 8: Troubled Times
After Song Yutang came back, the old lady was in a much better mood and started to prepare a welcoming banquet for her grandson.
Ever since Song Lin's accident, the Song family hasn't had a meal together for a long time. The whole family gathered in the yard to see off the old lady and have some fun.
At the main table, Old Lady Song held Song Yutang's hand and rubbed it back and forth, unable to hide the love in her eyes. He was her youngest son and her eldest grandson, the lifeblood of the old lady.
Song Yufeng pretended to be angry and said, "Grandma, now that my elder brother is back, you don't care about me anymore, right?"
"Nonsense, who ate all the candied fruits in my yard?"
Song Yutang pretended to be sad and said, "Grandma gave all the fruits to my second brother, what should I do now?"
The old lady couldn't help laughing: "You are so grown up, and you are still arguing over food."
The grandparents and grandchildren were having a great time at the main table, but Song Yuzhu was directly driven to the guest table next to her, where she sat with her cousin's family and several cousins from her aunt's family.
Song Bai and Jiang Shi both felt unhappy, but they couldn't say it out loud, and they couldn't eat their meal.
"Why didn't Yumin and Xianglan come?" the old lady asked with a smile during the dinner. She didn't know that her eldest daughter-in-law was gone.
Qin said quickly: "Yumin is not feeling well, and sister-in-law...she also has a headache, so she won't come."
Old Madam Song said, "Is it serious? Bai'er will go over and take a look later, and ask the maids to bring some food over."
Hearing the voice, Song Bai raised his head and responded.
Song Yuzhu was concentrating on eating crab stuffed meatballs. He didn't care which table he was sitting at. It was the same food anyway, and he would feel more comfortable not sitting with the old lady.
Around the Mid-Autumn Festival is a good time to eat crabs. The meatballs are made from crab legs. There is only a little meat in a crab leg. This plate of meatballs requires at least several hundred crab legs to be peeled, and they are all peeled one by one by hand by the chefs.
But the taste is really good, the crab legs are tough, coated with egg flour and rolled in oil, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Song Yuzhu complained in her heart that the ancients were particular about eating, which was time-consuming and laborious, and couldn't help but pick up another one.
The meal lasted until the end of the afternoon, and everyone dispersed when they saw that the old lady was a little sleepy.
On the way back, Jiang was walking in front angrily, and Song Bai followed closely behind.
"Rong'er, you two should walk slower."
Jiang Rong paused, turned around and said angrily: "How come I can't even sit at the main table when I'm not your Song family's child?"
"Don't be angry, mother is old and maybe confused." Although Song Bai was also angry, he couldn't blame his mother, so he could only coax his wife and say nice things.
"I think she is quite clear-headed about the two grandsons of the second house!"
"I have served her wholeheartedly over the years, but how does she treat my son? Every time we meet, she treats me like an enemy! My Zhu'er is such a good child, and if she doesn't care about her, then others will!"
"My wife is right. We can both feel sorry for him."
The third house had few descendants, with only one son, Song Yuzhu. Jiang usually wanted to hold him in her hands and in her mouth, but now she was treated differently like this. The more she thought about it, the sadder she felt.
"Song Laosan, you just think that my mother and I are easy to bully! If something like this happens again, don't call us mother and mother! No matter whether it smells good or not, we are not interested in going forward!" After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and hurried away with the maid.
Song Bai touched his nose and looked worried. Why bother with this? It's just a matter of a seat.
Logically, his mother treated him no differently from his two brothers and never showed favoritism. She also never criticized Jiang Rong. He was also quite curious as to why her mother didn't like Yuzhu.
I asked her casually once before, and Mrs. Song just said that he was wrong, and she treated all her grandchildren the same. Now even a fool can tell the difference between close and distant relatives, so Song Bai decided to ask his mother again.
*
When Song Bai arrived, the old lady had not yet gone to bed and the maid was massaging her legs.
The old lady looked at her youngest son with a kind face and said, "Why are you here so late instead of going to rest?"
Song Bai moved a stool and sat beside the bed. He took Mei Ruyi from the maid and gently helped the old lady to massage her legs. "Mother, have you been feeling better recently?"
"Much better. The prescription you prescribed is working. I eat more than before."
"That's good, that's good." Song Bai lowered his head, not knowing how to start.
The old lady saw that her son was worried, so she patted his hands and said, "Is there anything you can't tell me?"
"My son has something that I don't understand, and I want to ask you what's going on?"
"What is it?"
Song Bai didn't say it directly, but asked indirectly: "Did my son do something wrong and make me angry?"
The old lady straightened up and asked in confusion: "Where did you get this from?"
"That means Rong'er didn't serve her mother attentively enough?"
Old Mrs. Song waved her hand and said, "Your daughter-in-law is the best, much better than the second son's wife!"
"Since my son didn't make me angry, and Rong'er didn't do anything wrong, then why doesn't my mother like Yuzhu?"
Song Bai said aggrievedly: "Today we are hosting a welcoming party for Yu Tang. There are so many people here, but you let Yu Zhu sit at the same table with outsiders. Isn't this disappointing to us?"
Old Mrs. Song was speechless, and after a while she murmured, "It's just a meal, you can eat anywhere you sit."
Song Bai put down the beauty hammer and said, "How can they be the same? People who don't know would think Yuzhu is not my child."
Old Lady Song's expression changed immediately: "Don't talk nonsense, it's getting late, go and rest, I'm tired too."
Song Bai was driven out, but he was still upset. He thought Jiang Rong would still be angry if he went back at this time, so he walked towards where his son lived.
Song Yuzhu hadn't slept either. She was reading an ancient book by candlelight. She had eaten too much for dinner and now felt uncomfortable in her stomach. Going to bed too early could lead to indigestion and obesity. Director Song was very particular about health preservation in his previous life.
"Are you still awake?" Song Bai knocked on the door and walked straight in.
"Dad, why are you here?" Song Yuzhu stood up and asked.
"Please sit down. I'm just here for a stroll."
Song Quan was very considerate and moved a chair for Song Bai, and the father and son sat together reading a book.
"I have read this book, The Book of Miscellaneous Diseases. Many of the methods in it are not very reliable. For example, I think the method of treating cold with cold and heat with heat is inappropriate. Typhoid fever is afraid of cold, and people are asked to flush the body with cold water. Wouldn't the symptoms be even more serious?"
In fact, some of the methods described in this book are indeed feasible, but it is also important to use the right medicine for the right condition. You definitely cannot take a cold shower for a common cold, but if the fever persists and does not go down, you must use physical cooling methods, which coincides with modern medical theory.
"Dad and Mom had a fight, right?" Song Yuzhu closed the book and said with a smile.
Song Bai denied it flatly: "No, I just couldn't sleep so I just walked around. If you are sleepy, go to sleep first. I'll go out for a walk."
Song Yuzhu stood up and said, "I can't sleep either, so let's go out for a walk with father."
Song Quan took out cloaks and put them on the two of them. They came out of the courtyard where Song Yuzhu lived, passed through the corridor and there was an artificial lake behind it. The father and son walked slowly along the lake.
The lotus flowers planted in the lake have already withered at this time of year, with only a few remaining lotus leaves left standing by the lake, looking a bit desolate.
"Don't take today's seat incident personally. Your grandmother is a little confused due to her age. She is not prejudiced against you."
Song Yuzhu put her hands behind her back and smiled: "It's okay, I'm not a child, why would I get angry over such a small matter."
This sentence sounded too mature coming from his mouth. Song Bai felt as if his son was older than him. He shook his head quickly, perhaps because he drank too much tonight and felt dizzy.
"Is mom unhappy?"
Song Bai sighed: "She loves you the most, so naturally she feels uncomfortable."
"I'll go and talk to her tomorrow. Dad can sleep at my place tonight." Song Yuzhu knew her mother's temper very well. She was a very gentle woman when she wasn't angry. But once she got angry, she was like a lit firecracker and couldn't calm down for a while. Song Bai would definitely be in trouble if he went back now.
Song Bai hadn't slept with his son for a long time, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll stay at your place tonight. It's been a while since we two had a good chat."
It was getting late and the dew was heavy. After walking for a quarter of an hour, the two returned to the house. Song Quan brought a quilt. The big bunk bed was more than enough for two people. The father and son slept with their feet touching, and Song Bai told his son interesting stories from his childhood.
He has been a well-behaved child since childhood and has grown into a steady person. The "interesting things" he mentioned are naturally not interesting at all.
"When I first started learning medicine, your grandfather asked me to memorize a prescription, but I was a person who wanted to get to the bottom of things. When I learned that red ochre, dried ginger and rice were used together in peach blossom soup, I kept asking, why is it called peach blossom soup if there are no peach blossoms?"
Song Yuzhu also wondered, "Why?"
"Your grandfather was impatient. He picked up the ruler and spanked me three times, saying that I just had to memorize it and there was no need to worry about why. I would understand when I grew up."
"When I grew up, I realized that this is called shape and color analogy. The color of red ochre is like peach blossoms. When cooked with dried ginger and brown rice, the color spreads out, just like peach blossoms."
"Oh, I see." Song Yuzhu responded in a cooperative manner.
Song Bai couldn't help laughing and patted his son on the head: "You kid, you're making fun of your dad."
The father and son laughed for a while and then fell asleep. Song Quan turned off the lights and went to sleep in the outer room.
*
The next day, at dawn, Song Bai got up, put on his clothes and returned to his yard.
Jiang Rong had calmed down that night, and when she saw him come back, she quickly asked the maid to prepare water for washing.
"Is Yuzhu awake?"
Song Bai wiped his face with a hot cloth and said, "No, are you still angry?"
Jiang Rong helped him tidy up his clothes and said, "Don't be angry. If your five fingers are not evenly aligned, how can you guarantee that others will be able to do what you want?"
"Hey, it's good that you can think positively. When Yuzhu gets married and starts a family, you can just take good care of our grandson."
Jiang Rong pinched him and couldn't help laughing: "Not serious!"
The couple was being gentle and affectionate when they suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.
"Third Master, Second Master wants you to come over quickly!" The person who came to deliver the message was Song An, a servant beside Song Qiao. He would not easily come to their yard on normal days. Now he ran over breathlessly, so he must have something urgent.
Song Bai didn't dare to delay and walked out quickly: "Why are you so anxious? What happened?"
Song An said: "I don't know either. The Second Master got up before dawn and asked me to come find you right after meeting a friend."
In less than a cup of tea, the two arrived at Song Qiao's study. Song Yutang was also there, and all the adult men in the Song family were present.
As soon as they met, Song Qiao said without further ado, "Third brother, pack up quickly and let's go back home. There's going to be a fight outside!"
(End of this chapter)
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