Da Shan shook his head. "She won't agree."
"How will you know if you don't try? Logically speaking, it's better to tear down ten temples than to break up one marriage. You should be encouraged to reconcile rather than separate, but given your situation, you really can't go on like this, and there's no need to force yourselves to stay together."
Even in ancient times, marriages could end in divorce; let alone in this modern society. Brother Dashan, go back and tell my uncle and aunt the truth of the matter, and they'll know what to do.
"But what if she really hangs herself or commits suicide again? I'm terrified of her."
"Leave it to my aunt. Only if you are determined will they stand up for you."
The mountain leaned against the wall, its head bowed, and its expression was obscured.
The old lady coughed. "Go back and tell your parents that once they've thought it through, they should bring Wang Hongxi and his wife to me to talk."
"Great-Grandma!" Da Shan looked at the old lady in surprise. This was truly an exception, and it wasn't a good thing; no one wanted to get involved. This meant appeasing one side while offending the other.
"Go ahead, it's been more than ten years, that's enough."
He put on his shoes and coat at the foot of the mountain and left.
There was no one on the street at this time, only the occasional barking of dogs. That's what made Da Shan feel like he was home.
When he got home, the two elderly people were waiting for him. They only tried to go back inside after seeing him return.
"Mom and Dad, I have something to tell you."
Dashan recounted the whole story, including things he hadn't told Hongmei, such as how Wang Xiaorui usually seduced him and how they fought.
Da Shan's mother burst into tears, "You good-for-nothing! What kind of suffering have you endured for the past ten years?"
“You got it! Don’t cry. Tomorrow we’ll send someone to find Wang Hongxi and go to his mistress’s house to have a talk with her.”
"I can't breathe!" Da Shan's mother suddenly clutched her chest, gasping for breath. The father and son were so frightened that they quickly rubbed her chest and back.
It took him a while to recover, but his face and lips were completely bloodless, which made Da Shan's hands tremble with fear.
"Dashan, go to Hongmei's house. She must have a doctor with her. Come and take a look at your mother."
"No."
“Yes, we have to do it this way. Dashan, go find a doctor first. After he arrives, call over all the women who are compatible with our family.”
Da Shan immediately understood what this meant. He hurriedly ran out to find Zhang Hongmei.
After Dashan left, the mother and daughter both sighed, "It's rare to see a man so useless. I used to think Dashan could take over your third uncle's job."
"Grandma, don't think about it anymore. There will be more arguments tomorrow, and Wang Hongxi will definitely not be satisfied."
"Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's really not very nice to just abandon the girl, but we have to consider the circumstances, right?"
Just then, Zhang Shouyi arrived. But the four children weren't done having fun yet.
Liu Jingze led them to roast sweet potatoes, which took time. So Liu Jingze took a wire, shaped it into a wave, and then used a clean towel to wipe the iron stove clean. He then put the wire over the stove. The sweet potatoes were cut into slices and stuck to the stove surface, so they didn't fall off because of the wire.
"Godfather, you're quite clever."
Liu Jingze smiled and continued cooking for them. Soon, the sweet aroma of sweet potatoes filled the air.
"You can eat it now, but be careful not to burn yourself. Weiyu, take care of Liu Qiang. If you want it crispy, you'll have to wait a while. It's ready to eat now."
When Zhang Hongmei and Zhang Shouyi came in, they saw this scene: six children gathered around the stove, each taking turns eating.
"Mom, have a taste." Zhang Weiyu picked up two pieces from the plate, put one into Zhang Hongmei's mouth, and the other into Zhang Shouyi's mouth.
"Mom, I think sweet potatoes taste better this way."
"It's delicious, but shouldn't we go back now?"
"Mom, can we stay a little longer? We'll definitely be back before ten o'clock," Zhenye said to Zhang Hongmei.
"Okay, I'll have someone come pick you up in a bit."
"No need, we can go back by ourselves."
"Then you can stay here. Liu Qiang won't come back with me, will he?"
The little guy, with food stuffed in his mouth, nodded vigorously.
"Okay, then we'll head back first."
The couple walked along the road, Zhang Shouyi's large hand tightly holding Zhang Hongmei's hand to warm it.
I had just entered the house, and before I had even taken off my coat, I heard a knock on the door.
Chengzi went to open the door. Dashan ran in, "Hongmei, is there anyone in the family who knows medicine? My mother has fallen ill."
"Liang Dan, hurry over there. I'll be there shortly."
Liang Dan ran after Da Shan.
Looking at the old man lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with no color in his face, Liang Dan sat down beside him and took his pulse.
"Give her a cup of hot water to drink. Also, the room isn't warm enough. It would be best to give her an acupuncture treatment, so she doesn't catch a cold."
"I'll add firewood right away," Dashan said, running out. After he finished, he went to call for help, remembering his father's instructions.
Liang Dan helped Da Shan's mother up. "Auntie, you need to drink some hot water. I'll give you acupuncture when the room gets warmer. It won't hurt and it can cure your illness."
After drinking a glass of water, Da Shan's mother felt completely drained and tired, even just lying down was exhausting.
A short while later, Zhang Hongmei came over, bringing a small packet of nitroglycerin pills. These are still available in pharmacies in big cities. She had prepared them for her two elderly relatives, but they hadn't used them; instead, they were used here.
As soon as Zhang Hongmei and her group arrived, more and more people came over. These were all couples who were on good terms with Da Shan's father.
They all went inside to check on Dashan's mother. Hu Aifen slapped her, exasperated, and said, "Xiaocui, why are you doing this? It's your own body; you're just ruining yourself!"
He didn't even have the strength to speak, he just shook his head slightly.
"Erzhuang, tell me, what exactly happened?"
“They’re all good-for-nothings. When he came back, he told us that in over ten years of marriage, they’d only slept together once, and it was their first time. That means he never took advantage of us before. He also said that the Wang family’s daughter is always making a fuss and threatening to kill herself if things don’t go her way.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Cui immediately lost her breath. It took my father and I a long time to rub her so she could finally catch her breath.
Everyone in the room knew what had happened, and they all shook their heads and sighed.
Only Hu Aifen dared to say, "I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to find a wife like this."
"Sister-in-law, you're wrong. That wasn't something we found. They insisted on giving it to our family. How can they be so shameless?" Aunt Dashan didn't hold back at all.
The news quickly spread, with about twenty people in the room all chiming in.
"Auntie, you all go out first, just two of you stay behind to help Liang Dan in a bit," Zhang Hongmei said. Hearing about the acupuncture, the men all left, leaving only the two who had spoken earlier.
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