Chapter 196 Dalang, it’s time to take medicine (6)
Early the next morning, Aunt Zhou knocked on the door of Huo Shichu's house: "Xiao Huo, get up quickly, everyone is gathering at the village entrance."
"Get up, get up. I'll bring breakfast to Wei Qi and we can leave." Huo Shichu said as he opened the door.
"What did Dalang have for breakfast?" Aunt Zhou asked curiously.
"It's just steamed buns. There's nothing else he can eat even if he wants to." Huo Shichu said with a smile.
"Steamed buns are already very good. We eat sweet potato porridge in our family, and some families can't even afford sweet potato porridge." Aunt Zhou said.
"Isn't it because Dalang needs to recuperate and eat something good? I'm going to the market today to see if I can buy some bones to make soup for him to nourish his body. He's too exhausted now." Huo Shichu explained.
Aunt Zhou nodded and agreed, "Da Lang really needs to be nourished. He is so thin that he looks like a ghost."
Wei Qi opened his eyes and listened to the two people talking outside, but did not get up. After a while, he heard Huo Shichu's footsteps coming in. He didn't know what he was thinking, and immediately closed his eyes again, pretending to be asleep.
As expected, Huo Shichu just muttered "not awake yet", put the steamed buns and water on the table, and waited for him to wake up and eat by himself, then left with Aunt Zhou.
As expected, quite a few people who were going to the market were already waiting at the entrance of the village. They were still chatting and laughing, but when they saw Huo Shichu, they all stopped at the same time, their eyes widened, staring at her without blinking. Those straightforward and unconcealed eyes were staring at people as if they could see through their clothes. If a young person was a little more thin-skinned, he would blush and feel uncomfortable after being looked at by such eyes.
But who is Huo Shichu? No matter how sharp the gazes of these people were, they had no effect on her. She turned a blind eye and walked forward calmly, very generously. Even if some people looked at her too much, she would still look straight at them and stare into their eyes until that person couldn't stand it anymore and looked away.
So in this way, everyone knows that she is not someone to be trifled with.
"This is Wei Dalang's wife, right? She's really good-looking, and has a generous and neat personality." A woman in her fifties took Huo Shichu's arm, looked at her with a smile and said, "I am the head of this village, Hu Baigui. You can just call me Aunt Hu."
"Hello, Aunt Hu. My name is Huo Shichu. You can call me Xiao Huo." Huo Shichu also introduced himself with a smile.
"Xiao Huo, your name is so nice... What are you planning to buy in town?" Aunt Hu asked again.
"There is nothing at home. We have to buy everything from scratch. Dalang still needs to ask the doctor and buy medicine. Life is so difficult." Huo Shichu looked worried and sighed.
Hearing her words, the people around who were eavesdropping immediately joined in.
"Old man Wei is so heartless. He kicked his son out even though he was injured like that, and he didn't even leave him anything. Isn't this just forcing him to death?"
"That's right. If there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. But after all this, Mrs. Wei, the stepmother, isn't she afraid of being criticized by others?!"
"What is she afraid of? She's got the upper hand anyway, so it's worth getting scolded!"
"It's just a pity for Wei Dalang, he is disabled at such a young age. What will he do in the future?"
"Old man Wei is not that cruel. Isn't he just getting a new wife to take care of Dalang?"
…
Those people opened up their chatterboxes, and even without the participation of Huo Shichu, the central figure in the topic, they could still talk nonstop for most of the day, and they were almost about to reveal the entire Wei family's ancestors.
Actually, the Wei family was not native to Baisui Village, but moved here with their entire clan a hundred years ago because of the war. At that time, many people died in Baisui Village due to the war, and the Wei clan moved here to make up for the population loss. By the time the Xin Dynasty was established, the Wei clan had also established a firm foothold in Baisui Village.
Today, more than a hundred years have passed, and the Wei family has completely integrated into the local people, and there is basically no difference between them.
However, it is said that the ancestors of the Wei family had once been high-ranking officials, so they paid more attention to the cultivation of their descendants and attached importance to reading. A private school was also built in the village, which produced several students and scholars. The reading atmosphere was more intense than that in other villages.
Wei Dalang attended a private school for two years before his mother died. It was said that he was quite smart and had a promising academic future.
But unfortunately, his fate was not good. His biological mother died early before he grew up. After his stepmother came into the family, it was naturally impossible for him to continue his studies, so he was delayed. When he was fourteen or fifteen years old, he went to the frontier to serve as a soldier and exchange his life for money.
In fact, Wei Silang, the youngest son of Mrs. Wei, is still studying, but he seems to have no talent for studying. Now he is seventeen or eighteen years old, and he has not passed the examination to become a student. His grades are mediocre and not outstanding at all.
But the Wei family believed that he was just a late bloomer, and he was still very young at only seventeen or eighteen years old. He would definitely achieve success in the future and lead his family to prosperity.
With such expectations in mind, the Wei family naturally treated Wei Silang very well and put him first in everything. This also cultivated Wei Silang's character of having a high opinion of himself and being indifferent to others.
Therefore, even though he used Wei Dalang's money to pay for his studies, he still looked down on Wei Dalang, a rough and uncouth warrior in his eyes. This time, when he saw Wei Dalang being carried home, bloody and half dead, he not only had no sympathy or worry, but he just covered his nose with disgust, saying that the smell of Wei Dalang's blood was irritating him, and asked his parents to drive him away quickly...
This shows how cold-hearted this person is.
Huo Shichu was stunned when he found out. He asked the aunt who spoke so eloquently, "Isn't he afraid of ruining his reputation by saying such things? Dalang is his elder brother after all, and he was injured on the battlefield. Isn't he mistreating his brother? Isn't reputation the most important thing for scholars?"
The aunt curled her lips and said:
"What does a ruined reputation matter? If he fails to pass the exam to become a scholar or a Jinshi, how much does it matter if his reputation is ruined? If he does pass the exam to become a scholar or a Jinshi, the village and the county will help him suppress his bad reputation for the sake of the achievement of having more scholars.
——After all, isn't your Dalang half disabled? If you want to control him, there are many ways. When the time comes, let his elder brother come out and explain in person that it was a misunderstanding. They have a very good relationship as brothers. You see, there is no bad reputation for him..."
Huo Shichu's eyes widened immediately. This auntie had thought it through thoroughly. No wonder the Wei family was so fearless. A scholar would bring many benefits to the village and the county. Naturally, someone would deal with the reputation issue for Wei Silang, so Wei Dalang had to be "wronged".
It seems that the Wei family members are not really stupid. They are smart and know that bullying Wei Dalang has advantages and no disadvantages, so they are naturally fearless.
(End of this chapter)
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