Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Can't Let Her Starve
In the middle of the night, Yu Li knocked on Zhou's door.
When Zhou heard that Fu Wenxiao was sick, she didn't even have time to put on her clothes. She just put on a coat and hurried over. When she touched Fu Wenxiao's forehead, she was also burned by the temperature.
She looked a little flustered, but still calm, and ordered: "Li Niang, go get a basin of clean water."
Yu Li hurriedly went to get a basin of clean water, and as Zhou had instructed, he wrung out a towel and placed it on Fu Wenxiao's forehead to cool him down.
"Li Niang, you stay here and watch. I'll go boil the medicine."
Zhou gave some hurried instructions and quickly went to find the medicine she had prepared and boiled it for Fu Wenxiao.
It was the dead of night and there was no way to go into the city to see a doctor. If I was sick, I could only endure it myself, and most of the time I used folk remedies to reduce the fever.
Yu Li sat on the edge of the bed, changed the handkerchief several times, and looked at the man with a red face on the bed in the light of the oil lamp. The pale face had a rare hint of color, with a kind of enchanting beauty.
Even if she didn't care about beauty or ugliness, she could tell that this man had a good appearance and a different kind of temperament from ordinary people, which was not something that could be cultivated in this rural area.
He closed his eyes and frowned slightly, looking uncomfortable.
She had never been sick before, let alone injured, but the awakening over the past half month had made her know what it felt like to be in physical discomfort. It was a constant bother for her and no medicine could relieve it. If she hadn't been used to enduring it, she would not have been able to hold on.
I guess he is feeling very uncomfortable now?
When Yu Li changed the towel again, Fu Wenxiao suddenly opened his eyes.
She was stunned for a moment, changed his towel, and said, "How are you?"
He didn't say anything, his dark eyes staring at her straight, as if confirming something, then he raised his hand weakly and touched his forehead, saying, "Uncomfortable..."
The sound was very low, and if Yu Li didn't have good hearing, he wouldn't have been able to hear it.
She looked at him and comforted him, "Mother has gone to boil the medicine. You will be well soon."
Fu Wenxiao's lips moved slightly, as if he was about to force out a smile, which was indescribably sarcastic. He whispered, "It won't be okay..."
"What?" Yu Li didn't understand what he meant. He reached out and touched his forehead, thinking that he might be confused due to the fever.
"Don't think too much." She comforted him, "You will be fine."
Fu Wenxiao was in a daze and couldn't quite hear what she was saying. He soon closed his eyes and fell asleep. He only vaguely felt that there was someone guarding his bed.
When Zhou brought in the boiled medicine, Fu Wenxiao's temperature not only did not drop, but instead got higher and higher.
When Yu Li helped him up and fed him medicine, he seemed to be conscious. He opened his eyes and looked forward dimly. His face was flushed in a sickly way, but his eyes were clear.
It seemed that he was always conscious at all times.
"Xiao brother!" Zhou saw him wake up and said quickly, "It's good that you woke up. Take the medicine quickly."
Fu Wenxiao narrowed his eyes slightly and reacted a little slowly. After a long while, he finally understood what she said and opened his mouth to drink the medicine.
After drinking the medicine, he glanced at the two people in front of the bed, closed his eyes again, and fell asleep in a daze.
Half an hour later, Fu Wenxiao was sweating and the temperature finally dropped.
Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.
She sat by the bed and saw Yu Li throwing Fu Wenxiao's wet clothes into the basin. She couldn't help but say, "Mother Li, thank you for your hard work. It's a relief that you found out that Xiao'er was sick. Otherwise, it would have been delayed until tomorrow..."
Zhou had heard people say before that if the temperature was not reduced in time, people would become burnt out or even die.
She found it hard to accept the thought of this possibility, and was glad that she had found a wife for Fu Wenxiao who was alert and careful.
Yu Li felt a little guilty and responded vaguely.
Although they had been sleeping in the same bed for more than half a month, she seemed not to have gotten used to having another person around her. Every night in her sleep, she couldn't help but want to strangle him and kill the breath that was invading her territory.
Fortunately, she remembered that he was an ordinary person and a patient at that, and posed no threat to her, so she would always stop in time and not really strangle him.
Zhou didn't know the reason, but she was very relieved.
There was still some time before dawn, so she said to Yu Li, "Mother Li, go to my room and take a rest. I'll stay here." She was afraid that her daughter-in-law would not get enough rest and would fall ill.
Although Yu Li seemed to have gained some weight recently, he was still very thin compared to a normal person. He looked so light that he could be blown away by a gust of wind. He didn't look like a healthy person at all.
Still need to take care of it more.
Yu Li shook her head. Zhou was sleeping with the two children. Usually when she and Fu Wenxiao shared a bed, the sound of one breathing was unbearable for her. If there were two more breathing sounds, she felt that she would not be able to sleep.
Since I can’t sleep anyway, it’s better for her to keep watch over me.
Yu Li said, "Mom, go and have a rest. I'll keep watch. I can't sleep."
Zhou thought she was worried about Fu Wenxiao, so she comforted him, "You don't have to worry too much. Xiao'er is not in good health and has been taking medicine. He is often sick. We always have medicine at home. I'm used to it..."
At the end, she couldn't help but sigh.
As the saying goes, long illness makes one a doctor, and the same is true for Zhou. Having a patient at home forced her to understand a lot of medical principles. She could even recognize a lot of medicinal herbs and prepare some simple medicines for treating colds.
So if Fu Wenxiao suddenly had a fever tonight, she could immediately prescribe him some antipyretic medicine, and she also had some medicinal herbs at home.
Seeing Yu Li's insistence, Zhou had no choice but to go back to her room to rest.
Before leaving, she told Yu Li to call her if anything happened.
Yu Li naturally agreed.
After Zhou left, Yu Li sat on the edge of the bed, reached out and touched the forehead of the man on the bed, and found that the temperature was still slightly higher than usual, probably a low fever.
She looked at his face again, the blush on his face faded, and his face became even paler.
He lay there quietly, his breathing barely audible, and she began to worry that he would not survive until tomorrow, and she felt very distressed.
She lives very comfortably in the Fu family and has no plans to move. If he dies, according to the sayings of this world, she will become a widow and the wedding will fail. Will the Fu family drive her out?
Although Zhou didn't look like she would chase anyone away...
After thinking about it, Yu Li felt that it would be better for him to survive. After all, he was a nice guy who cared about whether she had eaten enough and didn't mind if she ate too much...
Yu Li folded his arms, thinking seriously, and just stayed there until dawn.
As soon as the sky brightened, Zhou came over and first checked the temperature of Fu Wenxiao's forehead. She found that it was just a low-grade fever and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She said to Yu Li, "Mother Li, you take a rest first. I will go find Da Zhuang and ask him to go to the county town to ask a doctor to come and see Xiao Ge'er, and get him some medicine."
Whenever there was something to do, Zhou would go to Da Zhuang next door to help run errands and then give him some compensation.
Although she and Da Zhuang's father are relatives, they are separated by several generations. She can't always ask them for help with everything. Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly.
Yu Li agreed.
Her body was in an awakened state and she felt uncomfortable all the time. She needed a lot of food and sleep to replenish herself. After guarding Fu Wenxiao for most of the night, she was indeed very tired.
Just after she lay down, she felt someone touching her and she opened her eyes suddenly.
Fu Wenxiao, who was holding the quilt, was a little stunned. He looked into her cold and pure eyes and asked, "Are you cold?"
"I'm not cold." Yu Li said, then sat up, "Are you awake? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?" She was hungry anyway.
After Yu Li left, Fu Wenxiao lay on the bed and smiled helplessly.
He was really sick and confused. He felt cold all over because of his illness. When he woke up, he saw her lying next to him without any covering. He thought she would be cold and wanted to cover her with a blanket.
She was more alert than he expected, which showed that her previous living environment was not comfortable and even dangerous.
Soon Yu Li came in again, bringing a bowl of white porridge with rice oil.
This was specially made by Zhou. There is a saying here that white porridge is nourishing. If someone in the family is sick, you can use fine white rice to make porridge for the patient, and the patient will recover quickly.
Normally, farmers are reluctant to eat fine grains, and only at this time would they cook some white porridge.
Fu Wenxiao didn't have much of an appetite, but seeing her busying around, he couldn't bear to refuse her kindness, so he ate a few bites reluctantly.
Seeing her staring at the porridge in the bowl, I knew she wanted to eat it, so I asked, "Have you eaten?"
"I didn't eat it." Yu Li said, "But mother left a bowl for me."
She usually eats multi-grain porridge cooked with brown rice, and has never eaten such thick white rice porridge. Yu Li thinks that just the smell of it is delicious, which makes her very hungry.
Although she was not feeling well, it did not affect her good appetite.
Only by eating more and eating well can she successfully survive the weak period when awakening.
Although she looked eager to go to the kitchen to eat the bowl of rice porridge, she did not urge him to eat quickly so that she could leave.
This shows her good upbringing and self-control.
Fu Wenxiao looked at her silently, but still quickened his pace.
After reluctantly eating half a bowl of rice, Fu Wenxiao fell into a deep sleep again.
Yu Li went to the kitchen to eat her breakfast. She drank the thick and smooth white porridge with salted duck eggs, and she felt it was especially delicious.
It really tastes better than I imagined.
-
At noon, Da Zhuang finally brought the doctor over.
The doctor's surname is Xu. He is about fifty years old, with gray hair and beard. He is a doctor at Huichuntang in the county town and a frequent visitor to the Fu family. Every time Fu Wenxiao falls ill, they ask him to be the doctor. The last time Fu Wenxiao woke up, it was Doctor Xu who came to check on him.
After Dr. Xu examined Fu Wenxiao, he quickly prescribed medicine.
He ordered: "Pay more attention these days. I will prescribe three days of medicine for Mr. Fu. If the fever continues, have someone call me over."
Zhou quickly agreed, then took out some silver and gave it to Dazhuang, asking him to go again with Doctor Xu to the county town to get the medicine.
**
On the other side, early in the morning, Grandma Yu and Yu San, mother and son, went out carrying food.
Yu Jin stood at the door of the kitchen and watched them leave, knowing that grandma and uncle were probably delivering food to his uncle's family who lived in the county town.
But usually it is delivered at the beginning of the month, and there are still many days before the beginning of next month, so why is it delivered in advance?
Yu Jin frowned and thought carefully, and soon realized that their trip to the county town this time must be for their eldest sister's matter.
I'm going to ask my uncle for advice.
Knowing this, Yu Jin couldn't help but sneer.
The eldest sister now is more understanding than before. She emphasizes "fairness" in her actions. Since we are a family, then we should be fair. Whatever you have, I should have too.
The second room must also have what the other rooms have. The Yu family’s preference for boys over girls doesn’t work for her.
Of course, in Yu Li's code of conduct, if you want to be fair to others, you must have enough strength.
The strong make the rules, and she is stronger than anyone in the Yu family, so she feels that her demands are not excessive.
If they think it's not possible, as long as they can beat her, she will listen to their opinions and act according to their rules.
Since they couldn't beat her, they had to listen to her.
It's that simple.
Yu Jin has a quick mind and thinks quickly. Since he figured out Yu Li's code of conduct, he has been following her firmly and enforcing the rules she set.
Even if her uncle comes back, she won't worry about anything.
My uncle is a scholar, and these scholars care most about their reputation. At most, they may use some tricks behind the scenes, but those tricks may not work on my eldest sister now.
-
From Qingshi Village to the county town, you can take a boat, a ox cart, a mule cart, or walk.
Taking a boat is the fastest way. The river in front of Qingshi Village is connected to the county town. There are many people rowing boats, but the cost of a boat ride is not small. If there is no urgent matter, villagers usually do not take a boat to the county town. They would rather take a ox cart or walk.
Naturally, Old Mrs. Yu was reluctant to spend the money, even the two cents for a ox cart ride.
For two people, that would be four cents, not to mention they also have to bring food, which accounts for half of the price of one person, so the total would be five cents.
So the two of them went there on foot, with Yu Lao San carrying the food on his back.
It was almost noon when the two arrived at the county town.
The sun was scorching, and the two of them were thirsty, tired and just wanted to find a place to rest immediately.
They came to the house that Boss Yu rented in the county town, in a narrow alley.
The houses in this area are not big and have similar layouts. There is a small courtyard at the entrance, and inside is a two-story wooden building with several rooms. The space is narrow and cramped.
Even for a house like this, the monthly rent is not cheap.
Old Mrs. Yu went over and knocked on the door, but no one answered.
Yu Lao San put down the food he was carrying, wiped the sweat off his face, and said, "What's the matter? Is your sister-in-law not here?"
Every once in a while, sister-in-law Chen would bring her younger son and daughter to the county town and stay for ten days or half a month.
The reason was very legitimate. She was worried that her husband and son in the county town would not have even a hot meal to eat without a woman to take care of them.
Therefore, the Yu family did not say anything about it. Studying was the top priority, and everything was based on the study of Yu Jingde and his wife. If the cost of living in the city was not too high, and the rented house was too small to accommodate so many people, maybe Chen would want to live in the city with them.
For some reason, Chen and his family stayed longer this time, and more than half a month had passed without them coming back.
Old Mrs. Yu was naturally unhappy, but she couldn't say anything because Chen had a father who was a scholar.
The neighbor next door heard the noise and came out to check. He found out that they were looking for someone and told them, "Mrs. Chen is not here. She went out early in the morning and said she was taking the child back to her parents' home."
Hearing this, Old Lady Yu became even more unhappy.
Chen's father, Chen Xiucai, lived next door to Qingshi Village.
Since he passed the examination to become a scholar, he rented a house in the county town to make it convenient for his studies.
Unfortunately, he failed the exams for so many years and only managed to get to the level of a scholar. When he got older, he finally gave up and bought a house in the county town and opened a private school. Yu Lao Da studied with Chen Xiucai, and thus got to know Chen and was able to marry her.
Yu Lao Da and Chen's two sons studied here under Chen Xiucai.
It was because Chen Xiucai was the maternal grandfather of Yu Jingde and Yu Jingli that the two of them were exempted from tuition fees when studying with Chen Xiucai, and that the Yu family was able to support them. Otherwise, the Yu family was just a peasant family, so how could they afford to support two scholars?
Upon learning that Chen had taken her younger son and daughter back to her parents' home, Old Lady Yu and Old Third Yu had no choice but to go to the rice shop to find Old Da Yu.
Boss Yu is the accountant of a rice shop. He stays in the rice shop during the day, and the rice shop will provide him with lunch.
The two came to the rice shop. The shop assistant learned that they were Yu Lao Da's mother and brothers, and that they came to the city to deliver grain to Yu Lao Da. He couldn't help but look at them a few more times and couldn't help muttering in his heart.
Accountant Yu usually claims to be a scholar. His wife is the daughter of a scholar, so he seems to be quite unsophisticated.
Everyone thought he was from the county town and was very particular about his food, clothing and daily expenses. However, they did not expect that his mother and brothers were actually peasants from the countryside and that he even needed his brothers from the countryside to send him food.
No wonder Accountant Yu never bought grain from the rice shop. They thought he went to other rice shops to buy grain.
Old Mrs. Yu and Old Third Yu did not notice the shop assistant's subtle gaze. They saw Old First Yu busy in the backyard of the rice shop.
When he suddenly saw them, Boss Yu frowned and looked a little unhappy.
He suppressed his displeasure and asked, "Mom, Third Brother, why are you here?"
When Old Lady Yu saw her eldest son, who seemed to have the greatest potential, she could no longer hold back her complaints and pulled him aside to complain bitterly.
"Boss, you don't know, something happened at home, that damn girl Li Niang, she actually..."
The shop assistant who was leading the way was about to leave, but when he heard what Old Lady Yu said, he stopped and pricked up his ears.
Upon seeing this, Boss Yu stopped Old Lady Yu, took the two of them to a room in the backyard, and poured them a cup of tea.
He was the accountant of the rice shop. There was a room for him to rest in the backyard, but the space was relatively small.
Old Mrs. Yu was very thirsty. She drank several glasses of water and pulled her eldest son to continue accusing Yu Li of his evil deeds.
Yu Laosan came to help and add that the mother and son shared the same hatred of the enemy.
If he had a neutral impression of his second wife's nieces before, then after this period of time, he simply hated them.
Especially Yu Li, the culprit, she really hopes that the old man will beat her to death one day.
What’s even more hateful is that Yu Laoer and his wife are two useless losers who can’t control their daughter and cannot be relied on at all.
As they talked, Boss Yu frowned and looked unhappy.
Old Madam Yu then became excited and asked, "Boss, you also think they are very hateful, don't you?"
The eldest brother Yu didn't agree or say no, but asked, "What about the second brother? As a father, why doesn't he take care of it? How can he allow his daughter to disrespect the elders?"
This was what displeased him the most.
He didn't bother with the younger generation, thinking that the reason Yu Li could be so presumptuous was that the second son and his wife didn't teach their daughter well enough.
"Don't mention it!" Old Madam Yu's face was full of disgust. "He is useless. How can we control him?"
In fact, they had thought about asking Yu Laoer and his wife to take care of those girls, but it was useless.
Yu Laoer and his wife are not only cowardly and useless in front of their parents, but also equally incompetent in front of their children.
No matter what the old lady said, they responded with fear and trepidation, promising to teach them a lesson when they returned. However, when they returned and faced their daughters, they didn't say a word.
That's not right. They did teach them a lesson, just said a few words, but the girls responded nicely, but then did what they wanted to do the next time.
He didn't change at all, obviously didn't take their words to heart.
Old Mrs. Yu was so angry!
She finally understood that the second son and his wife were just a pair of losers. They were so losers that they couldn't even act like parents in front of their children. They had no dignity at all.
In the past, Old Lady Yu was very happy because her second son and second daughter-in-law were easy to control. But now she hates them for being too easy to control, even their daughter can control them at will.
Boss Yu frowned again. He knew the kind of people the second brother and his wife were, so he was not too surprised.
Compared to the scheming Yu Laosan and his wife, he actually likes the second brother and his wife more. They are honest and simple, and will do whatever you ask them to do. They work like slaves at home without any complaints and don't require any effort to deal with them.
In the past, as the vested interest of the eldest wife, the eldest brother Yu would never say anything bad about the character of the second brother Yu and his wife, nor did he want them to change.
After Old Lady Yu finished complaining, she said to her eldest son, "Big Boss, I came here today to ask you for advice. Your father also said that we can't go on like this. We have to teach that damn girl a lesson."
Also let the Yu family restore its previous order as soon as possible.
How could we allow a married woman to go home and abuse her power and harm the interests of the Yu family? Yu Li is now a headache for everyone in the Yu family except the second wife.
Yu Laosan also looked at him expectantly.
In his mind, this older brother had read more books, had a more flexible mind than himself, and had more ideas, so dealing with a little girl was no big deal for him.
He also hoped to quickly suppress Yu Li, otherwise if the second room continued to be arrogant, wouldn't the third room be the one that suffered? The second room ate well and worked less, and it was the third room that suffered, because the third room had to work, and the third room ate less, and the old man and the old lady would never let the first room suffer.
What makes Yu Lao San most uncomfortable is that his three sons have been forced by Yu Li to go up the mountain to chop firewood recently. Not only do they have to help clean the chicken coop and pigpen when they come back, but they also have to feed the chickens and pigs, and even wash their own clothes. They are also grown boys, so how can they always let the sisters from the next room help them wash their clothes?
There was no other way, so Wang had to wash clothes for her sons, and she was full of resentment every day.
Isn’t it a girl’s job to raise chickens, feed pigs and do laundry?
Boss Yu thought for a moment and said, "Mother, since she is a married woman, we shouldn't let her always go back to her parents' home and take care of her parents' affairs. How can this be justified? Go back and talk to the elders..."
"No way!" Old Madam Yu was horrified. "If we go to the clan elder, she will destroy our house. Building a house also costs money."
Boss Yu: “…”
Boss Yu quickly figured out the key point and was a little surprised: "Could it be that everyone in the village doesn't know what she did when she returned to her parents' home?"
If she knew, the rumors alone would have stopped her from doing anything outrageous.
Even if she was not afraid of rumors, the village head and the village elders would not allow her to do something that would damage the reputation of Qingshi Village. After all, the countryside also values reputation. If the reputation of the village is ruined, how would girls from other villages dare to marry here? How would girls from this village get married?
In his opinion, Yu Li was really easy to deal with, and they didn't even need to take action. He didn't know why his family allowed her to be so arrogant.
Old Madam Yu complained, "Your father won't let us tell anyone. He said that family disgrace should not be made public."
If you ask Old Lady Yu herself, she definitely wanted to spread the evil things that her unfilial granddaughter did at her mother's home, so that everyone would spit at her to death.
But the old man was too proud to let them do so, and because of Yu Li's threat, no one dared to tell anyone. As a result, no one in the village knows what Yu Li has done in the Yu family.
Even though Yu Li went back to her parents' home to have breakfast every day, it was when the villagers were busy in the fields and not many people saw her.
The Feng family, the Yu family's next-door neighbors, did see it, but they were not the kind of people who would meddle in other people's business. Besides, they felt that Yu Li was a pitiful person, so they would not do anything.
Moreover, Yu Li was married in this village, which was close to her parents' home, just a few steps away. No one would say anything if a married girl occasionally went back to her parents' home to visit her parents and sisters.
Boss Yu frowned again.
He is a scholar, and has a certain degree of scholar's nobleness. He also acts according to the rules of a scholar.
At this moment, I finally feel that the situation is a bit tricky.
Finally, Yu Lao said, "Mom, I know about this. I'll go back when I have some time off."
With his words, Old Madam Yu and Old Third Yu felt relieved.
In their opinion, Boss Yu was a scholar who knew a lot, so it would be easy for him to deal with a little girl.
In fact, Boss Yu didn't take Yu Li seriously, nor did he realize how terrifying she was now.
His impression of Yu Li was still stuck in the past, that she was a taciturn person, just like her mother Liu, who only knew how to work and work like a slave at home. Even after getting married, she couldn't cause any trouble.
Now she is just relying on her strength to act like a bully at her parents' home. After all, she is just a little girl and not worthy of his attention.
Upon learning that the two men had just arrived in the city and had not yet had lunch, Boss Yu took a leave of absence, took them to a noodle shop on the street to eat a bowl of vegetarian noodles, and then took them home to store food.
Old Mrs. Yu complained, "Boss, why isn't your wife here? No one opened the door when we came over just now, and we didn't even have a drink of water."
"They went back to my father-in-law's house." Boss Yu explained, "Next month, Qian Ge'er from my father-in-law's house is going to get married, so she brought Qin Niang and Jing Zong back to see him."
Hearing this, Old Lady Yu quickly said, "This is what we should do."
Her two grandsons studied with Mr. Chen, and they hoped that they would pass the imperial examination and become scholars in the future. Naturally, they hoped that the two families could be closer and visit each other more frequently. This was also the reason why they tacitly allowed Chen to bring the children to live in the county town every month.
As a married woman, it was only right for Chen to go back and see her nephew who was getting married.
Boss Yu added, "After my father-in-law's family is done, I will let Chen take Qin Niang and the others back."
Old Mrs. Yu nodded, completely forgetting that a few days ago, she was still complaining about Chen and her youngest son and daughter staying in the county town and not going back.
Since there is something going on at Mr. Chen's home, it doesn't matter if I don't go back.
**
Fu Wenxiao has been ill for several days.
The fever comes and goes, sometimes it is extremely high, and even after much difficulty it is suppressed, it remains a low-grade fever.
Naturally, Yu Li and Zhou Shi didn't get a good rest.
The two of them took turns guarding the house, but of course Yu Li was the one guarding more of the time. For this reason, she didn't go out for several days in a row, nor did she go into the mountains to look for food, so she had to eat more at home.
Mrs. Zhou also felt that she was working too hard, so she cooked more for her so that she would eat more so that she would have the energy to take care of the patient.
That day, Da Zhuang brought medicine again.
Zhou took the medicine and said gratefully, "Da Zhuang, you've worked hard. We just cooked dinner. Would you like to come in and have a meal?"
Da Zhuang quickly said, "No, no, I'll just go home and eat. We've prepared dinner at home."
Every time Zhou asked him to do something, he would pay him, not asking him to work for free. It would be a good idea to just go to someone else's house and eat for free.
It's not easy for any family these days. Even if the Fu family has some savings, they have to support such a money-eating beast and keep taking medicine. I'm afraid they won't have much money left.
Others didn't know, but Da Zhuang's family knew something about it and were somewhat worried about the Fu family.
After seeing Da Zhuang off, Zhou took the medicine to the kitchen.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with a strong smell of medicine.
Yu Li entered the room carrying the medicine. With the afterglow of the setting sun pouring in through the window, he saw the pale and fragile man lying on the bed, lying there quietly, looking very frail.
Hearing the noise, he opened his eyes, looking drowsy for a moment, but soon woke up.
"Xiao brother, take your medicine." Yu Li said.
When she saw the black bowl of medicine, a look of sympathy appeared on her face.
In Yu Li's opinion, the medicinal juice in this world is just like the mutated food in the apocalypse. It tastes very strange. Anyway, she doesn't like to eat it.
Fu Wenxiao actually took medicine as if it were food and drank three bowls of it every day. How pitiful.
Fu Wenxiao took the medicine bowl calmly, drank it all in one gulp, then took the water she handed him to rinse his mouth, and when he looked up, he saw her face full of admiration.
The expression on her face was very understandable.
Yu Li couldn't help but ask: "Well, isn't it hard to drink?"
Just the smell was unbearable. She had once tasted the residue out of curiosity and confirmed how bad it tasted. It was comparable to the nutritional supplements and compressed food in the end times.
I don’t know what was added into it.
"Not bad." Fu Wenxiao said.
His calmness and composure made Yu Li admire him even more. He thought to himself that although he was a sickly person, his character was indeed excellent. Even when he was sick, he was still able to remain calm and did not have the strange temper of those who had been ill for a long time.
Yu Jin once asked her about his illness, worrying that her elder brother-in-law would die one day and her sister would become a widow.
Yu Jin also told her that there was an old man in the village who had been bedridden for many years. His temper became very strange and he loved to beat and scold people. His children did not like to take care of him, but they could not give up their filial piety and had to endure it. Until the old man passed away, the children were not sad, but relieved.
In comparison, Fu Wenxiao has a really good temper and is a nice person.
He had also been bedridden for a long time, but he never took his anger out on others, took his medicine readily, and was considerate of others.
-
In the past two days, Fu Wenxiao's health has finally improved a lot, and he can even sit in front of the window and read for a while during the day.
There were quite a few books in the boxes in the room, all of which belonged to Fu Wenxiao. Out of politeness, Yu Li had never flipped through any of them.
This was the first time she saw him flipping through a book, and she was a little surprised. Then she remembered that she heard that he was a scholar, but he was in poor health and did not take the imperial examination.
The imperial examination system of the Daqing Dynasty was very complete, allowing the sons of merchants to take the examinations.
There are many scholars these days, like the Yu family. Although they are a farming family, they have three scholars. However, these three scholars have not achieved any fame yet.
Yu Li was curious about what the characters in this world looked like. She leaned over to take a look and found that the characters were actually traditional Chinese characters, but she could still understand some of them.
Because she was carefully identifying the words above, she paused for a little longer, which attracted Fu Wenxiao's sidelong glance.
He asked, "Can you read?"
Yu Li: “…I don’t know.”
The original owner was a farm girl who could not read a single word. Although there were three educated people in the family, the Yu family had never thought of letting the girls learn to read, and the eldest son Yu would not teach the girls to read.
After all, he didn't even think of teaching the boys in the third room. Only all the boys in the first room could read. This shows the selfishness of Boss Yu.
Fu Wenxiao asked again: "Do you want to learn to read?"
"May I?"
Of course Yu Li wanted to learn to read. Even those born after the apocalypse could read. If they were illiterate, they couldn't even understand the mission information. How could that work? In her opinion, no matter which world, military strength was important, and literacy was also necessary.
"Of course you can. If you want to learn to read, I can teach you."
Fu Wenxiao was very calm about this, as if it was normal for her to want to learn to read. She was not like the Yu family, who thought it was useless for girls to learn to read and didn't even want to teach them.
Even Yuqin, the daughter of the eldest son, whose mother was the daughter of a scholar and whose father and brothers were all scholars, only knew a few words and how to write her own name, and nothing more.
Yu Li was very enthusiastic about learning to read. She didn't even need to look for a book. She pointed to a few words in the book in his hand that she was not sure of and asked what they were.
Fu Wenxiao glanced at her and read them out one by one.
One read and the other recognized, and soon Yu Li recognized all the words he was unsure of and memorized them in his mind.
Normal people start learning to read from the simplest ones, unlike her who picks out the difficult ones and asks others to read them while she learns them.
Who would ask a question by skipping words like this?
Can't even pretend.
Fu Wenxiao looked indifferent, as if he didn't think there was anything wrong. As long as she asked, he would read to her.
After making sure that she had written down the words she didn't understand, he slowly turned the pages and continued to let her recognize them while he read them.
His voice was clear and elegant, with the deep and mellow voice unique to an adult man. He read slowly and steadily, gradually making people addicted and their eardrums numb.
Yu Li thought the voice was really nice, and with the help of this voice, she learned words faster.
-
When Zhou passed by, she heard the sound coming from the room and couldn't help but smile.
Yu Li had been married for almost a month, but because Xiao Ge'er was in poor health, although the two of them lay in the same bed, they were not actually husband and wife.
Zhou knew that this was normal, but she still felt a little regretful, thinking that the two of them didn't look like a couple at all. She was also worried that Yu Li's blessing wouldn't be enough to help Fu Wenxiao turn the danger into safety.
Now that she heard the noise inside and knew that Fu Wenxiao was teaching Yu Li to read, she felt happy.
She knew Fu Wenxiao's personality very well. He looked gentle and decent, but in fact he was very defensive. It was difficult for him to accept someone, let alone this wife who was forced to marry him halfway. His sense of responsibility prevented him from denying the marriage, but it would take some time for him to treat her as his wife from the bottom of his heart.
The fact that he was willing to teach Yu Li to read now proved that he was trying to accept this wife.
In time, when their relationship gets better and they consummate their marriage, they will become real husband and wife.
With Li Niang around, he won't be too lonely. Having someone to accompany him when he's sick won't make his life too hard. Perhaps everything will be fine in the future.
Zhou was happy and at the same time she detained the two children and told them not to disturb their uncle and aunt.
"Is uncle not feeling well again?" Fu Yan asked with a frown.
Fu Yansheng pursed his lips, looking extremely worried.
If the young uncle was sick, grandma would restrain them and not let them visit him. Not only was she worried about disturbing the young uncle's rest, but also because they were young and she was afraid of passing the illness on to them.
Zhou smiled and said, "No, it's your uncle who is teaching your aunt to read."
"I want to learn to read, too." Fu Yan replied, "I already know all the characters that my uncle taught me last time, but I haven't written them for him to see yet."
Fu Yansheng smiled with her lips pursed, her voice sweet and sweet, "I want to write it for my uncle too."
Zhou gathered the two children in her arms, caressed them with one hand each, and said with a smile, "Well, you can go over later." Then she took them to cook, "I'll roast sweet potatoes for you later."
Fu Yansheng smiled and showed her small teeth. "Bake three for my aunt, too. She loves them."
"Okay, okay, I'll bake three for Li Niang."
After the sweet potatoes were baked, the brother and sister came over hand in hand, poked their heads in the doorway, and asked, "Aunt, do you want some baked sweet potatoes?"
Yu Li's eyes lit up and he gave up the idea of learning to read with Fu Wenxiao without hesitation.
"eat!"
In front of food, everything else takes a back seat.
Yu Li did not forget the kind person who taught him to read, so he turned around and asked, "Xiao brother, do you want to eat?"
Fu Wenxiao shook his head, "You guys eat."
Seeing that he didn't want to eat, she didn't force him, but she felt quite sympathetic, thinking that he had no appetite due to his illness and missed out on so many delicious foods, which was quite pitiful.
Fu Wenxiao watched her and the two children happily sitting on the small stools in front of the door eating roasted sweet potatoes. The three of them were eating with relish, and their expressions were similar. He lowered his head and saw the book at hand, and sneered.
Bold, simple and easily satisfied, sometimes like a child, the murderous intent at night seems just an illusion.
I don’t know what kind of environment can foster such a strange personality.
-
After a few days, Zhou looked at the remaining copper coins in the jar and couldn't help but sigh.
While eating, Yu Li felt a little strange when he saw the sad look on her face.
Although she was not worldly-wise, she could still read people's faces. She thought she was in trouble and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Zhou was about to say something but stopped herself, thinking that since Yu Li had married into the Fu family, she would be the daughter-in-law of the Fu family, and there was no need to hide some things from her.
"The family's expenses have been high recently, and we have almost spent all our money, and we are running out of food..."
Originally, the family had enough food to eat until the autumn harvest. By then, the people who rented their land would send a batch of food as rent, so they would not have to buy food.
However, after Yu Li got married, the Fu family consumed food too quickly and could not provide enough food for the autumn harvest.
Of course, Zhou would not blame Yu Li for eating too much. In her heart, Yu Li was already a wife of the Fu family, and it was her duty to let her eat enough. She couldn't despise her just because she ate too much, right?
Yu Li looked at her blankly, and it took him a long time to digest her words.
She tried to understand, "Mom, we have no more food?"
This is a big problem!
She thought seriously that she could ignore other things, but she absolutely could not go hungry.
"Yes." Zhou nodded. "Originally, the family had some savings, but you and Xiao'er spent some of it on their wedding. In addition, Xiao'er needs to take medicine, and he cannot stop taking it..."
Fu Wenxiao has been taking medicine, and a dose of medicine costs a lot of money.
Outsiders did not know how much money the Fu family had. Only Zhou knew that their family did not have much money. Fu Wenxiao needed to buy medicine, and the money was not enough to spend.
Seeing Yu Li in a daze, Zhou didn't want her to worry too much, so she comforted her: "Don't worry, Li Niang, I have embroidered some handkerchiefs and purses recently. Once they are sold, we can buy food."
She was not worried that their family would have no food to eat, but she was worried that they would have no money to buy medicine for Fu Wenxiao.
Fu Wenxiao cannot stop taking the medicine. If he stops taking it, his body will be in trouble again.
Yu Li was still worried about this matter and looked serious when he returned to his room.
Fu Wenxiao was in poor health and usually did not eat with them, but ate in the house.
It was rare to see Yu Li with this expression, and he felt a little surprised, so he asked, "Li Niang, what's wrong?" She usually seemed very optimistic, full of curiosity about the world, and sometimes a little silly, and rarely looked so serious.
Yu Li looked at him and said, "Mother said that the family has run out of money and food."
Fu Wenxiao: “…” That’s it?
"Did I eat too much?" she asked seriously.
Fu Wenxiao: “…”
Yu Li knew that he did eat a lot, and in this backward feudal world where grain production was not high, eating a lot was a burden.
She would go to the Yu family for meals because she didn't want the Fu family to be too burdened.
But she had no idea that the Fu family’s food supply had been almost eaten up by her, and they could not last until the autumn harvest.
Fu Wenxiao wanted to laugh. It was rare to see her like this. He thought it was... quite cute. He said, "Don't worry. You won't starve."
He knew she ate a lot and there were a lot of weird things about her, but he didn't care.
No matter how weird she was, she never did anything to harm him. Even when he was sick, she stayed with him all night long and didn't mind if he ate a little more.
Yu Li turned to look at him.
Fu Wenxiao said, "After a few days, when I feel better, I will go to the study to take on some work."
He was in poor health and couldn't do other things, but he could still do the job of copying books.
Just like Zhou's idea, after all, she was married to him and was his wife. He knew that she was particularly concerned about food, so he couldn't let her starve.
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