"Cuihong! Cough cough cough...Cuihong, stop fooling around."
Pei's mother forced herself to get up from the kang (a heated brick bed) and had already walked into the courtyard.
Her voice was weak, but Pei Cuihong immediately let go of her hand and went to Pei's mother's side.
"Mother, what are you doing out here?"
In front of Pei's mother, she put away all her sharpness, and at this moment she overlapped with the younger sister in Pei Songbai's memory.
Following Pei Cuihong's lead, Pei's mother returned to the room. Without Pei Cuihong's obstruction, Pei Songbai and Xia Wenhua followed her in.
When they left, Pei's mother looked very young. She was busy taking care of her children, cooking, and working in the fields every day.
In just two months, the man, who is not yet fifty, has turned completely white-haired and exudes an aura of decay.
Pei Songbai's eyes reddened almost immediately, and he knelt down on the ground.
"Mother, your unfilial son is late!"
No one could know the fear he felt. If it weren't for the fact that Xia Wenhua was about to be transferred after revealing her identity, and that she hadn't said that the child missed her grandmother and had come back to see her, Pei Songbai simply couldn't imagine what would have happened.
If he hadn't come back this time, would Mother Pei have really died here as those bastards had imagined? He didn't know.
"Smack!"
Pei Songbai raised his hand and slapped himself: "Mother, it's all my fault for being unfilial!"
"Isn't it all your fault? Who are you trying to impress with this act!" Before Pei's mother could speak, Pei Cuihong immediately chimed in.
She couldn't hold back her tears any longer. The thought of having nowhere to turn for help with her own mother made her extremely anxious.
“I asked the village chief, and he said he couldn’t give me your phone number. Also… he said he had already called you, and you said you had already given the money, and the rest is up to the rest of your family.”
Pei Cuihong had just taken the person away and regarded Pei Songbai as her lifeline. Now, when she talks about these things, tears never stop flowing from her eyes.
"Pei Songbai, are you even human? Your mother has looked after your child for three years, and you've taken your wife away and now you don't care about the family anymore. You're not my older brother, get out of here!"
As Pei Cuihong spoke, she burst into tears. In her memory, her eldest brother was a pillar of strength, filial to their mother and loving to his siblings. How could he suddenly abandon everyone when their mother needed medical treatment?
"I don't know, the village chief didn't call me, I really don't know!"
Pei Songbai never expected the village chief to go this far. He usually had a good relationship with the village chief and hoped that the village chief could help keep an eye on the house.
Nothing major had ever happened before, and their relationship was alright. Who would have thought that when they really needed the village chief's help, not only did he not help, but he also got himself into such a mess.
Xia Wenhua finally understood why Pei Cuihong was angry; she genuinely felt that Pei Songbai had been wronged.
However, it was Pei's mother and Pei Cuihong who felt wronged. Pei Cuihong pretended to slap Pei Songbai on the shoulder and said, "How could you do such a thing? Does no one in the village except the village chief know the army's phone number? You didn't even leave it for your mother?"
Xia Wenhua was cursing, but mainly she was trying to give Pei Songbai a chance to explain.
His sister and mother were still waiting, and Pei Songbai raised his hand and slapped himself again.
He held nothing back this time; not only did Pei Cuishan and the other two deserve to be beaten, but he also deserved to be beaten.
“Only the village chief’s house has a phone in the village. Usually, even if I want to call my mother, I call the village chief directly. The village chief tells me about everything that happens in the village. I never thought of leaving my phone number with anyone else.”
In those days, telephones were still a rarity. Let alone telephones, even villages like Wangjia Village didn't have electricity.
The village chief of Hongshan Village was a shrewd man. He got electricity to the village early on and, taking advantage of their previous role in managing the commune's brick and tile factory, managed to get a telephone from the commune.
Later, the brick and tile factory moved to the commune, but the remaining power lines and telephones belonged to their village.
Only Hongshan Village in the surrounding area has this kind of strength. The village chief has always had a good reputation. Pei Songbai really can't understand what the village chief is thinking.
Xia Wenhua sighed: "Mother, no matter how you look at it, we were in the wrong. We didn't handle it well, so it's understandable that you blame us. But please don't joke around with your health."
She knelt beside Pei Songbai without complaint.
A series of unforeseen events led to the tragedy of Pei's mother. Pei Songbai had not anticipated these unexpected circumstances, and as Pei Songbai's wife, she could not remain uninvolved.
Their explanations were reasonable, and while Pei Cuihong still had some doubts, her mother had already believed them.
She was strong-willed her whole life, but in the end, she was kicked out of her home by her children. No one can truly understand the blow that Pei's mother suffered.
Knowing that Pei Songbai had never given up on her, she burst into tears.
Compared to Pei Cuihong's loud wailing, Pei's mother remained silent. She lowered her head, tears falling continuously to the ground, a sight that evoked pity in those who saw it.
Xia Wenhua crawled to Pei's mother's side and took her hand.
“Mother, we’re back. You won’t suffer anymore. We’ll go see a doctor tomorrow! I’ve already talked to Songbai. You’ll come with us this time, and we’ll take care of you in your old age!”
Pei Songbai and Xia Wenhua showed their sincerity, and neither of them hesitated to say that they would take Pei's mother to live with them in her old age. Pei Cuihong's anger finally subsided.
She was a respectable person, and quickly put the matter of her cursing at her brother and sister-in-law out of her mind, and began to greet the two of them.
It was already late at night. Pei Songbai and Xia Wenhua had traveled a long way with their things, and the two children were tired. They must have been tired too.
Pei Cuihong first prepared a room for the two of them so that they could rest.
"Brother, sister-in-law, as long as you haven't forgotten your own mother like those bastards, we have no grudges against each other."
I was being careless with my words just now, please don't take it to heart.
"Mother isn't feeling well and might not want to talk tonight. You all rest first, and we'll talk about other things tomorrow after she's woken up."
Pei Cuihong quickly made arrangements for the two of them, then closed the door and left the room.
No matter how noisy the house was, the two children slept soundly and didn't get up.
Xia Wenhua walked over to the children and noticed that the thoughtful Wang Dashan had taken off the children's coats and covered them with blankets, which put her at ease.
Pei Songbai was completely preoccupied with his mother at the moment. Knowing that his mother's illness was difficult to treat, he was already thinking about which doctor to take her to in the provincial capital tomorrow. He had no mind to think about anything else.
Xia Wenhua walked to Pei Songbai's side, looked at Pei Songbai's name on the list, and sighed inwardly.
Pei Songbai is good in every way, except that he is completely naive and doesn't understand people's hearts; he's just too straightforward.
“Songbai, Mother hasn’t said a word since we got back. Do you think she’ll go with us to the provincial capital for medical treatment?”
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