Chapter 43 Die from Eating Salt
Li pleaded for a long time, but was still kicked out of the Lu family's house.
"Little sister, are you really not going to save him?"
Lu Yun asked cautiously.
He certainly didn't want anything to happen to the Li brothers; Li San was his childhood friend.
Apart from Huang Cuixiang, the other members of the Li family are quite good.
"I will save them, but I won't do it easily," Lu Qingqing said.
Things that are too easily obtained are always despised.
"I want people to know that it's not so easy to get medical treatment from me, Lu Qingqing."
Although Li Da was kicked out, he left a bowl of food on the table.
Lu Qingqing picked up a piece of stewed potato, smelled it, and took a bite.
Her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
She tried other things, and after she finished, she let Lu Yun try them.
"Pah! How can it taste so awful!" Lu Yun spat it out.
All the food was bitter and astringent.
“There’s something wrong with the salt,” Lu Qingqing said.
“We used to eat coarse salt at home, but it wasn’t this bad,” Lu Yun said, puzzled.
Ever since Lu Qingqing changed for the better, she switched to using fine salt. Although it's expensive, the food she makes is really delicious.
I can't eat this kind of food at all now.
Eating food from the Li family tastes like dog food.
"That's definitely not even as good as coarse salt."
Lu Qingqing already knows what's wrong with the Li family's illness.
Li Laogen died a truly unjust death!
...
Li Da went to Lin Zhuang's house and saw Lin Zhuang, whom he hadn't seen for many days.
He's not in bad shape at all, contrary to what people are saying. He's perfectly fine and can already do some light work. With a little more rest, he'll be completely recovered.
After leaving Lin Zhuang's house, he knelt outside the Lu family's door.
They didn't even care about their father's funeral.
Huang Cuixiang had scolded him several times, which only provoked Li Dachi's rebellion.
He's almost following in Li Laogen's footsteps; what does he care about anymore? He can't care about anything.
Later, Li Er and Li San handled Li Laogen's funeral arrangements and also knelt in front of the Lu family's door.
Many villagers were puzzled and went to knock on the Lu family's door to persuade them to seek medical treatment for the Li family, but the Lu family ignored them.
He was criticized by the villagers for being cold and heartless.
However, even after the three Li brothers drove away the villagers, they still knelt outside the door.
They won't leave even when it rains.
The villagers felt their good intentions were being taken for granted, and gradually no one paid them any attention.
Huang Cuixiang was too exhausted to scold them anymore, and stared blankly at her three disobedient sons.
Lu Qingqing finally let the person in.
"Consultation fee: five taels."
Five taels of silver is very expensive.
However, it will only be charged once.
Although I couldn't charge this much for consultations elsewhere, the repeated requests for medicine have added up to more than five, ten, or even twenty taels of silver.
Five taels can buy the life of a whole family.
It's such a great deal!
Previously, Li Da had even prepared to take out all his savings.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately took out five taels of silver.
"Please prescribe medicine for us, Dr. Qingqing."
After kneeling for several days, Li Da felt weaker, his heart was beating very fast, and his mind was foggy.
Lu Qingqing then said, "You're not sick, you're just lacking supplies. The problem lies with the salt in your house."
The salt used by the Li family was definitely not government-owned salt.
The salt was of poor quality, obtained through unknown means. It was privately made, poorly filtered, and not fully extracted. Some elements exceeded the standard, while the sodium and potassium content was insufficient.
The Li family father and sons all did physically demanding work, especially Li Laogen and Li Da, who sweated a lot and lost salt quickly. If they didn't replenish their salt in the long run, problems would naturally arise.
In addition, there are other harmful elements exceeding the standard, and Huang Cuixiang is a stingy person who eats only a few kinds of food all year round. Although it fills her stomach, it will cause nutritional imbalance.
When the body is out of balance, organ functions become disordered.
All these factors combined could easily lead to someone's demise.
I felt stronger after eating red clay because it contains a high amount of iron.
But you can't eat too much of that stuff; it just accumulates in your body and you can't get rid of it.
After Lu Qingqing explained, the three Li brothers remained in a daze for a long time.
Salt, is it really salt?
It's that simple.
The salt his family used was cheap salt that his mother bought from a traveling merchant.
I bought a full thirty catties for only one or two taels of silver!
It has a stronger bitter taste, so the less salty taste is easily overlooked.
My mother was quite proud of herself for a long time because she managed to buy salt at a low price.
They've been eating this for a whole year, and they still haven't finished half of it!
But it turns out, this was the culprit who ruined their entire family!
Yes, looking back now, it was only six months after his father ate that salt that his problems started to appear.
Lu Qingqing is indeed amazing; she detected the problem as soon as she tasted it!
"Father, Father—"
The three brothers burst into tears.
"Father, you've been wronged!"
Li was filled with regret. He should have believed Lu Qingqing sooner, ignored his mother's words, and come to find her sooner.
That way, Dad won't die.
You won't die.
When the three brothers got home, they threw the bag of salt into the river.
Huang Cuixiang caused another scene.
"Look at this, everyone! People are getting sick from eating too much salt! What kind of quack doctor is this!"
"Where's the medicine? What kind of medicine did she prescribe? I want to see what kind of miracle cure that little hussy Lu Qingqing can come up with!"
"How much money did you spend again? Boss, how much money do you have left? Hand it over!"
Amidst the cursing, Huang Cuixiang felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning and she was powerless, almost collapsing headfirst.
However, this weakness quickly dissipated, and before the panic in her heart could rise, the three brothers' actions reignited her enthusiasm.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?"
The three brothers rushed into the house and ransacked it.
Li Da's wife, holding her two children who were not yet ten years old, leaned weakly and fearfully to one side.
"Xingniang, don't be afraid, I won't die." Li Da looked at his wife with remorse.
Li Er found the box where Huang had hidden her money.
"Brother, sister-in-law, from now on you will be in charge of our family!"
"My money! This is my money, you unfilial sons, you unfilial sons!"
Huang frantically tried to grab it, but tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground.
Her legs wouldn't obey her commands, and she fell ill.
When it fell on her, she was finally terrified.
"Mother, it's all your fault that my father was ruined."
"My father toiled his whole life, working himself to the bone to earn two taels of silver a month, but in the end, he couldn't even afford salt that cost 60 coins a pound."
You ruined her life, do you know that?!
...
The villagers could hardly believe that Li Laogen died from eating coarse salt.
Ding Hongshi scoffed at this.
The imperial court had strict control over the sale of salt and did not allow private individuals to sell it. The Li family also dared not admit that Huang Cuixiang had bought the salt illegally.
Actually, no one would believe the truth anyway. Many villagers also secretly buy salt, but they get away with it.
Huang Cuixiang was too greedy for cheap prices and bought substandard salt.
When asked again, the Li family said it was because Huang was too stingy and the family's diet was too monotonous, resulting in a lack of supplies.
Amidst everyone's skepticism, Li Da gradually regained his strength.
Even more surprisingly, Lin Zhuang started going out.
He didn't die from abdominal rot, and he's no different from before, even much fatter!
----------------------------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com