The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure-Chapter 188: Hopes (Seeking Monthly Votes and Subscriptions)
Chapter 188: Chapter 188: Hopes (Seeking Monthly Votes and Subscriptions)
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Even folks from the countryside with the most straightforward minds could sense the intricacies here—was the Divine Doctor brought in by the Wang Family’s Second Child swindled, or was he actually out to harm Eldest Wang?
No one could say for certain!
All of a sudden, with Eldest Wang incapacitated and Uncle Old Zhu laid low, the once thriving Wang Family had, overnight, been reduced to just Wang Laosi, the only adult male left standing.
With this realization, the past envy for the Wang Family, having a Scholar Master, completely dissipated in the moment.
The members of the Wang Family were all thoroughly exhausted, leaning against the wall, silent.
After a long while, Wang Yongping finally spoke up, "Little sister, what do you think we should do?"
Wang Yongzhu’s own mind was in disarray. She would never have thought Wang Yongan could be so ruthless. Even if he resented his own family and looked down upon them, in the end, that was your elder brother. You might stand by and watch, but to kick someone when they’re down, wanting the Eldest Brother’s life, that was going too far!
She thought Wang Yongan was just selfish, but she never imagined he could be so inhumane!
The pressing issue now was that both her elder brother and father had fallen ill at once. She had brought only a little over three taels of silver, surely not enough. The priority was to go back and get more silver from mother.
First save lives, then find Wang Yongan to get to the bottom of this.
Having organized her thoughts, Wang Yongzhu rubbed her face to appear more alert.
"I’ll go back with a few of the elder brothers soon to get the silver from mother and pay for the medicine first. And also, to bring mother over to care for father. Once father’s and Eldest Brother’s conditions have stabilized, I’ll go with you to the county town to find Second Brother!" Wang Yongzhu announced her plan.
Jinhu heard this and straightened up, "Auntie, I’ll go with you to the county town to find Uncle Second! I want to get to the bottom of this!"
At that moment, Wang Yongzhu felt completely overwhelmed. She couldn’t count on Wang Yongping. As for Jindou and Jinhu, they were out of the question. On second thought, the only person left in the family she could actually discuss things with was Old Granny Zhang.
So, ignoring Jinhu’s request, she just nodded, "You take good care of your father first, we’ll talk about the rest later. I’ll go back and bring your grandmother over. You’re grown-ups now, and you need to be sensible!"
Saying this, she went to Doctor Ma’s place and took out all the silver she had on her to barely cover the consultation and medicine costs.
Looking at the sky, it was still early.
Everyone had been up all night, and they couldn’t just go back on an empty stomach.
Fortunately, she had brought extra pancakes, which she heated up using the medical hall’s stove. With some cold water, that made for a makeshift fuller belly.
Wang Yongzhu then went back inside to check on Wang Laozhu, who had woken up. Seeing Wang Yongzhu enter, he was so anxious to get up and speak.
Wang Yongzhu held him down, "Father, just focus on recovering. I’ll have Fourth Brother stay here to look after you. After I bring mother here to take over, I’ll accompany Fourth Brother to the county town to find Second Brother and demand justice. Don’t worry about anything, I’ve got it all under control!"
Upon hearing Wang Yongzhu’s words, Wang Laozhu finally felt somewhat relieved and managed to mumble after a long while, "...I’m...relying on you..."
Wang Yongzhu patted Wang Laozhu’s arm to reassure him.
After coming out and thinking for a moment, she called Jindou, "Follow me back home, you’ll stay and guard the house!"
Jindou was not at ease about leaving Wang Yongfu, "I need to take care of Father!" His tone was tinged with the verge of tears. The changes that had occurred in the span of a day and night were almost too much for the young man to bear.
Right now, he feared that if something else happened to Wang Yongfu, the three of them would be left without both a father and a mother.
Wang Yongzhu’s expression darkened, "Stop that nonsense! I’m heading back now to bring our grandmother here. With only your third aunt at home looking after your younger brothers and sisters and no telling how long your father’s and grandfather’s illnesses will last, how could the house function without a man? At times like these, our family can’t afford a single mistake!"
Jindou hesitated, unable to make up his mind.
Wang Yongzhu was nearly driven to the point of fury, "What time do you think this is to waver and whine?"
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Without a word, she dragged him off.
Jindou tried to resist, but was intimidated by a glare from Wang Yongzhu, and combined with the pain from the tight grip on his wrist, his reluctance instantly evaporated, and he pleaded in a low voice, "Auntie, please let go! I’ll go back! I’ll go back with you!"
With a grunt, Wang Yongzhu finally loosened her grip.
The Wang Family’s kin, waiting outside for Wang Yongzhu’s emergence, were ready to escort her home.
A few relatives whispered amongst themselves, noting that this cousin had once been known for her laziness and bad reputation, but now, in the family’s time of crisis, it was she who seemed to be holding everything together, both inside and out.
Even Wang Laosi was taking orders from this sister, which was truly unexpected.
In the past, no one cared to take this cousin along because she was simply too unpleasant,
but today, seeing how a young maiden had to worry about everything and make the decisions, even the grown men felt pity, thinking of the perilous several dozen miles of mountainous road she had to navigate alone, dense with forests—it was only sensible to escort her home as they were heading that way as well.
When Wang Yongzhu came out, ready to leave, she scanned the surroundings, seemingly noticing someone was missing, and asked, "Huh? Where’s Eldest Brother Song? Isn’t he coming back?"
Wang Yongping’s mood was still very depressed as he answered in a muffled voice, "He told me he had something to take care of, so he left first!"
Nodding, Wang Yongzhu didn’t have the energy to ask further. She took the docile Jindou and hurried back home.
By the time they reached home, it was noon. After thanking the several family elders, she entered the quiet courtyard.
Lady Jiang was in the yard picking vegetables, and when she saw Wang Yongzhu and Jindou return, she hurried over to greet them, "You’re back!"
Then she turned and called into the house, "Mother, little sister is back!"
The door creaked open, and Old Granny Zhang rushed out, first examining Wang Yongzhu. Seeing that she was unharmed, she finally relaxed and patted her, "Good to have you back, good to have you back! Are you hungry? Do you need water?"
She led Wang Yongzhu inside without even regarding Lady Jiang and Jindou.
Jindou and Lady Jiang were already used to this, and after Zhang and Wang Yongzhu entered the house, Jindou asked, "Auntie, where’s Jinhoo?"
Lady Jiang gestured towards the main room, "He got up early complaining of pains, so I let him rest in the room."
Jindou, rolling up his sleeves, went straight inside. Just the day before, when his father had vomited blood, everyone had been in such a panic that they hadn’t taken care of Jinhoo.
Now with more time on his hands, he was determined to deal with this brat properly!
He had made it clear on the way home to be careful with his words, to let him speak instead, to take it slow, so as not to upset their father.
Jinhoo had agreed, yet what happened? Before he had even figured out how to address the matter, Jinhoo had bawled it all out at once!
Storming into the room, he saw Jinhoo sleeping like a log on the kang bed, drooling, which made his blood boil.
With such a crisis at home and their father’s life hanging in the balance, how could he sleep?
He yanked Jinhoo up and started beating his behind relentlessly.
In the midst of his sleep, Jinhoo was woken up by the beating, and to his surprise, it was his elder brother delivering the blows?
He immediately started to wail.
He had barely cried out when a slap from Jindou stunned him.
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