“What? The boss and the fourth kid ran into a bear!”

Grandma Xie, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, heard the terrible news and rushed out with a worried expression on her face.

It was true that the two elders of the Xie family favored the third branch, but they didn’t completely ignore the other two branches. After all, they were all their own flesh and blood; how could there be no feelings at all?

However, in order to change their fortunes, families like theirs, who were poor farmers, always had to sacrifice a part of their own.

Hearing that her son and grandson were injured, Grandma Xie was extremely anxious.

In a hurry, the villagers explained briefly.

“Three Granny, I’m not sure about the details either. I heard from Hunter Wang, who went up the mountain with them, that they encountered a crazed bear yesterday. Seeing they couldn’t fight it off, they had to scatter and run…”

“Others were lucky, but when your eldest and fourth kid were found today, they were lying in a gully covered in blood, with many claw marks on them. It seems they were chased by the bear yesterday!”

“Three Granny, hurry and take some silver. I’ll use my ox cart to take you to the city to find a doctor. If we wait too long, they might not make it.”

Hearing that someone was about to die, Grandma Xie turned pale with fear, nearly fainting.

Xie Wenyuan stepped forward to support her, calming her down.

“Grandma, don’t panic. I’ll go to the city with Uncle to find a doctor. You stay home and boil some hot water. When Uncle and Cousin are brought back, we can clean their wounds. We can’t let things get chaotic at home; you need to take charge.”

“Yes, yes, yes, find a doctor, hurry and find a doctor…”

His soothing voice made Grandma Xie feel like she had found a pillar of support, and she hurriedly rushed back inside to grab some silver.

Right now, everyone was working in the fields, leaving just the two of them at home.

After reminding Grandma Xie a few times, Xie Wenyuan followed the villager uncle who brought the news and rushed to the city in the ox cart.

On the way, Xie Wenyuan deliberately acted anxious, saying, “Uncle, let’s go to Jishi Hall!”

Jishi Hall was the best folk clinic in the capital. It was said that the doctors there were mostly retired imperial physicians and their apprentices, trained in the royal palace.

Their medical skills were excellent, but the costs were naturally high.

Hearing this, the villager uncle hesitated and reminded him, “Xie Xiucai, just the consultation fee at Jishi Hall is one tael of silver…”

Although Tongshu Village was close to the imperial city and lived better than villagers in remote areas, they were still common folk and not wealthy enough to afford such good doctors.

A trip to Jishi Hall might wipe them out!

But Xie Wenyuan was very insistent, his expression filled with sorrow.

“Uncle, I appreciate your kindness, but that’s my own uncle and cousin, two living lives. Even if I have to sell everything I own, I must try to save them.”

“My future in the imperial examination can wait a few years, and we can endure hard times at home for a few more years, but if they die, that’s it…”

As he spoke, Xie Wenyuan’s eyes glistened with tears, struggling to hold back his sobs, as if he was trying hard to suppress his sadness.

Anyone could see how much family meant to him.

The uncle was immediately moved!

In the village, people often praised Xie Xiucai, but they also gossiped behind his back.

They said Xie Wenyuan had drained the family’s silver for his studies, that his parents were being sneaky, and that the other members of the Xie family were having a hard time. What if the third branch turned out to be ungrateful in the future?

But it turned out they were overthinking it, being petty and jealous of a good person!

Look at how Xie Xiucai was willing to give up his future to save his uncle and cousin. What a sincere kid!

He would definitely have to have a good talk with those gossipers later, so they wouldn’t spread rumors out of envy…

“Alright, Xie Xiucai, hold on tight. I’ll make the ox go faster.”

The villager uncle, with a worried expression, cracked the whip and urged the ox on.

Seeing this, Xie Wenyuan felt satisfied in his heart.

With Uncle Sun’s big mouth around, he believed that by tomorrow morning, everyone in the village would know just how loyal he was!

After all, he was determined to save his uncle and cousin, so he naturally wanted to maximize the benefits of this situation.

In his past life, how was he able to make the second prince exchange a concubine position for his loyalty as a poor farmer?

How was he able to regain the trust and help of his cousin after the family was split and broken?

It was because, whenever he put in a little sincerity, he made sure people felt his twelve parts of effort and sincerity.

Don’t blame him for being calculating.

It was just that compared to genuine feelings, strategies always won people’s hearts.

---

The ox cart sped along.

Fortunately, Tongshu Village was right at the foot of the imperial city, so the distance to the city wasn’t far. Jishi Hall didn’t have many patients today, and they quickly found a doctor to return to the village.

After timely treatment and bandaging, they managed to save the lives of Uncle and Cousin, but their injuries were very serious.

Uncle had a severe fracture in one leg and one arm. If he didn’t get good medicine and proper rest for at least half a year, he would definitely end up disabled.

Cousin was even worse off; since he had injured his head, he would need rare things like ginseng.

The doctor looked at the shabby clothes of the Xie family and sighed with some sympathy.

“Well, the situation is as it is. Both lives are temporarily saved, but to recover well, they will definitely need good medicine. For both patients, it will take at least a hundred taels of silver.”

“You all discuss it among yourselves. If you want to save them, you need to take the silver and come back with me to get the medicine; if not, I can give you a regular prescription for some basic medicine to keep them going…”

The rest of his words were left unsaid, but those who understood knew what he meant.

The Xie family was immediately thrown into chaos.

“How could this be?”

“How could they be so seriously injured?”

“Heaven really isn’t giving us a way to live, sob sob.”

Lying in bed, Uncle Xie’s face turned pale, and he struggled in despair, “No, I won’t be treated… buy medicine for the fourth kid…”

The fourth kid was his cousin, ranked fourth, named Xie Wenqi.

The Xie family couldn’t possibly come up with over a hundred taels of silver, so Uncle Xie could only sacrifice himself to give his son a chance at life.

Meanwhile, the cousin, who had already borrowed a body, was also anxious lying in bed.

Xie Wenqi wanted to speak, urging the doctor to treat the original owner’s father first!

Because he had the golden finger of transmigration, he wouldn’t die even without medicine, but if the original owner’s father’s broken limbs weren’t treated in time, he would become disabled.

Having already gained the original owner’s memories, he didn’t want this loving father to come to harm.

Unfortunately, his current body had lost too much blood, feeling weak all over, and his throat was dry, making it impossible to say a single word…

He could only watch helplessly as the Xie family discussed among themselves.

“Sob sob, father and mother, please save the head of the family and the fourth kid. I’ll bow to you; as long as you can bring back the father of the child and the fourth kid, I’ll work like an ox for the family…”

Aunt Liu was someone who was good at saving face, immediately kneeling down and crying as she bowed her head.

After all, it wasn’t her who was paying the silver; it would be great if they could save them, and if they didn’t, she would be scolded for being heartless by her in-laws.

After all, what could a poor daughter-in-law do?

She had already done her best by humbly bowing and pleading.

In her past life, Aunt Liu had acted this way, making the naive transmigrated cousin think she was a kind mother.

She got all the benefits while letting others take the blame.

Now, Xie Wenyuan certainly wouldn’t let her succeed. He immediately stepped forward and earnestly advised,

“Grandma, silver can be earned again, but we can’t just watch as Uncle and Cousin come to harm. They went hunting to help the family and got injured.”

That was the right thing to say, but the medical expenses were likely to exceed a hundred taels!

Grandma Xie hesitated, “But what about your exams? Our family has so little silver; if we spend it all, we won’t be able to pay your tuition next year…”

The two elders didn’t not care about their injured son and grandson, but all the family’s efforts over the years had been put into the fifth child’s education. If the fifth child had to drop out, all their efforts would be in vain.

In that case, comparing the two, they would rather bear the reputation of being heartless and sacrifice their eldest son and fourth grandson.

It was a very wise choice, assuming nothing unexpected happened.

Rationally, everyone understood, but emotionally it was still hard to accept, especially for the first branch.

The eldest cousin, second cousin, and third cousin couldn’t help but kneel and plead.

“Grandma, please save father and the fourth brother. We will work hard to earn silver for the family in the future. We can carry goods at the dock or work as laborers for the landlord…”

“Sister-in-law, please, save my husband and the fourth kid. I’ll bow to you; as long as you can save my husband and the fourth kid, I’ll do anything you want.”

Aunt Liu even hugged Xie’s mother’s leg, crying pitifully.

Clearly, the third branch hadn’t said anything yet, but Xie Wenyuan had already expressed his intention to save them.

But with her crying like this, it seemed as if the third branch was blocking the rescue, while she, the aunt who could only cry, appeared to be very righteous and kind.

In any case, everyone else in the room, including the injured Uncle and his son, were very moved.

Only the third branch, who knew the truth, felt indignant.

Xie’s mother secretly hated her; she had already seen that this sister-in-law wasn’t as weak and pitiful as she appeared, but she never expected her to be so scheming.

Her son had been harmed by them in his dreams, and she had no way to retaliate, but now there was no way!

Xie’s mother immediately showed a worried expression and spoke up.

“Oh dear, sister-in-law, what are you doing? When did we say we wouldn’t save Uncle and the fourth kid? We’re discussing it now, so stop crying. Can crying solve the problem?”

“I know you’re soft-hearted and can’t handle things. Sister-in-law, you go take care of Uncle and the fourth kid. We’ll think of a way.”

While speaking, Xie’s mother didn’t help her up, leaving Liu kneeling firmly.

This sister-in-law had caused the Xie family to be exterminated, so she could handle this kneeling!

Although most of the Xie family had already died when they were exterminated, her son had been implicated, hadn’t he?

She held a grudge, and that was no fault.

Not giving Liu a chance to continue speaking, Xie’s mother looked at the children of the first branch, her face full of love as she wiped her tears.

“Big son, second son, third brother, don’t worry. Third uncle and third aunt may be a bit disorganized, but they understand the big picture. Our Wenyuan’s ability to study for the imperial examination is also thanks to Uncle’s efforts.”

“We are one family. If your father and the fourth kid are in trouble, we will sell everything we have to save them!”

After saying that,

Xie’s mother began to take off the silver hairpin from her head and the thin silver bracelet from her wrist.

With red eyes and a smile, she said reluctantly, “These are all my dowry. Let’s gather some silver to buy two sets of medicine first. We’ll think of a way for the rest later; saving lives is the priority.”

Then she looked at Liu, urging her.

“Sister-in-law, I remember your family also brought a longevity lock as a dowry, right? Hurry and get it out; don’t delay the doctor from prescribing medicine.”

She wanted to see how this sister-in-law would continue to pretend to be a good person!

The author has something to say:
【Xie Family Members】
Elders: Xie Grandpa, Xie Grandma.
First Branch: Uncle Xie and his wife, eldest son, second son, third brother, fourth son (the transmigrated cousin)
Second Branch: Uncle Xie Er and his wife, eldest daughter, second daughter, third daughter
Third Branch: Xie Father, Xie Mother, eldest son (the protagonist), youngest son.