Chapter 78: The Unlucky Hu Family

Thinking of Hu Yaozu, whose life hung in the balance, Zhang fought back the impulse to lash out at Yang and slowly bent down.

Yang clenched her fists and slammed one into Zhang’s back. “Lower yourself more, how am I supposed to climb up if you’re this high?”

Zhang’s eyes were red, tears brimming in her eyes, but she still bent her knees and squatted a little lower.

Using both her hands and feet, Yang eventually pulled herself up by grabbing Zhang’s hair.

Tears rolled down Zhang’s face, falling into the moving water below. She slowly stood up, helping Yang to the edge of the water canal.

Yang scrambled to her feet and, without even sparing Zhang a glance, immediately started chasing after Hu Dashan.

“Mother, pull me up! Can you at least get me out first?”

Yang didn’t turn around. “Figure it out yourself.”

Zhang, her face full of despair, cried even harder but was utterly helpless. Standing at only a little over 1.4 meters tall, she had no way of climbing up on her own.

By this time, Hu Dashan had already brought Hu Yaozu to the back of Hu Zhaodi.

“Zhaodi, please, save Yaozu. He fell into the water!”

Hu Zhaodi looked at Hu Yaozu and pointed at herself. “Look at me, can my small frame save him? Kneel down and let him lie across your legs to help drain the water out of his stomach.”

Hu Dashan quickly followed her advice, laying Hu Yaozu across his knees.

“Pat his back!” Hu Zhaodi instructed.

Under Hu Zhaodi’s guidance, Hu Yaozu coughed up the water from his stomach, but he still remained unconscious.

Hu Zhaodi stepped forward and checked his pulse. Seeing how weak it was—so faint she could hardly feel it—she could only check his mouth to make sure there was no obstruction. After confirming it was clear, she instructed Hu Dashan to lay Hu Yaozu flat in the field and begin performing CPR.

For artificial respiration, Hu Zhaodi instructed Hu Dashan to blow air directly into Hu Yaozu’s mouth.

She couldn’t bring herself to perform artificial respiration on him—not in this lifetime.

While directing Hu Dashan, Hu Zhaodi’s tone was sharp and unkind, but Hu Dashan dared not utter a word of complaint.

When Yang arrived, Hu Dashan was already being scolded by Hu Zhaodi, afraid to even take a breath, silently following her orders as he blew air into Hu Yaozu’s mouth.

Yang, confused, demanded, “What are you all doing? Why aren’t you saving my grandson?”

Hu Zhaodi gave her a cold glare. “Move aside, if you think you can do better, you try saving him.”

Yang flinched, not daring to make a sound. She could only helplessly watch her beloved grandson, unable to help.

After a long while, Hu Yaozu finally coughed and woke up.

Yang immediately rushed over. “Yaozu, my dear grandson…”

However, she tripped over some rice stubble, and before she could finish her emotional words, she fell straight onto Hu Yaozu.

The barely-conscious Hu Yaozu’s eyes rolled back, and with a dramatic motion, he fainted again.

Hu Dashan, utterly frustrated, yelled, “Mother, what are you doing? At this point, I’m not asking you to help, but can’t you stop making things worse?”

Saying this, Hu Dashan grabbed Yang’s arm and yanked her up, then tossed her, sending her crashing down onto the stubble.

The freshly cut rice stubble was still hard, and it pricked Yang painfully, making her cry out in agony.

Hu Zhaodi couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha…”

The Ji family, who had been holding in their laughter, couldn’t take it any longer and all started laughing along.

Hu Dashan was both embarrassed and angry.

He was embarrassed because his mother had made a fool of herself in front of the Ji family.

Hu Dashan was not only upset that his mother was unable to help, but also that she was making things worse.

When he saw that Hu Yaozu had fainted again, his eyes turned to Hu Zhaodi, seeking her help.

Hu Zhaodi stopped laughing and walked to the edge of the field. She grabbed the water bag, took a mouthful of water, and sprayed it forcefully onto Hu Yaozu’s face.

Hu Yaozu stirred and opened his eyes, dazed and confused.

Hu Zhaodi spoke bluntly, “Since you’re not dead, get up and get out of the way. Stop disturbing us.”

Hu Dashan awkwardly muttered, “Zhaodi, thank you for today.”

“I don’t need your kind words saying thank you, just leave,” Hu Zhaodi replied curtly.

Hu Dashan picked up Hu Yaozu, gave his mother an angry look, and turned to leave.

The family was almost completely soaked, so they needed to go home and change clothes.

Yang clambered up from the ground, clutching her bottom as she followed Hu Dashan. The mother and son completely forgot about Zhang, still stuck in the water.

As they walked away, Zhang, seeing them get farther and farther, shouted hoarsely, “Dashan, help me!”

Hu Dashan turned around, seeing Zhang still in the water, and lost his temper. He shouted at his mother, “Mother! Are you really my mother? You didn’t even help Yaozu’s mother out of the water! What do you want to do?”

“Since you can save Yaozu, I won’t say anything, but you did nothing and are only causing trouble for me! Even if Yaozu’s mother isn’t worth your attention, could you have pulled her out and let her go harvest rice instead of letting her stay in the water? You want her to catch a cold so you can hoard the rice for yourself?”

Yang replied, “I… I was just worried about Yaozu.”

Hu Dashan snapped, “I think you want Yaozu to die sooner rather than later. You nearly killed him with your carelessness!”

Yang burst into tears, “Dashan, Yaozu is my dear grandson, how could I harm him? How could you think that of your own mother?”

Hu Dashan shouted, “What do you expect me to think? Go help Yaozu’s mother out of the water now! Do you really want to take all the rice for yourself?”

Reluctantly, Yang turned back toward Zhang, grumbling and cursing as she walked.

“Zhang, you useless fool, a worthless woman. You can’t even climb up from this little height. You’re wasting food by staying alive. It’d be better if you just died…”

However, when Yang reached out to grab Zhang, Zhang’s anger, long suppressed, finally erupted.

As Yang tried to pull her up, Zhang grabbed her hand and, pretending to climb, yanked hard, pulling Yang into the water.

Finally, Yang shut up.

Zhang, still furious, pressed Yang down into the water while stepping on her to climb up.

Once she reached the top, Zhang mustered all her strength and finally dragged Yang out. The family, in their usual chaotic and drenched state, headed back home.

…

Around mid-day, Auntie Ji straightened up and looked at Hu Zhaodi. “Zhaodi, are you tired? How about we head back and start preparing lunch? We can bring it out to the fields for them later.”

Hu Zhaodi smiled. “Aunt, I’m not tired yet. I’ve been eating well and sleeping well lately. My energy is much better than before.”

“Alright, let’s go back and cook. We’ll bring them their lunch in the fields.”

“Sounds good. That way, they don’t have to keep running back and forth, and it won’t slow down the work. Our family will definitely finish first.”

“Of course. We have so many people, and everyone’s in good spirits.”

Hu Zhaodi nodded, placed the sickle on the field’s ridge, and followed Auntie Ji back home to prepare lunch.