Chapter 22: Illness

Chen Yiheng was very scared. He was afraid that his mother would be like she was that morning, unable to wake up no matter how much he called.

“Dad, will Mom die?”

It was hard to say whether she would die if they didn’t rush her to the hospital.

But in front of his child, especially with the child’s fearful eyes, Chen Mingchuan firmly shook his head.

“No, Dad promises you: your mother won’t die.”

“Be good, go to your great-aunt’s house, okay?”

As long as his mother wouldn’t die, Chen Yiheng was willing to do anything: “Okay!”

Chen Mingchuan called his second brother and asked him to take his son to his elder brother’s house.

Chen Mingzhong wanted to say he could keep him, but ultimately didn’t say it.

“Third brother, is your wife’s condition very bad?”

Chen Mingchuan nodded: “Yeah, she has a high fever and her breathing is heavy. I suspect she has pneumonia.”

“We must rush her to the hospital.”

What?

Pneumonia?

That’s a serious illness!

Chen Mingzhong was scared: “I’ll ask your second sister-in-law to take Gou’er over, I’ll accompany you to the commune health center.”

The village clinic could treat minor ailments, but they couldn’t handle serious illnesses like pneumonia!

One person couldn’t carry a flashlight, and it was seven or eight miles from the Chen family to the commune health center, and the road was not easy to travel.

Chen Mingchuan agreed.

The two brothers helped each other out of the house…

The two brothers’ voices were loud, and Chen Yiheng’s crying was also loud.

But in the entire Chen family, only Chen Mingzhong and his wife got up.

The next morning, Chen’s elder brother’s wife, Wang Cuimiao, came over: “How is Xinyue? Is she back?”

Chen’s elder brother was called Chen Guangyuan, and he was a cousin of Old Man Chen .

Old Man Chen ‘s mother only gave birth to him, this one son.

Chen Mingzhong also returned at dawn.

Because it was too late, he slept on an empty bed at the health center last night.

Hearing Wang Cuimiao’s question, he immediately answered her.

“I don’t know how she is now.”

“She was on an IV drip at the town health center last night, but the fever still didn’t go down, and she couldn’t wake up.”

“Third brother is a soldier, the health center was afraid something would happen to her, so they transferred third sister-in-law to the county hospital this morning.”

Ah?!

That serious?

Wang Cuimiao was stunned: “Is she that sick? My goodness, please bless Xinyue to be okay!”

“Zhongzi, did any of you go to the county hospital today?”

“If anyone goes, bring me something to see her!”

“Go what? Don’t you have work at home? Ten work points a day, will they fall from the sky?”

“Big sister, your family is not afraid of being a debtor, but our family can’t afford to be indebted!”

Mrs. Chen’s words made Wang Cuimiao’s face turn black: This Wang Aqiu was mocking her family for being in debt!

Chen’s elder brother’s family also had three sons.

But the eldest son had an accident a few years ago, and his wife left with their two children and remarried.

The third son had a limp due to polio, and now he walks with a limp and can’t do heavy work.

The only normal one was the second son.

He was the same age as Chen Mingchuan, but because his family was poor, he didn’t marry until last year.

Now his wife was pregnant again, and she couldn’t do heavy work in the production team.

Now, the whole family had only two able-bodied people, but they had to feed nine mouths…

Wang Cuimiao was also a woman with backbone, but she was just unlucky.

She coldly looked at Mrs. Chen and said: “Sister-in-law, my family is poor, but we don’t bully honest people!”

“Your heart is so biased, you will one day be punished!”

“You should know, what you do, the heavens will see!”

She threw those words and left angrily.

Mrs. Chen was so angry that her forehead was black: “It’s none of your business if I’m biased, you can’t even manage your own family affairs, and you come to manage my house?”

“Humph! So what if I bully people? What’s it to you?”

“Yeah! Mom, why is the old lady meddling so much!”

“Third brother put the little brat with her, she just wants to take advantage of him!”

Their father’s snores were deafening, Chen Lifang didn’t sleep well last night and was in a bad mood.

Whenever there was a chance to stir up trouble, she was all for it!

Sure enough, after her instigation, Mrs. Chen’s face turned even uglier!

“It makes me so mad! That useless third dog, they should have thrown him to the wolves on the mountain!”

“He’s a cannonball ghost, he’ll be killed by a cannonball one day!”

Chen Mingchuan’s unit was an A-class combat division, and he was a technical soldier, belonging to the artillery branch.

Mrs. Chen’s words were truly vicious.

Fortunately, Li Xinyue didn’t hear them, otherwise she would definitely suspect that Chen Mingchuan wasn’t Chen’s biological son.

Ye Juan had known about Li Xinyue’s illness since last night.

She had cursed her in bed all night, hoping Li Xinyue would die.

Coming to see her mother-in-law and being angered by her elder sister-in-law, she immediately said, “Mom, don’t be angry.”

“Just make sure that stupid donkey doesn’t go with him, and the third brother’s money will have to be taken back!”

Wouldn’t she want that?

But Mrs. Chen knew she was powerless!

“Do any of you have any ways to stop her from going?”

“Whoever comes up with a solution, I’ll give you two yuan in allowance every month.”

What?

Two yuan in allowance a month?

That’s twenty-four yuan a year!

More than four yuan more than a private school teacher’s salary!

Suddenly, Ye Juan and Chen Lifang’s eyes lit up like stars in the sky…

“I’ll go think about it!”

“Me too!”

Just then, Liu Xiulan, whose face was swollen like a pig’s head, walked over, “I actually have an idea, but I don’t know if it will work.”

Mrs. Chen’s eyes lit up, “What idea? Tell me quickly!”

Liu Xiulan looked around, “I think the third brother didn’t come back this time to arrange for her to go with him.”

Mrs. Chen glared, “What else could he be coming back for? He said so himself, how could it not be true?”

“Just tell me, stop beating around the bush, okay?”

Liu Xiulan dared not play riddles anymore, “I think the third brother came back this time to get a divorce!”

“You all know how much he hates that stupid donkey, right?”

That’s right!

Ye Juan slapped her forehead, “Third brother suddenly changed his mind when he came back this time, could it be because of that little slut?”

Isn’t it?

Mrs. Chen’s heart lit up, “Is there any way to get rid of her? There’s only a little brat, he can’t take her with him!”

Yeah.

Ye Juan had heard from her friend that sometimes soldiers would be away for months, he couldn’t possibly bring a child!

But how to get rid of her?

Everyone started racking their brains…

“I have a way!”

Chen Lifang shouted, and everyone’s eyes fell on her…

“What way? Tell me quickly!”

Chen Lifang rolled her eyes, “There’s a classmate whose family isn’t very poor, her brother is almost thirty and hasn’t found a wife yet…”

“You’re saying she’s going to exchange marriages?”

Chen Lifang nodded to Ye Juan, “Yes, she’s going to marry soon.”

Ye Juan pouted, “Our family doesn’t need to exchange marriages, what’s the point of saying this? Nonsense!”

How is that nonsense?

Chen Lifang looked around again, then lowered her voice, “Why exchange marriages? Don’t many people nowadays have trouble finding wives?”

“You mean…”

Sell Li Xinyue?