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Looking at her son with eyes full of anticipation! Thirty copper coins, no less—this can’t be wasted. He must drink every last drop!
Zhao Dashu: …
He closed his eyes, tilted his head back, looking like a hero heading for the execution ground, determined to gulp it down without tasting it.
“Pffft…”
It was unbelievably bitter!
His wife’s eyes sparkled. She remembered hearing from the elders when she was young: the better the medicine, the more bitter it is. Since her husband was suffering this much from the bitterness, it must be full of good stuff!
“Wen, drink it quickly! Don’t leave even a drop!”
After drinking, I’ll save the dregs—we’ll boil it again tomorrow. Even if it’s weaker, it’s still medicine.
Zhao Dawen was truly not suicidal, but he really didn’t have the courage to take another sip.
“Mom, did the doctor scam me? Did he deliberately give me something this bitter?”
His tongue had gone completely numb.
“Nonsense! How could that be? The more bitter the medicine, the better it works. You’re still young and don’t understand. Would your mother ever harm you? Hurry and drink it while it’s hot!”
As she spoke, she even reached out like she was ready to pour it down his throat herself.
“No, no, no, I’ll drink it myself!”
Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes—gulp gulp gulp!
He downed it in one go. It was so bitter, even his heart ached.
“Here, have some candy!”
Zhao Dawen’s mouth twitched. He didn’t want it. No—he despised it. He was utterly disgusted. He was afraid that if he ate the candy, it might make it harder to keep the awful medicine down and he’d end up vomiting it all out.
“Mom, you eat it. Your son’s not suffering anymore. You’ve kept this piece of candy for a long time, haven’t you? Go ahead and enjoy it.”
As he spoke, Zhao Dawen snatched the candy from her hand and, with lightning speed, shoved it into her slightly parted mouth.
Oh thank heavens—it almost went into his mouth, but at least it ended up in his mother’s.
“Aiya, you silly child! Why did you shove it in my mouth? I’m an old woman with nothing but bones left—what do I need candy for? I didn’t even take the medicine!”
As she spoke, she started trying to dig the candy out of her mouth.
Zhao Dawen broke out in a cold sweat and hurried to stop her.
“Mom, please—just eat it, just eat it! Your son’s still young, I’ll have plenty of chances to eat candy later. Good things like this should go to you and Dad first!”
His mother was moved to tears—such a filial son!
Wang Shi looked admiringly at her husband. No wonder his mother always sided with him—that mouth of his really was dipped in honey.
Back then, wasn’t she completely bewitched by his sweet talk and that pretty face?
“Mom, I’d like to go rest now.”
Standing there in the room, he could hardly bring himself to eat the candy—he was so bittered out, he could barely speak.
“Yes, yes, go rest. I’ll head back to my room first then. Daughter-in-law, take good care of Wen now, alright?”
“Yes, Mom. Your daughter-in-law will walk you to the door.”
Honestly, no wonder people say reading books is important. Look at Old Zhao, look at his wife—between the two of them, even one strand of the third son’s hair couldn’t compare.
“Xiaoyu, time for your medicine! Wait a sec, Mom will go get a bowl of warm water so you can rinse your mouth.”
When it came to drinking medicine, she wasn’t scared at all.
Back when she was learning to distinguish herbs and medicines, she’d tasted plenty.
Gulp gulp—she downed it all in one go. Then drank two sips of warm water.
Smack smack. Not too bitter.
“Third daughter-in-law! Third daughter-in-law!”
“Yes, Mom? What is it?”
“Save Old Zhao’s medicine dregs—we’ll boil it again tomorrow.”
“Ai!”
Moved by the thought, she thought that if Zhenyu’s medicine was only boiled once, there should still be four doses.
Tomorrow, she would make sure to do the same!
Zhao Zhenyu had been lying in bed for three days. During these three days, her mother said that it was her father who served her meals. Honestly speaking, she was still not eating her fill, but at least it was enough to line her stomach a little. The original body’s appetite, apparently, had been quite good!
Every day, her stingy grandmother would stand outside her door and launch into a stream of curses—some vile, some downright unbearable. Occasionally, when her father couldn’t take it anymore, he would argue back with her. As for the eldest uncle’s family, they had returned to the county yesterday. Before leaving, it was said they dragged away two chickens and two sacks of grain from the household.
Her younger sister, Lihua, was only four years old, yet her stingy grandmother had already begun bossing her around—feeding chickens in the yard, pulling weeds by the river, catching bugs. That wretched old woman had no shred of decency. Even if it was child labor, this was far beyond the pale!
By the fourth day, her grandmother finally hit her limit and refused to let her continue lying in bed. “There’s a pile of chores to do in the house, and you lot—one after another—refuse to lift a finger, just crowding around this sick little wretch day after day. What do you want, to wear your poor old mother out? Oh, open your eyes! I can’t take this anymore! Even the firewood for cooking is gone—should I just chop up furniture and burn that instead?”
Zhao Zhenyu: …
Who in the family wasn’t working? Were they blind? Father and Mother didn’t slack off, and even little sister was being ordered around day after day until she was running in circles. That old crone—was it really so unbearable to see someone lying down for a few days? Chopping firewood apparently had been the original body’s task. Besides that, there was also gathering pigweed.
“Mother, Zhenyu’s still not well. Give it a few more days. I’ll chop the firewood,” Third Zhao said, glancing at his daughter’s still pale face. In her condition, how could she possibly get out of bed to do chores?
“She’s not well? She gulps down bowl after bowl of brown rice porridge every day, and you call that not well? Who are you trying to fool? Is she some ancestor? A young lady? If she won’t do it, then I will, I will! I’ll do it all!” With each word, his mother took a step toward Zhao Dashu, chest puffed out, practically ramming into him. Zhao Dashu could only step back, retreating inch by inch.
“Old Zhao, how can you be so unfilial? Aren’t you afraid of getting struck down by lightning?”
A mother who cursed her own son like this—what kind of luck was that? Madam Song stood awkwardly to the side, at a loss for what to do. Little Lihua huddled at the doorway, lips trembling, on the verge of tears but too scared to cry.
Zhao Dashu’s face darkened like the bottom of a burnt pot.
“Father, Mother, I’m more or less better now. I’ll go chop firewood.” While up in the mountains, she could also test out the spatial dimension and see what functions it might have.
“Zhenyu!”
“Mother, I’m fine.”
“I knew she was faking it, pretending! And you all just won’t believe me. Always pampering her!” She slapped her thigh with an exaggerated expression. “Oh heavens, there go my two doses of medicine money!”
Zhao Zhenyu was honestly speechless. That old crone—what a waste if she didn’t join a traveling drama troupe.
“If you can’t handle it, come back home. Don’t chop too much. You’re still weak, don’t overdo it,” said Father gently.
“Alright!”
At least this cheap father of hers had some kindness. Not a bad man.
“Can’t handle it? If you don’t carry two full loads back today, don’t expect to eat tonight!”
Zhao Dashu fixed his gaze on his mother. “Mother, if you keep pushing Zhenyu like this, then I’ll go with her to chop the firewood today. As for the other chores, have Big Brother come home and do them.”
A few dry coughs came from outside the doorway. The old man barked a reprimand, “Aren’t you coming in yet? The child just started to recover, what are you doing?”
Damn, so there was a spectator at the door. What a loss of face! She immediately backed down. Just where did Father’s cunning come from?