Chapter 168 Powerless
Wenjie got off the carriage and hurried into the yard, "Mom, I'm back."
The sick person lying in bed heard the familiar voice outside and got up from the bed excitedly. She hadn't seen her son for so many days, and as a mother, she missed her son so much that she was heartbroken.
She ran to the window, lay down and looked outside. She saw her son running in from the gate. Chen wanted to run out immediately and give her son a hug.
But thinking of her illness, she just stood in the room without moving.
When Wenjie knocked on the door, Chen said, "Wenjie, Mom's illness hasn't healed yet. You should stay at Second Uncle's house with Sister Qianhuan today."
"Mom, why aren't you getting better yet? Wenjie misses you so much. Can you open the door and let Wenjie take a look?"
"My dear child, my mother's disease is contagious, so we can't open the door. You should go back with Sister Qianhua as soon as possible."
"Mom, Wenjie is not afraid. At worst, Wenjie will get sick with you."
"Silly child, you are not afraid, but mother is distressed. Be obedient and go back with Sister Qianhuan quickly."
Qianhuan couldn't help but feel suspicious at this time. Colds are indeed contagious, but it has been so long, it is impossible that she hasn't recovered yet, unless Chen didn't have a cold at all.
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cough sounded in the room again. Qianhuan suddenly had an idea. The long-term cough was contagious. Could it be tuberculosis?
In modern times, pulmonary tuberculosis is called pulmonary tuberculosis, which can be cured by taking anti-tuberculosis drugs. But in ancient times, pulmonary tuberculosis was a terminal illness.
Moreover, tuberculosis is highly contagious. If Chen really had tuberculosis, if the people in the village knew about it, they would probably drive Chen out of the village immediately.
Qianhuan is not a doctor. Although she knows a lot of modern medical knowledge, she is completely helpless against tuberculosis.
She quickly asked, "Aunt, you've had a cold for several months, why haven't you recovered yet? What are the symptoms of your cold? Otherwise, I'll take you to the county town to see a doctor."
"Qianhuan, Auntie just keeps coughing and feels a little weak. There's no need to waste money on seeing a doctor. Auntie just needs to rest more."
"Aunt, if you go to see a doctor, don't worry about the money. Just come with me to see the doctor again."
"Qianhuan, it's really not necessary. You guys should go home quickly. I will be very grateful if you can help me take good care of Wenjie."
Seeing that Chen once again refused the suggestion of seeing a doctor, Qianhuan's bad premonition became stronger and stronger.
She pulled Wenjie and said, "Wenjie, go home with Sister Qianhuan. Let's not disturb your mother from recuperating. We can come back to see her when she recovers."
It's really not her fault for being realistic. When it comes to things that she can't do anything about, she can only choose to protect herself first. If she and Wenjie are accidentally infected, then they will both die. She can only pray in her heart: I hope Chen doesn't have tuberculosis.
"Sister Qianhuan, I miss my mother. I just want to see her." Wenjie hadn't seen Chen for several days. He really wanted to see his mother.
"Wenjie, you can see him when your mother recovers. Be a man and be strong."
Wenjie nodded obediently, "Yes, Wenjie understands."
Then he shouted towards the door, "Mom, I will go back to my second uncle's house with Sister Qianhua. You must take your medicine well and get well soon."
"Okay, mom knows, you guys can go now."
After the person outside the door walked away, Chen quickly and secretly leaned over the window and looked at the back of the little man in the yard from inside the house.
Chen touched her thin and dry cheeks. She really didn't want her son to see her like this. Besides, her disease was highly contagious, and she couldn't harm her son.
She thought of her husband who was in the army. He still had another year to come home, but unfortunately she would never be able to wait any longer. She felt sad and tears silently rolled down her face.
When Qianhuan and Wenjie left the yard, the children gathered around curiously again. One of them asked, "Wenjie, I heard that you went to study in the city?"
"Yeah." Wenjie was in a low mood and he responded to them in a low voice.
"Wenjie, I didn't expect you to be a scholar now. Do you know that your cousin Wenzhi owed debts from gambling? It was Liang Laoer who paid him back with money, otherwise his hands would have been chopped off by the creditor."
When Qianhuan heard this, she was a little bit incredulous. Their two families had severed ties, so even if Wenzhi had debts from gambling, it was not her father's turn to pay them off for him.
"Who did you listen to?"
"Everyone in the village knows about this. It was your grandparents who cried and begged your father for help."
Qianhuan immediately pulled Wenjie onto the carriage. She had to go home quickly to ask her father what was going on.
When the carriage drove into the gate of the courtyard, Liu heard the voice and came out to greet him, "Qianhuan, you're back."
"Ah."
Then Wenjie, Tu Dou, Yinhua Yinhe, and Manager Ji all got off the carriage together.
"Monsoon, please pull the carriage into the yard and feed the horses some food."
"Yes, boss."
Liu asked in confusion: "Qianhuan, isn't this carriage rented from a horse and carriage shop? And who are the people standing next to Wenjie?"
"Mother, I bought the carriage. I will introduce them to you later."
The two of them walked into the yard while talking, and several people followed them in.
"Qianhuan, you actually bought a carriage?" Liu looked excited.
"Well, mother, let's not talk about this for now. I have something to ask you now, and please answer honestly."
"What's the matter? Tell me."
"Wenzhi owed money from gambling. Did you and dad help pay it back?"
"This...this..." Liu hesitated for a long time but couldn't say a word.
When Qianhuan saw her look like that, there was nothing she didn't understand.
Liang Laoer was in the lobby, so he naturally heard the conversation between the mother and daughter in the yard.
He walked out and said, "Qianhuan, Dad did ask your mother to give that money to them to pay off their gambling debts."
"How much did you give?"
"Thirty taels."
Qianhuan was furious. She had only given Liu forty or fifty taels for household expenses, and her mother must have spent more than ten taels on shopping. There was only that little silver left, and her father actually gave it all to that group of ungrateful people.
She asked coldly, "Dad, we have severed our relationship with their family, why did you give the money to Wen Zhi to pay off the debt?"
"Qianhuan, Wenzhi owes fifty taels of money for gambling. Your grandmother paid twenty taels, and there is still a shortfall of thirty taels. If I don't pay, the people in the gambling house will chop off Wenzhi's hands. Your grandparents came here crying, and Daddy really couldn't bear it."
"You don't feel sorry for them, but have they ever felt sorry for us? When you broke your leg, did the old lady of the Liang family ever feel sorry for you? She was reluctant to give you medicine, and she found a half-baked itinerant doctor to check you out, but he couldn't even straighten your leg bone. If it weren't for your daughter and I working hard to earn money to treat your leg injury, Dad, you would be a cripple now."
Liang Lao Er lowered his head and said nothing. He also admitted that his daughter was right.