Li Xu blushed and said to the middle-aged man unhappily, "Fourth Uncle, this is my lifesaver, please don't talk nonsense."
After saying that, he carried the bookshelf on his back and led Chunniang and her daughter to a house surrounded by a shabby bamboo fence.
The room was dim, but clean and tidy.
"Mom!" Li Xu put down the backpack and ran into the house.
There was a white-haired woman lying on a wooden bed in the room. She struggled to get up from the bed after hearing the voice: "Xu'er..."
Li Xu rushed over, knelt down in front of the bed and cried, "Mom, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
The white-haired woman burst into tears and stretched out her skinny hand to feel for her son: "Xu'er, is it really you?"
"Yeah, it's me. My son is back."
Li Xu hugged the old woman's arms and cried. Suddenly, he remembered something and took out a small bag from his arms. He pinched out a pill and stuffed it into the old woman's mouth. "Mother, take this. It was given to you by the little doctor. Only after you take it can your son come back to see you."
The old woman swallowed the pills and choked up, "Xu'er, you're really back... Am I dreaming?"
Li Xu: "You are not dreaming. My son fell ill in the inn. Fortunately, he met a little miracle doctor who saved him. He survived."
The old lady An burst into tears upon hearing this: "My son, I am useless. I wanted to pick you up after receiving your letter, but I fell on the way and sprained my ankle."
At that time, her ankles were red and swollen and she couldn't walk at all, so she had to ask Xu'er's uncle's family for help.
As a result, his uncle was not at home those days, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Li, directly rejected her and said she was making a fuss out of nothing.
Due to anger and anxiety, An fell ill that night and was ill for several days.
Later, Uncle Li came back and told her that Li Xu had been arranged to recuperate in the inn, and said that the family did not need to worry about him, and that he would go directly to the provincial capital to take the exam after he recovered.
An was relieved after hearing this. She recuperated at home for several days and her ankle injury got a little better. However, her eyesight became increasingly blurred and she is now half blind.
Li Xu obviously noticed that there was something wrong with his mother's eyes, and asked quickly, "Mom, what's wrong with your eyes? Can you see your son?"
His mother had to embroider all the time to support his studies, which damaged her eyesight and she could no longer see clearly at night.
But it's daytime now, why can't she see it
"Yes, I can see it." An was afraid that her son would worry, so she wiped away her tears and struggled to sit up. "Since the guests are coming to our house, I have to go out to receive them, so as not to be rude."
"Okay." Li Xu helped his mother up, and while looking for shoes for her, he talked about sending a letter to his uncle in Anping County.
An was stunned and tears started to flow again.
Outside the house, Yingbao, Chunniang and Chen Zhao stood under the eaves and waited for a while, then they saw Li Xu coming out supporting a white-haired woman.
"Guest, please come in and take a seat." An bowed slightly in the direction of the figure and said, "I'm sorry that my family is poor and I've embarrassed you."
Chunniang and her two children quickly returned the greeting: "No, we are the ones who disturbed you."
Li Xu looked around, went back to the house, moved out a few stools, placed them under the eaves, and let Chunniang and the others sit on them.
Chunniang and Anshi exchanged their names and said a few pleasantries before they started talking about Li Xu's stay at the inn.
Originally, Chunniang didn't want to say much, but she couldn't prepare for An's constant questioning.
When Mrs. An learned that her son was dying in the inn and almost lost his life, she could not help but cover her face and cry.
It turned out that after Li Xu sent the first letter to his mother, he wrote two more letters to his uncle, hoping that his uncle would bring money to take him home.
Because his mother, Mrs. An, had never traveled far and her eyesight was not good, it was impossible for her to go to Anping County, more than a hundred miles away, to pick him up.
Uncle Li not only ignored his nephew's request for help, but also did not tell his sister-in-law the truth, which almost caused Li Xu to die in a foreign land.
Fortunately, the innkeeper was kind-hearted and did not throw him out secretly. He also hired a doctor and got medicine for him, which allowed Li Xu to hold on for more than two months until he met Yingbao.
After a brief conversation with her son, An knew the whole story. She felt secretly resentful and sad at the same time.
Her husband passed away early, and she, a widow, raised her son with great difficulty and worked hard to earn money to send him to school.
His son was also very hardworking and passed the imperial examination at the age of seventeen. Although he was not a student on government stipend and did not receive any stipend, he had twenty acres of land under his name and was exempt from corvée and taxes.
As a woman, I could not do farm work, so I gave the 20 acres of tax-free land to my son's uncle's family.
I really hoped that if anything happened to my family, his uncle would be able to help out, but I didn't expect that not only did they not help, they also watched me in danger.
Seeing that it was almost noon, An stood up and said, "Madam Jiang, you guys sit here and rest first. I'll go cook."
Chen Zhao stood up obediently: "I'll help you light the fire."
An looked at the little girl and said with a smile, "Thank you very much."
Yingbao ran to rummage through her backpack, took out some tangerines and placed them on the table as a gift.
In Sanba Village, the news of Li Xu's return quickly spread throughout the village. Neighbors began to lean out to look in and talk about it.
"Didn't you say that the provincial examination would be held in August? Why are you back now? It's only the end of July."
"Oh, he brought a woman back with him. Tsk, is he being held back by the widow and not going to take the exam?"
"You know what? It's really possible. Those two children are the young widow's burden, right?"
The more people talked, the more outrageous it became. Someone even went to tell Li Xu's uncle, Li Jishan, the village chief.
Li Jishan was walking around at home with his hands behind his back. When he heard what was said, he suddenly became energetic and hurried to Li Xu's house.
As soon as I walked into the yard, I saw a beautiful woman sitting under the eaves. She was about thirty years old, still charming and more attractive than a young lady.
"Li Xu!" Li Jishan shouted, "Come out!"
Li Xu was picking vegetables in the garden behind the house, preparing to give them to his mother for cooking. When he heard his uncle calling, he came over immediately.
"Uncle." Li Xu asked calmly, "What's the matter?"
Li Jishan stood with his hands behind his back and angrily asked, "Why are you back now? Have you passed the provincial examination?"
Li Xu: "My nephew has been ill in Anping County for more than two months. He is just getting better now and is unable to go to the provincial examination."
"Don't make up stories for me! I think you've been bewitched by a woman!" Li Jishan pointed at Chunniang and said, "Tell me! Who is she? Why did she follow you home?"
Li Xu immediately understood what his uncle wanted to say, and was immediately embarrassed and angry, "Uncle! Aunt Jiang is my lifesaver! She is a doctor!"
This is all he can say now, otherwise things will get worse.
The quarrel between the two attracted a lot of onlookers, who looked at Chunniang and Yingbao wantonly.
When Chunniang found out that these people were pointing their spearheads at her, she was a little flustered.
Yingbao asked A Niang to go to the kitchen, and she stood beside Li Xu and asked, "Li Xu, who is this person?"
"Little doctor, this is my uncle." Li Xu replied, "He is also the village chief of our village."
Ying Bao said calmly, "Since you have an uncle and so many relatives, why did no one care about you when you were lying dying in the inn? Didn't they know that you were seriously ill in Anping County?"
Li Xu's eyes turned red, and he sniffed and said, "I wrote two letters to ask for help from my uncle, but no one came to save me."
Li Jishan's face darkened and he angrily shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about! When did I receive your letter?"
Li Xu wiped his eyes and looked at his uncle calmly: "Since you didn't receive my letter, how did you know that I was staying at Penglai Inn? You also told my mother in person that you had placed me at Penglai Inn to recuperate. Uncle, when did you go to Anping County to place me?"