In a blink of an eye, the weather turned cold. When the twelfth lunar month was approaching, a heavy snow fell, and the Wangjia Village Production Brigade turned into a white ocean. The temperature had dropped to minus four or five degrees Celsius, which was so cold that everyone stayed indoors and did not go out.
But because of the Great Leap Forward in Steel Production, there was not a single tree in the village, and naturally no firewood, so no one could even heat the kang at night.
Everyone could only spread the wheat straw they brought back on the kang in a thick layer. To make sure it was not too cold, they put the most worn and oldest mattress underneath, and then covered it with a thick quilt to sleep.
Because they were afraid of the cold and because there were not enough quilts, everyone huddled together.
As early as two months ago, Qian Shulan had Zhou Xuemei and several granddaughters prepare the cotton. Each person was given a few pounds of cotton. She also asked them to take apart the quilts and fill them with new cotton. She gave four pounds of cotton for each quilt, so no one in the family should be cold.
But things went against her wishes. Sun Daqin fell ill and had a high fever for two days.
The village's barefoot doctor, Old Yang, can only treat minor illnesses, not serious ones like this one.
Qian Shulan was worried that the high fever would make her stupid, and her grandmother would inherit Sun Daqin's stupidity. On the third day, she asked Wang Shouren and Wang Shouyi to drive a horse-drawn carriage and take Sun Daqin to the county hospital for treatment.
After the three men left, Qian Shulan noticed Zhengjun sitting on a stool, shivering with his arms hugged, his lips were blue and purple, he sneezed from time to time, and his little body kept moving towards the stove.
Qian Shulan frowned and reached out to touch his forehead. She was relieved to find that he didn't have a fever.
She touched his hand again and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Why are your hands so cold? Aren't you wearing a cotton jacket?"
She touched the cotton-padded jacket Zhengjun was wearing and found that there were lumps of cotton inside. What was there to be confused about? Sun Daqin had embezzled Zhengjun's cotton. It was probably taken to her parents' home again.
Qian Shulan was furious, but she couldn't curse since the man was not there. She quickly went back to the house and got her old cotton-padded jacket. Although her jacket was old and had many patches on it, the cotton inside was new.
The cotton-padded jacket was very large, and when the little Zhengjun put it on it was like wearing a coat. It dragged all the way to his ankles and looked very bloated. He folded the excess part with his hands and wrapped his arms tightly to prevent the cold air from getting in.
Qian Shulan looked at Zhengjun's pitiful appearance and felt so sorry for him, "Child, why didn't you tell grandma that you were so cold? By the way, weren't you wearing a thick cotton jacket yesterday?" She also specifically instructed the family members that children should wear one pound of cotton for a coat, and adults should wear two pounds of cotton for a coat.
Zhengjun was no longer cold at this time. He answered his grandmother's question while breathing out warm air, "After lunch yesterday, I woke up and couldn't find it."
Because it was cold, Qian Shulan asked them to stay in their rooms and not run around. Yesterday, she saw Zhengjun wearing new clothes at the dinner table and was quite satisfied. However, she was slapped in the face the next day.
Qian Shulan secretly wondered if someone from Sunjia Village came to extort money again yesterday, and whether Sun Daqin had someone take Zhengjun's clothes back
She touched Zhengjun's head and handed the cotton jacket that Zhengjun had taken off to Li Chunhua.
Li Chunhua touched Zhengjun's cotton-padded jacket and looked up in disbelief, "Mom, there is old cotton inside."
Qian Shulan said "hmm" and said nothing more. She turned back to the house to get some cotton and asked Li Chunhua to help fill it in.
Li Chunhua immediately returned to the house with the cotton-padded jacket and cotton.
Jungkook and Jungkang sat around the stove waiting to eat roasted sweet potatoes.
Zhengguo felt sorry for his brother, who looked so pitiful and had a runny nose. He rolled his eyes and ran to his mother's room.
Soon, he brought back a quilt, "Mom, the quilt my mom and dad used is old, and the cotton inside is not heavy enough."
Even though Qian Shulan was mentally prepared, she was still very angry at Sun Daqin's words and her face turned frighteningly dark.
In the afternoon, Wang Shouren came back and had a sad face as soon as he entered the room. Sun Daqin was shivering in a chair hugging a quilt. Everyone could feel the low pressure on the two of them.
The others also felt inexplicably cold when they saw Sun Daqin like this.
Qian Shulan couldn't help but wrap herself tightly in her cotton-padded jacket, and didn't bother to settle accounts with Sun Daqin. She had a bad feeling in her heart, her voice began to tremble, and she frowned and said anxiously, "Boss, please tell me quickly. What happened to her?"
Wang Shouren wiped his tears and said in a very tired tone, "It's a terminal illness. The doctor said she has a tumor in her lung."
Qian Shulan cried out "Ah!" and stood up from the stool. This... This...
Terminal illness? How is that possible? In her previous life, Sun Daqin was alive and well. She even gave birth to her grandmother in 1962.
How is it possible to grow a tumor
These days, Qian Shulan has been thinking about how to reform Sun Daqin. Before, when she was chatting with No. 153, No. 153 had given her an idea, asking her to secretly poison Sun Daqin, and then when Sun Daqin was desperate, she would take out the antidote, and the resurrected Sun Daqin might repent.
But every time, she couldn't get over it. This method was too cruel, too bitchy, too naive. What if Sun Daqin knew that she had a terminal illness and committed suicide? Wouldn't she be a sinner then? Although she was not sure whether Sun Daqin would commit suicide, she couldn't get over it in her heart.
Now, she didn't give Sun Daqin any medicine at all. How did Sun Daqin get a terminal illness? Qian Shulan couldn't figure it out.
She secretly wondered in her heart, could it be that she had recognized the wrong person? Could it be that her grandmother was not born to Sun Daqin
But no one else in the family had three sons. Zhou Xuemei and Li Chunhua didn't even have one son.
What on earth was going on? Qian Shulan felt like she was losing her mind.
Others were just as confused as Qian Shulan, and then looked at Sun Daqin with sympathy.
Qian Shulan swallowed hard, clenched her hands into fists, and stared into Wang Shouren's eyes, "Are you sure? Could it be a misdiagnosis?"
Wang Shouren's eyes were red. Even if he no longer took Sun Daqin seriously, she was still his bedmate, not to mention that she had given birth to three sons for him. He was naturally heartbroken to learn that she was dying. He glanced at Sun Daqin and sighed helplessly, "There is really no misdiagnosis. The doctor looked at the film and confirmed it several times."
Qian Shulan felt as if she had lost her parents. Her legs went limp and she sat down on the ground. If Sun Daqin died, wouldn't her grandmother have no chance to be born
Everyone rushed forward and helped the dazed old lady up.
Qian Shulan looked at Sun Daqin with tears in her eyes for a long time without saying anything.
Sun Daqin, who heard the bad news from the county town, has never recovered. She cried all the way, cursing the unfairness of heaven and her own miserable life. It was not until her voice became hoarse and her body became frozen that she regretted and began to be afraid. The doctor said that she could only live for half a month, and she was so scared that she almost collapsed. She was obviously the most blessed person in the team, having given birth to three sons in a row. Who could be more blessed than her? But she did not even enjoy the blessing of a son for a day. She was unwilling to accept it. She did not want to die.
On the way, she suddenly remembered what her mother-in-law had said to her before, "You are unlucky, the most unlucky person in the family." At that time, she sneered, but now, wasn't it that her mother-in-law's bad words came true? She regretted it so much, but she didn't know what she was regretting.
At this time, Sun Daqin couldn't help but shed tears when she saw her mother-in-law was so worried about her.
Qian Shulan, unable to accept this fact, pushed away the person who was supporting her and stumbled to her room.
Wang Shouren saw his mother locked herself in the room, and worried that she was too upset, he kept knocking on the door.
Qian Shulan shouted in the room, "Just let me be quiet"
As soon as the knocking on the door stopped, Qian Shulan immediately opened the system mall.
Found No. 153, "I have a tumor in my body. Do you have any medicine to treat it?"
No. 153 answered quickly, "Yes, one of the first pills costs two hundred gold coins."
Hearing this, Qian Shulan breathed a sigh of relief. But when she opened the mall, her face darkened again. She only had fifty gold coins now, and she had to wait a few more days.
She had exchanged all her gold coins for food and put them in the warehouse of the system mall. She hadn't claimed them yet. She had no place to put them. If she didn't buy them, she was worried that No. 153 would think she broke her promise and refuse to help her grow food.
It seems that she can only save up enough gold coins to buy this medicine.
She closed the store, opened the door, walked up to Wang Shouren, and said, "Why don't we take Daqin to the provincial capital. Maybe the doctors there can cure her?"
Just now, she was too anxious and panicked. Even if she was a butterfly, she hadn't transformed Sun Daqin yet, so how could Sun Daqin get seriously ill? There must be something wrong.
Sun Daqin's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she stared at Wang Shouren closely. After receiving his nod, she covered her mouth and cried with joy.
Because the illness could not be delayed, everyone set out early the next morning. When leaving, Qian Shulan put two hundred yuan in her pocket.
They set out with Qian Weihan.
It only took a bus to get to the provincial capital, and the group arrived that afternoon.
Qian Weihan used his connections to help with the examination on the doctor's day off.
Wang Shouren stayed with Sun Daqin in the waiting room to wait for the results.
Qian Shulan and Qian Weihan went to the doctor to get the results. The results were very good, the tumor was benign.
The surgical removal only costs a hundred dollars.
But the doctor who performed the surgery had many patients and was still waiting for their turn. It was estimated that it would take a month for them to get their turn. However, the doctor said that the tumor was benign and would not affect the condition, so the two of them were relieved.
When coming out of the doctor's ward, Qian Shulan suddenly had an idea and quickly pulled Qian Weihan to the stairs.
"You mean to say the surgery fee is one thousand yuan?" Qian Weihan repeated in disbelief.
Qian Shulan naturally couldn't tell anyone that she wanted to reform Sun Daqin, so she explained with a bitter face, "Daqin took all the delicious food to her mother's house, and even stole sweet potatoes at night and sent them to her mother's house. For example, why did she have a high fever this time? Wasn't it because she sent all the cotton I worked so hard to get from the black market to her mother's house? Because of her treacherous behavior, the children don't get close to her at all. For the sake of my three grandsons, I can't let the eldest son divorce her. I can only let her recognize the true character of her mother's family."
She had asked No. 153 to help her plant cotton, and naturally she didn't forget Qian Weihan. Even Wang Shouquan's family sent a few kilograms, but they all gave her the money, not taking her things for nothing.
Qian Weihan lowered his head and thought for a long time, but he finally agreed after being swayed by Qian Shulan.
Seeing Qian Weihan go to the doctor to help with the play as she wished, Qian Shulan immediately felt relieved.
She must make good use of such a rare opportunity.
Soon, Qian Weihan came out of the doctor's office and said to Qian Shulan who had been waiting outside the door, "It's done."
Early the next morning, the four of them took a car back to Wangjia Village.
Qian Weihan returned to his home, and Qian Shulan gathered the whole family in the main room to think of a solution.
"This surgery will cost one thousand dollars. Let's discuss what to do!"
Wang Shouren and Sun Daqin knew the news since yesterday.
Wang Shouren kept his head down and said nothing. Sun Daqin looked at everyone with eyes full of expectation.
Of course she didn't want to die. She was still so young, how could she die? She was the great contributor who gave birth to three sons for the Wang family.
By the way, she has a son, and her son is her confidence.
She stood up from the stool, squatted down, grabbed Zhengguo's hand, and stared at him closely, "Zhengguo, mother is sick, can you take out your money to save mother, okay?"
She was clinging to Jungkook like a lifeline, and if even her own son wasn't prepared to save her, who else could she count on.
Although Zhengguo was only twelve years old, he had saved so much money before. After all, she was his mother. Did he really want to watch his mother die
Zhengguo pursed his lips and said nothing.
Sun Daqin couldn't do anything about him, and she started to grab Zhengkang's hand, tears streaming down her face. "Zhengkang, I love you the most, can you save me?"
Qian Shulan thought Zhengkang would take out the money without saying anything.
But the facts were beyond Qian Shulan's expectations. Even until Zhengguo was softened by Sun Daqin's tears and ran to get his wooden money box, Zhengkang still did not agree.
Qian Shulan was shocked. Could it be that she had used too much force and made the child lose all his sympathy
But then she shook her head and denied it, because Zhengkang had clearly given the other person five cents before.
How come when it was his mother's turn, he refused to pay a cent? Could it be that he had no money
Sun Daqin watched Zhengguo take her money box, a hint of surprise flashed across her face, and she was about to reach out to take it.
Zhengguo moved the money box away, and looked at her with a chilling coldness and unfamiliarity, "Although you are not a very good mother, you are right. After all, you gave birth to me. This money, although it is nothing compared to the surgery fee, is all I can take out."
As he said this, he stuffed the cash box into Sun Daqin's hand and sat back on the stool.
Sun Daqin's face lit up with joy, and she even forgot to say thank you. Perhaps she didn't have the awareness to do so. She opened the money box directly, but thought the box was too small, so she poured the money in the box directly onto the table.
Everyone watched her count the money.
The total amount is sixty-five dollars and eighty-three cents.
Sun Daqin looked unhappy. She looked at Zhengguo and said in a dissatisfied tone, "Why are these the only ones? Did you hide the money? I am your mother. You stinky boy, you can't be so heartless!"
Zheng Guo's face darkened, and he wanted to curse back, but thinking of her current illness, he didn't get angry at her. He frowned and explained, "That's all the money I have. If you don't believe me, ask my grandma."
Qian Shulan took out a small notebook, took a look at it, and said to Sun Daqin, "After deducting the tuition, there is indeed only this much left."
Sun Daqin pursed her lips and grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Why go to school? Seven dollars a semester. What a waste!"
Qian Shulan glared at her angrily, "Do you still want to get treatment? If not, return the money to Zhengguo. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Hearing this, Sun Daqin was so scared that she quickly stuffed the money back into her pocket.
The author has something to say: There is a saying that goes, only when a person is seriously ill can she feel how others treat her
The last few chapters have been devoted to the transformation of Comrade Daqin, and it's been a bit chaotic...