Chapter 42.4

Translated by Aviana

No sooner than he stepped in, he squatted down, as he held his head in his hands in dismay. He lamented that he was useless for being unable to convince his parents and was unable to bring any silver. And no one from home came either…

Looking at him, with his hair messy and tears filled bloodshot eyes, Lin Qingwan felt pity. The clothes he was wearing yesterday were still hanging on him at the moment, cutting extremely a sorry figure. She hurried pulled him up.

Yang-shi stepped forward and pressed him down on the stool, and began to ask the situation.

Actually, what happened that yesterday night by the time Yang Tiezhu returned home, everyone had already gone to bed. Only his wife, Yao-shi was still waiting for him. Thinking of the urgency of the matter, he called out everyone in the family.

After everyone assembled in the main room, he briefed out the situation along with the matter about the medicine fee.

When He-shi heard the medicine, Yang Tiezhu was fed a medicine worth five taels, she went ballistic. Her mouth kept incessantly cursing the poor people’s fate yet drinking such expensive medicine and whatnot. When she further heard that Lin Qingwan had asked them to bring the silver tomorrow, she jumped three feet high. She once again started cursing Lin Qingwan for believing that she was a beauty, blinding her dog eyes….

Yang laoyezi was also unable to hold her back and only let her curse as he anxiously sat there.

laoyezi: an appellation used to address elderly men.

Waiting till He-shi stopped swearing, Yang laoyezi asked everyone as to what to do? Furthermore, he asked He-shi to take out the silver and settle the bill first, considering that the medical center might stop the treatment otherwise and affecting his son’s life.

Yang Tiegen was also aware of his mother’s innate character. Thus he deliberately didn’t mention the old doctor giving them two days’ time. He simply said that the medical center had given them a pack of medicine for now.

He-shi, upon hearing him ask her to take out the silver, she resolutely disagreed. This time, she neither jumped up nor cursed. She simply said that she had no money. And further mentioned that she had let Yang Tiezhu uphill to earn the silver, not for him to spend the money at home. Moreover, she had to keep the thirty taels of silver in her hand to sell exam questions to Yang Xuezhang…

Only then did everyone in Yang jia came to know that He-shi had more than 30 silver taels in her savings, not just 20 teals.

Chaos ensued. Yang laoyezi also repeatedly grumbled, saying that if he had known He-shi having more than 30 taels with her, he wouldn’t have let Yang Teizhu go into the mountains nor Yang Teizhu would have sustained the injuries.

After complaining and reproaching, he asked He-shi to take out the silver to save his life, yet He-shi didn’t take it out. Neither did she make a racket; she just withheld the money without taking them out. Yang laoyezi tried to persuade her but to no avail. In the end, he was exasperated and had enough. Both of them had a big fight.

This time they truly quarreled. Previously every time when He-shi would relentlessly pounce on him, he would avoid her. But, this time for the first time ever, Yang laoyezi callously slapped her twice as he rained curses on her for being muddle-headed and unclear. As He-shi pounced on him to scratch his face, Yang laoyezi pushed her onto the kang.

He-shi, seeing that her old man doesn’t seem to let her off, she resolutely pulled her belt and hung it on the roof beam of the room and broke into tears, saying that she would die if her old man wouldn’t stop hitting her.

This time it was truly astonishing! He-shi would usually make a racket every time, but it was the first time she made a big fuss over trying to attempt suicide like this.

Everyone quickly pulled He-shi down. He-shi started bawling; this time, it was a real cry. With snivel and tears, He-shi wailed, lamenting her hardship over all these years, as to how poor they were formerly that they couldn’t even keep the pot boiling, and how hardworking and thrifty she was in running the household…

揭不开锅 (jiēbukāiguō): (Idiom) be unable to keep the pot boiling, to be short of food/ starve.

Yang laoyezi silently squatted on the ground and took a drag on tobacco.

Seeing his wife vent like this, his heart also felt uneasy. He couldn’t help but lamentably recall the time when he and He-shi were just married. At that time, He-shi was also not like was how she is now. She was also a fresh and shy young girl. Later, with days becoming hard and also the number of children increasing, her character was gradually grinded, and her temperament became worse, as she became miser and weird.

Yang Xuezhang, who had been all along silently, asked, “Mother, how much silver do you have?”

He-shi’s wailing stopped and sniffled.

“I only have over 30 silver taels. All of this was saved by picking scraps all over these years…..” After saying so, she once again started bawling.

Actually, this time also, He-shi had not revealed the entire silver. She really didn’t have much in her hands. She simply habitually concealed a bit. However, this time, the situation was a bit different, and her old man was fierce. Thus, she concealed only a bit over ten taels.

Yang Xuezhang frowned-

After a while, he slowly said, “They have already been urging me for silver for a while. I have been dragging till now.” Saying so, he sat there without saying further.

Yang laoyezi’s brows frowned tightly, while He-shi, upon hearing her son, started bawling even louder. Wailing, she lamented that her son, Yang Xuezhang didn’t have it easy and could not find a way to become a xucai. And now, finally, with great difficulty, he had a way….further continued that they had spent a lot of silver on Yang Xuezhang’s study. Finally, they have found an opportunity…

秀才 (xiùcai): a person who has passed the county-level imperial exam

The entire night was filled with chaos, yet they haven’t come to any conclusion.

Yang laoyezi was squatting there the entire time, while He-shi kept wailing. And for Yang Xuezhang and Wang-shi to not make any fuss, it was also quite rare.

They silently stood at the side without uttering a word. They were also well aware that once they butt into this issue, they were bound to offend one of them. Offending any one of them wouldn’t be any good to them. A such, they might as well speak anything.

Yang Tiegen once again asked about the second brother’s medicine fee, but no one paid attention to him.

Afterward, Yang Tieshuan drove everyone to go to sleep, saying that father and mother would discuss how to deal with it. In fact, he could see that this kind of discussion won’t have any outcome, and he was unable to hold his sleep anymore.

Yang Tiegen waited till noon the next day, but the main room door didn’t open, nor did He-shi say anything about cooking lunch. Even though Yang Tiegen was slow in thinking, he could still understand his parents’ intention and could only helplessly go back to explain the matter to Lin Qingwan… Finished narrating everything, Yang Tiegen grievously clutched his hair. What about the second brother? What to do now? How could father and mother be so callous?!

Yang-shi, after listening to Yang Tiegen retell the happenings, spatted and rained curses on He-shi and Yang laoyezi for lacking conscience, not even caring what would happen to their own son. Lin Qingwan expressionlessly tugged at her clothes, not saying anything. Yang Tiegen was also bitterly disappointed. How could his parents do such a thing to his second brother? In the future, someday, if something also happened to him just like his second brother, would they also ignore him?

He had devoted himself to his parents, and all his life had worked hard without any complaints. But for the first time ever, other thoughts started popping up in his brain…

The assistant from the previous day came to ask when they would pay medicine fees. Flabbergasted for a moment, Lin Qingwan hurriedly replied that they would pay by tomorrow.

The young assistant looked at them doubtfully before turning around and leaving.

Yang-shi opened her mouth at this moment, “ I still have a bit of savings. For now, I will go and get them for you, alright.”

Yang Tiegen, too took out a piece of silver for his pocket – the silver appeared to be about two taels worth. He handed it to Lin Qingwan.

“Second sao….second sao, this was all that we had….”

Lin Qingwan didn’t accept Yang Tiegen’s silver. She was aware that the third branch didn’t have much silver with them.

“You take it back. I will think of a way how to get the silver by myself. “ She also turned around and rejected Yang-shi. She still had a bit of savings, though it wasn’t that much. She only had some 30 taels and would only be sufficient for 5 packs of medicine. For the rest of them, she still had to see what to do…..

Just as they were speaking here, Yang Tiezhu’s weak and feeble sound came from behind.

“Wife….”

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