Everyone rushed to help Wu Chunmei onto the carriage. Her face had already turned purple, and she was having trouble breathing.
“This won’t do. I’m afraid she’ll be gone before the carriage even reaches its destination,” village doctor Zhao Fujiang said with concern, looking at Wu Chunmei’s condition.
Chen Mantun’s eyes went dark upon hearing his words. If someone hadn’t quickly supported him, he would have collapsed onto the ground.
“It’s all my fault, all my fault!” Chen Mantun tugged at his hair in frustration, his eyes beginning to water.
“This is no time for self-reproach. The army is gone, and none of us know how to drive a tractor,” Zhang Changhe was also in a panic. His son had gone to his in-laws’ house.
Gu Xingdong and Chen Lishu arrived just in time to hear this.
When Chen Lishu’s gaze fell upon Wu Chunmei’s purplish face, her mind went blank, as if she had forgotten to breathe. Each step she took felt like walking on cotton.
Gu Xingdong tightened his grip on the hand he held in his palm, stepped forward, and said calmly, “Fifth Uncle, you start by inducing vomiting. Uncle Changhe, I can drive. Let’s go get the tractor.”
Zhang Changhe nodded repeatedly upon hearing him, “Good, good, the tractor is parked behind the brigade headquarters. Let’s go now.”
Seeing them leave, Chen Lishu also managed to calm herself down and quickly began to help Zhao Fujiang induce Wu Chunmei’s vomiting.
Not long after, Gu Xingdong arrived driving the tractor. Everyone helped lift Wu Chunmei onto the vehicle, and Chen Lishu and Chen Mantun also got in.
Because they were driving, they saved a lot of time on the road. Wu Chunmei was soon sent to the county hospital’s emergency room.
Gu Xingdong looked at her pale face and anxious eyes, his heart aching. He pulled her into his arms and said gently, resting his chin on her head, “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”
“Xingdong, if something happens to my mom…” Chen Lishu buried her face in his broad chest, her voice muffled as her body trembled slightly.
“Lishu, we brought her in time. Relax, nothing will happen.”
Zhang Changhe couldn’t help but sigh as he spoke. Wu Chunmei, his brother Mantun’s wife, was usually so quiet and unassuming. Who knew that the more honest people were, the more desperately they would act?
Chen Mantun sat on the long bench in the corridor, his head buried deep, not uttering a sound.
Time passed unnoticed. As the emergency room door opened, everyone waiting outside looked over in unison.
“Doctor, how is my mother?” Chen Lishu asked anxiously.
“She was brought in just in time. We’ve already performed a stomach lavage. However, her esophagus and stomach lining have burns. She cannot eat anything for now and should stick to a liquid diet for a period of time.”
Upon hearing that Wu Chunmei was out of danger, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Wu Chunmei stayed in the hospital for three days, receiving IV drips, before finally being discharged.
“Mom, you’re back! Are you okay? Does it still hurt?” The younger children, seeing her return home, excitedly swarmed around her.
“Mom is fine. Have you all listened to your second sister these past few days?”
Chen Lijuan quickly replied, “We’ve all listened to second sister. Even seventh sister has learned to dress herself.”
“Mom, I, I was good!” Chen Lizi opened her arms, wanting Wu Chunmei to hold her.
Chen Mantun bent down and picked her up, “My little daughter, your mother is still weak. Let her rest on the kang for a while.”
After speaking, Chen Mantun turned back to Chen Lishu and Gu Xingdong, “Lishu, Xingdong, you’ve also stayed at the hospital for three days. Go home quickly and get some rest.”
Chen Lishu nodded, “Dad, Mom, Xingdong and I will head back now.”
The two walked out of the hospital gate. However, Chen Lishu did not head back to the Gu family home. Instead, she turned in another direction.
Gu Xingdong asked in confusion, “Where are you going?”
Chen Lishu pursed her lips, “To settle the score with Grandma!”
Not only had Old Mrs. Chen set her sights on the seventh child, but she had also driven her mother to drink pesticide. Since she had disrupted her family, Chen Lishu decided no one would have peace.
At Chen Mancang’s house, Old Mrs. Chen was sitting in the yard, furiously scolding Chen Mantun and his wife, knowing Wu Chunmei was being discharged today.
When Old Mrs. Chen saw Wu Chunmei drink the pesticide, she was truly scared. But later, upon hearing that the person was fine, she immediately felt that the matter had nothing to do with her.
She had only suggested giving the little brat away to be raised for the sake of the second family. It was Wu Chunmei herself who couldn’t think straight.
“If you ask me, what sister-in-law Mantun did was really… the child is hers. If she, as the mother, disagrees, can anyone really snatch the child away? Who knows what she’s doing all this for,” Zhang Chunhua couldn’t help but interject.
“This bitch is impatient for me to live too long, even using drinking medicine to scare me. Why doesn’t she just die? The moment she dies, I’ll find another woman for my son, and maybe next year we’ll even have another grandson.”
Chen Lishu entered just as she heard their conversation. The flames of anger in her heart instantly ignited. She lunged forward, grabbed Old Mrs. Chen’s collar, and pulled her up from the ground, “Say that again!”
Old Mrs. Chen, startled by Chen Lishu’s sudden appearance, yelped, “What are you doing, you little rascal? I’m your grandmother.”
“You still know you’re my grandmother? Were those words you just spoke human? My mother almost lost her life because of you, and you, relying on your status as an elder, can do whatever you want without a hint of remorse. Are you even human? I really wish I could slap you a few times.”
Seeing Chen Lishu raise her hand, Old Mrs. Chen immediately let out a pig-like howl, “Someone help! Murder! My own granddaughter is trying to kill her grandmother!”
Just as Chen Lishu was about to deliver a slap, Gu Xingdong quickly grabbed her and pulled her aside, “Lishu, calm down. You can’t hit her, or we’ll lose our justification.”
“What justification? Look at her acting all entitled, knowing she’s wrong but refusing to repent.” Chen Lishu struggled but couldn’t break free. Anxious and angry, she looked up at him and questioned loudly, “Gu Xingdong, whose side are you on?”
Gu Xingdong replied, “Of course, I’m on your side.”
Chen Lishu’s current status was different from others. She was the only university student in the village, and many eyes were upon her. If news spread that she had beaten an elder, her reputation would be ruined.
Old Mrs. Chen, seeing their hesitation, became even more brazen and shouted, “Everyone, come and see! Our Old Chen family has produced a beastly creature, and she wants to hit me!”
Chen Baozhu and Chen Mancang heard the commotion and came from the backyard. Chen Baozhu, in particular, heard Old Mrs. Chen’s words and knew Chen Lishu wanted to hit her, immediately becoming furious.
Especially when he thought of how his grand brick house had fallen through because she refused to lend money, and how it had caused so much trouble. Now, their family was being pointed at by everyone, and a surge of anger filled his chest.
He raised his hand and struck back at Chen Lishu, “This is my house! It’s not for you, a mere girl, to run wild!”