Chapter 256： widow

Li Xu blushed and said to the middle-aged man unhappily: "Fourth uncle, this is my savior. Don't talk nonsense."

After saying that, he picked up the bookshelf and led Chun Niang, mother and daughter to a house surrounded by a dilapidated bamboo fence.

The room was dark, but it was kept clean and tidy.

“Mother!” Li Xu put down the backrest and ran into the house.

A white-haired woman was lying on the wooden bed in the house. She heard the voice and struggled to get up from the bed: "Xu'er..."

Li Xu rushed over, knelt 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 touch her son: "Xu'er, is it really you?"

“Hmm, it’s me, my son is back.”

Li Xu hugged the old woman's arm and cried. Suddenly he remembered something, took out a small bag from his arms, pinched out a pill and stuffed it into the old woman's mouth. "Mom, eat this. The little miracle doctor gave it to me. My son will only come back to you after eating it."

The old woman took the pill and choked: "Xu'er, you are really back, oh, oh, oh, oh... Mom, weren't you dreaming?"

Li Xu: "You didn't dream. My son fell ill in the inn. Fortunately, he met a little miracle doctor to save him, and he escaped death."

Hearing this, the old woman An burst into tears: "My son, it's useless to be a mother. I received your letter before and wanted to pick you up, but I fell down on the road and sprained my foot."

At that time, her ankles were so red and swollen that she couldn't walk at all, so she had to go to Xuer's uncle and his family for help.

As a result, his uncle was not at home during those days, and his sister-in-law Li directly rejected her and said she was making a fuss out of a molehill.

Out of anger, An became ill that night and remained ill for several days.

Later, Uncle Li came back and told her that Li Xu had been arranged to recuperate in an inn. He said that he didn't need to worry about his family, and that he would go directly to Fucheng to take the exam when he recovered.

Anshi felt relieved after hearing this. After recuperating at home for several days, the injury on her ankle got a little better, but her eyesight became increasingly blurry and she was now half-blind.

Li Xu obviously noticed something was wrong with my mother's eyes, and quickly asked: "Mom, what's wrong with your eyes? Can you see your son?"

Because his mother had been doing embroidery for him to study all year round, her eyes were damaged all the time, and she couldn't see clearly at night.

But it’s daytime now, why can’t she see it?

"Yes, I can see." Afraid that her son would be worried, An wiped away her tears and struggled to sit up. "Since guests are coming to my 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.

Anshi was startled, tears streaming down her face again.

Outside the house, Ying Bao and Chun Niang Chen Zhao stood under the eaves and waited for a while, then saw Li Xu supporting a gray-haired woman coming out.

"Guest, please take a seat in the room." An said with a slight blessing in the direction of the figure: "My family is poor, which makes you laugh."

Chunniang and her two children hurriedly returned the gift: "No, we are the ones disturbing you."

Li Xu looked around, went back to the house, brought out a few stools, and placed them under the eaves for Chun Niang and others to sit.

Chunniang and An exchanged names and exchanged pleasantries before talking about Li Xu's stay at the inn.

Originally Chun Niang didn't want to say anything, but she couldn't help but An Shi kept asking.

When Mrs. An knew that her son was dying in the inn and almost died, she couldn't help covering her face and crying.

It turns 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, An, had never traveled far, and her eyesight was not good, it was impossible to go to Anping County, which was more than a hundred miles away, to pick her up.

Uncle Li not only ignored his nephew's request for help, but also later failed to tell his sister-in-law the truth, which made Li Xu almost die in a foreign country.

Fortunately, the innkeeper was kind-hearted and did not throw him out secretly. He also asked a doctor to get him medicine, which allowed Li Xu to survive for more than two months, until he met Yingbao.

Anshi had a short conversation with her son and already knew the whole story. She felt secretly resentful and sad at the same time. Her husband died early, and she, a widow, worked hard to raise her son and worked hard to earn money to send him to school.

The son also strives for success. He passed the examination as a scholar at the age of seventeen. Although he was not a commoner and could not receive the commonwealth, he had twenty acres of land in his name and was exempted from the corvee tax.

Since I was a female immigrant and could not do farm work, I gave the 20 acres of tax-free land to my son's uncle's family.

I really hoped that if something happened to my family, my uncle would be able to help me, but I didn’t expect that not only would they not help me, but they would even refuse to help me.

Seeing that it was almost noon, An stood up and said, "Madam of the Jiang family, please sit here and rest first, and I'll go cook."

Chen Zhao stood up obediently: "I'll help you light the fire."

Anshi glanced at the little girl and said with a smile, "That's good work."

Ying Bao ran to dig through her backpack and took out some mandarin oranges and put them on the table as a gift.

In Sanba Village, the news of Li Xu's return quickly spread throughout the village. Neighbors on the left and right looked outside one after another and talked about it.

“Didn’t you say that the provincial examination was only taken in August? Why are you back now? It’s only the end of July now.”

“Oh, I brought a woman back with me, tsk tsk, maybe she was held back by the widow from taking the exam, right?”

"Don't mention it, it's really possible. Those two children are the little widow's losers, right?"

Everyone's talk became more and more outrageous, and some even went to tell Li Xu's uncle, the village leader Li Jishan.

Li Jishan was walking around at home with his hands behind his back. When someone said this, he immediately became energetic and hurried to Li Xu's home.

As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw a beautiful woman sitting under the eaves. She was in her thirties, and her charm was still there. She was more attractive than any young lady.

“Li Xu!” Li Jishan shouted loudly: “Come out!”

Li Xu was picking vegetables from the vegetable garden behind the house, preparing to give them to his mother for cooking. When he heard his uncle shouting, he came over immediately.

“Uncle.” Li Xu asked lightly, “What’s the matter?”

Li Jishan stood with his hands behind his hands and shouted angrily: "Why are you coming 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 cannot afford to go to the township examination."

"Don't make up stories for me! I think you are fascinated by women!" Li Jishan pointed at Chun Niang: "Tell me! Who is she? Why did she come to your house with you?"

Li Xu immediately understood what the uncle wanted to say, and was immediately embarrassed, "Uncle! Aunt Jiang's family is my savior! She is a doctor!"

Now he can only say this, otherwise the description will become darker and darker.

The quarrel between the two attracted many people to watch, and they looked at Chun Niang and Ying Bao wantonly.

Chunniang was a little panicked when she knew that these people were pointing the finger at her.

Yingbao asked her mother to go to the kitchen. She stood beside Li Xu and asked, "Li Xu, who is this person?"

"Xiao Langzhong, this is Xiao Sheng's uncle." Li Xu replied: "He is also the village leader of our village."

The old **** Yingbao said: "Since you have an uncle and so many relatives, why did no one care about you when you were lying in the inn and dying? Did they not know that you were seriously ill in Anping County?"

Li Xu's eyes were red and he sniffled: "Xiaosheng wrote two letters to ask for help from my uncle, but I couldn't wait until someone came to save me."

Li Jishan’s face darkened and he shouted angrily: “What nonsense are you talking about! When will I receive your letter?”

Li Xu wiped his eyes and looked directly at his uncle calmly: "Since uncle didn't receive my letter, how did he know that I was staying at Penglai Inn? You also told my mother personally that you had placed me in Penglai Inn to recuperate. Uncle, When did you go to Anping County to resettle me?”