"Look, isn't that Su's second son? He's really on crutches, and his leg hasn't been well maintained. Why did he go to the field?"
"Haven't you heard? These days, the old godmother of his family is cursing at his door day and night, scolding him for free food. Don't you know how honest the second child is? I guess he was scolded hard. Don't do it if you fight this leg." Going to work in the field."
Su Aobai walked on the country road with a cane, his injured leg was raised high, and the trouser leg of his right leg was rolled up to the middle of his thigh, exposing his calf wrapped in gauze.
Mrs. Li regards him as a thorn in her side now, and she will not specially cut clean cotton cloth to bandage him, so Su Aobai is using the two pieces of gauze left by Dr. Li before, one is dirty and the other is replaced, the dirty one Su Erniang would wash it after finishing all the work, fearing that the washed gauze would not be dry when changing the dressing, Erniang would carefully put the wet cloth on the fire to dry.
But no matter how carefully you clean it, in the ancient times when there was no soap and laundry detergent, the original color of the gauzes could no longer be seen after several times of washing. In addition, the doctor said that the bandaged cloth must be clean, otherwise It will be even more troublesome if the wound festers again, so Er Niang scrubs and washes very hard. After a few times, the cloth is much thinner, and the original fine texture has become loose.
At this moment, the gauze on Su Aobai's legs was not tightly wrapped at all, the ointment had seeped to the outermost layer, and there was black and red blood oozing from the unhealed wound with his movements.
It was obviously wrapped in a wound cloth, but it was black and red, which made it look even more shocking.
There is also the upper side of the skin that was not covered by the wound cloth. At the upper part of the calf and the knee, the skin and flesh have turned black and purple. It was not until the middle of the thigh that the color gradually faded to a more normal skin color.
The people in the village are not as capable as Dr. Li, but they also know that good skin will not turn black or purple, and if it can be injured to this color, there is a high probability that this leg will not be saved.
But there is still a glimmer of hope. I heard that Dr. Li has prescribed a prescription. Now the most urgent thing is to recuperate at home. What are you doing when you run out?
Even though Yuanshen was not very popular in the village before, many people still laughed at him behind his back as an idiot. A little maid at home.
But the ridicule behind his back is the ridicule, Yuanshen is an honest person, he only cares about work and never argues with others, so if you want to find someone who has a problem with him and hates him, there really isn't one.
And although the original body was being ridiculed, the reason for this ridicule was not sympathetic.
Seeing that his life has passed as if he was boiled out of bitter juice, and now his leg is hurt, he may become a **** for the rest of his life, and if he is more emotional, he has to wipe two tears for him.
"There is a cow, where are you going?"
Walking halfway, Su Aobai was stopped by a woman. He lowered his head, a shrewd look flashed in his eyes, and when he raised his head, his face turned into a naive expression again.
The one who stopped him was the wife of the village chief's family. If anyone in this village does not fear the scholar Li, the village chief's daughter-in-law, Ma Shi is definitely one of them.
Not to mention her man, the head of a village does not even have a serious official position, but within the scope of Shili Village, the village head is the boss, and every household needs to go through the village head if they want to apply for a house, open up wasteland, or even serve.
Moreover, the village head of Shili Village is surnamed Wang, Wang is the common surname in Shili Village, and the village head Wang is also the patriarch of the Wang family. Now the only private school in the village is Wang's ethnology, but because of the village head Wang, other people in the village People with foreign surnames also followed suit.
At the moment when the clan consciousness is strong, Village Chief Wang's position in Shili Village is unbreakable, and even his wife is the number one woman in the village.
Moreover, Mrs. Wang Ma's own son is also up to the mark. It is true that Mrs. Li gave birth to a talented son. Mrs. Wang Ma also has two sons. He has already been admitted as a scholar, and the age of passing the exam is not a few years older than Su Youwen. All these years, he has been working as a master in the family school of the Wang family. It's hot, and it's time to end again.
Originally, Mrs. Wang Ma and Mrs. Li were two people who had nothing to do with each other, but whoever made Mrs. Li's son pass the exam as a scholar, his tail went up to the sky. Some shallow-sighted people in the village praised her in private, saying that Su Youwen was better than her. Her son is good at studying, so he might not be able to pass the exam ahead of her son in the future, because it was a private chat, Li Shi was not modest and accepted all the flattery.
But there is no impenetrable wall in the world. Anyway, it didn't take long for these words to reach Ma Wang's ears.
You said, it doesn't matter how happy you are for your son to be a scholar, but is it necessary for you to step on her son? They are all mothers. Of course, Mrs. Wang Ma loves her son, so Mrs. Li was recorded by her like this .
But Mrs. Wang Ma didn't tell her man about this, because her man would think that these women are too small-minded, and won't give the house's little shoes to wear in the village affairs because of such a few gossips. Wang Ma Shi could only suppress the anger in his heart, and waited for an opportunity to embarrass Li Shi once.
It just so happened that Su Aobai knew about this unknown festival between them because of his omniscient memory.
From the moment he acted in front of Dr. Li, Su Aobai has been calculating.
Dr. Li has a strict mouth, but no matter how strict a man is, he can't help but say something to the person next to his pillow. It just so happens that this strict-mouthed man has the worst-mouthed wife in the village.
And Dr. Li's daughter-in-law is very close to Wang Mashi.
Wang Mashi is really a shrewd woman, her men don't like the gossip of women and men in the village, but Wang Mashi is very willing to listen to it, because in the gossip of these women, you can often observe the troubles in the homes of most people in the village, These small trifles may still have a lot of influence on his man.
Therefore, she deliberately maintained a friendly relationship with Dr. Li's daughter-in-law. In this village, as long as Dr. Li's daughter-in-law knew something, Wang Ma would definitely know it too.
And just now, Su Aobai deliberately chose a small path passing by the village chief's house.
Wang's family is well-off, and Wang Ma's age as a mother-in-law naturally doesn't need to work in the fields. Whenever this time comes, she will sit in her yard and mend clothes, or make shoe soles for the boys and children in the family.
Because the courtyard of the Wang family is very spacious, and Wang Ma is a generous person, when someone comes to the house as a guest, he will always make a large pot of tea that is not very valuable, and add a few handfuls of melon seeds and peanuts, so some people in the village do not need to work in the fields. Women like to come to Wang Ma's house to chat and do trivial manual work.
They can get a little bit of a bargain, Wang and Mashi can use some cheap things to spend a day in a lively manner, and at the same time win over these women, both parties feel that they have obtained benefits.
At this time, when Su Aobai passed slowly on crutches, there were already more than a dozen women sitting around in the courtyard. When they saw him passing by, they began to discuss the gossip about the Li family that had been circulating in the village during this period.
As expected, Wang Mashi stopped him.
Seeing the village chief's wife asking him what he was doing, Su Aobai's lips moved slightly, and his hands tightly gripped the rough cane, his face became paler.
After a while, he replied in a low voice.
"Go, go to the field and have a look."
Wang Mashi's eyes lit up immediately, and the group of women in the yard also followed Wang Mashi out and circled Su Aobai around.
Most of the people who are close to Wang Ma are old women in their forties or fifties, and Su Aobai is only in his twenties or thirty, so even though he is surrounded by a group of women, he does not offend any conflicts between men and women. taboo.
"Why do you go to the field without healing your leg?"
Mrs. Wang Ma raised her voice. It is well known that Mrs. Li is yelling and scolding at home every day these days. Su Laoer is not a fool. Doesn’t he want to take good care of his leg? It was not forced by Li's stepmother to go to the field.
"Just, just go to the field to have a look... Now there are so many people working in the field, father and elder brother and the third child are working all day, I, I can't help with anything at home, and spend so much money, I, my heart I'm sorry, but my injury is not serious anymore, I can work."
As he said that, Su Aobai lifted his injured leg, but in the end, he didn't know if he had pulled the unhealed wound again. A stream of black and red blood seeped into the wound, and a thin layer of sweat emerged from his forehead. The blood on the lips also faded in an instant, and they were as white as rice paper.
"Don't move, let's see what your legs look like, you still want to work."
Wang Mashi looked at the man in front of him who was already a father with hatred. At this time, he still spoke for his vicious stepmother!
The other women present thought the same way, feeling angry and jealous.
None of their biological sons may be as honest and filial as Su's second child, but Li's luck is so good that she got a stepson who was tossed about by her in every possible way and wholeheartedly defended her.
As everyone knows, this is what Su Aobai wanted.
If he said that he couldn't stand Li's scolding, so he had to go to work in the fields, everyone would feel that he was not pure and filial, and that he exposed his stepmother's faults in front of outsiders. It's not as honest as he used to be.
And now the more he hesitates to defend the Li family, the more it will arouse everyone's malice towards the Li family.
"I can do it, I can walk on crutches, and I can help my father and the others carry the grain they dug up."
Su Aobai desperately proves his worth.
"I can work, I don't eat free food."
"Why, someone in your family scolded you for freeloading?"
Wang Ma shrewdly grasped his words.
"No, no one said me."
Su Aobai waved his hands anxiously, with one hand supporting his walking stick, he almost couldn't stand still. The image of a clumsy man is deeply rooted in people's hearts. Who would think that such a simple and honest man would dig a hole for his stepmother.
"The family spent so much money on seeing a doctor for me. I don't have a single copper coin. Twenty taels are enough for my younger brother to buy a few books and a good set of pens and inks."
His face was full of guilt, as if he felt that he was the sinner of the whole family if he had injured his leg and spent so much money. He had to work harder to offset the money spent on him.
Twenty taels, even for a wealthy family like the Wang family, is not a small number, and for other ordinary farmers, it is more than a year or two.
When the old accounts really start to be settled in the future, maybe someone will use this money to speak for Li Shi. After all, no matter how mean she is to her stepson, she will give him money to see a doctor anyway, right?
But after Su Aobai changed the context and made a few comparisons, such a huge sum of money seemed nothing.
He said that he didn't have a single coin on him, but where did the money he earned all these years go?
To put it bluntly, less than half of the work on the Su family's tens of acres of land was done by other members of the family, and most of it was done by Su Laoer and the old scalper at home.
And there are a lot of jobs that the old scalper can't do, so Su Laoer definitely has to do more work than the old scalper.
He has been working since he was sensible. When he was twelve years old, he did as much hard work as many grown-up men. Now that he is twenty-six years old, it is equivalent to doing dirty work for his host family for fourteen years. After a lot of work, what did he get? With a full stomach, the old man Su or other people in the family wore old clothes, and even the shoes on his feet were the ones given to him by his daughter-in-law who died young, and they had countless holes. Now it is his daughter who is mending, and there are more than a dozen holes in the small upper. No one can see the color of the previous piece of cloth.
Over the years, he has earned more than twenty taels of silver for his family.
Not to mention that during the slack season, he went to the town and neighboring villages to look for some chores. He is really stupid, and he will not lie at all. Every time he comes back, he will hand over the copper coins he earns to Mrs. Li. How many coppers, just the silver he took home, is enough to treat his leg injuries several times.
At this time, what does the twenty taels that he has to work to make up for regardless of his leg injury mean to the rest of the Su family?
Su Laosi's few books are just a good set of pen and ink.
Are these things more important than Su Laoer's leg, or the rest of his life?
How eccentric the people of this Su family are to make this stupid man have such thoughts in his heart?
It was Su Kuishan who passed, and it was Li who passed!
Of course, there are good stepmothers, but Li Shi is definitely not one of them.
"There are cows, there are cows, you are so honest."
Faced with such a foolish and honest second child, Wang Mashi almost couldn't bear to use him.
But after thinking about it, if I did this myself, wouldn't it be a way for Su Laoer to survive.
"No, I can't watch Mrs. Li bully you like this. Although I'm not the wife of the Su family, I'm still the village head's wife in our Shili Village. I can't watch a wicked woman like Mrs. Li appear in our Shili Village. If you go out, what should people think of the people in our village, do they think that the daughters-in-law in our village are as mean as Mrs. Li?"
Wang Ma said impassionedly in front of other women.
"Just treat me as meddling in my own business. I'll take care of Su Laoer."
As she said that, she asked a few people to go to the field to call her husband and the males from the Su family to the Su family, and then asked a few people to inform the more prestigious elders in the village, especially the elders from the Su family.
Su Aobai didn't seem to understand what Wang Mashi was going to do, he looked at her in a daze after giving her orders, and was supported by her and two other strong women, and walked in the direction he came from.
"Auntie, do I have to go to work?"
Su Aobai said aggrievedly, this direction is reversed.
"Don't talk, Auntie will decide for you!"
Regardless of Su Aobai's doubts, the women walked towards Su's house with arrogance.
*****
Seeing the lame second child walking into the field, Mrs. Li felt very proud.
She knew that idiot couldn't stand her scolding day and night, so he obediently went to work in the field.
Although Su Laoer has a lame leg, he can still do something. Mrs. Li was thinking about how much help this stepson could help in the field, but after thinking about it, he was still angry. No matter what, he couldn't do anything. Worked like before.
Not only that, but after taking the twenty-two o'clock medicine, I don't know if there will be follow-up expenses. Now Su Laoer is a hot potato, and Li Shi can't wait to throw him away quickly.
"Grandma, where is my father?"
When Erniang and the hall sister came back from cutting pigweed, the first thing they did was to visit her father in the room, but who knew that the person who should have been lying on the kang was gone, she searched the front yard and the back yard, but couldn't find anyone.
"Why can you go? Of course, you have to go to work. It's not enough for you to be free at home. Do you have to support your father?"
Looking at this granddaughter Li who is always crying and mourning, she is very angry. No matter how lucky she is to have a granddaughter, she is defeated by her mournful face.
"My dad's legs haven't healed yet."
Erniang is in a hurry. She is the one who puts medicine on Su Aobai and changes gauze these days. She knows better than anyone how bad her father's leg injury is. I can't keep it, how can I go to the ground under such circumstances.
"How dare you talk loudly to me, you loser? You unruly little girl, what are your conditions for being our family? I'll find the old woman to sell you, and sell you, little girl, to a flower shop, just you This shameless and shameless thing, where can I sell it for more money, as long as you are filial, well, use the money to sell your money to see your father's doctor!"
Cursing was not enough, Li Shi stepped forward angrily and pinched Er Niang several times.
"Su Lishi! You are so courageous!"
This sentence happened to be heard by Wang Mashi and others who rushed over.
"There is no family in Shili Village who sells their children. Your son is still a scholar. Believe it or not, I will immediately ask my son to write a letter to the county magistrate. I have to ask him to ask. The one who tolerates his mother's selling A niece is a scholar, but does she still have the character of a scholar!"
Mashi Wang said with a straight face that she only knew that Mrs. Li was mean, but she didn't know that she was so vicious.
During the calamity years, some families who really can't live on will sell their children and daughters, but those with a little conscience will try their best to sell their children to some good families as servants. Although there is a lot of money for selling flowers, But is there a place where people go?
Mrs. Li opened her mouth and said that she would sell her granddaughter to Hualou. Whether she was talking too fast or not, it proved her vicious heart.
Su Aobai didn't seem to have thought about his stepmother saying such things to his daughter behind his back.
His face was pale, his lips moved for a long time, and then he called out a false mother.
He is just a daughter, how can he sell it to a flower house?
Mrs. Li was taken aback by Mrs. Wang Ma who suddenly made a sound. When she turned around, she saw the hostile Wang Ma and others, and Su Laoer who was protected by them, and her heart skipped a beat.
How did you provoke her? Is this trash causing trouble outside?
Of course, Mrs. Li didn't forget what Mrs. Wang said just now, and quickly explained.
"It's just that the child is disobedient. I tried to scare her. The family can't open the pot, so how could it be possible to sell the child."
But she didn't take it seriously in her heart, her son is a top-notch scholar, much better than the son born to Mrs. Wang Ma, besides, she also has a granddaughter who is blessed with great fortune, who is better than the son of Wang Ma. In addition, Wang Ma, who is so majestic in this village, is not bad.
For now, bear with her for the time being, and when her son passes the Juren examination, she must make Mrs. Wang look good.
And a shrewd person like Wang Mashi couldn't see the forbearance and hatred in Li Shi's eyes.
"Whether you say it casually, you know it in your heart."
Wang Mashi snorted, she didn't talk nonsense, and when all the people who were supposed to come came, she would have a good fight with Li Shi.
"Second boy, what's going on, why didn't you recuperate well, why did you go out and make your aunt angry like this, did you do something wrong to offend your aunt?"
Seeing that Mrs. Wang and Ma didn't show face, Mrs. Li immediately vented her evil fire on Su Aobai.
"Grandma, didn't you let my father go to work in the field?"
Unexpectedly, it was not Su Aobai who spoke first, but the thin and thin Er Niang, who picked up almost immediately after Li Shi finished speaking.
Erniang could tell that the village chief's grandma seemed to come to the house to make decisions for her father.
She didn't know if it was the right choice to offend her step-grandmother at this time, but Er Niang thought, life has already passed like this, so how hard can it be?
Su Aobai opened his mouth and didn't close it. He looked at his daughter with his head lowered and nervously clenched his fists. His thin body was shaking a bit, and he felt mixed emotions in his heart.
"What are you talking about, girl! When did I ask your father to work in the fields! You dishonest bastard, watch if I don't tear your mouth apart."
Mrs. Li exploded all of a sudden, and was about to beat up Erniang, but was stopped by other women.
At this time, the woman Wang Ma called to call for people also came back, and at the same time brought back the people she was looking for, as well as many villagers who had nothing to do and wanted to watch the fun.
Seeing her man approaching, Wang Ma felt a little more certain in her heart.
"This woman in Su's family forced her son to work in the field with a leg injury that hasn't healed. This is to make him lose a leg. Not only that, but she also dislikes how much money Su's second child spends on medical treatment, and wants to sell his second child's daughter Going to Hualou, this matter is not just the housework of Su's family. Su Kuishan can't control his own woman and let her ruin the reputation of the whole village. Tell me, should you take care of this matter? .”
This sentence Wang Ma said to his man.
"Everyone knows what kind of person Su Laoer is. Everyone can see how much work he has done for the family and how much money he has earned over the years, and how his leg hurts. It's time to hear some gossip, now that Mrs. Li is abusing him like this, no one with a bit of conscience can stand it!"
These words were spoken to the elders with higher prestige in the village, and the relatives of the Su family.
"What did I do to him?"
Mrs. Li really didn't know the gossip that was circulating in the village during this time, and Mrs. Wang and Ma's accusation made Mrs. Li, who was in high spirits, explode immediately.
"Is it because you kid speak ill of me, I know you are not as honest as you show."
Saying that, Li-shi flung her teeth and claws at Su Aobai.
Wang Mashi pushed her away, protecting Su Aobai like an old hen protecting its chicks.
"What can he say about you? On the contrary, he didn't say a single bad word about you, but kept covering up for you. What's wrong with him? He's just an honest child who has been hurt by you all the time!"
Speaking of this, Wang Ma himself was moved.
Su Aobai, who was being protected, lowered his head and shivered.
He's just a kid... Maybe it's a meme that only modern people know.
Others thought that he was trembling because of being hurt by Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Ma said that when he was a child, everyone felt a little uncomfortable, but seeing that he was so honest that he was bullied like this and didn't know how to resist. At that time, everyone suddenly realized, isn't it just a child?
How can a **** adult be bullied like this by his stepmother?
At this moment, everyone can't care about the oppression of filial piety. If Su Laoer can stand up to resist Li's oppression, that is the ending that everyone likes to see.
The author has something to say:
there is one more
Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-06-13 03:13:58~2021-06-13 23:59:22~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the landmine: 1 lantern and autumn fall;
Thanks to the little angels of irrigation nutrient solution: Zhaizhai 23 bottles; Weiruo Chengfeng, WT 10 bottles; Ergongzi 5 bottles;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!