At the door of the hospital, Huo Wuniang begged her mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhang.
"Mom, the family is not at the point where we can't eat, why don't you save Xiao Ling?"
"Xiao Ling is the grandson of my Wei family. How could I not save him? I'm thinking of something now. Xiao He is six years old. All the big families in Beijing like a little lady like her. Where can I send him?
Isn’t it better to be a maid than to suffer at home?”
Moreover, if you bring it to the capital and sell it, you will get two taels more silver than if you bring it to the village.
I don't understand why Mrs. Huo can't bear to part with her. She's just a little girl, and it's not like she can't give birth. With ten taels of silver, she can pay for Xiaoling's medicine and still have a few taels left over at home.
Isn’t it better than eating plain rice at home?
"Mom, Xiaoling and Xiaohe are both my children, how could I sell Xiaohe to save Xiaoling!" Huo Wuniang cried and begged.
Wei He was so frightened that her grandma brought her to Beijing. She thought her grandma was bringing her to the hospital to see her younger brother, but she never expected that her grandma wanted to sell her.
She desperately pulled Huo Wuniang's sleeves, crying and shouting: "Mom, don't sell me, don't sell me! I'll eat less, no, I won't eat, leave it all to my brother!"
Wei Qi's heart ached. His son was lying in the hospital, waiting to pay for the medicine. If he continued to default on the medicine, the hospital would kick Xiao Ling out. When he went home to ask for money from his parents, his mother dragged Xiao He with him.
She thought she was letting Xiao He visit her brother in the hospital so that he and Wu Niang could earn some money by doing odd jobs in the city. Unexpectedly, her mother had the idea of selling Xiao He.
"Mom, I still have money at home. When the autumn harvest comes and the grain is sold, there will be no shortage of money. Why don't you use some to pay for Xiaoling's medicine first?"
Mrs. Zhang jumped up when she heard this: "How can we have much money at home? I have raised you so well, married you and started a family. You don't want to go back to support your parents, but you also want to take out money. You are actually thinking about the autumn harvest."
The grain is gone! After selling the grain, the whole family will be exposed to the northwest wind in winter?"
Huo Wuniang hugged Xiaohe tightly and refused to let her mother-in-law take her away: "Mom, please lend us some money first. We will return the money to our house after we have earned it."
"Bah, that's a good idea. The money you earn doesn't belong to the family?" I didn't want to waste any more words, so I just wanted to drag Xiaohe to someone else's place.
She finally spent more than ten big bucks to find out where she was going from Ya Lao who came to the village to collect a girl. How could Huo Wuniang ruin it?
The family can't keep three to five taels of silver throughout the year. If Xiao He is sold, the family can get a few taels of silver, and the family's life will be better. He pulls Wei He and wants to leave.
"Mom, dad, I don't want to go, don't sell me! Mom, I don't want to go!"
The two sides were fighting at the entrance of the hospital, attracting many people to watch.
Everyone was talking and pointing at Mrs. Zhang.
Mrs. Zhang didn't show any fear at all, and even pouted at the woman pointing at her: "You drank too much cat urine, but you mind my family's business. If you have spare money, why don't you give me some charity? You, you give me charity
several?"
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand towards the crowd, and the onlookers stepped back and sneered.
"Bah, I know you people don't take it too seriously when watching the excitement, and you are used to making sarcastic remarks. If it doesn't happen to you, you won't feel any pain. Is it easy for your family to save a few taels of silver?" Mrs. Zhang sprayed at the crowd.
After a few words, he grabbed Wei He and tried to pull him out.
"Mom, please, don't sell Xiaohe!" The couple begged, but they didn't change Mrs. Zhang's feelings at all.
Seeing Wei Qi coming to pull her, Mrs. Zhang was not as strong as him, so she was so angry that she slapped him on the ear: "Get out of here, you unfilial son! If you dare to stop me, I will go to the Yamen to sue you for being unfilial!"
Wei Qi covered his face and stood there blankly. Mrs. Zhang kicked Huo Wuniang again and dragged Wei He out, who was crying with tears and runny nose.
"Stop!" Huo Erhuai rushed over at a trot and shouted.
Everyone looked at him, and Huo Wuniang also looked up with tearful eyes. When she saw it was Huo Erhuai, she immediately rushed towards him like a person falling into the water and encountering a piece of driftwood: "Brother, second brother, please save Xiaohe."
, don’t sell her. Second brother..."
Wei Qi also came over and called his second brother. Huo Erhuai glanced at him with hatred, then took advantage of Mrs. Zhang's confusion and pulled Xiao He over.
"If you want to sue, go and sue. Let's see if the Yamen will sentence Wei Qi to unfilial piety, or punish you for selling your own flesh and blood."
Mrs. Zhang looked at Huo Erhuai up and down since he appeared.
She didn't know much about Huo Wuniang, the second brother. She only knew that he was a son-in-law and had little contact with the Huo family. Today she saw him wearing fine cotton clothes without any patches, and he also wore a pair of thick shoes on his feet.
cloth shoes.
How does this look like a man with mud legs rolling in the mud in the countryside?
Immediately he became energetic and stepped forward to pull Huo Erhuai's hand, but Huo Erhuai pushed it away.
Huo Erhuai said to Huo Wuniang: "Let's go see my nephew." Then he took Wei He and Huo Wuniang into the hospital.
Mrs. Zhang hurriedly followed behind: "Oh, his second uncle, my Xiaoling has been in the hospital for several days, but I've been waiting for you to come!"
In the hospital, Wei Ling was lying on a small couch with weak breath. Huo Wuniang hurried over to check her son's breath. After checking, she shed tears. She turned around and called out with a sad face: "Second brother."
Huo Erhuai raised several children in the past ten years but did not keep them. He was very soft-hearted towards his children and did not want to see them suffer.
At this time, I saw that Xiao Ling had a sallow face and thin muscles, with few hairs on his head, sparse and withered lips, white lips and rotten eyelids, and a slightly bulging abdomen. He felt a pain in his heart and turned around to ask about Wei Ling's condition.
"It was said that it was due to malnutrition and I had to stay in a hospital for recuperation. I have been there for a few days and spent one or two silver dollars on medicine every day. Everyone who needed to borrow money borrowed it. I went back to Huojiaba and got two silver coins from my parents.
two."
Seeing Huo Wuniang wiping away her tears, Huo Erhuai couldn't help but sigh.
As soon as he took two steps out, Huo Wuniang thought he turned around to leave because he saw how much money he had to spend every day, so she hurriedly followed him and shouted: "Second brother, where are you going?"
Xiao He tightly held the second uncle's lapel, followed step by step, and secretly glanced at Mrs. Zhang.
Huo Erhuai glanced at Huo Wuniang, sighed, and took Xiao He's hand: "I'll pay for Xiao Ling's medicine."
Mrs. Zhang stopped him as soon as she heard this: "Oh, his second uncle, just give me the money. I don't know how many days this Xiaoling will stay and how much money he has to pay every day. It doesn't matter if you give him more or less, you better give it to me.
Just come and pay every day.”
Huo Erhuai glanced at her: "Why should I give my money to you?"
Mrs. Zhang was stunned for a moment. She didn't know how this person who wanted to be someone's son-in-law could be so powerful. She was frightened.
Huo Erhuai has helped Huo Xi to collect and sell goods in various places over the years. He has met a lot of people and is not afraid to talk about business. His whole temperament has changed. He is no longer like the fisherman in the past who smelled like fish.
household.
After Mrs. Zhang was drunk, Huo Erhuai took Xiaohe to pay for the medicine.