Chapter 272 (1/2)

”Yu Dashan and your grandfather set off to the sea some time ago and they encountered a storm. Yu Dashan was swallowed up by the sea, so your grandfather choked on some water while saving him. When he returned, he started coughing, which later on turned into a fever. It has been going for over half a month already, and he still hasn't gotten better!” Yu Hai said in a worried tone.

Yu Hang snorted and said, ”Grandfather's sickness wasn't serious at the beginning. His illness must have gotten worse because that cheap Madam Zhang didn't want to use money to get Grandfather treated. Father shouldn't have given her the ten taels of silver last time. Instead, you should have used it to get a doctor to treat Grandfather's illness. That money is probably never coming back now!”

In the recent year, Madam Zhang's cheap antics had worsened. The main dish was coa.r.s.e grain flatbreads without any fine grain mixed into it. As if that wasn't enough, all the vegetables came from the garden that she planted, and she wouldn't use any oil to cook it. Now that Madam Li's son had the ability to work, she had complained numerous times that she wanted to live on her own. But, as soon as she heard that she had to leave all her properties, including her house behind, she stopped complaining.

However, Madam Li, who was a big mouth, did not refrain herself from talking behind her mother-in-law, Madam Zhang. She said that Madam Zhang favored her younger son more by giving him all their family's income to support his studies in the prefectural city. Not only that, she also said that Madam Zhang treated her family badly. Her son had turned fifteen already, yet Madam Zhang still hadn't helped him with his marriage affairs. She was just draining the entire family's blood in order to feed the bottomless pit, Yu Bo.

Upon Yu Xiaocao's return this time, she got them three roasted ducks because clearly one wasn't enough for everyone. When her third uncle went back later, she would ask him to get one more. One roasted duck cost five to six taels of silver. If she took it to visit Grandfather, they probably wouldn't get to eat it. Instead, Madam Zhang would probably sell it for money!

Yu Xiaocao bought a fat hen and fifty eggs from her neighbor, the Zhou Family. After that, she went to visit her grandfather with her older brother, Yu Hang.

When they pushed open the old wooden door, there was no one in the courtyard and it was very quiet. Her younger uncle was studying in town, so her aunt and Doudou went back to live in their maternal family home. After her youngest paternal aunt got married, only her grandfather, Madam Zhang, and Yu Dashan's family lived here.

At this time, Yu Dashan should be back from the sea and selling fish in the fish market by the dock. Madam Li went somewhere to gossip in order to avoid doing labor. Madam Zhang went to the beach during the low tide to dig for spoon worms in order to earn more money to pay for her younger son's tuition. Apart from the sounds of the hungry pigs in the hogpen, there were no other sounds.

Suddenly, the sound of severe coughing could be heard from the West Room. This was where Yu Hai and his family used to live in. The cough was followed by another cough, as if someone was about to cough his lungs out; it made everyone worried that he might faint the next second due to suffocation.

”Grandfather?” The siblings exchanged looks and ran towards the West Room hurriedly. It may be because no one had lived in that room for so long that it appeared even more worn down. There were only spa.r.s.e hays on the roof, and it was unknown how long the room hadn't been repaired. If it rained, droplets of rain would probably leak in.

Since Yu Hai's family moved out, this room had been used as a storage room. How did Grandfather ended up living here?

Pus.h.i.+ng open the nearly falling door, the darkness in the room blinded the siblings and made it hard for them to clearly see the situation in the room. After a while, they saw a scrawny figure lying on the worn-out kang bed with his body hunched over and having another coughing fit.

”Grandfather!” Yu Xiaocao put down the stuff in her hands and rushed into the room. She helped Old Yu sit up and patted his back to make him feel better.

There was a disgusting odor in the room. People couldn't help but want to retch because of the strong stench that came from her haggard grandfather's body, as well as the smell from the hogpen next to him.

When his coughing finally stopped, Old Yu quickly pushed Yu Xiaocao away and said with great effort, ”Xiaocao, stay away from Grandfather. They all say I have tuberculosis, which is contagious. Both of you need to get out of here quickly to avoid being infected.”

Yu Xiaocao saw that her grandfather's clothes were full of urine and sweat stains. It was obvious that it hadn't been changed for a long period of time. Looking at her grandfather, who was helplessly lying on the bed, her nose turned sour. She tried to hold back her tears and said to Yu Hang, ”Eldest Brother, find a set of clean clothes for Grandfather and help him change into it. I will go boil water and help him wash.”

”There's no need. You guys need to go back! There is no cure for my disease, so hurry and go. Don't let the disease get to you. There's no cure!” Old Yu became so anxious that he wanted to sit up straight, but his skinny arms had no strength and he panted heavily on bed.

Yu Xiaocao checked his pulse. It wasn't tuberculosis at all, but instead it was only pneumonia caused by a severe fever. She reckoned that her grandfather didn't take his fever seriously at first, and then it slowly turned into pneumonia. Madam Zhang was too cheap to find him a doctor and just got him some herbal medicine for him to eat. Hence, the fever had now developed into such a serious condition.

”Grandfather, who told you that you got tuberculosis?” Yu Xiaocao saw the dry skin on her grandfather's lips and the empty cup next to the bed. No wonder it would turn into pneumonia! Grandfather had a fever, yet they didn't even give him water to drink.

After Yu Xiaocao boiled a pot of water, she scooped out a cup for it to cool off, added a drop of mystic-stone water, and fed it to her grandfather. Old Yu hadn't drunk water for two days already, so the warm water moisturized his dried body like sweet dew.