CHAPTER 427: CHAPTER 0408 SONG JINXIU WHO DOESN’T WANT TO MARRY (1)

"Then why is that?" Li Yuzhu looked at her and asked.

"It’s..." Song Jinxiu raised her head, mumbled a bit, and bit her lip, unwilling to say.

Li Yuzhu said, "So, it’s because of some other people or things? Since it’s due to external matters, trying to kill yourself like this is really foolish! Dying for others is not worth it!"

Song Jinxiu lowered her head again, twisting her sleeves, and said softly, "You don’t understand, maybe, when you get older, as old as me, you will understand."

Li Yuzhu thought to herself, in her previous life she was not young at all!

In front of her, Song Jinxiu was just a little girl!

Li Yuzhu said, "Song Jinxiu, don’t underestimate people, I’m not that old, but I have seen a lot. I’m also a doctor; what haven’t I seen? From what I can tell, unless someone puts a knife to your neck, forcing you to jump into the water! If it’s not such a case, other things are not a big deal. You are troubled only because you haven’t found a solution."

Song Jinxiu gave a bitter smile, "Can’t be solved."

"That’s because you can’t solve it, say it out, let’s all discuss it together, I believe we can come up with a solution." Li Yuzhu looked at her and said.

Song Jinxiu took a breath, lifted her head to look at Li Yuzhu, and shook her head, "Miss Li, stop asking, I don’t want to say."

Li Yuzhu didn’t expect her to say it now anyway.

She kept her mouth tightly shut, unwilling to reveal the reason for jumping into the water, showing that it made her very troubled.

"Alright, I won’t ask anymore, but Jinxiu, I truly want to help you. If one day you want to talk about it, just tell me." Li Yuzhu squeezed her hand.

Song Jinxiu forced a smile at her and nodded gently, "Alright."

"You fell into the water, quickly cook some ginger tea to drive away the cold, don’t catch a chill." Li Yuzhu pulled her up from the chair, "Don’t sit, moving around can warm you up a bit."

Song Jinxiu stood up following her pull and walked out of the bedroom.

Li Yuzhu, worried she might have issues, followed her closely.

Song Jinxiu glanced at her but said nothing and continued with her tasks.

The students weren’t coming, making the place much quieter.

By the kitchen stove, there was some firewood piled up, but they were all thin branches.

Mr. Song couldn’t do physical labor, and Song Jinxiu wasn’t very strong, so she could only chop some finger-thick branches.

Li Yuzhu sat on a small stool by the stove and asked where the fire stone was, wanting to help light the fire.

Song Jinxiu waved her hands repeatedly, "Just cooking some ginger tea, I can do it myself, you don’t need to help, it will get your clothes dirty."

Li Yuzhu smiled, "Lighting a fire can warm my hands, let me warm my hands."

Hearing her say this, Song Jinxiu didn’t persuade further.

Once the water in the pot boiled, Song Jinxiu put the sliced ginger into the pot, let it boil for a while, scooped out four bowls, and then added a spoon of brown sugar into each bowl.

"Miss Li, the ginger tea is ready, let’s go outside," she picked up the tray and nodded at Li Yuzhu.

On the tray were four bowls of ginger tea.

"Alright. I’ll just wipe my hands and come." Li Yuzhu smiled.

She went outside, scooped water from the jar with spare water to wash her hands, wiped them dry with a towel, and followed Song Jinxiu into the main room.

Song Jinxiu had already placed the bowls on the table, put down the tray, walked to Mr. Song’s door, and called out, "Grandfather, it’s cold, have some ginger sugar water." She then pretended just to see Mu Yuanxiu, "Mu Yuanxiu is here too? Come have some."

Mr. Song said, "Jinxiu, didn’t you go to your uncle’s house? You’re back so soon?"

Song Jinxiu’s eyes flickered, "Aunt was going out, so I came back."

"Oh—" Mr. Song coughed twice and called Mu Yuanxiu to have ginger sugar water together.

Mu Yuanxiu thanked him, and they both came out of the bedroom.

Mr. Song saw Li Yuzhu was also there and said with a smile, "Miss Li is here too?"

"I came to check on Mr. Song’s health today." Li Yuzhu smiled.

"I’m doing alright, just a little itchy in the throat." Mr. Song said with a smile. After speaking, he covered his mouth and coughed twice again.

He then invited Mu Yuanxiu and Li Yuzhu to drink the ginger sugar water.

When Mr. Song was about to pick up a bowl, Li Yuzhu quickly said, "Mr. Song, let me check your throat."

Mr. Song laughed, "No need, no need, just caught a little wind, drinking some ginger sugar water will warm me up."

But Li Yuzhu insisted on checking.

Mr. Song is coughing, he must have caught a cold.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, colds are categorized as either wind-cold or wind-heat, both can cause coughing, but there is a distinction.

If the wrong treatment is used, not only will it not help, but it will also worsen the condition.

Li Yuzhu insisted on examining Mr. Song’s throat, so Mr. Song had no choice but to let her do so.

"It’s just a minor illness, there’s no need to trouble Miss Li," Mr. Song said apologetically.

"It’s a small examination, it’s no trouble at all," Li Yuzhu replied with a smile.

She had Mr. Song sit at the doorway where the light was good, then picked up the spoon from Mr. Song’s bowl and pressed down on his tongue to examine his throat.

As she expected, Mr. Song had a wind-heat cold, not a wind-cold type.

Mr. Song’s throat was red and inflamed, which are symptoms of a wind-heat cold.

"Mr. Song, you have been affected by wind-heat, the heat inside your body has caused your throat to be red and itchy, which is why you’re coughing. Drinking ginger sugar water will only make it worse, you should drink some heat-clearing detoxifying tea instead," Li Yuzhu said.

She recommended dandelion tea and honeysuckle tea.

Mr. Song’s cold wasn’t too severe, his throat was only slightly red and swollen. Besides the heat-clearing tea, Li Yuzhu also gave him some Detoxification Pills.

"Ah, thanks to Miss Li’s advice, otherwise my illness might have dragged on severely," Mr. Song felt guilty for his earlier recklessness.

Li Yuzhu laughed, "You old gentleman don’t need to drink brown sugar ginger water, we three came from outside, feeling cold, we’ll drink it."

"Yes, yes, yes, you all drink more, today is even colder than the previous days, look at the wind blowing, it even broke a tree behind the house," Mr. Song exclaimed.

Song Jinxiu brought another bowl of warm water, served Mr. Song to take the medicine pills, then lowered her head and silently finished the ginger soup.

She drank the fastest, after putting the bowl down, she said, "You all drink, I’m going to wash the clothes," and walked away.

Mr. Song was puzzled, "Jinxiu, didn’t you wash clothes this morning? All the clothes hanging in the backyard are clean."

Li Yuzhu’s eyes sparkled, saying, "Mr. Song, maybe she found some other clothes forgotten to be washed? She’s so diligent, you should be pleased."

Mr. Song sighed, "Everyone says she’s diligent, but she still doesn’t have a husband’s family."

Song Jinxiu came out from her bedroom carrying a basin. Hearing this, her steps paused, she gently sighed, lowered her head, and went to the backyard.

Li Yuzhu glanced at her, then said to Mr. Song, "Mr. Song, why are you worried? My elder sister is even a few months older than her but isn’t married either. Besides, I’ve seen quite a few girls like her age."

Mr. Song let out a long sigh, "But she is different from Miss Li, and different from other girls too. She only has me as a relative, and I am old and sickly. I don’t know if I can watch her get married. If I leave before she marries, how will she manage alone?"

Just half an hour ago, Song Jinxiu was about to jump into the water to end her life, and now the old man is bringing up this matter again. Isn’t this adding salt to the wound?

Both Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu became anxious.

Mu Yuanxiu said, "Mr. Song, you’re worrying unnecessarily. Yuzhu mentioned that currently, your health is very good; you’d easily live another twenty years. Within those twenty years, not only will Jinxiu have a husband’s family, but even her children could have wives."

Li Yuzhu was surprised, Mu Yuanxiu spoke so well today.

She also nodded with a smile, "Yes, Mr. Song, Mu Yuanxiu is right." After thinking for a moment, she added, "If Mr. Song doesn’t mind, I’ll go home and talk to my mother to keep an eye out for suitable matches to find a husband’s family for Jinxiu."

Mr. Song smiled, "Then, I’ll thank Miss Li and Mrs. Li in advance."

In the backyard, Song Jinxiu, scrubbing clothes, suddenly turned her head to look at the main house, then slowly lowered her head again.

She stopped scrubbing the clothes, rested her chin on her knees weakly, and absentmindedly scratched the mud on the ground with her fingers.

Those pretty nails were about to break.

After finishing her sugary water, Li Yuzhu came to the backyard to see Song Jinxiu.

Upon hearing footsteps, Song Jinxiu quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeve and resumed scrubbing the clothes seriously.

Li Yuzhu walked to her and squatted down, smiling, "I just talked to your grandpa about your marriage, and he agreed for my mother to find a husband’s family for you. What do you think?" She patted Song Jinxiu’s hand, smiling, "Rest assured, I’ll supervise my mother to find you a good husband. You’ve been caring for your grandpa alone, it’s tough. Having someone to share the burden would make it easier, wouldn’t it?"

Song Jinxiu didn’t look at Li Yuzhu, continuing to scrub the clothes, "I have no difficulty supporting my grandpa alone, and... I don’t want to get married, and I won’t marry in the future either."

Li Yuzhu was surprised, was Song Jinxiu’s thinking so progressive?

"Why not get married? Song Jinxiu, if you don’t marry, a girl living alone in the village will attract gossip," Li Yuzhu reminded her.

In modern times, a woman not marrying can still live in society as usual.

But in those old, rule-abiding times, an unmarried woman living alone is often viewed as an oddity and may attract malicious attacks from ill-intentioned people.

"After my grandpa passes away, I’ll enter a nunnery," Song Jinxiu said.