CHAPTER 482: CHAPTER 482: THE DU FAMILY HAS CHANGED

"No need, Auntie, I’m fine," the young man called Dongsheng said with a smile that was actually quite comforting, although he really was so thin that he seemed nothing but a skeleton, his cheekbones deeply sunken on both sides.

"Right, Dongsheng, come here quickly," Xiumei finally remembered something and hurriedly pulled Dongsheng by the hand.

"This is your granny, do you remember her? Your granny, who took care of you every day when you were a child."

"Granny..." Dongsheng’s eyes reddened, as he seemed to recognize a familiar trace on Granny Lu’s face. She was his granny, indeed. When his granny had left back then, he searched the whole village for her. When he returned home, he even asked his parents why his granny had disappeared, and got beaten by his father for it, who told him never to mention granny again.

So many years have passed, and sometimes he still remembered the grandmother who would save the best things to give him, but as time went by, he eventually forgot what she even looked like. And now, this old lady in front of him, yes, this lady, was the grandmother from his memories.

"Are you Dongsheng?" Granny Lu couldn’t believe what she was seeing until now. It was Dongsheng, her most cherished grandson. Dongsheng was the second son’s child, and he had been weak and sickly from birth. Everyone said he wouldn’t survive. Originally, Du Yinbao had even thought about abandoning him, but Granny Lu had fed him porridge every day to raise him. Back then, the family was not well-off; Granny Lu spared nothing, not even food or clothing, all for this grandson. Even the unmarried Du Ping would go out in the scorching summer heat to pick up wheat in the fields to grind into white flour for Dongsheng, somehow managing to raise him. That’s why Dongsheng had gone looking for Granny Lu in the first place, and also, the one who helped Qin Xiang Nuan was this cousin, who hadn’t been limping when Qin Xiangnuan saw him.

Dongsheng said with a shy smile, "Yes, Granny, you still remember me. Right, I’m Dongsheng."

Granny Lu stroked Dongsheng’s face, and upon seeing his leg, she burst into tears on the spot, "What’s happened to you, child? How did you end up like this?"

Xiumei was hesitant to speak, unsure of how to explain the matter.

It was really a bit hard to say.

The affair with the Du Family was something she was too ashamed to speak of.

And it really was something that infuriated people to the point of gritting their teeth.

And Dongsheng just gave a bitter smile, no matter how much Granny Lu asked, he simply wouldn’t say.

Jian Zhiqing walked over and put his hand on Dongsheng’s shoulder, not minding the dust and dirt covering Lv Sheng, "Where are you hurt?"

Granny Lu, hearing this, also anxiously questioned Dongsheng.

"Dongsheng, tell Granny, are you hurt somewhere?"

"It’s nothing," Dongsheng shook his head nonchalantly, "Just some minor injuries, all treated. It’s nothing much for a farmer to bear a little pain."

No, that wasn’t right. Qin Xiangnuan felt that things weren’t as Dongsheng had described. When she was at school, she had learned some basic nursing knowledge. Dongsheng couldn’t possibly be alright in this condition, it certainly looked like excessive blood loss had caused his pallor; he could very well be on the brink of death.

"We should head to the hospital first," Jian Zhiqing could also see that Dongsheng was putting on a brave front. The smile on his face was almost floating, making it seem as if he could faint at any moment.

"Right, to the hospital, to the hospital. I want to ask the doctor what’s wrong with my Dongsheng’s leg?" Granny Lu wiped her tears and started to leave with Dongsheng, feeling incredibly guilty and distressed in her heart. Why hadn’t she come earlier? Her grandson had suffered so much. While she lived comfortably and well, what kind of hardships had this child endured?

"Xiumei, will you come with us to the hospital?"

Granny Lu turned around, again asking Xiumei with a voice that carried an audible plea.

"Alright, auntie, don’t worry, I’ll go with you," Xiumei didn’t even have time to change her clothes, just followed Granny Lu onto the car. She knew why Granny Lu was looking for her—to inquire about the affairs of the Du Family. Yet when she sat in the car, she felt uncomfortable everywhere. Even though the car seats were soft and quite comfortable to sit in, she didn’t know why, but her heart was pounding vigorously, her entire person felt unwell.

It wasn’t easy to finally reach the hospital. As soon as her foot touched the ground, Xiumei immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, cars are for rich people to ride; she couldn’t enjoy it at all.

Dongsheng adamantly refused to enter the hospital, constantly saying he wasn’t sick, so why go to the hospital?

"Are you scared of spending money, cousin?"

Suddenly, a remark from Qin Xiangnuan made Dongsheng freeze in his tracks.

He opened his mouth, feeling somewhat embarrassed. He indeed had no money. With no money, what was he supposed to do at the hospital?

Granny Lu secretly wiped her tears and then reached into her pocket, pulling out her small purse and placing it in front of Dongsheng, "Dongsheng, don’t worry, look, we have money, our family isn’t poor."

Dongsheng’s fingers gripped the purse, which contained quite a sum of money, but he didn’t know if it was all saved up by Granny Lu, penny by penny.

"Granny, I can’t take this money," Dongsheng stuffed the purse back into Granny Lu’s pocket. Granny Lu was already of such an old age. He hadn’t shown her filial piety and was already unfilial enough; how could he take an old person’s money? It was such a shameless thing to do; how could he possibly bring himself to do it?

"Go inside," Jian Zhiqing pushed Dongsheng, urging him to let the doctors give him a thorough check-up, "No need for your money, nor Granny Lu’s money, I’ll pay."

Dongsheng looked at Jian Zhiqing with mixed feelings and ultimately concluded that he must stay at the hospital, so he followed the advice and entered.

"What’s bothering you?" the doctor asked Dongsheng, "Why do you look so pale?"

Dongsheng squirmed for a while before finally pointing to his left leg, "I got hit while working, but it’s been bandaged up already."

"Roll up your pants, let me see."

Dongsheng’s face reddened, with so many women around, how could he feel comfortable, even though it was just showing a leg.

"Nuannuan, take Granny outside to rest for a bit," Jian Zhiqing signaled Qin Xiangnuan with his eyes, worried that Granny Lu might see something that would upset her. Qin Xiangnuan understood and led Granny Lu outside. Originally, Granny Lu was reluctant, insisting on seeing where her grandson was injured, but it was Xiumei who persuaded her, saying that it was only men inside, and it was inconvenient for women to be there, which made Granny Lu agree to go out.

Outside, Granny Lu grasped Xiumei’s hand tightly.

"Xiumei, tell your aunt what’s going on. What happened to my grandson’s leg? Is the second son’s family not going to take care of it?"

"Sigh..." Xiumei let out a sigh, "Auntie, I won’t hide it from you. In the nearly twenty years you’ve been away, the Du Family, well, has changed."

Xiumei then detailed everything that had happened to the Du Family for Granny Lu, who couldn’t stop wiping away her tears, her heart aching to the extreme.