CHAPTER 102: CHAPTER 100: TREAT ILLNESSES EARLY WHEN THEY ARE MINOR

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Xie Jingchen left on the third morning, and Xu Xiaofen’s family sent word of a death at dawn the very same day. According to customs, Xie Family had just held a wedding feast, and not even half a month had passed. Families that were not very close would not send news of a death to the door.

But Xu Family’s relationship with Xie Family was a bit special.

Xu Xiaofen’s family was from the same village, considered one of the three major surnames of Qingfeng Village. Xiaofen’s father had died early, and the primary reason was that he saved Xie Tiesheng’s father, although in the end both men died. Nonetheless, Mr. Xu’s actions were indeed righteous.

And unlike Old Xie, who was closing in on sixty, Xu Xiaofen’s father was not yet forty at the time. As the eldest daughter of Xu Family, Xiaofen was only thirteen years old then, with two older brothers above and two younger siblings below.

The eldest was only seventeen, and the youngest was just seven. The family of six, plus an elderly grandmother, was to put it bluntly, a household of women and children.

Back then, around the sixties, Qingyun Commune was very remote. Though they lived off the land and water, during the sixties, the Daqing Mountain Range was truly filled with ferocious beasts—whether it be tigers, Himalayan bears, wild boars, foxes, and so on, all were present.

And what was more terrifying than these predatory animals were the venomous snakes and pythons!

If you really went deep into the mountains and encountered a cobra, just one bite and death could follow in less than ten minutes!

Speaking of it, Mr. Xu did save someone, but at that time, he himself was also bitten by a snake, and then in a selfless act went to save an elder of the village. Although everyone involved was bitten, Mr. Xu’s deeds were indeed noble.

Therefore, after Mr. Xu’s death, whether it was the Xie Family, Zhou family, or their own Xu Family, they all truly took good care of Xu Xiaofen’s family of women and children.

That year, the eldest son, who also participated in hunting in the mountains, although unharmed, was scared witless, just like what the elders described as ’losing one’s soul.’ He was capable of working, but his mind was somewhat unclear.

Xu Erzi, who was supposed to take over the household, was only fifteen at the time and was quite shrewd. At the age of seventeen, when he should have started a family, he cruelly kept it a secret from his kin and eloped to Xiangjiang with someone else secretly!

If Zhang Shanni knew about this, she would certainly realize that Xu Erzi’s fate was more likely to be grim than not. After all, she had read about the ’Great Escape of May’ in 1962 in history books. As for what happened in the end, that would depend on Xu Erzi’s own fortune.

Now, life for the Xu Family had become even harder. Knowing how tough life at home was to prevent future generations from suffering, Mrs. Xu, after realizing that her eldest grandson was beyond help, committed suicide by jumping into the river.

Later, when Xu Erzi fled to Xiangjiang, the Xu Family relied solely on fifteen-year-old Xu Xiaofen for household matters. Ever since Mr. Xu’s accidental death, Mrs. Xu, overwhelmed with grief and exhaustion, spit out a mouthful of blood from the heartache and her health further declined.

One misfortune followed another, and Mrs. Xu’s health deteriorated. Were it not for the cries of her youngest son and daughter, she wouldn’t have been able to carry on.

The only relief was that although Xu Dazi had become simple-minded, he was still able to work. He never resisted anything his family asked of him; he obediently did everything.

Until two years after Xu Xiaofen’s marriage [at the age of seventeen], without Xiaofen around to take care of him, Xu Dazi fell into the mud in a creek, was found too late, and died of suffocation.

This was another disaster on top of an already difficult situation for the Xu Family. The third son had just turned sixteen, and Xu’s little sister was exactly thirteen. Over these years, misfortunes never seemed to leave the Xu Family, but Xu Xiaofen had married well.

Because, in the end, Mr. Xu had managed to save Grandfather Xie, the Xie and Xu families interacted quite closely. Before the mourning period was even over, fifteen-year-old Xu Xiaofen and Xie Jingwei had already developed affections for each other secretly. When the two were married, the Xu Family didn’t lose a daughter, but rather gained a son-in-law who helped eagerly with all household matters, bustling about.

As Mrs. Xu grew older and married off the youngest son and daughter, she may have felt her duties were complete. Over the past two years, her health had been declining, which was a common human condition—lit like a lamp running out of oil.

Now, seeing her youngest daughter also married with children, she felt her life’s purpose was fulfilled and ultimately succumbed to illness and passed away.

Early in the morning, Mrs. Xie was at her doorstep receiving the funeral guests, and with a sense of aversion to bad luck, she stomped her foot three times outside the door before entering the courtyard.

"Dad, after all, she is the mother-in-law. Look, should we go?" Zhou Xiuhua was very reluctant to go. It’s said that Xu Dazi did shout, but it didn’t save anyone, yet it made the Xu, Zhou, and Xie families show respect to his family.

The most infuriating thing was that her eldest son was almost filially devoted to the Xu family. She was so angry her liver ached, and her lungs hurt, but she couldn’t say anything; if she really did, the villagers would criticize her behind her back, truly a wrongful death!

"We should go. I’ll go alone; that will suffice. I’ll also tell Tie Dan and the others to come back early." Xie Tiesheng took a puff of his cigarette and, after sending Xiao Liu off to play, glanced at the Third Son’s Wife in the kitchen before saying slowly.

"Ah~" Zhou Xiuhua was unhappy, feeling uncomfortable, and agreed very reluctantly.

"Don’t sulk, let Ni stay at home tonight and not go out. Take care of Xiao Liu at home. I’ll go after dinner."

"Old man~~"

"Mom, it’s been more than ten years of patience; these seven days won’t make a difference~ Take it easy. If Tie Dan dares to disobey you again, I’ll break his legs!"

Zhou Xiuhua suddenly stood up, glared at him fiercely, and growled in a low voice, "You, you old man, you still want him to keep the death vigil for seven days? Fine, if he wants to keep it I won’t interfere. But you have to bring my three dear grandsons and granddaughters back. The grandchild of the Xie family hasn’t even kowtowed [to be filial] to the ancestors yet, what qualifications does she have!"

Speaking of which, Zhou Xiuhua, a straightforward woman, despised Mrs. Xu the most. Except for always crying like a delicate Little White Flower to seduce men into helping her for free, she lacked any sense of humanity!

After being in-laws with her for more than a decade, she never received any New Year’s gifts, not to mention any festival gifts! All she did was encourage her daughter, who appeared soft and falsely virtuous, to covet things from their own family!

For over a decade, the Xie family had sent how much food to the Xu family during the holidays, and thinking of this made her heartache!

After yelling, Zhou Xiuhua held her chest and sat down again.

"Mom, what’s happening to you? You’re just ranting. Calm down and take a deep breath!" Xie Tiesheng was startled by his wife’s pale face, and without care for his pipe, threw it away and went straight to support Zhou Xiuhua.

"Mom, don’t get angry, drink some water quickly!" Zhang Shan Ni knew something was wrong when her parents-in-law’s quarrel grew louder. She quickly filled a large bowl with warm water, added a drop of Spirit Core Water, and hurriedly brought it over.

"Um~~ No, no worries!" Zhou Xiuhua took two gulps of water, and seeing her daughter-in-law’s concerned face, she quickly waved her hand to indicate she was okay.

"Mom, you have been having chest pains frequently recently; this can’t go on. Why don’t we go to the county town for a check-up? Early treatment for illness won’t cost as much..." Zhang Shan Ni quietly explained to the elders.

Although Spirit Core Water can temporarily relieve minor symptoms, the effectiveness of the water is greatly reduced if the disease cause is not addressed with the right treatment. After all, whether it’s Spirit Core Water or Chaos Liquid, their fundamental purpose is to enhance the body’s immunity and activate potential.

If there is a source of disease without eradicating it, and if she were to give her an excessive amount of Spirit Core Water, it would not only increase body immunity but also the reproductive ability of the disease source...

This is a real-life example of good intentions leading to bad outcomes.

It was precisely because she knew this that Zhang Shan Ni wanted to study medical skills.

In fact, she had a rough understanding of many common medicinal herbs. If it were just a minor illness or a cold, to be honest, she could treat it even without understanding the pharmacology. After all, these minor ailments have a very limited presence in the body, and it only takes a bit of Spirit Core Water to boost the body’s immunity, and all would be OK.

But if it was serious enough to become a tumor or cancer, then simply administering Crystal Core Water, while increasing the body’s immunity, would also enhance the activity of the disease source...

In order to be prepared for the future, she thought it would be necessary to learn more knowledge.