Tan Shi froze for a moment too. Looking at the distance between herself and Yang Ruoqing—still separated by a shoulder pole—she didn't believe for a second that this chubby girl had pushed her. Frankly, no one would believe that.
But having fallen so hard in front of everyone, making a fool of herself, she simply couldn't swallow the humiliation!
"Oh, you wretched woman, Sun Shi! Your mother-in-law was lying half-dead at your feet, and you didn't even bother to help! What kind of evil heart is that?" Tan Shi erupted at Sun Shi again. Sun Shi hunched her shoulders, crying silently without daring to defend herself—she too felt a bit guilty.
Blood began to drip steadily from the wound on Tan Shi's hand. At first, she was still belligerent, but when she caught sight of her injury, her face turned pale green and her lips started to quiver.
"Aiyo, aiyo! I can't do this anymore—I'm done for, I'm finished!"
Tan Shi grimaced in pain, her face contorted grotesquely. Old Man Yang stomped his foot in frustration, then dragged Tan Shi out of the room to find Uncle Fu to dress the wound.
Even as she was being hauled toward the door, Tan Shi didn't forget to yell over her shoulder at Sun Shi:
"You venomous woman, just you wait! I'll have Third Brother divorce you! You heartless snake!"
Sun Shi's face was full of shock and worry. She had originally intended to follow along and help care for Tan Shi, but those words stopped her cold. Her entire body froze as if struck by lightning. All the color drained from her face, and she looked like she might collapse. Had Yang Ruoqing not reacted quickly and rushed over to catch her, she really might have fallen to the ground.
"Mama…"
Yang Ruoqing furrowed her brows slightly. She knew exactly how hard that sentence had hit Sun Shi. In this era, if a woman was divorced by her husband's family, her life was essentially over.
Everyone within a ten-mile radius would hear of her "lack of virtue," and no respectable family would take her in. Even her own family would be humiliated by her disgrace. In the end, she'd have nowhere to go but death.
Everything that had just happened was seen and heard by Yang Huazhong, who was lying in bed. His heart was burning with anxiety.
He tried to sit up, but his entire body felt like it was being cut by knives. His legs were completely numb—he had no feeling in them at all.
Then, hearing his mother say such cruel words, a jolt ran through him. A metallic taste rose in his throat, and with a blegh, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Mama! Something's wrong—Papa just vomited blood!"
Yang Ruoqing suddenly cried out, releasing Sun Shi's arm and rushing to the bedside.
Sun Shi snapped out of her daze and stumbled after her. There, she saw Yang Huazhong lying stiffly in bed, his body twitching. His eyelids were rolling back, showing mostly the whites of his eyes, and his lips were trembling while his teeth clamped down with an audible crack.
Panicked, Sun Shi flailed helplessly, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet. Through her tears, she wailed,
"Heavens! What's happening? Qing'er's father, don't scare me!"
In contrast, Yang Ruoqing remained much calmer. The first thing she did upon reaching the bed was grab the cloth Sun Shi had used earlier to wipe up the spilled medicine. She twisted it into a strip and stuffed it into Yang Huazhong's mouth to keep him from biting his tongue.
Then she checked his eyes, felt his pulse, and after a moment, let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was just a surge of anger that had overwhelmed him.
She then pressed hard with her thumb on the philtrum—the spot just beneath the nose and above the upper lip.
Within moments, Yang Huazhong slowly came to. He stared blankly at the mother and daughter standing beside the bed. After a while, the fog in his eyes cleared, and they began to focus.
Seeing his eyeballs move and his cheeks puff up, Yang Ruoqing quickly pulled out the cloth from his mouth and set it aside.
"Papa, whatever you want to say, say it slowly. Don't get worked up!"
She then turned to the still-stunned Sun Shi beside her.
"Mama, go get a bowl of hot tea to help calm Papa's blood pressure."
Sun Shi finally came and responded, "Okay," before hurrying off to pour tea.
Back at the bedside, Yang Huazhong coughed violently a few times but gradually regained full clarity. He widened his eyes and stared in disbelief at Yang Ruoqing standing before him, his facial muscles twitching.
"Yue…Qing'er…Am I dreaming? How come…how come you're talking so clearly?"
Yang Ruoqing gave him a slight smile and said,
"I'm not sure either. After a high fever, I just…woke up clear-headed."
Yang Huazhong gaped at her, not blinking once. Her vague explanation wasn't convincing him at all.
Suddenly, he raised his uninjured hand and pinched himself hard on the face. Yang Ruoqing tried to stop him, but she was too late.
"Hiss…"
He sucked in a sharp breath. His hand had left a bloody scratch across his cheek—but he grinned in delight.
"Good, good! That's wonderful!"
Yang Ruoqing heard him say "good" three times in a row. Even though he was paralyzed from the waist down and had just narrowly escaped death, his smile was bright and joyous.
It was like the whole shabby little room had suddenly filled with light. Even Yang Ruoqing couldn't help being swept up in his emotion—her lips curled into a soft smile. Yet, why was there something warm pricking at the corners of her eyes?
"Here's the tea. Qing'er's papa, you haven't had a drop all night. Come, let me help you sit up and take a sip."
As she spoke, Sun Shi brought the tea over. Yang Ruoqing took it from her and placed it on the nearby bench. Together, they carefully helped Yang Huazhong into a sitting position.
Throughout it all, Yang Huazhong kept his eyes on Yang Ruoqing, filled with affection, tenderness, and joy.
To Yang Ruoqing—who had been an orphan in her previous life, never having known familial love—his gaze stirred up a storm of complicated emotions, like a pot of five-spice soup boiling over in her heart.
After drinking the tea, his labored breathing, which had sounded like a sealing machine moments earlier, finally began to ease. Together, Sun Shi and Yang Ruoqing gently laid him flat again.
"Qing'er's awake and talking again—and you didn't think to tell me sooner?"
Yang Huazhong gave Sun Shi a pointed look, a trace of blame in his tone.
Sun Shi gave a bitter smile.
"It was that girl who wouldn't let me tell."
Yang Huazhong looked at Yang Ruoqing again, his gaze filled with affection. Then he turned back to Sun Shi and said firmly,
"My daughter survived a disaster—she must be blessed with great fortune!"
That sentence was too much for Sun Shi. Her tears, which had just stopped, began to fall once more.
She wiped them as she muttered,
"What good fortune? Her grandparents have already decided. As soon as the rice is harvested, they'll have Granny Wang come over and appraise her value. I'd rather she stayed a fool—at least then, she wouldn't know the sorrow and the pain…"
The smile on Yang Huazhong's face disappeared in an instant. He lay there silently, eyes fixed on the yellowed canopy above, his thick brows tightly furrowed and his cracked lips pressed into a thin, grim line.
(End of Chapter)