I Got Rich in Period Fiction-Chapter 98 He Regretted It

At this time, Old Man Qiao and the old lady from the eastern room also walked out, supporting each other.

The state of their health was far from good; years of physical labor had left them with numerous illnesses, especially the old man who now trembled as he walked. In his youth, while working for a landlord, he once ate a bite of steamed corn bread out of sheer hunger and was punished to kneel in the freezing cold for an entire night. It was a miracle his legs hadn’t been amputated, but still, they were left with lingering problems.

Every spring, he would fall ill, and now, enduring the pain, he shouted loudly, "All of you shut up, you’re all grown up; what’s the meaning of this endless bickering?"

At this moment, Qiao Zhiyuan, with a face flushed red in disbelief, was staring at his wife. He could have never imagined Wang Guihua saying such things.

He reached out his hand to strike Wang Guihua, and she retreated several steps in fear, yet her gaze was fixed fiercely upon Qiao Zhiyuan.

In the end, Qiao Zhiyuan still lowered his hand. Pointing at Wang Guihua, he said sternly, "Wang Guihua, I hope this is the last time I hear such words from you, otherwise you can just roll back to the Wang Family."

Wang Guihua didn’t dare continue the stalemate; after all, Uncle Qiao’s expression was terrifying, and his gaze daunting.

She bit her lip and kept silent.

Uncle Qiao was truly heartbroken; he hadn’t expected his wife to be such a person. Glancing back at the quiet western room, which housed Qiao Family’s second son, his brother’s wife was no easy opponent either, as she often whispered and murmured with his wife. When these old women were together, there was certainly no good in the making.

"Wang Guihua, one must have a conscience. Not to mention anything else, let’s talk about when you gave birth to our second son and almost died from hemorrhaging. It was Qiao Zhicai who went to the county hospital and brought back a doctor.

Your life was saved, and who looked after you for that month, who took care of your meals, your drinks, who washed our second son’s diapers, who wiped your shit and piss? It was Han Xianglan!

Did she have an obligation to you? Did she have a responsibility? No, but she took good care of you. What did you say at the time? You said Han Xianglan was like your own sister, even closer than your own sister.

Now that their family is facing difficulties, not only are you not thinking of how to help them, but you’re also kicking them while they’re down. Is this what a big sister-in-law should say?

People say an elder sister-in-law is like a mother; do you deserve that title?

I really didn’t expect you, Wang Guihua, to be such a person. Don’t think I’m unaware of the idle gossip in the village, which you participate in.

Qiao Qingyu may have done something wrong, but think about what she brought our family this time; the 500 mu of experimental fields are now the apple of our county’s eye. I’m riding high too; even the county leaders sought me out for a personal chat. Do you understand what that means?

The cloth she brought back, have you used it? The millet cake, have you eaten it?

You only see the bit of money we gave, but have you ever thought about how much effort Qingyu put into getting those 500 mu of corn seeds for me.

Do you know how much money she has saved for our team?

That’s worth thousands of yuan. Besides, Qingyu got married, and as her maternal family, shouldn’t we have given her a gift?

But look at you and the second son’s wife; both of you treat Qiao Qingyu as an enemy. Has she eaten your food or drunk your drink? That money all comes from what I and the second son earned.

Yes, you’ve worked hard too; I acknowledge that. You’ve taken good care of my parents at home. I will appreciate you for a lifetime, but let’s separate issues. Wang Guihua, you just slandered Han Xianglan, and that’s conscienceless. Look at the clothes you are wearing; didn’t Han Xianglan make them for you? Have you no shame?

Aunt Qiao suddenly burst into tears, covering her face, and then ran back to her own room.

The quiet western room remained quiet. Old Man Qiao and the old lady exchanged a glance and sighed. Uncle has already said so much; they couldn’t say anything more. After all, wasn’t this just the trouble poverty brings?

No money, both of them were out of money now.

To prevent Qingyubao from suffering in Xichuan, they pulled out even their funeral savings.

Aunt Qiao didn’t know whether she was angry or not, but she locked herself in her room and cried with sobs, while Uncle Qiao, with his face ashen, couldn’t be bothered to care, cursing under his breath about the worthless thing.

He grabbed the letter and rode his bicycle straight to the neighboring village.

Unexpectedly, on the way there, he ran into his younger brother who was carrying Han Xianglan on his back and hurrying toward the county city.

It turned out Han Xianglan had fainted, and after waking up, she was so weak she couldn’t even move. Qiao Zhicai was sweating profusely in his anxiety. Without a bicycle and knowing few people in the village, he couldn’t find a horse cart and had no choice but to carry his wife on his back and rush to the county hospital.

Fortunately, he encountered his older brother, Qiao Zhiyuan, halfway there.

Qiao Zhiyuan made a snap decision, told him to wait there, and then pedaled back to the brigade at top speed, borrowed a horse cart, and also borrowed twenty yuan from Accountant Zhang before hastily taking Han Xianglan to the hospital.

After a series of tests, the doctor called Qiao Zhicai out and said earnestly, "The patient is extremely weak, suffering from malnutrition-induced anemia, irregular heartbeat, and high blood pressure..."

Qiao Zhicai, his face completely drained of color, asked with a trembling voice, "Doctor, just tell me what we should do."

"First, let her be hospitalized and observed for a few days, and make sure not to agitate the patient. Keep her mood stable..."

Then the doctor added, "Go pay the hospitalization fee first."

After saying this, the doctor turned and left.

Qiao Zhicai turned to go downstairs but was stopped by Qiao Zhiyuan, who said in a low voice, "You stay with her in the ward; I’ll go pay the hospital deposit."

"Big brother, I know you’re out of money. I have an acquaintance in the county; I’ll go borrow some from him."

Without waiting for Qiao Zhiyuan to say anything, Qiao Zhicai rushed down the stairs, nearly running. In the county, he didn’t have any acquaintances to speak of, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to ask—for everyone knew Qiao Zhicai was completely broke.

But he could find an acquaintance and figure something out. He had heard that selling blood could also bring in some money.

An hour later, Qiao Zhicai returned. With the thirty yuan Qiao Zhiyuan had given him, he now had a total of sixty yuan, and he managed to pay both the hospitalization fee and the deposit, finally allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

But he also felt slightly dizzy; he leaned against the corridor wall with a bitter smile, trying to calm himself down.

He was just an incapable farmer, who knew nothing but toiling in the soil for a livelihood. He was uneducated, and Xianglan had suffered a lifetime of hardship with him.

If his mother hadn’t bought Han Xianglan with a bag of rough rice back in the day, Xianglan would now be He Shan’s wife, she might have gone to Beijing, living in a big courtyard, in a two-story western-style building.

Instead of enduring hardship and fatigue with him.

The man in his fifties, Qiao Zhicai, cried.

He even felt a bit of regret. The money that Qingyu had sent, he should have swallowed his pride and kept it.