Li Fu returned home with a full stomach that evening. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw someone lying on the ground. When he saw the body shape, he recognized the person and instantly wanted to sigh. "What happened again?"
In a weak voice, Mrs. Qian said, "I'm so hungry. I woke up to find some food, but when I walked here with my weak legs, I stumbled and couldn't stand up anymore." Her voice slowly faded, and her body did not move.
Walking past her, Li Fu said, "I have something to do. By the way, you can get up early tomorrow and do the cooking by yourself. Feed the chickens, too. I'm busy over there."
He then went into the kitchen to boil some water to wash up.
As Mrs. Qian watched the candlelight in the kitchen, she felt her stomach hurt even more.
Li Fu ignored her cries of hunger after he boiled water because he was too tired from hammering for an entire day to pay attention to her. He fell into a deep sleep soon after.
On his way out the next morning, he brought a set of clothes with him. Mrs. Qian got up especially early today. In fact, she didn't sleep much last night. When she saw him getting ready to leave, she couldn’t help but ask, "Are you coming back today?"
Li Fu looked at her and replied, "It depends."
The time Mrs. Qian was particularly anxious, asking, "I'm seriously ill, aren't you concerned?"
"You can move." Li Fu left the courtyard as soon as the words fell from his lips. Behind him, Mrs. Qian began sobbing.
On arriving at Li Qinghe's house, he found that there was already food on the table. He sat down and started eating with Zhou Chengkang without being polite.
When Li Qinghe saw him, she smiled and asked, "Father, is Aunt Qian doing better?"
Li Fu was drinking porridge when he heard the question. He sighed and replied, "She is suffering from heartache, and will have to deal with the issue herself. She will not be able to get better right now."
Mrs. Qian stole money from her family to subsidize Qian Laiwen's education, but the roots of the old Qian family had now vanished. How could she not feel sad?
In any case, this had happened quite some time ago. Since they were all dead, what could she do? She didn't consider living a good life for herself, and it had been a few months, but she still hadn't managed to figure it out.
Li Fu replied honestly, "It's fine, maybe in two days she'll be okay."
In Li Qinghe's opinion, Mrs. Qian's condition should be improving. The fact that she had no physical symptoms proved that she was not ill, so Li Qinghe did not believe that she could starve to death while lying down!
She would be convinced if Mrs. Qian really did starve to death.
Her main reason for asking Li Fu to bring his clothes over was that his clothes were all torn, and she wanted him to change into a different set and sew them up. His clothes had too many holes.
Yu Yan came over with a needle and thread on the third day of making the bricks, whispering, "Your Aunt Qian cooked by herself yesterday morning. She almost fainted. She just wants others to take care of her."
This was a bit too much. When she said she was sick, Li Fu had waited on her for so long and hadn’t asked her to help with the spring plowing. Now Li Fu was busy and didn't want to give in to her. Also, she should see what was good for her and accept it as soon as possible; only then could she be cured. Why was she still acting like this?
Other people might think that Li Fu had run off to help his daughter without waiting on his sick wife if they were not aware of the situation.
It wasn't deliberate on Li Qinghe's part to ask for her father's help. He would clearly refuse to come to help if he wanted to serve Mrs. Qian. Since he came along with the situation, he did not want to accommodate her any longer, and this was just a kind of bridge for him.
She thought for a long time but was unable to think clearly. Puzzled, Li Qinghe asked, "Why is she doing that?"
Yu Yan propped up her chin, thought for a long time, then shook her head. "I can't figure it out either. Maybe she wants to live like a dead person."
After chatting for half a day, Yu Yan bid farewell. After that, Li Qinghe went into the kitchen to prepare food, as she couldn't help much in making bricks. Besides cutting firewood, there was nothing for her to do. However, Zhou Chengkang disagreed with her decision to go. That left her with only cooking to do.
As Li Qinghe was about to leave for the pond, she saw Mrs. Qian approaching. It was evident that she was really sick; she didn't have a healthy complexion and her body was thinner, and her lips were blue and white. "Qinghe, is your father here?"
"Yes, he is helping me make bricks," Li Qinghe responded. "Why is Aunt Qian sick like this?"
Mrs. Qian clutched her chest. "My heart feels uncomfortable."
Li Qinghe was dumbfounded. How could she feel uncomfortable in her heart?
However, it turned out she was much better, as Li Fu said. She couldn't get out of bed a few days ago, but now she could walk far on her own. The distance between the Li house and hers was quite far.
Mrs. Qian clutched her chest as she prepared to walk into the house. The last time she had visited the house was on the day of the housewarming. Before she even had a chance to step inside the courtyard, Little Rhubarb barked at her fiercely, making her take two steps back.
The fact that she retreated so quickly showed that she was fine, or at least not as weak as she appeared to be. Li Qinghe yelled at Little Rhubarb and he wagged his tail and entered the doghouse on his own.
Only then did Mrs. Qian enter. Mrs. Qian went in that direction when she heard a voice coming from the direction of making bricks. Li Qinghe also followed her.
"I'm really uncomfortable, and I don't want to walk all the way there. I almost fell a few times on the road."
She should have almost fallen a few times.
Upon reaching Li Fu's side, Mrs. Qian let out a long gasp. Li Qinghe stood by, and Zhou Chengkang continued to work without listening.
Seeing her, Li Fu worked while saying, "There has been no communication between us for two days. I have something to discuss with you. Your parents have passed away, and Laiwen passed away as well, and we haven’t had a child together. I think that life is getting more and more boring, and I honestly have the idea of not wanting to live…"
Seeing Li Qinghe on the side, Li Fu coughed lightly. "If you have anything to say, say it."
Li Qinghe was uncomfortable, but Mrs. Qian looked like she wanted to talk about something serious. Curious, she picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea. She was also extremely thirsty.
"Laifu, my cousin from the Qian family just had a child two days ago. Their family already has five children. I want to… find the uncle, record the child under Laiwen's name, and we will both raise the child together… "
As Li Qinghe sipped her tea and heard her words, she couldn't help but cough. "Cough cough cough…"
As soon as he saw this, Zhou Chengkang rushed over to her side and patted her on the back. "Why don't you drink it slowly?"
When she coughed this hard, tears came out of her eyes, and she looked at him through them. It wasn't like she had drank too fast.
Even normal people wouldn’t have this idea in their heads. Two people in their 40s raising a child?
Not just her, Li Fu over there also had a ghastly expression on his face. "You and I raising this child together?"
As Mrs. Qian looked at Li Qinghe, who was coughing hard, she nodded. "When you have a child, you have a future. Just thinking about it makes this stuffy heart feel so much better."
In other words, if the child were to be brought back, her illness would be cured.
After raising his hammer again, Li Fu started working as he said, "As long as you feel comfortable thinking about it, you can just think about it."
Now it was Mrs. Qian's turn to freeze, and then they watched her as tears fell from her eyes. "You've changed."
Li Qinghe could not bear it and said, "In two years, my father will be forty. I can make him a grandfather next year, if I hurry up here. If you still want to bring a child back to raise, I'm afraid you're not sick at all!"
Mrs. Qian was surprised that Li Qinghe was no longer polite to her. Instead of scolding her directly, she scrunched her delicate eyebrows and said, "This is your father's and my business. How can you, a junior, get involved? Are you afraid that your father will not be able to help you with your child?" As she said, she gazed deeply at the bricks.
Li Qinghe stretched her hand out to push her. "That's right, unless you give birth, otherwise, there will never be a child at the Li house. Even though my father is not tired enough, just coaxing you one is enough. If you insist on getting a child, I'm afraid after lying down for so long your mind has been seriously damaged."
Li Qinghe pushed her out of the door all the way. "My advice to you is to stop thinking such thoughts as soon as possible. After you leave it to the Qians, what else is there for them to do? Isn't it just a broken house?"
"You…" These words made Mrs. Qian really sad. "Who are you to say that about the Qian family?"
"I thought about what's been bothering you lately. So here's what you're thinking. You cannot get well until you bring the baby back, right? If you cannot get well, I will personally serve my father." Li Qinghe closed the door. "Hurry up and leave, or I'll make Rhubarb bite you."
After Mrs. Qian joined the Li family, the Li family never raised a dog again because Mrs. Qian was scared. She was very scared. Even with puppies the size of her hand, she would have to stay far away to be relieved.
Seeing Mrs. Qian exit through the back door, Li Qinghe frowned and went to the backyard. She couldn't help but mutter, "Father, you can't promise this time. Raising a child, you're so busy, and she's such a lazy one. In the end, won't it just be up to you?"
"I will not agree," Li Fu replied seriously. "If it is not my child, I will not raise it. Raising Wanwan is enough. Otherwise, it is not possible."
Mrs. Qian did not really come over. Every day, Li Fu went to work at dawn, and he came home at night when it was dark. He never ate dinner at home either.
The pigsty was built outside the wasteland behind the courtyard wall. The Yang family's new house was also under construction. Many people had been hired for 25 cents a day, but they wouldn’t be paid until after the Chinese New Year next year. Due to the lack of work in the fields, many people had recently come to work, so the Yang family's house was constructed before the pigsty.
Li Qinghe didn’t know whether the Yang family had built a house in the past, but it was true that there had always been a wasteland here. Since her tomb was built on the opposite mountain, she was able to see the wasteland every day, and no one bought the land there.
After the house was built, the date of moving was announced to be March 28.
So anxious?
They hadn’t even waited for the paint to dry. It must be noted that the Yangs had a house in the village. Although it was not very good, it was not like there was no place for them to stay.
Yang Lanrou arrived just as soon as she heard the news.
Because of Xu Changjie, Li Qinghe had never spoken to her peacefully in her previous life or this life.
Even though Li Qinghe had already put Xu Changjie aside, seeing the culprit who killed her, she was still a little angry at this moment.
Yang Lanrou still appeared elegant and gentle. "I will be your neighbor from now on. On March 28th, please come to my house for a glass of wine. I would be delighted to have you."
She even pretended to shake her hand at the end.
Seeing her face full of smiles, Li Qinghe also replied, "Good."
In the future, they would be neighbors, so if she didn't go, it would appear like she was at odds with the Yang family.
Originally, many people had said she was interested in Xu Changjie when she rescued him. Yang Lanrou and Xu Changjie did not shy away from each other, probably because they wanted to get married. If she didn't go people would think she was small-minded because she couldn't marry Xu Changjie.
This would not be good.
When Yang Lanrou saw that she had answered, she peered into the door, saying, "I heard your house is very beautiful, can I come in and take a look?"
"Of course." Li Qinghe led her to the door, and before Yang Lanrou could enter, Little Rhubarb at the door began barking.
Little Rhubarb looked as if he was just about to bite, causing Yang Lanrou to turn pale. She paused and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do, so let me come back later."
She then turned and hurried away.
Watching her walk away, Li Qinghe squatted before Little Rhubarb, touched its head, and smiled while saying, "Good boy! I'll give you a bone to chew on later."