Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

The house belonging to Li Dagong was the best among the five brothers. It was a five-room brick and tile house, with a courtyard paved with bluestone slabs. The courtyard wall, however, was made of stone, and its outer perimeter was covered with thorns and vines. It had been rebuilt more than two years ago; before that, it was just a thatched hut.

Once the carriage entered the courtyard, the old lady closed the gate. Li Xiaogang unloaded the gifts he had brought from the carriage one by one: five catties of pork belly, one old hen, one mallard duck, fifty eggs, a bundle of rice grains, and some pastries and candies.

Seeing so many things, the old lady's expression improved considerably. But she secretly resolved to return to her eldest son's household as a steward, lest that family squander all the money they had worked so hard to earn. She could also use some of it to help her fifth son's family repair their house.

The old lady summoned Li Shi, who was doing needlework, to put the things away. Then, she led Li Xiaogang and Uncle Liang into the main room. Li Xiaojun got a bag of candy and slipped out to show it off. His cousin, Li Xiaoyan, served tea and went to the kitchen to help.

After drinking a few sips of tea, the old lady exchanged a few polite words with Uncle Liang, then asked Li Xiaogang to go into the inner room to talk with her. Li Xiaogang obediently followed, his head lowered, a sly smile on his lips, and his eyes sparkling.

Inside the old lady's room, Li Xiaogang sat next to her on the edge of the bed. The old lady's previously stern and gloomy expression changed, and she kindly took Li Xiaogang's hand and asked, "Xiaogang, I heard you sold some Ganoderma lucidum. It must have been worth quite a bit of money."

Li Xiaogang nodded innocently and said, "Yes, we sold the Ganoderma lucidum to Zangbaicao Medical Clinic. We originally thought it was the least valuable kind, but Doctor Qi said it was a rare treasure and gave us two hundred taels of silver. However, later, my father and mother went to see a doctor and spent more than fifty taels. To this day, my father and my second uncle's medical expenses and room and board have not been settled."

The old lady still caught another thread in Li Xiaogang's words. She asked uncertainly, "Your second uncle has also been admitted to the clinic. Is he very ill?"

Li Xiaogang, without changing his expression, still answered innocently, "Yes, my second uncle is very ill. Half of his liver has been removed. When my second aunt came to our house for help, my second uncle was already on the verge of death."

The old lady wasn't focused on her son's illness, but instead asked, "Your second uncle also went to the clinic, and your family paid for his medical expenses, didn't they?"

Li Xiaogang nodded obediently and said somewhat helplessly, "My second aunt said she had asked everyone she could for help, but no one was willing to lend her money. Later, she found out that my father had been admitted to the clinic, and only then did she dare to come to us for help."

Xiao Gang's words agitated the old lady. She slammed her hand on the bed and angrily asked, "Didn't your second aunt go to her two brothers? They're so wealthy, can't they even contribute some money to treat your second uncle?"

Following this logic, if Li Xiaonuan were here, she wouldn't be able to resist telling her: that's her son, his surname is Li, not Li (李), and he's not a son-in-law who moved in with his wife's family. Wasn't the house her second uncle's family owned previously paid for by her second aunt's brothers? And over the years, they've also given her a lot of support.

Now, this is a matter of life and death. As a relative, as her biological mother, all she sees is her in-laws refusing to pay for her son's medical treatment. She seems to have forgotten that they also have families to support. Besides, her second aunt is a married daughter.

However, Li Xiaogang didn't analyze these things much, partly due to his young age. Therefore, he answered like this: "My second aunt has already gone to see my two uncles. Because she came to you first, and you didn't care. So, my two uncles are very angry, and my two aunts even said they'll never care about my second uncle's family's fate again."

Hearing this, the old lady flew into a rage again, cursing at the air: "What do you mean we don't care? Didn't the fourth son's family give them a tael of silver? I even found those doctors for them. They say they don't care about the second son's family's life or death, but I've never seen them care about them. All they do all day is make the second son work and take care of the children, they don't even let him drink alcohol, is that what you call taking care of them? Bah, what kind of people are they?"

“I think the second brother just drank too much and got really drunk. There’s no need to go to the doctor. Xiaogang, go back and have your second aunt take your second uncle home. Don’t waste money on medicine. Your family isn’t well-off either, so don’t spend all your money on this.”

After saying all that, Li Xiaogang only grasped this one key point: her grandmother didn't care about her second uncle's health at all, so she didn't listen to what he said. Moreover, her grandmother only cared about their family's money now.

Although he was young, he understood the ways of the world to some extent. Especially in recent years, with his family's dire situation, he had witnessed much of the coldness and indifference of human nature. Thinking of the purpose of his trip, Li Xiaogang sighed inwardly. No matter how bad family members were, they could not be abandoned.

Feeling somewhat downcast, Li Xiaogang's innocent expression vanished. He answered blankly, "Grandma, Second Uncle took some medicine indiscriminately and got poisoned; his liver rotted. Later, he fell off the bed and almost died. It was my sister who begged that renowned surgeon to remove his rotten liver, barely saving his life."

“Because both my father and I have had surgery, we can only stay in the clinic for treatment now. The two hundred taels of silver we earned from selling Ganoderma lucidum isn’t even enough to cover the cost of the medicine. My sister is still trying to raise money for the treatment. I’ve seen how worried she is these past two months; she’s become so thin that she’s just skin and bones.”

Upon hearing that all the money was gone and they were in debt, the old lady asked worriedly, "Xiaogang, your sister didn't send you here to borrow money, did she? Let me tell you, your fourth uncle's family has no money, they can't lend you a single penny. Your fifth uncle's family has no money either, so don't bother borrowing from them. As for your third uncle's family, they have even less money, otherwise they would have been trying to have a son long ago."

"Also, you should go back and tell your sister that since she brought this trouble upon herself, she should handle it herself. She did ask someone to break off the engagement, right? If she doesn't have the money to pay them, she should just go with them. That way, she won't have to stay at home with a bad reputation and ruin her sisters' marriage prospects."

Li Xiaogang was first disappointed, and now he was in despair. This was his own grandmother. These thoughts seemed so heartless and selfish. When he entered the room just now, he saw that Si Shen and his cousin were wearing fine silk clothes.

He had heard from people in the city that his fourth uncle had earned over a thousand taels of silver from selling dried seafood. Lately, he'd been going out to contact boats, planning to transport a batch of dried goods to another city. But his grandmother said the family didn't have a single penny, which was truly heartbreaking.

To avoid further heartbreak, Li Xiaogang quickly said, "Grandma, I didn't come to borrow money. My sister won't just go with anyone. I came today to invite you and Uncle Si to my apprenticeship ceremony. I'm going to become the apprentice of Doctor Qi from Zang Baicao, it's the day after tomorrow."

The old lady was relieved to hear it wasn't about borrowing money. She smiled, took Li Xiaogang's hand, and asked, "So Xiaogang wants to become an apprentice. Who is this Doctor Qi?"