Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

What? Like a bolt from the blue, Zhang Wen and Ma Guifen stood there dumbfounded!

Their two capable sons were hit by a falling tree?!

Liu Chunhua and Zhang Yan also heard the news and ran out crying. The younger children, seeing their mother crying, also ran out crying.

"The big tree suddenly changed direction and crashed down. To save Qingshui, Qingshan pushed him. Qingshan's thigh was broken, and Qingshui's lower leg was broken. Luckily, it was a side branch that hit them; if it had been the main trunk... they would have been dead."

Qingshan and Qingshui were placed on stretchers, their legs bleeding profusely, staining a large area red. Qingshan had already fainted from the pain, while Qingshui groaned softly.

Liu Chunhua ran towards the barefoot doctor while crying, hoping to run faster! Fortunately, Dr. Wu was home. He quickly grabbed his medicine box and followed Liu Chunhua to Zhang Wen's house.

Looking at Zhang Qingshan's broken thigh, Doctor Wu frowned. "Luckily, you applied a medicated dressing to stop the bleeding, otherwise Qingshan would have been in grave danger. I'll apply some hemostatic medicine and bandage him up first. You should quickly take the money and get him to the town clinic. I can't treat his leg!"

"Hurry up, his leg should be saved. If we get there too late, he might lose his life, let alone his leg."

Tears welled up in Zhang Wen's eyes. This was his most obedient eldest son. "Doctor Wu, how much money should we take with us?"

"As for Qingshan, take twenty taels first, and we'll see what the town doctor says later." Doctor Wu didn't stop, frowning as he quickly bandaged the wound. "I need to see Qingshui's injury first; it should be better than Qingshan's."

After bandaging Zhang Qingshan's leg, Physician Wu carefully examined Zhang Qingshui's leg. Large beads of sweat rolled down Zhang Qingshui's face as he groaned and asked, "How is my brother?"

Doctor Wu shook his head. "It's not looking good. We need to bring enough silver to town as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Zhang Qingshui's leg condition wasn't good either; his shinbone was completely broken, with bone fragments inside, and even with Wu Langzhong's skill, he couldn't set it properly. Moreover, Qingshui would definitely develop a fever, and he wasn't confident he could bring it down quickly enough. If the fever didn't subside in time, Qingshui might become mentally impaired. He frowned and said, "Let's send Qingshui to town to see a doctor; it's quite dangerous there. At least give Qingshui ten taels of silver, just to be on the safe side."

Upon hearing what Dr. Wu said, Ma Guifen fainted immediately. Her two sons!

Liu Chunhua felt like the sky had fallen. If her husband wasn't saved in time, he might die! She immediately knelt down in front of Zhang Wen, "Father! You must save Qingshan! I can't live without Qingshan." Liu Chunhua's children also knelt down in front of their grandfather.

Zhang Yan also knelt down, pleading, "Father, you must save Qingshui too!"

Zhang Wen frowned. Save them! In a flash, he made his decision: he would skip Qing Shu's Confucian studies class! Those were his obedient and filial eldest and second sons! Money could be earned back, but his sons were ruined, their lives were over. "Daughter-in-law, don't worry, I'll sell everything I own to save my two sons! I keep my word."

Liu Chunhua and Zhang Yan suddenly felt that their hunchbacked father-in-law had grown much taller.

The money was with Ma Guifen, who had fainted and was being treated by Dr. Wu by pinching her philtrum. Zhang Wen was a little angry, blaming his wife for being so careless; she had fainted at such a critical moment.

"Wu Langzhong, step aside." Zhang Wen swung his arm and slapped Ma Guifen hard across the face.

Ma Guifen slowly regained consciousness. "Guifen, quickly bring out forty taels of silver. I need to take the silver and my two sons to the town clinic to save their lives!"

Ma Guifen, with half her face swollen, burst into tears, "There are only fifteen taels left at home."

Upon hearing Ma Guifen's words, Zhang Wen, Liu Chunhua, and Zhang Yan stood frozen in place. This was an extremely urgent situation! Where was their family's money?! They had seventy taels of silver at home!

"Where's the money?" Zhang Wen shook Ma Guifen's body.

“I gave Laixi fifty-five taels of silver to lend out. Laixi said he could get five taels back in three months. Now we only have fifteen taels of silver at home,” Ma Guifen said, trembling.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?! This is our son's life-saving money!" Zhang Wen, enraged, slapped Ma Guifen across the face again. "Were you hiding your money from me? I don't have time for you now, just wait until I get back!"

Now Ma Guifen's face is symmetrical.

Liu Chunhua and Zhang Yan cried in distress, but even so, they dared not scold their mother-in-law and could only sob quietly beside her.

"What are you waiting for? Quickly hand over those fifteen taels! I'm going to town with my sons first. You go find your nephew, Ma Laixi, and ask him to return the money!"

He rubbed his temples. "How long ago was the fifty-five taels of silver lent out?"

"It's been two and a half months, just half a month shy of three months."

"Take as much interest as you can from the five taels of silver. If that's not possible, get the principal back first; saving our sons' lives is the most important thing!"

Ma Guifen also realized what was happening. Ignoring the redness and swelling on her face, she ran to the town to find Ma Laixi at Donglaishun.

……

Zhou Changlin's home in Dongshan Village, Qingshan Town.

Yuan Pan'er was being instructed by her mother-in-law, Wang Chunxiang, to make steamed egg custard. Usually, this rare treat was made for Zhou Changsen, but today's bowl of steamed egg custard was for Ma Xiangqin.

Zhou Changshui accompanied Ma Xiangqin to the town to see a doctor, who confirmed that she was pregnant. When they returned, Ma Xiangqin said that her unborn son wanted to eat steamed egg custard, so Wang Chunxiang instructed Yuan Pan'er to make it.

Ma Xiangqin was enjoying her steamed egg custard when she heard a group of people noisily entering the courtyard.

"Old Zhou! Something terrible has happened! Your Changlin got hit in the back by a tree branch! Quick, find a doctor!"

Zhou Changlin lay on the stretcher, his face pale, groaning in cold sweat, his clothes stained with blood.

Old Zhou wasn't home. Wang Chunxiang cried out, "My son!" and threw herself onto the stretcher. Zhou Changlin groaned.

Yuan Pan'er ran out of the kitchen and shouted, "Mother, don't panic, don't touch Changlin." Then she turned to Zhou Yuchuan and said, "Yuchuan, run fast, hurry and find Doctor Zhang to save your father."

Wang Chunxiang then realized that her lunging at her might have hurt her son again, so she hurriedly got up and started sobbing.

"My poor son! Those damned logging crew! How could they have damaged my family forest like this!"

"If anything happens to my son, I'll never forgive you!"

"My son, you're not going to leave, are you? My poor son!"

"Are you trying to make me, an old man, bury my young one?!"

"What will your mother do if you go!"

Wang Chunxiang sat on the ground, sobbing dramatically. The people from the logging team who brought Zhou Changlin back were speechless. This old woman really didn't know what was good for her. "Auntie, we have something to do, we'll be going now." The people who brought Zhou Changlin back were too lazy to listen to the old woman's drama and left directly.

With tears in her eyes, Yuan Pan'er grasped Zhou Changlin's hand. "Changlin, take a deep breath. Don't speak yet, conserve your energy, don't think about anything else. I've asked Yuchuan to call Doctor Zhang; he should be here soon."

Zhou Changshui also came forward, "Brother, are you alright? Hang in there." It looked like his older brother was seriously injured. Last time, Dad said that he would spend all the money in the family to treat his brother's injuries. He didn't know how much it would cost.

I reckon my brother will need a long time to recover from his injury. He'll be the only one left to do the farm work for a while. What bad luck!

Ma Xiangqin held her belly, rolled her eyes, afraid that the baby in her womb would be frightened by Zhou Changlin.