novelraw Chapter 278 Fool!
Chapter 278 Fool!
Chapter 278 Fool!
Third Uncle put down the incense in his hand and asked Gu Ping'an to help him.
He patted himself a few times with a handkerchief, and seeing that his clothes were clean, he beckoned to Gu Tang: "I'll take you there. Let's show our faces. No matter what, I'm brothers with them, so it's only right that I show my face and ask what happened."
Gu Tang was overjoyed and eagerly handed over a cane and a cloak for the old man to put on.
"It's cold outside, wearing a cloak will keep you warm."
Not only did the old man wear it, but she also went back to her room and put on a light purple cloak lined with rabbit fur, which could keep her warm and block the wind.
Snowflakes were falling lightly outside. Without needing to wear a straw hat, the grandfather and grandson left the yard one after the other.
Not long after walking westward, Gu Tang heard the crunching sound of footsteps on the snow behind him.
Looking back, I saw it was Doctor Gu from the clan.
"Sir, please turn around and take a look. Doctor Gu is behind us."
Gu Tang tugged at her third uncle's cloak, signaling the old man to turn around and look.
Third Uncle stopped and looked behind him. Sure enough, it was Doctor Gu.
Doctor Gu also saw Third Uncle and Gu Tang, and hurriedly went up to greet Third Uncle.
"Uncle Jiu, it's been so long since I've seen you. You're still as healthy and robust as ever."
Third Uncle was the ninth among his generation in the clan, and those with distant relatives addressed him according to his clan ranking.
If the relationship is close, address him according to his birth order in the family.
Doctor Gu and his third uncle's lineage were already beyond the fifth degree of kinship, so he addressed his third uncle according to his rank among his peers in the clan.
Third Uncle nodded with a smile, and told Gu Tang to address him: "According to seniority, you should call him your paternal uncle."
“Uncle!” Gu Tang said with a smile.
Doctor Gu nodded in agreement and praised Gu Tang with a smile: "Tang girl has changed a lot in appearance now, and is even more outstanding! It seems that you have been living a good life these days."
“My grandfather dotes on me and feeds me well, which is different from before.”
Gu Tang smiled and replied, without saying anything more.
Third Uncle picked up the conversation and asked, "In this freezing weather, why are you carrying a medicine box? Are you going to see a doctor?"
“That’s right, at the end of the village…” At this point, Doctor Gu suddenly paused and glanced at Gu Tang.
Gu Tang was completely unaware. She lowered her eyes and stared at the snow under her feet, her small feet secretly stomping back and forth on the snow, compacting it all under her feet.
Her actions were purely for killing time and for fun.
Seeing this, Doctor Gu was relieved and continued, "Something happened at Brother Liansheng's house at the end of the village. They said that Sixth Uncle (Old Master Gu) is sick. Someone just came to the house and told me to hurry over and save him."
Is his second brother sick?
Third Uncle looked astonished: "I only heard about the incident over there, so I took Tang'er to see her. I didn't know my second brother was ill. Has his old ailment flared up again?"
"I don't know about that." Doctor Gu said helplessly. "The person who brought the message came quickly and left quickly. Before I could ask him any questions, he had already run away in a hurry."
"In that case, let's go together."
"Ugh!"
The two people quickly became a group of three.
Doctor Gu and his third uncle walked side by side, exchanging a few words every now and then. Gu Tang followed behind them.
Before long, Gu Tang realized how tiring it was to walk in snow that was up to her knees. Her legs felt like they were bound with stones, heavy and cumbersome, and she had to use all her strength to lift her feet each time.
To watch the spectacle of the elderly Feng couple, she gritted her teeth and endured it, eventually managing to reach the Gu family's courtyard at the end of the village.
At this moment, a large crowd had gathered in the Gu family courtyard.
Although everyone was shivering from the cold, not a single person left. They all crowded at the entrance of the main room, standing on tiptoe to peer inside.
Seeing this, Gu Tang was overjoyed. It seemed that Old Master Gu was quite ill, otherwise so many people would not have come to watch.
As they approached the main room, they heard bursts of weeping coming from inside!
Gu Tang recognized the sound as Feng Shi's crying.
"Doctor Gu is here!" Someone in the crowd at the door saw Doctor Gu and hurriedly shouted into the house.
"Come on, everyone! Move to the sides so I can go in and save lives."
Doctor Gu shouted and pushed his way in.
The crowd, realizing the seriousness of the situation, quickly moved to the sides, leaving enough space for one person to pass through.
He squeezed to the doorway and just saw the clan chief come out to greet him.
"Hurry up and come inside! We've been waiting for you, and he doesn't look well!"
After saying this, the clan chief saw his third uncle and Gu Tang again. His lips twitched twice, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but he didn't know what to say.
He let Doctor Gu in first, and then nodded helplessly to his third uncle: "Come in, you two are brothers after all."
Uncle San's heart sank. Judging from these words, his second brother's illness was probably quite serious.
After letting Third Uncle and Gu Tang into the house, Clan Chief Gu once again blocked the doorway, preventing the people gathered outside from entering, and began to impatiently chase them away.
"What are you all doing here? Aren't you afraid of the cold in the middle of winter? You'll all suffer if you catch a cold! Go back now! Everyone go back! No one is allowed to stay here!"
The group was reluctant to leave. They hadn't even seen anyone yet, and they had been freezing outside for so long. They wanted to at least let them see someone.
Clan Chief Gu remained unmoved, sternly rebuking everyone and driving them away before trembling as he entered the house.
Inside the west room, on the bed, Old Master Gu lay with his mouth crooked and eyes slanted. His symptoms were very similar to those of Madam Feng, and he must have also suffered a stroke.
Doctor Gu was taking the patient's pulse, his brows furrowed and his face serious.
The third uncle was very puzzled by what he saw.
He looked at Gu Liansheng, who was sitting blankly to the side, looking panicked and helpless, and went up to ask him what was going on.
"Your father was perfectly fine before, how did he suddenly become like this? What did you two do last night?"
Gu Liansheng snapped out of his daze and dared not hide anything. He said, "Because I am going to present betrothal gifts and get married today, the old man was extremely happy and pulled me to drink a jar of wine with him..."
"Nonsense!" Doctor Gu, who had just finished taking the pulse, suddenly shouted.
He stood up and looked at Gu Liansheng with a disapproving expression: "I told your father before that he has chest pain. The symptoms have only improved, not he is cured!"
From now on, you must abstain from excessive sadness and joy, and also from alcohol! I've told you about these taboos before, what? Your father got old and forgot, and you forgot too?"
Gu Liansheng avoided eye contact, lowering his gaze to hide the guilt in his eyes.
Yes, Doctor Gu had warned him before, but he had never taken it to heart.
He had assumed the old man knew about his condition and would remember these taboos, so he hadn't paid much attention. Yesterday was just a few drinks; who would have thought it would turn out like this…
Seeing that Gu Liansheng remained silent, everyone guessed what was going on.
At this moment, Doctor Gu was extremely displeased with him, and he asked while barely suppressing his anger, "When did your father start feeling unwell?"
When did the discomfort begin?
Gu Liansheng recalled carefully: "...After getting drunk last night, the old man stayed in my room and slept in the same bed with me...In the middle of the night, he suddenly woke up and said he wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back to his own room..."
"Then?"
"And then? Then the old man went back to sleep in this room. Later, someone knocked on the door and said it was time for the betrothal ceremony, so I got up to go find my father, and then... and then I saw this scene..."
Doctor Gu's expression was not good: "When your father said he wasn't sleeping well last night, that was the initial symptom. If we had given him acupuncture then, we should have been able to save him. Now... let's leave it to fate!"
Doctor Gu sighed, picked up his medicine box, and said he had to go back to prepare the medicine.
"First, boil a bowl of your mother's medicine and feed it to your father. I'll go back and prepare the medicine now. Come to the house to pick it up later."
He said this and turned to leave, not wanting to say anything more to Gu Liansheng.
Chief Gu and the elders got up to see him off, and while they were at it, they asked him what it meant to leave things to fate.
Does this mean that, like Feng, all we can do is wait to die and endure the days without any chance of recovery?
Third Uncle followed, also wanting to know more about the truth.
At this moment, only four people remained in the room: Old Master Gu, who was lying unconscious on the bed; Gu Liansheng, who looked panicked and uneasy; Gu Tang, who seemed indifferent; and Madam Yang, who kept sighing.
Grandpa Gu probably urinated on the bed, as the room reeked of urine. Gu Tang frowned, lifted the curtain, and went outside for some fresh air.
As they emerged from the west room, Feng's loud voice rang out again from the east room.
"My son! My son! How is your father doing now? Tell your mother..."
Gu Tang tried to pretend she hadn't heard and leave, but the curtain behind her was suddenly lifted and Yang Shi came out.
"Are you getting impatient?" Madam Yang looked at the east room, wanting to go over and comfort Madam Feng, but remembering the smell in Madam Feng's room, she was still afraid to go over.
After thinking for a moment, he simply called out through the curtain at the east doorway, "Don't worry, Doctor Gu has already come to check on you..."
"mother--"
A pitiful howl suddenly came from the west room, immediately interrupting Yang's words and startling her.
Gu Tang was also startled and turned around to see Gu Liansheng coming out of the west room, his face pale.
Gu Tang raised an eyebrow. Could this idiot be trying to tell the Feng family the truth?
That's right, that's exactly what Gu Liansheng meant!
He ran to the door of the east room, but instead of lifting the curtain to go in, he stood outside the curtain and cried out to the inside.
“Mother! My father is just like you now! His mouth is crooked, his eyes are slanted, and he's unconscious! Doctor Gu said that, just like you, he's resigned to his fate and waiting to die…”
Gu Tang was amazed!
Talent!
He's truly a talent!
No wonder the Gu family has been trying to raise him for decades and he's still not a talent. It would be strange if he could succeed with all this!
Madam Yang's face darkened considerably. Pointing at Gu Lianshan, she angrily muttered under her breath, "Idiot! You're supposed to be a scholar! You can't even speak properly!"
After being scolded, Gu Liansheng felt both wronged and angry!
His stubbornness is kicking in, and he doesn't want him to speak, does he?
He insisted on saying it!
"Mother! What will become of your son? Father is bedridden just like you. Who will take care of your son in the future?"
Gu Tang rolled her eyes at him for saying that.
Who will take care of him?
He's almost forty, his daughters and sons are old enough to get married, how dare he say such a thing?!
"Mother? Mother! Say something!"
Gu Liansheng was both angry and anxious as he waited for Feng's reply. He wanted to go in and see what was going on, but he also found the smell inside the house very unpleasant.
He turned his gaze to Yang Shi beside him. Hmm... she's the clan chief's wife, not someone he can boss around.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gu Tang near the entrance of the main room, and her eyes lit up instantly. She shouted at Gu Tang in a bossy manner, "Siya! Go to the east room and see your grandmother! You are such an unfilial girl. Your grandmother has been sick for so long, and you have been pretending to be blind and refusing to come and take care of her!"
Gu Tang: ...Are you getting too cocky?
“My mistress has sons and daughters, and grandchildren. It’s not like all her children and grandchildren are dead. It’s not my place to take care of her! I’ll definitely come and take care of her when she kicks the bucket!”
"Who are you cursing, you brat!" Gu Liansheng roared, his face turning ashen.
Gu Tang sneered, "Whoever acts like a jerk, I'll curse them!"
"You!" Gu Liansheng subconsciously raised his fist, wanting to go over and punch Gu Tang, but was stopped by Madam Yang.
"Tang girl is right. They are two different families now. Your mother has sons and grandsons. If anyone is to take care of her, it should be you, as her son, who should take care of her. It has nothing to do with them!"
Facing Yang, Gu Liansheng dared not be too arrogant. He wanted to defend himself, but Yang suddenly lifted the curtain at the door of the east room and pushed him inside when he was off guard.
Madam Yang spat on the ground: "Pah! Your mother spent money to support your studies for twenty or thirty years! Now that she's sick, you're starting to despise her! I think all your education has gone to waste!"
"You don't need to go to the imperial examination next year! Even if you become an official, you unfilial wretch will be rotten to the core! Letting you pass with such a high rank would only bring disaster to the people!"
These words were extremely harsh, and Gu Liansheng was so angry that he saw stars.
The stench of feces and urine kept seeping into his nostrils, causing him to gag repeatedly and nearly faint.
I had to hold onto the table for a while before my eyes could see things clearly.
He pinched his nose and walked towards the bed.
The room was dark with no windows open, and when he got to the bedside, he found that his mother had fainted.
"Mother? Mother!"
Gu Liansheng panicked and called out several times, but Feng Shi didn't respond at all.
He staggered out, shouting as he ran, "My mother has fainted too! Where's the doctor? Don't let him leave! Call him back right now..."
Yang, who was outside, was startled when she heard this, and then went to find Chief Gu.
Gu Liansheng's loud voice was heard by everyone in the corridor outside. After Yang came out and explained, Gu Langzhong, who had not yet returned, hurriedly went to the east room.
Gu Liansheng just came out of the east room looking flustered. When he saw Doctor Gu coming over, he quickly pointed to the east room and asked him to go and take the old lady's pulse.
Caught off guard, Doctor Gu went straight into the east room, and then... was quickly forced back out by the stench of excrement and urine.
"Why does this room smell like feces and urine? Has your mother always lived in a room like this?"
Doctor Gu was dumbfounded, then pointed at Gu Liansheng and cursed, "You call yourself a scholar! Is this how you treat your seriously ill mother? You're unworthy of being a son!"