Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 246
The Old Woman’s Illness
During the time when the seasons changed from spring to autumn, the temperature fluctuated wildly, so it was easy for the elderly, who had weak yang energy, to have their chronic illnesses act up. [1]
The old woman in the back courtyard always had a good body, but had also fallen ill this year. After having Mr. Cao take a look at it, there wasn’t a concrete illness she was suffering from. It was just a sign of old age, as she was unable to handle the changing of seasons.
At the beginning, she only thought that she was a bit tired, and would get better after laying down for a while; but after laying down for a few days, all of the energy in her body had dissipated. The old woman said that she missed her daughter, so Mo Zenian went to the east of the village to ask her to come over. However, his elder sister said she was busy looking after her grandson and wasn’t able to come.
Her grandson is going to be ten years old soon, does he still need to be looked after? In the past, she always loved coming over here, since she could not only eat meat, but would never come back home empty-handed. Now that her mother had fallen ill, not to mention eating meat, she would even need to work when she came over. There was no way she would want to come over!
Every day, Mo Zenian went to the back courtyard to deliver the old woman her meals in the morning and at night, while Mrs. Liang delivered her lunch. The two didn’t see eye-to-eye, and didn’t exchange a single word as Mrs. Liang just placed the bowl of food on her kang before leaving.
When Mo Zenian went over to deliver food, the old woman constantly talked about Mrs. Liang’s faults, saying that she had a poor attitude and treated her worse than a cat or a dog, since she just gave her leftovers. It got to the point that even her own son couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Mother, with how we’ve treated her in the past, it’s already considered pretty good that she’s willing to give you food. What about your daughter? I’ve already asked her to come back twice, but she hasn’t even shown her face once.”
“Daughters who have been married out are like spilt water, they can’t be relied upon! You’re my biological son. Your eldest brother isn’t here anymore, your second brother was transferred to another lineage, so I only have you to count on. You can’t ignore me.”
“Naturally, how could I ignore you!”
After asking Mr. Cao to come over a few more times and taking some medicine, the old woman’s condition didn’t improve. Mo Zenian knew that the old woman didn’t have much time left.
One day, Mrs. Liang was making shoe soles in the shade of the alleyway when she heard a call from the back courtyard. “Third son, third son, come quickly! Your mother can’t handle it anymore!”
Mrs. Liang stood up before sitting back down, thinking to herself, She was calling to her son, and not me, so what’s the point of going all the way there just to suck up to her?
She took her needles and thread and was walking back to the house when the calls from the back courtyard became shriller. “Third son! Yanfen, Feng’er!”
It seemed like something had truly gone wrong. Even if the old woman was just a passerby, Mrs. Liang couldn’t do nothing when someone was in dire need, so Mrs. Liang placed her needles and thread down in the alleyway before running to the back courtyard.
As soon as she entered, she smelled a pungent odour. It went without asking that the old woman had lost control of her bowels.
Seeing her enter, the old woman stopped crying, simply clutching the blankets tighter as her face displayed helplessness and embarrassment.
Mrs. Liang went over to uncover her blankets. “The weather’s so hot right now, what’s the point of covering yourself so tightly!”
After the blankets were taken away, the pungent odour intensified. Mrs. Liang covered her nose and her mouth with one hand as she cleaned the worst of the filth using the soiled mattress, before moving the old woman to the side. She cleaned up the kang, before fetching water to clean the old woman’s body.
After laying down on the bed for many days, the old woman atrophied so much she was practically skin and bones, and she truly looked pitiful. After cleaning everything up, Mrs. Liang went to the courtyard to wash the soiled bedding and casually asked, “What do you want to eat for lunch?”
The old woman replied, “Whatever’s available! Don’t go out of your way.”
This was the first time Mrs. Liang had ever heard such courteous words from her mouth!
“There’s congee leftover from the morning, it’ll be enough for one person to eat. I’m also making dumpling soup, so what would you like to eat?”
“Congee’s enough, alongside some salted vegetables. I lay on the bed all day, it’s not like I have an appetite anymore.”
After Mrs. Liang finished working, she went back to the house to warm up some congee for the woman and served it to her without saying anything, as always.
From that day onwards, the old woman no longer called for Mo Zenian, nor did she miss her daughter anymore, but would call for Mrs. Liang practically every day.
Sometimes, Mrs. Liang was working and couldn’t help but complain when she came over. “There’s still a boatload of work to do at home! How can I watch over you every day, why aren’t you calling for your daughter?”
When the old woman heard this, she didn’t get angry, and even laughed, “Who lives closer to me than you do? Even if I called for anyone else, they wouldn’t be able to hear me!”
Mrs. Liang felt reluctant, but still went to care for the old woman every day. Despite laying on her bed for two whole months, she still didn’t have a single bedsore on her body.
The people who called her unfilial in the village in the past all changed her tune. They all said that she was too kind, being even more filial than the old woman’s biological daughter.
The old woman was still unable to last until the summer. When she learnt to call for Mrs. Liang, it was already too late.
One day, when Mo Zenian went to deliver breakfast to her, she was unresponsive when he called her. She breathed like there was mucus stuck in her throat, similar to when second grandma was about to die.
Mo Zenian asked Mr. Cao to come over and take a look, and Mr. Cao also said that she wouldn’t last much longer, and it was time to prepare for her funeral. Mo Zenian went back home to tell Mrs. Liang and Mo Feng, telling them to watch over the back courtyard while he went to the coffin shop in town.
When he arrived at the coffin shop, a fine-looking coffin caught his eye, but when he asked about the price, it cost fifteen taels. He checked his wallet, but he didn’t even have tan taels, which would only be enough for a thin wooden coffin. He felt like it would be shameful to have his mother use this kind of coffin.
After thinking about it for a while, he went to the knife shop to find Mo Yan. Naturally, he wasn’t as self-righteous about asking Mo Yan for money as Mrs. Liang was, “Yan’er, your grandmother’s about to pass away!”
Mo Yan wanted to say that it had nothing to do with her, but since it was related to someone’s death, it seemed a little too callous. “Then just ask Mr. Cao to come and take a look.”
“I’m here to buy a coffin, but left in a hurry and didn’t bring enough money. I’m still short a few taels.”
So he was just here for money!
“When second grandma passed, her coffin only cost a bit over three taels.”
“Didn’t she not have a son? I’m your grandmother’s biological son, and I’d feel bad if her funeral was too miserly!”
“It’s enough to do everything to the best of your ability, what need is there to overdo it? Just hold as large of a funeral as you can afford.”
Mo Zenian gritted his teeth. “Do you not think I can return the money to you?”
“How much are you borrowing?”
“Ten taels. On top of the coffin, the funeral matters also require money.”
Mo Yan opened her wallet and poured the contents onto a small table. A quick glance revealed there were roughly eight or nine taels in it. “These are all of the liquid assets I have on hand.”
“With how many businesses you have, how can you only have this much money?”
“You’re also a businessman, and you know better than me what kind of money can be spent and what kind can’t.”
Mo Zenian scooped up all of the money on the table. “Then I’ll take this!” he said, before striding out of the storefront.
During his break, Xiaowu went to the front of the shop, “Manager, why was this person so impolite when borrowing money from you?”
“He used to be my father. How was he here to borrow money? He was clearly here to take it.”
Xiaowu was confused by her words, and Mo Yan said, “Brother Xiaowu, remember. No matter who it is, provide a blanket refusal to everyone who attempts to rely on their connection with me to get a discount when they come to this shop. Don’t be afraid of offending them.”
Xiaowu understood that, and nodded. “Manager, don’t worry. This is a knife shop, let’s see who tries to bully us!”
While talking to Xiaowu, Mo Yan suddenly caught a glimpse of what seemed to be Cao Zhang heading out. Didn’t he just go to the commercial firm to check the accounts this morning? Why is he going again, did something happen? She went out to take a look, and saw two people drag him to the alleyway by the commercial firm. From their actions, they didn’t seem like his friends.
P.S. School starts again soon, chapter frequency may change depending on how heavy the increased workload is. Thanks for reading!
[1] Yang energy is ‘positive energy’ or ‘masculine energy’, which directly correlates to vitality.