flstandardbreds Chapter 157 A Cold-Hearted Family
Chapter 157 A Cold-Hearted Family
Xia Yu returned quickly and said to Liu Shi as soon as she entered the house, "Mother, I've already spoken to Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma. They'll come over after feeding the livestock." She then looked at Zhang Youtie.
"Dad, what's the situation with the two families who had accidents yesterday?"
"Sigh, they all have injuries, big and small, but nothing too serious. They should be fine after some rest. Zhang Tianming's brother and his father went with them yesterday and have been staying there to take care of them. When I came back just now, his parents-in-law and his brother-in-law arrived as well." Zhang Youtie said with some emotion, "It's so good to have so many relatives!"
"What about that cripple Zhang? Did his family go?" Xia Yu continued.
"Don't even mention it! Just thinking about it makes me furious. Those two old men, Zhang and his wife, are so heartless. He's the child they raised, and his leg is injured like that, and they don't even feel a pang of sadness. Even if you raised a dog, you'd still have some affection for it, right? But those two haven't shown their faces since last night." Zhang Youtie said angrily to Liu Shi after his daughter asked about Zhang the Cripple's family.
"What about his brother Laifu?" Liu asked quickly after hearing Zhang Youtie's words.
“Just like his parents, last night when Da Yong went to knock on the door, not a single one of them answered. You know, even strangers in the village would lend a hand. When Lai Fu was little, the cripple took care of him, feeding him water and food every day, and now he has no affection for his older brother at all.” Zhang Youtie felt heartbroken for the cripple as he spoke, and felt sorry for Zhang the Cripple.
After hearing Zhang Youtie's words, Liu Shi and Xia Yu both felt that they should distance themselves from this family in the future. They were too cold and ruthless, and such people were not worth associating with.
"So, who's taking care of Zhang the Cripple and the others at the clinic right now?" Xia Yu asked again.
"His wife's injuries weren't serious, just abrasions. She has no difficulty moving around. She's the one taking care of the lame man."
When Zhang Youtie looked at Liu Shi, he seemed hesitant to speak, as if he had something to say but didn't know how to say it.
Seeing his expression, Liu asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Well, there are a few more things, but I'm afraid you'll get angry if I tell you."
"What's wrong? Tell me, and maybe I won't be angry anymore," Liu said with a smile.
"I felt really sorry for Zhang the Cripple and his wife, so I paid for their consultation fee and the medicine for the next few days," Zhang Youtie said.
"How much silver?"
“Eight taels. The manager of Baohetang still recognizes me, so he gave me a discount on the clinic's lodging fees, but the medicine fees can't be reduced.” After saying this, he looked at Liu Shi's expression. Eight taels of silver was something their family could easily come up with now, but he still felt a little guilty about giving the money away directly without discussing it with his wife.
"Well, you're saving someone's life, there are priorities." Liu Shi knew he was worried she might be angry, so she only replied with that sentence and didn't say anything else, letting him figure it out himself.
"Oh, I also left five hundred coins for the cripple so he and his wife could buy some food," Zhang Youtie added.
"..." After listening to Zhang Youtie's words, Liu was silent for a while before saying, "Is there anything else? Let's finish it all at once. Did you also contribute money to Zhang Tianming's family?"
"No, no, Zhang Tianming isn't short of money. Besides, his father and brothers are still alive, so why should I pay for him? I didn't give him any money. This morning, I asked Uncle Ma to go out and buy some spicy soup and steamed buns for the villagers who came to help. It cost a few dozen coins."
"Anything else?" Liu asked after hearing the question.
"That's all, that's all. That's all the money we spent. That's all," Zhang Youtie quickly said.
“It’s only right to treat the villagers who came to help to breakfast. Even though they’re not the ones in charge of our family, it’s fine if they eat. We have a long life ahead of us, and who knows when we might need their help.” Liu knew in her heart that if it were her, she would also help Zhang the Cripple’s family pay for medical expenses. She didn’t ask for anything else; she just considered it an act of kindness.
The group was talking inside when they heard someone outside asking for directions, followed by Uncle Ma's voice.
"Sir, the charcoal we ordered has arrived."
Upon hearing that the charcoal had arrived, Zhang Youtie quickly put on his gloves and a warm hat and went out.
Outside, an old man and two young men were driving three oxcarts, each covered tightly with felt. Uncle Ma reached inside, pulled out a piece of charcoal, examined it, and nodded in satisfaction. He then moved to another spot and randomly pulled out a few more pieces to check; nothing was wrong. He did the same with the charcoal on the other two carts. Only then did he find more iron.
"Sir, these cartloads of charcoal are all fine, they burn very well."
The old man stood patiently by the side, waiting for Uncle Ma to inspect the goods. Hearing what Uncle Ma said, he smiled and said to Zhang Youtie, "Don't worry, sir. My family has been burning charcoal for generations. We would never cheat or deceive people."
"Father, you've worked hard. Please trouble you and your two brothers to drive the oxcart to the house over there. My yard is too small to fit it all," Zhang Youtie said to the old man, clasping his hands in a fist salute.
"This way, please," Uncle Ma led the way, with the old man and two young men following behind in an oxcart. Zhang Youtie thought for a moment, went back into the house to get some money, and then followed.
"Mother, how much silver will these three cartloads of charcoal cost?" Xia Yu had just seen the old man driving the cart, and for some reason, she suddenly remembered the story of the charcoal seller she had learned in her previous life. Back then, several eunuchs in the palace gave the old charcoal seller half a bolt of red silk and a length of fine linen as payment for the charcoal. She knew the amount given was small, but given the different prices in different times, she couldn't grasp the magnitude of the difference. She only knew that giving a charcoal seller some silk in winter was utterly useless. When she studied that story, she thought that giving him cotton clothes, cotton cloth, or even rice and flour would be far better than those thin silks.
"I heard your father say it's fifteen coins a pound, so these three cartloads must weigh at least two thousand pounds!"
"A cartload of charcoal, weighing over a thousand catties, was driven away by the palace officials, who could not bear to part with it. Half a bolt of red silk and a length of fine linen were tied to the ox's head to pay for the charcoal."
After reciting the poem, Xia Yu silently began to calculate in her mind. Based on the prices they'd inquired about when buying cloth a few days ago, one foot of damask cost forty coins, so nineteen feet would be three hundred and sixty coins. Yarn was even cheaper than damask; half a bolt of yarn might not even be worth four hundred coins. After doing the math, Xia Yu couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Damn it, that's outrageous! They bought a thousand catties of charcoal for less than a tenth of the price!"
"Oh, then buying two thousand catties will cost us thirty taels of silver," Xia Yu said.
"Hmm, that should be it," Liu said after thinking for a moment.
About half an hour later, Xia Yu saw the same oxcarts that had just passed by the gate again, heading into the distance.
After a while, Zhang Youtie and Uncle Ma came over, each carrying two baskets of charcoal. Seeing Liu Shi and her daughter standing at the door, they said...
"Two thousand catties is too much, so I put it in the empty house over by the pond. These baskets weigh over a hundred catties, which should be enough for us for a few days. We'll go get more from there when we run out."
"Hmm, that's a good idea. Uncle Ma, just take what you need over there. There are only a few of us, two thousand catties is more than enough," Liu said to Uncle Ma.
"Madam, you've forgotten, we have a kang (heated brick bed) in that room, it's not cold at all. Thank you for your concern, Madam," Uncle Ma replied with a smile.
"Oh, I forgot about that." Only then did Liu realize that when the house was built over there, each room had a kang (heated brick bed). There was plenty of firewood on the mountain, and the corn stalks and cobs from their home could also be used to heat the kang, so Uncle Ma's house should be warmer than this one these days. Suddenly, Liu thought that heating the kang was actually quite nice; even if she didn't sleep in it normally, it would be nice to sit inside and do needlework during the day when it was warm.