Chapter 28: Crippled

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Wunian held Juxiang’s hand and said, “Big Sister, let’s go back into the house! I’m tired and wish to rest.”

Tian Zhuangzhu, Madam Wang, and the other two looked at Wunian’s back view as if they were looking at a demon. They were fearful yet filled with hatred. They thought to themselves that they had to gather enough money as soon as possible to chase these two jinxes away. Of course, whether the two sisters would leave was not up to them. It also depended on Wunian’s mood.

Young Madam Wang said to the old couple in a trembling voice, “I… I wish to… go back to my parents’ house. I’ll never… never… never come back.” Before she could finish speaking, Wunian’s voice sounded in Young Madam Wang’s mind. “No! You have to do your own chores! If you play any tricks, your fate will be worse than death! Behave yourself!”

Young Madam Wang hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed. “I realize my mistake. I won’t do it again! I won’t do it again!” After that, Young Madam Wang sat on the ground, feeling like she had nothing else to live for.

Tian Zhuangzhu and Madam Wang helped Young Madam Wang to her feet and led her back to her room to rest.

Tian Zhuangzhu went to Tian Tieshan’s house again and saw his son standing by the window motionless and in a daze. The elder Tian went up to his son and said, “Wunian said that she wishes to eat wild game for lunch. She wants you to go to the mountains to see if there are any rabbits or pheasants.”

Tian Tieshan replied, “Yes, I’ll go now.”

As he was stepping through the door, he turned around and said to Tian Zhuangzhu, “Father, I don’t know how to do it! I’ve never gone up the mountain to hunt! Sob sob, what should I do! Sob sob…”

“Enough! Stop crying. Take your weapon and go to the village to look for Da Zhuang. He often goes into the mountains to hunt. Or see if he has any ready wild game at his house. You can also buy it from him.”

“That’s right, I’ll bring some money.” He took the money and left.

After Madam Wang and Young Madam Wang rested for a while, Wunian asked Yuelan to pass a message. “Sister-in-law, Grandma, Wunian wants you to collect hogweed. This grass is not enough for the pigs to eat. You can’t slack off. You will be punished if you slack off.” Yuelan added, “Wunian said this.” With that, she left.

It was almost noon when Da Zhuang carried Tian Tieshan into the house. Madam Wang and Young Madam Wang just happened to be returning home at the same time, with two large baskets of hogweed each. As they slid the baskets off their backs, they saw Da Zhuang carrying Tian Tieshan in and shouting, “Is anyone there? Tieshan is injured!”

Madam Wang went forward to ask what was going on and saw that one of Tieshan’s legs was covered in blood.

Da Zhuang placed Tian Tieshan on a chair in his room and said, “Tieshan and I went hunting in the mountains today and accidentally stepped into a hunting trap. You should quickly find a doctor to take a look! I’m going home.”

Madam Wang said, “Hey! Thank you for sending Tieshan back.”

“Not a problem!”

“What should we do?” Madam Wang paced around the room anxiously.

Tian Zhuangzhu and Tian Tieniu had just returned from the fields at this point. Madam Wang went forward and said, “You guys have come back at the right time. Second Brother’s leg is injured. Tieniu, quickly go get a doctor!”

Tieniu put down his hoe aside and said, “Aye! I’ll go now.” Tian Tieniu turned around and left.

Tian Tieshan slumped back on the chair and wailed, “I’m going to die. I’m finished. I don’t want to die! Father! Mother! Save me!”

Madam Liu and Madam Ma had also returned now. When they saw Tian Tieshan’s leg, they were rather horrified. After a while, Tieniu brought in a physician. The physician cleaned Tian Tieshan’s wound and shook his head after looking at it. “Sigh! You’ll just have to manage the wound! This leg is crippled and the tendon in the leg has snapped. There’s nothing I can do.” Having said this, the physician did not take any consultation fees and left.

Madam Ma was dumbfounded and sat on the ground. Her husband had become a cripple. Tieshan cried even harder. Yuehong and Yuelan were so frightened that they started to cry too.

Tian Zhuangzhu shouted, “Alright, stop crying. It’s just a crippled leg. You’re not dead. Why are you crying?”

Everyone fell silent.

Tian Zhuangzhu said to his two daughters-in-law, “How much money did you borrow?”

Madam Liu replied, “I borrowed 20 taels from my maternal family.”

Madam Ma said, “I managed to borrow 30 taels.”

“Fifty taels in total is far from enough! Let’s see how much Weixin can manage to borrow now.”

After lunch, Weixin returned home happily from the county city, the family saw his happy expression and knew that something good must have happened. Before they could ask Weixin, he said, “Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, I’m definitely the hero of the family! Guess how much I’ve managed to borrow?”

Tian Zhuangzhu was impatient. Who had the mood to play guessing games with him? “Hurry up and tell me how much you’ve borrowed!”

“Five hundred taels of silver!” Everyone in the family said excitedly, “So much!”