bayedsolid Chapter 205 The Old Lady Wakes Up
Chapter 205 The Old Lady Wakes Up
Perhaps it was because he had finally spoken out about the things that had been weighing on his heart, but Zhou Liufeng seemed much more cheerful. Gone was his previous gloom; his eyes now held a more righteous air. At this moment, Li Xiaonuan felt that she would never again mistake Zhou Liufeng for the person from her past life.
It was only at this moment that Li Xiaonuan realized what had caused her previous misconception. The unspoken thoughts etched between their brows were remarkably similar. Yet, miraculously, neither of them let those thoughts show on their demeanor.
The two returned to the village together, and to their respective homes. Although Zhou Liufeng had spoken his mind, the knot in his heart remained. He was simply no longer as hostile towards all unfamiliar women as before.
Back home, Li Xiaonuan fell into deep thought again. She was troubled about how to repay Aunt Zhou and the others, those who had unconditionally helped her family. In fact, Aunt Zhou and the others never expected anything in return from Li Xiaonuan and her family.
But Li Xiaonuan just wanted to do something for them. She racked her brains for a long time, but couldn't think of a way to repay those families. This made her very depressed. While thinking, she kicked a banana plant that had been forgotten in the corner of the room. This gave her a sudden inspiration.
Peanuts are something that has existed in Chinese history for a long time. Therefore, the people of Zhoucun growing peanuts certainly wouldn't be considered to be privately cultivating them. Moreover, even now, the people of Qisong don't cultivate peanuts on a large scale. Nobody uses peanuts to make desserts, as a condiment, or to extract oil.
Having thought of a way to repay the favor, Li Xiaonuan dug out her previous records about peanuts. After a quick glance, she noticed the records were somewhat disorganized, so she copied them again. Due to time constraints, she didn't copy too much.
That task was left to Xiaoyang; he was to make several copies and distribute them to those households. The promotion and cultivation of peanuts were also entrusted to Xiaoyang. This would be Xiaoyang's medium for communicating with those households, and also the foundation for him to establish himself as the head of the household in their eyes.
I remember Zhou Liufeng saying he had seen the peanut plants that Li Xiaonuan had drawn. They were staying in the suburbs at the time, and they saw them while catching large rats. The peanut field was full of rat holes. At the time, they thought it was a rat nest and didn't look closely.
Thinking of this, Li Xiaonuan decided to have Xiaoyang find out the address of the peanut field and then send someone to retrieve it. After all, the Li family didn't have many peanuts, not enough for those few households to grow. Therefore, finding wild peanut seeds was imperative.
Li Xiaonuan finally settled the peanut matter, and Xiao Yang returned from the Zhao family's house. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he smiled and said to Li Xiaonuan, "Sister, is Brother Wangchuan planning to build one next to our family's manor?"
Li Xiaonuan smiled, a little reluctant to tell Xiaoyang that it was a distant idea. She pulled Xiaoyang into the main room and told him about her peanut plan. Xiaoyang listened attentively as he flipped through the notes on peanut planting and other precautions written by Li Xiaonuan.
"Sister, this way, Aunt Zhou and her family can start planting a year or two earlier than others, and they'll have more planting experience. Plus, they'll earn more in the early stages. Sister, your idea is brilliant! I was just thinking about how to repay them without seeming petty," Xiao Yang said excitedly.
Li Xiaonuan chimed in, "I was just thinking that I should help them if I could. Anyway, I can't give them money or other mundane things. But if I can help them make a little money, that would be nice too."
Xiao Yang put the papers away and said to Li Xiaonuan with a smile, "Sister, I'll go to Aunt Zhou's house to talk about this later."
Hearing Xiaoyang say that, Li Xiaonuan chuckled. She teased Xiaoyang, "Xiaoyang, why didn't you go to Aunt Huang's house or the village chief's house first? Why did you go to Aunt Zhou's house first?"
Xiao Yang blushed at Li Xiaonuan's purposeful probing. He replied somewhat impatiently, "Sister, what are you thinking? It's just because Aunt Zhou's house is the closest to ours."
Seeing that Xiao Yang was so anxious that the veins in his neck were standing on end, Li Xiaonuan stopped teasing him. She told Xiao Yang to hurry up and ask Zhou Liufeng about the wild peanuts so that he could collect as many as possible before the frost destroyed them.
With the handover finally completed, Li Xiaonuan felt a great sense of relief. After preparing lunch, she went into the old lady's room to relieve Su Shi, allowing Su Shi to rest well at noon.
The old lady's room already had a slightly unpleasant odor. This was unavoidable, as the old lady hadn't yet been able to control her bodily needs. After helping the old lady change her pants, Li Xiaonuan sat down on the edge of the bed and said to her:
"Grandma, I have to go to the capital tomorrow. I don't even know if I'll come back alive. So please wake up soon. Without you to keep things in check, those uncles will definitely cause trouble. My parents might even give them all the silver I earned with my life."
“It’s not that I won’t help my uncles. It’s just that there has to be a limit to how much I can help them. Nobody’s money falls from the sky. If they get it too easily, they won’t know how to cherish it. They might even cause trouble. I was thinking of using that money to build a large manor for our Li family as our ancestral legacy.”
Li Xiaonuan was so engrossed in her own story that she didn't notice the old lady's hand suddenly twitch. She finished explaining her plans for the manor and her idea of having her aunt's family drive the horse-drawn carriage to the inn. Seeing that the old lady didn't react, she took the dirty clothes out to wash them.
No sooner had Li Xiaonuan left than the old lady opened her eyes. However, her gaze was still unclear, seemingly unfocused. The old lady's hands and feet were also moving unconsciously, almost like spasms.
When Li Xiaonuan finished washing the dirty clothes and brought in the medicine, she saw the old lady already half-lying on the headboard. Li Xiaonuan was extremely shocked. She didn't dare to make a sound and call out to the old lady, fearing that she was sleepwalking. If she woke her up, the old lady might revert to her original state.
Yesterday afternoon, Xiao Gang brought Qi Ji back to examine the old lady, and his diagnosis was largely the same as that of the old doctor. In the end, Qi Ji only gave the old lady a few acupuncture treatments and did not prescribe any additional medicine.
"Little Nuan, quickly call the doctor!" the old lady suddenly opened her mouth. Perhaps because her tongue was not working properly, she spoke with great difficulty.
Overjoyed, Li Xiaonuan put the medicine bowl aside and excitedly stepped forward to support the old lady, saying, "Grandma, you're really awake! That's wonderful! I'll have someone fetch a doctor right away. Grandma, lie down first, I'll be right back."
Along with the arrival of the old doctor, news of the old lady waking up spread throughout Zhoucun.
Actually, when the old lady didn't wake up yesterday morning, everyone thought she would be bedridden for the rest of her life. But her unexpected awakening today was nothing short of a miracle. The villagers will be talking about it for quite some time to come.