Arriving at the town hospital, Zhao Shixiao was given an IV drip before his mother was allowed to have the glass fragments embedded in her flesh removed.
Without anesthesia, she had to endure it. The doctor instructed her not to move, fearing that shards of glass would break off inside.
Zhao's mother screamed and howled in pain but dared not move. Zhao's father, deeming it embarrassing, never once looked at her. Hearing her cries, he was deeply displeased and stayed by Zhao Shixiao's side.
After all the glass was removed, the wound was cleaned with antiseptic. The doctor offered to prescribe anti-inflammatory and topical medications for her to recuperate, but Zhao's mother repeatedly refused.
"Elderly lady, you must listen to me. These medicines are not expensive. If your hand gets infected later and swells, suppurates, it will be much worse, and cost a lot more."
Zhao's mother's face instantly fell. "You little brat, you have ill intentions! You're cursing me to get worse, how can you be a doctor? I'm fine now, I won't be fooled into buying those medicines. You just want to cheat us poor folk out of our money, your heart is truly black. I have no money, unless you give them to me for free. If you give them to me, I'll take them."
She then looked down on the female doctor with disdain, shaking her head with a tut-tut sound, her expression changing constantly.
The doctor was speechless and ceased trying to persuade her. After confirming she wouldn't take the medication, she bandaged the wound with gauze.
Although Zhao's mother winced in pain, she happily hurried back towards Zhao's father and the others.
"How is my son? This bottle is almost finished, have someone change it."
"I can change it myself, don't interfere. He looks much better, and his fever is subsiding. We won't go to the county hospital."
Zhao's mother plopped down beside Zhao Shixiao, inquiring with concern.
"Son, what happened to the back of your head? It's wrapped in such a large bandage. You must have suffered a lot. How did you suddenly get a high fever? Could it be related to this injury?"
Zhao's father: "He's feeling unwell right now, can't you stop bothering him? Besides, it's just a broken skin, how could it cause a high fever? Ignorance is truly terrifying. If you don't understand, don't speak, you're embarrassing us."
Zhao's father cast a disgusted look at Zhao's mother, then glanced around the corridor to see if anyone was watching, afraid Zhao's mother's earlier words might be overheard.
Zhao's mother felt deeply wronged, lowered her head, and dared not say a word.
After Zhao Shixiao finished his IV drip, Zhao's father, following the doctor's instructions, bought a small bag of medicine. Zhao's mother felt an emptiness in her heart, tightly clutching the remaining twenty cents in her pocket.
After riding the ox cart for a while, Zhao's father spoke without hesitation.
"Where's the money I gave you? There's nothing left?"
Zhao's mother, lost in her thoughts, didn't react immediately. Zhao's father, assuming she had spent it all, began to rage.
"You really dare to spend! A person halfway to the grave, and you're still spending like this. This money is all meant for my son. Useless good-for-nothing, you can't even see your own place."
Tears gushed from Zhao's mother's eyes. "I've been with you for over 20 years, and you begrudge me spending just 50 cents. I also earn work points, why don't I have the right to spend money?"
"I think you've truly gone too far. You haven't been beaten in years, and your courage has grown, hasn't it? Now you dare to talk back to me. You married into my Zhao family, so you belong to the Zhao family. I am the head of this household, your earnings are my earnings, and my earnings are still my earnings. Therefore, you have no right to spend." httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Wuwu, Zhao Shiyuan, you're too much. You don't see me as a person. Am I not even worth 50 cents?"
"Yes, you're not worth it. What is a dried-up old woman worth? I don't expect you to earn and save more for Shixiao. As long as you don't spend money, I'll be grateful. You're always looking for things to do, is the hospital so comfortable? Be careful from now on, if there's a next time, I won't send you to the hospital. Don't you know your place? If I give it to you, you spend it all?"
Zhao's mother was stunned by his words, her mind a jumble. She even felt his reasoning made sense and couldn't find a counter-argument.
After two minutes, she handed the crumpled money in her hand to Zhao's father.
Instead of being pleased, Zhao's father took the money and struck her forcefully on the head.
"Good! You've really grown bold, daring to hide money! Does your conscience not ache for keeping this? This is your own son's money, what are you keeping it for? Speak up!"
"Didn't I give it to you? I never intended to keep this money. You just didn't give me a chance to speak. Why did you hit me? And in front of our son? Our son is so grown now, and you hit me like this? I don't want to live anymore, wuwu~"
"If you don't want to live, then go die. If you have the guts, do it now, and I'll salute you. I hit you when I want to, what can you do? So what if it's in front of our son? See if he dares to say anything. You want your son to stand up for you, but don't you even consider if you're in the right? If you do this again, even with our grandson grown, I'll still hit you like this."
Zhao Shixiao turned his head away, not daring to meet his mother's eyes. Zhao's mother felt her heart shatter. This was the son she doted on and pampered.
He didn't side with her, nor did he stand up for her. This was the pillar of support she had raised him to be, but could she truly rely on him to stand up for her?
Zhao's father: "Who are you putting on this show for? It's natural for a son to help his father. He's my blood, from the Zhao family, of course, he'll stand by me. He doesn't take your Wu surname!"
Zhao's father then turned and drove the cart, looking smug. Zhao's mother stood there, stunned and speechless. She slumped onto the ox cart, burying her head in her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Zhao Shixiao breathed a sigh of relief. He dreaded facing such choices. His mother's heartbroken gaze made him feel guilty.
But no matter how many times it happened, he would always choose to stand by his father. Because in this family, his father had the final say, and following his father was the best choice.
A large yellow dog leaped from the roadside onto the ox cart and bit Zhao Shixiao firmly and precisely on his lower body.
Before Zhao Shixiao could even scream, he fainted. The yellow dog, with disgust, spat out what was in its mouth.
Blood soaked the wooden board where Zhao Shixiao lay. Zhao's mother was so terrified that two-thirds of her soul fled, shrinking into the corner of the ox cart, afraid to move.
Hearing the commotion, Zhao's father quickly stopped the cart and got down with the ox-goad.
Seeing the imposing yellow dog standing on the ox cart, Zhao's father's calves began to tremble.
He swallowed and, raising the ox-goad, whipped it towards the yellow dog.