Chapter 90: Grandpa Lu is Paralyzed
The Lu family was in a ruckus for a while. Even though Grandma Lu was stingy, she could not remain indifferent when her husband had fainted. She gnashed her teeth and sent for a doctor.
The doctor shook his head helplessly after seeing Grandpa Lu.
Soon, the news that Grandpa Lu was paralyzed spread across the village.
The news reached Lu Lin's ears, which shocked Lu Lin, but Lu Lin soon felt relieved.
Most people in this time and space were malnourished and overworked, and their lifespan was very short. Many people died in their forties, sixty or seventy years old was considered longevity. Grandpa Lu now had a great granddaughter, so it wasn't that shocking that he suffered some medical diagnosis at his age.
Lu Lin didn't care about Grandpa Lu that much.
Although Grandma Lu was domineering and she was the initiator of evil for many things, but if Grandpa Lu had said a few words for the father of the host Lu Lin, the host's father wouldn't have died on the battlefield.
Chen Xiao Mi pouted and said, "This is a really bad timing for Grandpa Lu to get paralyzed."
The Lu family just had two babies, things were already hectic for them. But Grandpa Lu had suddenly collapsed, it was going to be troublesome.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "I'm sure they will be just fine. A starved camel is bigger than a horse. Although a rich family has become less rich than previous, they are still richer than a poor family. "
The Lu family had some family property accumulated over a long time, they were by no means impoverished.
"Grandma Lu's psychological endurance is strong!"
Lu Lin felt that Grandma Lu would be furious when she found out they were tricked by the Li family, however, it was Grandpa Lu who had collapsed.
......
As soon as Grandpa Lu fell down, Tang started to worry. The entire family was now relying on the income from the field, which was not much.
The income could barely cover Lu Cheng Yu's tuition fee and family expenses at the same time. They couldn't make ends meet now with Grandpa Lu's medical condition.
Grandma Lu sent the doctor away when the doctor said his hands were tied, and she was reluctant to find a better doctor.
Lu Ming paced back and forth in frustration, he asked Tang discontentedly, "Why did Cheng Yu flunk again! The Secretary-General didn't do anything for Cheng Yu, right?"
Tang sighed and said, "It seems that the Secretary-General can't affect this exam."
"How is that possible," Lu Ming stood up excitedly. If not for the fact that Li Fang Yue was the Secretary-General's sister-in-law, he would not have approved this marriage in the first place.
Tang said sullenly, " Li Fang Yue's sister might not be able to help at all." After all, she was just a concubine.
Lu Ming said angrily, "Damx our luck! "
Tang sighed and said, "Look, Grandma Lu now is sick. What should we do?"
Lu Ming's mind was in a turmoil as well. There were some elders in the town who also suffered the same condition. Their family had spent a large amount of money but to no avail.
Lu Ming felt now that it was incurable, maybe they should just give up and let nature run its own course. Doctors were not cheap, but Lu Ming knew the final decision was Grandma Lu's to make.
"It's all Lin Xiu'er's fault. She just had to publicize that Fang Yue's sister is just a concubine, it didn't even occur to her that news was too much for Grandpa Lu to handle," Tang gritted her teeth. If Grandpa Lu wasn't sick, he could even help out with the field. The elder was now paralyzed and was unable to do anything, to make matters worse, they had to take care od Grandpa Lu. Tang was worried that they had to hire more help for the farmland this year.
More help meant more expenses. There wasn't much harvest in the field. If they hired more help, the cost would be huge.
Lu Ming was also very angry. "That Lin Xiu'er and Lu An, they have gone too far."
......
Grandma Lu looked at Grandpa Lu who was completely bedridden and wailed, "Why is my life so bitter? I can never catch a break."
After the elder was paralyzed, Grandma Lu had to feed him, bathe him and wipe him. This was fine at first. As time went on, Grandma Lu felt that was too much and she couldn't take it anymore.
Grandma Lu demanded that Tang should take care of Grandpa Lu, Grandpa Lu said that was against the custom.
"Look at your daughter-in-law. I can't believe you married such a useless wife for my grandson," Grandma Lu vented all her anger on the rest of the family, especially Tang.
"Mother! I'm tricked by them!"
"Why didn't you do more research and ask more people to find out the truth, you and that daughter-in-law of yours are both useless and ill-starred, you both have brought bad luck to the family!" Grandma Lu directed a torrent of abuse at Tang and Li Fang Yue who was hiding in her room.
At first, Grandma Lu was quite tolerant of Li Fang Yue for the Secretary-General's sake. But now Grandma Lu had no scruples about cursing her since her sister was just a concubine.
Grandma Lu clenched her fists on thinking about how much money they had spent on Li Fang Yue.
Before the Spring Imperial Examinations, Grandma Lu had taken out some hard-earned silver and asked Li Fang Yue to pay a visit to her brother-in-law with that money. When Grandma Lu thought about the silver that she had just given out, Grandma Lu's heart was shattered.
Li Fang Yue had been scolded so much recently but she could only endure it because she was in the wrong.
Grandma Lu looked at Tang and said angrily, "You already knew that a long time ago, and you hid it from me."
Tang smiled awkwardly and said, "Mother, I didn't hide it from you, I was kept in the dark as well" That was a lie, Tang had known it for a long time but she just wished Li Fang Yue could somehow help her son and she would pretend she didn't know that forever.
......
"Granny Shen, you're all packed, are you going back to the village? " Lu Lin asked.
"Yeah! Grandmother Li died recently, we've been neighbors for a few decades. I need to go back and say a goodbye, "Granny Shen said.
Granny Shen was on good terms with the deceased Grandmother Li. It was Grandmother Li's son who was renting Granny Shen's field.
Lu Lin nodded, "I'm sorry, Granny. I'll ask Qin Lang to accompany you."
Granny Shen shook her head. "No, there is no need for such trouble."
Qin Lang hurriedly said, "It's no trouble. Granny, please listen to Lin Ge. You can save Chi from worrying."
At the thought of Shen Chi, Granny Shen smiled and said, "Okay then, thank you."
As soon as Granny Shen returned to the village, she was surrounded by the curious villagers. Granny Shen had rented her field out and she lived in town, which made people curious about her life in town.
"Granny Shen, I heard that two new female workers were hired! They didn't affect you, right?"
Granny Shen nodded and said, "That is true, but it didn't affect me!" A few months ago, Lu Lin bought two female servants Xique and Lin Chun from the human traffickers. Granny Shen estimated that the villagers didn't know the details and they thought Xique and Lin Chun were hired by Lu Lin.
"Granny Shen, you seem to be a lot more energetic! Looks like you've been living a very comfortable life recently!"
Granny Shen smiled and said, "You are flattering me, thank you."
After some small talk, the topic shifted to the Lu family.
"Granny Shen, the Lu family has been arguing so much recently. I heard Grandma Lu cursing her granddaughter-in-law all day."
"This Grandma Lu is so mean. And isn't she afraid of offending the Secretary-General?"
"Lu Cheng Yu flunked the exam again. Maybe Grandma Lu is just too indignant."
" This examination is so fair. It doesn't matter who you are related to."
"This Lu Cheng Yu has taken the exam many times. Tang always guarantees that her son can pass, but she ends up disappointed every year. "
"This exam, you can never predict it! I heard there was a fifteen-year-old-Tongsheng who had passed."
Granny Shen was not very clear about the recent events of the Lu family, but she was well aware the fact that Lin Xiu'er's sister was just a concubine. Granny Shen listened to villagers' description and guessed in her heart that Grandpa Lu probably knew that Li Ru was just a concubine, so he fell sick from anger.
"The Lu family seems to be cursed with bad luck!"
"Yeah! They are going to sell more farmland I heard."
"Why are they selling farmland again? You cannot buy the land back that easily! "
Granny Shen frowned and thought to herself, 'The Lu family only has themselves to blame! They are going to sell land again. The more they sell, the less they have! Soon they will be poor.'
"Are they going to sell land again? Do you know how many mus they are selling?" Granny Shen asked.
"It seems to be two mus."
......
Lin Xiu'er hid in her room, feeling very depressed.
Lin Xiu'er had been waiting for the right time to expose Li Fang Yue. She waited for so long and finally decided to do it after Lu Cheng Yu flunked the exam again. However, Grandpa Lu fell ill on hearing that Li Ru was just a concubine. There was one less person in the family who could help out with the farm work, life was miserable and they had to sell farmland again!
Lin Xiu'er looked at Lu An and said, "How was it? Did anyone show interest?"
"Not really. The Village Head said the price mother asked for was too high, people were unwilling to pay such a high price." Lu An said.
Lin Xiu'er said sullenly, "On a second thought, we don't have to sell more farmland, we can always work for more income. Cheng Yu is a Tongsheng. Let him copy books. I heard someone say that copying books can make a lot of money. He has been studying for so long and he still hasn't passed the exam. It's time he should do something for the family, we've spent so much money on his tuition fee."
There weren't many literate people in this time and space, books were very pricy. Thus, most poor students would copy books and sell them on the market to make money.
Lu An thought for a moment and said, "Cheng Yu probably won't agree."
Lin Xiu'er said disdainfully, "How much money have we spent on him and his wife, I don't think he really has a say in this. He needs to observe the times and judge the occasion, look at our financial condition now, he can no longer live like a young master! "
"I'll go talk to Mother," Lu An said.
Lu An wasn't sure how Grandma Lu would react. His mother pampered Lu Cheng Yu the most. No matter how difficult it was at home, she couldn't bear the thought of letting Lu Cheng Yu suffer. However, the situation was different now. It had actually come to a point where they were at the end of their resources. Lu Cheng Yu had to work and bring some income, otherwise they would have to sell more farmland.
Tang told Lu Cheng Yu about this book copying idea, Lu Cheng Yu was furious.
Lu An mentioned the idea to Grandma Lu and Grandma Lu agreed with alacrity. In Grandma Lu's opinion, Lu Cheng Yu could gain new insights through reviewing old material by copying books he had read, he could also bring some income to the family, it was perfect.
Lu Cheng Yu was already in a bad mood due to his failure in the exam. Lu Cheng Yu had been hiding at home to seclude himself from the villagers and the gossips, but he didn't expect he couldn't find a moment of peace at home, and now his family was asking him to copy books.
Lu Cheng Yu was very arrogant. In Lu Cheng Yu's opinion, copying books for money was something that only his poor classmates would do. Other classmates would laugh at people who supported themselves by copying books, so they could only do it on the sly.
Lu Cheng Yu didn't expect that he would be reduced to copying books for a living, and his grandmother agreed.
The moment Lu An opened his mouth, Grandma Lu agreed. Although Grandma Lu doted on Lu Cheng Yu, she was really mad at Lu Cheng Yu's wife. On thinking they had sold 2 mus of farmland to marry that concubine's sister, Grandma Lu would clench her teeth in bitter hatred. Every time Grandma Lu saw Li Fang Yue, she wanted to give her a good beating.
Tang looked at her son helplessly and said, "Cheng Yu, you need to start to think about the family now! "
Tang had heard so many villagers comparing Lu Cheng Yu and Lu Lin. They all said that Lu Lin was now entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the big boss of the commercial house. But Lu Cheng Yu had failed so many times in the exam, he was not as capable as Lu Lin.
Anger simmered inside Tang when she heard that. In Tang's opinion, Lu Lin was not in the same league with her son, but in the eyes of the villagers, Lu Lin was the more outstanding one.