allonlinenovel Chapter 214: Crazy or Dead
Chapter 214: Crazy or Dead
Chapter 214: Crazy or Dead
"You're talking nonsense! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you to death!" Boss Zhu started to hit Zhu Laosi.
The villagers quickly pulled them apart: "Boss Zhu, what's wrong with you? The fourth brother is soaked to the skin looking for your son. He didn't even go back to change clothes and hasn't even had a drink of water yet."
Zhu Laosi blocked the person who was speaking and choked up, "My eldest brother is feeling unwell..."
Boss Zhu's eyes were red as he glared at everyone and said viciously, "You are all liars, you are liars! Da Niu was fine at home, how could he get into trouble? I will beat you all too..."
……
When Si Muyan got the news, she heard that Zhu Lao Da had gone mad and was locked up in his house, where no one could see him. During the New Year, although Zhu Er and Zhu Lao San sympathized with Zhu Lao Da, they were not happy that Zhu Daniu's body was kept in their homes. As for Zhu Lao Si, he had the best relationship with Zhu Lao Da among the brothers, but his wife, holding their young son, said that if he ignored them and wanted to let Zhu Daniu's body stay in their house, then they would divorce him immediately. She would go back to her parents' village and take the child to live in a thatched hut and never come back.
So in the end, the village head came forward and placed Zhu Daniu's body in the charity cemetery halfway up the mountain.
Zhu Xiaoniu stood timidly beside Zhu Laosi in thin clothes, looking at Aunt Zhu Si with tears in his eyes. He was pale and thin, his lips were bloodless and chapped, and his whole face was chapped by the wind, which looked very pitiful.
Aunt Zhu finally sighed, "Bring the child in. I still have a little hot water left from the one I just boiled for you. I'll go give him a bath. Go ask your second and third brothers' homes if they have any suitable clothes for him. It's unlucky for him to be sick during the New Year."
After giving Xiao Niu a bath, she saw wounds all over his back and arms. Aunt Zhu Si asked, "Who beat you?"
The Mavericks were silent.
Aunt Zhu threw her handkerchief and said, "If you don't tell me, I won't let you live in my house."
"Wow... I'm telling you... it was my brother who beat me..." Xiao Niu was terrified and cried, "Aunt Si, don't tell anyone else. If my brother finds out, he'll beat me even harder..."
Aunt Zhu Si held back her tears, thinking that he would never hit her again, but she didn't say it out loud. She took the calf out, wrapped it in Zhu Lao Si's clean clothes, and went to get some ointment to apply to the calf. This ointment was not an ointment, but something Si Muyan had made using oil. It was said that applying it on the face and hands would make one look younger.
This was brought back by Zhu Laosi when she was out of confinement. He said that he helped the Si family with odd jobs and refused to take wages, so Si Muyan gave it to him.
Aunt Zhu Si only applied a little bit of the cream on her hands after washing because it was dry in winter. But now she was applying it to Xiao Niu, so she wasn't being too stingy.
After giving the calf a bath, they heated up some food for him. The calf seemed extremely hungry, and also seemed afraid that someone would snatch the food away from him, so he finished the food in just a few bites, staring at Aunt Zhu eagerly.
Aunt Zhu Si endured it, took the bowl away, took Xiao Niu into the house and said, "Your mother is not at home, so you can sleep here for the next few days. Be careful not to wake your brother."
Xiao Niu was very obedient. Seeing his younger brother sleeping inside, he stayed away and slept on the outside at the other end of the bed.
Aunt Zhu took a look and moved the only chair with a backrest in the house and placed it next to Xiao Niu. She sat at the head of the bed and mended clothes by the burning oil lamp.
Xiao Niu had been nervously keeping his eyes open, afraid that his uncle would come back and take him home again. But he had been frightened today and was still nervous. Now that he had washed and eaten, he was so sleepy that he fell into a deep sleep soon after.
Zhu Laosi came back with a pile of children's clothes and explained, "My second brother was injured and Dachun had a fever. My second sister-in-law couldn't handle it alone, so I stayed there to take care of them for a while before coming back. Thank you for your hard work at home."
Aunt Zhu shook her head. She was not an unsympathetic person. She knew that something had happened to the children of the second and third sons, and they were both busy.
She picked up the clothes and looked at them, then asked in surprise, "Why are there so many? They're all clean."
Zhu Laosi said, "Dachun has some clothes that are too small. Erchun is still too young to wear them, so let's take them over to Erniu. Erchun has some small clothes that are just right for our Dabao. Sansao also took a few clothes. Erya's clothes that are too small are just right for Erniu. Sanya's clothes that are too small will also be left to our Dabao."
Ordinary families didn't have many clothes to begin with, and they usually passed down the clothes from the eldest to the second child. Even if the clothes were old and torn, they would take them apart and make them into one piece, which could be given to adults or children. Zhu Laoer and Zhu Laosan were now rich, and since the adults all wore work clothes from the Si family, they didn't have to buy clothes themselves. So, out of pity for the children, they made some extra clothes.
More importantly, they saw that Xiaoxia'er, a little girl, always had new clothes that fit her perfectly, and never had to alter old adult clothes. They couldn't do that completely, but they still felt that their own children could wear new clothes.
So I have a lot of clothes and I am willing to share them with Xiaoniu and Dabao.
Aunt Zhu sorted the clothes, putting away the older ones so they could wear them later, and separating Xiao Niu's and Da Bao's clothes. She glanced at Xiao Niu again and sighed, "This child was beaten so badly by his brother that he's timid. Alas, now that his brother has gone mad and his sister-in-law is in such a state, I don't know what will happen to this child in the future."
Zhu Laosi rolled his eyes and whispered, "Wife, there's something that others don't know, but I do. Second brother was able to save Yan girl today, thanks to Erniu. It was Erniu who knew his mother was going to harm Yan girl, so he ran to complain."
After hearing this, Aunt Zhu felt mixed emotions. The older one in the old family was not good, and the younger one was not good either. She didn't expect that the smallest one, Radish Head, was actually a good one.
"With the Si family and your two brothers, we won't have to worry about food or clothing. So let's stay in the village. When we see this child in the future, let's help him."
Zhu Lao Da had really gone insane, wandering around the village all day, calling any child he saw a little like him "Big Cow," which frightened the children so much that they wouldn't dare approach him. Later, they discovered that he wasn't aggressive towards the children, but would just smile foolishly and give them snacks. The children were no longer afraid of him and would often hang around him.
Since the third year of junior high school, Lao Zhang has loved visiting the Si family, helping them raise chickens and grow vegetables. While working, he would ask Si Muyan about basic hygiene and first aid knowledge. After work, he would not be idle, but would go to the dojo to explain to everyone, such as the importance of paying attention to household hygiene, not drinking raw water but boiling it before drinking, the importance of raising young children with care, and the avoidance of many foods that are prone to allergies.
After all, he was the only doctor in several villages, and everyone trusted him. Even if not all of them changed, at least some of them did.
Old Zhang didn't think the changes were too small. He felt that Si Muyan was right. There was a saying... "Silently nourishing things, a subtle influence"; as long as he kept promoting it, everyone would slowly get rid of those bad habits.
On the fifth day of the New Year, the village head brought people to carry back Aunt Zhu who had been punished.