Chapter 44 - 45: A Good Beating

Chapter 44: Chapter 45: A Good Beating

Jin Qianqian, who was being used as a scapegoat, secretly rolled her eyes but kept a smile on her face. "My husband is right. I’m no good at this kind of delicate work. If I mess up the heat, he’d probably eat me alive."

Li Cuicui watched them with a complicated expression. Among her sons, she had treated Seventh the worst, cutting corners on his wedding and just throwing together his share of the family property.

But now that real trouble had struck, he was the only son who could actually handle things.

"No need. Making porridge uses too much water, and we don’t even know if your father will wake up," Li Cuicui said. As much as her heart ached for Gu Dashishi, she didn’t want to exploit Seventh and his wife any further.

Before, they had put on a good show for outsiders, claiming the brothers had pooled their water, but in reality, hadn’t Seventh provided all of it?

Her other sons, however, were all hiding their own stashes. All this time had passed, and she hadn’t seen any of them return their share to Seventh.

’If she really got sick or hurt in the future, it probably wouldn’t be so easy to get help from them.’

Jin Qianqian boldly snatched the bamboo tube from Gu Wenheng’s hands. "If you don’t want to do it, Mother, I’ll just muddle through it myself. Who knows, I might even manage to cook the porridge right."

Li Cuicui was startled by her actions and carefully used her hands to help steady the bamboo tube. "You’re so clumsy! Don’t spill the water."

Jin Qianqian said, "Don’t worry! I won’t spill it."

This made Li Cuicui even more worried. She sighed, took the items from Jin Qianqian, and said, "I’d better do it. I never thought this old man of mine would be so fortunate at a time like this."

Seeing her plan succeed, Jin Qianqian secretly made a victory sign and quickly passed the medicine she had retrieved from her space to Gu Wenheng. "This is what you need. How do we get him to take it now?"

Gu Wenheng was clearly experienced. Under the guise of checking Gu Dashishi’s wound, he covertly slipped the pills into his mouth. With a deft press somewhere, he managed to get the unconscious Gu Dashishi to swallow the pills along with the purified water.

"Now we can only leave it to fate," he said, quietly returning the water to Jin Qianqian. After watching it vanish in her palm, he walked over to the other side and sat down.

Li Cuicui worked quickly. Before long, the unique aroma of millet porridge filled the air.

Many people couldn’t help but lick their lips, repeatedly glancing in her direction.

"Grandma, what’s that delicious thing you’re cooking?" Gu Lehua asked, biting her finger as she tried to see through the lid of the earthenware pot.

"This is to save your grandpa’s life." Seeing it was her only granddaughter, Li Cuicui’s stern expression softened, and she uncharacteristically added, "This is a token of your Seventh Uncle’s care for your grandpa. Hopefully, he’ll get better soon after eating this."

Gu Lehua pressed her lips together and glanced back at Liu Liu. Seeing her mother gesture, she turned back and looked at the bamboo tube on the ground. "Is there any water left in that bamboo tube? Grandma, I’m thirsty."

Li Cuicui’s face immediately turned cold. "If you’re thirsty, go ask your parents."

No matter how much she doted on this granddaughter, she would never prioritize her over her own sons. In the old woman’s heart, after Gu Dashishi came her sons. As for the grandchildren, they were a generation removed.

Gu Lehua’s eyes welled with tears. "But my parents only give me a tiny bit of water. It’s not enough to drink."

"That’s none of my business. Can’t you see your grandpa lying right there? Are you even going to plot against a sick man?" Li Cuicui looked up and glared at Gu Lehua, scaring the girl so much that she backed away and then turned and ran.

"Disgraceful," Li Cuicui muttered, then carefully tended to the fire under the pot. If the flames grew too high, she would quickly pull out some firewood; if they weakened, she would toss in a couple of dry leaves.

"Mother, where did this come from?" Gu Yuanlei had sidled up at some point, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the earthenware pot.

Li Cuicui watched him defensively. "This is from your Brother Qi to help your father recover. What? You want to make a contribution too?"

"You must be joking, Mother. You know I don’t have anything," Gu Yuanlei said with a placating smile. "Mother, do you think you could spare me half a small bowl? Yingying’s father just woke up and is saying he’s hungry."

"What the hell does his hunger have to do with me? He has his own sons and daughters, tell him to go find them." Li Cuicui wrapped her arms protectively around the pot and, without even looking at him, yelled, "Jin, Mu, Shui, Huo, Tu, get over here!"

"Mother, what are you doing? Do you need my brothers for something?"

Li Cuicui waited until her sons had gathered around, then pointed at Gu Yuanlei. "Throw him somewhere far away. I don’t want to see him right now."

Gu Yuanjin’s eyes flashed fiercely as he put on the full air of an eldest brother. "Youngest, did you make Mother angry again?"

"No," Gu Yuanlei said, quickly waving his hands. "I was just looking at what Mother was doing. I didn’t do anything."

Li Cuicui snapped, "What could I be doing? I’m making millet porridge for your father. This is what’s going to save his life. But he had the nerve to ask me for your father’s life-saving food, saying that old man from the Lan Family is hungry."

"I don’t want to see this unfilial son right now. You all are his elder brothers. Teach him a good lesson on how to behave."

Li Cuicui all but said it outright: drag this brat out and give him a beating.

Gu Yuanjin grabbed Gu Yuanlei and lifted him up. "Let your brothers check if you’ve forgotten your own surname."

"You just got Dad injured, and now you’re trying to take his life. What are you playing at?"

"Eldest Brother, I just asked casually! If Mother didn’t want to, that’s fine, I didn’t say anything more." Seeing the looks on his brothers’ faces, Gu Yuanlei’s own face froze in fear. He wanted to run, but he was completely surrounded.

Gu Wenheng watched with a smile as a bruised and swollen Gu Yuanlei scrambled to escape. "That kid deserves a lesson. He really thinks the world owes him."

Jin Qianqian merely glanced over indifferently. She’d never had a good impression of Gu Yuanlei. In modern terms, he was a classic case of a spoiled freeloader.

Suddenly, Jin Qianqian felt her heart begin to race. She quickly pressed a hand to her chest.

Gu Wenheng immediately noticed something was wrong and asked nervously, "What’s the matter?"

’His mind raced, trying to recall if the original Jin Qianqian had ever shown signs of a heart condition.’

"I don’t know why, but suddenly my heart is pounding out of my chest. Quick, check my pulse, is it beating really fast?" Jin Qianqian had never felt like this before and was starting to panic.

"It’s a little fast," Gu Wenheng said. "But I’ve never heard of anyone from the Jin Family having a serious illness. Think hard, from childhood to now, has anything ever felt wrong?"

Jin Qianqian shook her head. "Aside from the occasional headache or fever, I’ve never had any symptoms like this."

A sudden thought struck Gu Wenheng. He lowered his voice, "Could it be the effect of that space? Without going inside, can you see what’s happening in there?"

Jin Qianqian nodded. "I can see everything I’ve stored inside, but nothing looks different."