Chapter 92: 92. Cry and Whimper
"All right, stop all that crying and looking so downcast. What, you think I’m not unlucky enough already?" Zhao Hu was already in a lot of pain, worried his father wouldn’t wake up, and upset about the house collapsing. His wife’s endless crying got on his nerves, and his temper flared, causing Zhao Hu’s wife to momentarily stop crying in fear.
"No... It’s just, I feel for you, dear."
"All right, enough. Go look after the kids and quickly tidy up the things we’ve dug out, especially from father and mother’s room. Search carefully, make sure nothing’s left behind," Zhao Hu said, hinting at something.
"Okay, okay," Zhao Hu’s wife quickly nodded, not daring to say more.
On the other side, Zhao Bao was a little more temperate, knowing to comfort his wife with a few words.
"Dear husband..." Zhao Bao’s wife looked at her husband with tearful eyes, full of concern.
"Stop crying. It may look bad, but there shouldn’t be anything serious. Stay home and take care of the kids and look after the house." As he said this, Zhao Bao glanced meaningfully at his sister-in-law.
The only parts of the house that remained intact were the west wing rooms and the kitchen where they lived.
The main house had collapsed, and it was uncertain how much useful stuff could be salvaged. It was unclear if his parents’ money would be found. His older brother was always selfish, thinking of his immediate family.
Fortunately, the grain was stored in the kitchen and cellar, ensuring some hope for the future.
Seeing her husband’s look, Zhao Bao’s wife understood the message, nodding quickly, knowing she’d take care of the house anyway.
On Zhao Hu’s side, seeing his wife stop crying, the throbbing vein on his forehead calmed down, and he looked sadly at his leg.
His leg was excruciatingly painful, and without seeing a doctor, he feared he could become lame. He definitely couldn’t afford to be lame; the thought made him desperately wish the ox cart would hurry up.
Before he could urge them on, Hua Lau had already signaled Hua Chengtian to drive the cart.
As the ox cart moved away, Hua Lau quickly organized several men in the village to move the unconscious Old Qian onto a door plank; they couldn’t leave her lying in the yard, covered by snow.
It was also at this moment that the two Zhao daughters-in-law noticed their mother-in-law lying there on a door plank.
Seeing their mother-in-law’s ashen face suddenly made the sisters-in-law take several steps back in fright, "My mother..." they looked around for help.
"Daughters-in-law of the Zhao family, take my condolences. Your mother-in-law was gone as soon as she was dug out," Aunt Willow said tearfully, looking compassionately at the Zhao sisters-in-law.
The house had collapsed, and the mother-in-law was gone too. The Zhao brothers were hurt, and Old Zhao’s fate was unknown. The Zhao family’s life already wasn’t going well, and it was hard to say how long it would take for them to recover from this; days ahead would be difficult!
Seeing the Zhao family’s devastation, several villagers sighed with suppressed emotions.
The Zhao daughters-in-law seemed to realize this too, and suddenly burst into tears, throwing themselves towards their mother-in-law on the door plank.
"Mother..."
"Oh, Mother... How are we supposed to live without you in charge of everything, Mother..."
"Alright, Zhao family daughters-in-law, the dead cannot be revived. Think about arranging your mother-in-law’s funeral. You can’t leave her in the yard forever."
Watching the heartbroken sisters-in-law cry, everyone around couldn’t help but feel sad, with many wiping tears.
Several women who were somewhat close to the Zhao daughters-in-law quickly came over to comfort them.
With a few words from everyone, the two Zhao daughters-in-law gradually calmed down, sobbing as they helped carry their mother-in-law into the straw room.
Seeing everyone settled in, Hua Lau breathed a sigh of relief and got back to supervising the digging efforts.
Old Lady Hua wasn’t too familiar with the two Zhao daughters-in-law. She offered some words of comfort with the others, noticed there were plenty of people staying behind to help, and since her husband and two grandsons were also there, she didn’t stay much longer and returned home.
Hua Lau stayed busy for nearly half the day, only returning home after noon.
Sitting on her grandmother’s bed, helping sort thread, Hua Jin heard movement outside and quickly slid off, jumping out to greet.
"Grandpa, you’re back," Hua Jin quickly pushed a hand warmer into Hua Lau’s ice-cold hands, feeling her heart ache at the biting cold, and seeing the snowflakes on her grandfather’s clothes pained her even more. She immediately started helping pat them off.
"Grandpa, come inside quickly, and my brothers too." With a glance at her expectant brothers, Hua Jin quickly added.
Hua Yunao and his brothers, who were sulking, were instantly cheered up by their sister’s words, eagerly following her into the main room.
Meanwhile, Qi Shi hurried to fetch hot water for the family to wash up before heading to the kitchen.
"How’s everything? All sorted?" Watching the old man huddled over from cold finish washing up, Old Lady Hua quickly brought him a bowl of hot water.
"Everything’s cleared up, and we helped clean off the snow on the other rooftops too."
Having been outside for so long, Old Man Hua was numb from the cold, downed the hot tea in one go, drank two more bowls before feeling somewhat warmer, and couldn’t help but sigh.
"Alright, don’t be discouraged. It’s a blessing amidst the misfortune." Knowing how her husband felt, Old Lady Hua comforted him.
"I’m just angry; before the heavy snow I specifically sent Chengtian to warn them not to forget to clear off the snow on the roof, but this still happened. It was preventable." Every time he thought of Old Zhao’s tragedy, Hua Lau felt downcast.
"This isn’t your fault. You did everything you could as the village chief. There’s food warming in the pot, go eat something."
"Later, send ten pounds of grain to the Zhao family, and a quilt from home too," Hua Lau said, thinking it over.
"Got it, you don’t have to worry about these things."
"Hmm," Hua Lau nodded, taking the chopsticks handed over by Hua Jin, unable to resist the aroma of the meal and started eating.
After the meal, Old Lady Hua packed up about ten pounds of coarse grain, rolled up a home quilt, and with Qi Shi, made a trip to the Zhao house.
At dusk, Hua Chengtian finally returned home with the ox cart, nearly frozen stiff. It took a while and a hot meal before he felt alive again.
Seeing her son chilled to the bone, Old Lady Hua felt a pang of heartache and quickly instructed Qi Shi to add another brazier in his room.
The family gathered around to watch Hua Chengtian eat.
Even the fretful Hua Lau controlled his temper to wait for his son to finish the meal.
"So, how’s everything?" Hua Lau couldn’t help but ask as soon as his son put down his chopsticks.
"Aside from old Zhao and the Hua brothers and children, there aren’t any serious problems. They’ll recover with rest."
"Is old Zhao seriously injured?"
"Hmm, afraid he won’t hold on for more than a few days," Hua Chengtian sighed.
Hua Lau’s heart sank, quickly asking, "So, where is he, at the clinic or...?"
"He’s back. Zhao Hu and Zhao Bao, hearing the doctor’s prognosis, didn’t want to keep him in the clinic and brought him back with them." 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Though Hua Chengtian felt the brothers were cold-hearted for not even trying to make an effort, he was an outsider, and since the doctor had pronounced the prognosis hopeless, why should he interfere?
"Sigh, bringing him back is better," Hua Lau shook his head.
Tradition holds that one should return to one’s roots; dying at home is preferable to dying somewhere else.