The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 75

Old Lady Wang was finally threatened by her. Mr. Jin from the neighboring courtyard was invited to come and cook. After explaining a few words, she went to the pharmacy with Li Mingwei.

Seeing that she was a little unsteady on her feet, Li Mingwei went up to support her. Old Lady Wang waved her hand, just about to say she was fine, when she suddenly felt dizzy and almost collapsed.

"Are you alright?"

"No..."

Old Lady Wang stood still for a while before realizing that she was too ill to take another step. She grabbed Li Mingwei's arm and shook it, her voice somewhat panicked and uneasy: "Why can't I walk?"

Seeing that her eyes were dazed and her pupils wandering, Li Mingwei didn't dare delay any longer. She asked two sisters on the side of the road to take her back home, while she went ahead to the pharmacy to call for a doctor.

When she and the doctor arrived, the gate of the Liu Family was wide open. A sister was waiting at the door and anxiously led the doctor into the room, "She fainted."

The doctor immediately quickened his pace and rushed into the room to check her pulse.

Li Mingwei followed behind and waited at the door. Standing here, she could smell the faint scent of wine from Old Lady Wang's room, similar to the medicinal wine she had made in the county town. She wondered where Old Lady Wang had hurt herself.

"It's too hot."

After taking her pulse, the doctor went to the table, took out some medicine from his box, glanced at the three people in the room, and handed the medicine to Li Mingwei, "Boil this up, I'll give her a few shots first to lower her temperature."

"Yes."

Li Mingwei turned to find the kitchen. This was her first time entering the Liu Family's home. Usually she would only pass by when going to the embroidery workshop or the market.

Although the Liu Family was a little shabby, it was larger than the Dong Family and had a different layout. Still, the kitchen was likely in the backyard, so she headed directly there.

After washing a pot, Li Mingwei boiled up the medicine and her eyes fell on the lush vegetable garden in the backyard. She had grown some vegetables with Wang Chunhua before, but they were not nearly as thriving as this plot, clearly planted with great care.

Unable to resist, she pulled up two very green leaves, smelled them, rinsed them off, then went to the kitchen to find some rice to make mung bean soup. Medicine should always be taken with some food.

When the porridge was cooked, a sister came running from the front yard, "Sister, she's awake now. Is the medicine ready?"

"It should be, sister, take a look?"

Li Mingwei had boiled medicine for her family before, just not often, so she didn't have a good sense of the timing.

The sister took a look, judged it to be done, wrapped it in a handkerchief, ladled out a bowl, and brought it inside. Li Mingwei also wanted to go see, but didn't dare leave the pot unattended.

Shortly after, the other sister came as well. She said apologetically, "The doctor wants to leave, but none of us brought money."

"Oh, then could you watch the pot for me? I'll go take care of it now."

"Sure, sure."

The doctor was waiting in the front yard. Li Mingwei asked the price and paid him, then said, "Is this one prescription enough?"

"Let's try these two doses today. Her temperature is quite high. I just brought it down a little. Keep an eye on it tonight and see if it goes back up. If it does, call me and I'll have to prescribe new medicine."

"Alright, thank you, doctor."

Li Mingwei felt a headache coming on. There was no way she could stay here to keep watch tonight.

It was lunch time now. After waiting a while and seeing the doctor leave, the two sisters also took their leave to return home. As they left, Li Mingwei asked them to pass along a message to Wang Chunhua that she still had classes in the afternoon and couldn't stay here.

She ladled the cooked porridge into a bowl and brought a small portion to Old Lady Wang's room, placing it at her bedside. She glanced at the drowsy person lying in bed without disturbing her, and simply took away the empty medicine bowl.

Old Lady Wang lay quietly in bed, watching her movements. Suddenly she reached out and stopped her, speaking hazily, "I'm fine, leave the bowl here. I'll get up and wash it later. You still have classes this afternoon, drink some porridge and hurry off."

Li Mingwei stopped in her tracks, "The doctor said after these two doses of medicine, we'd have to keep watching in case your temperature goes back up. Then you'd need a new prescription. I already asked the sisters to help call Chunhua for me. Once she gets here I'll leave."

She hesitated, "Or, should I let Liu Yizhu know, see if he wants to come back..."

"Don't." Old Lady Wang struggled to prop herself up, trying to stop her, but lacking strength she fell back into bed. She coughed lightly, "Absolutely do not tell Yizhu, he has to focus on studying, can't be distracted. I'll be fine after some rest."

"But..."

This was clearly not something that could be fixed with just some rest. Li Mingwei felt a little helpless. Why did old folks always insist on doing these willful things, not wanting their children to worry, yet hiding it until it got worse just led to more annoyance.

Li Mingwei turned back, set down the bowl, helped Old Lady Wang lie back down, and tucked her in neatly. "Let's see again after the medicine tonight. If it goes down, that's good. But if not..."

She would still have to let Liu Yizhu come back and take a look. With Old Lady Wang home alone and this ill, with no one even to cook for her, Li Mingwei wondered if her family had any relatives who could help.

Hearing her implication, Old Lady Wang hurriedly grabbed her hand, pleading earnestly, "Really, don't bother. I'm much better already."

"It's useless for you to say it, only the doctor's word counts."

Seeing how stubborn she was, Li Mingwei didn't want to argue further. Taking the bowl, she was about to leave when she noticed the memorial tablet on the altar in the room.

Liu Hongsheng, likely Liu Yizhu's father.

Thinking of Old Lady Wang sleeping beside the memorial tablet every day, Li Mingwei suddenly felt uneasy.

Even if it was meant to commemorate him, keeping it in the main hall or setting aside a separate room would be more respectful. The Liu residence was sizable, so why keep it insistently in the bedroom?

Seeing where her gaze had stopped, Old Lady Wang spoke softly, her voice filled with tenderness and longing, "That's Yizhu's father."

Li Mingwei gently hmm'ed, and asked the question on her mind, "Why keep it here? I've seen others..."

"Because with him here, I'm not alone."

After her husband passed away, she never once considered remarrying, wholeheartedly raising the children until they grew up. But as the kids matured, they slowly developed their own ideas and thoughts, sometimes even having trouble understanding her. The mother and child relationship seemed to grow more distant by the day.

She often felt lonely. In the late night when she startled awake, only the memorial tablet could give her a tiny sense of peace, as if he was always by her side, never having left.

Old Lady Wang shrank under the covers, afraid to look at her, only apologizing, "I'm sorry, I know you're a good child, but I..."

She choked up, falling silent.

"You don't need to say any more, I understand."

Li Mingwei smiled, took one last look at the memorial tablet, and walked out.

Returning to the backyard, she ladled water to wash the medicine bowl clean. Sitting under the eaves, she quietly awaited Wang Chunhua's arrival.

Her eyes swept over the plants here, and it seemed traces of Liu Yizhu's life still lingered over them. As for her, this should be the only chance she'd ever get to sit in this spot.