Chapter 4: The Top Choice for Marrying into This Kind of Family

Two days later, Shi Qingluo wanted some fish soup, so she walked toward the river connecting the two villages to catch some fish.

On the way, she overheard a few women gossiping.

"That Scholar Xiao from Xiaoxi Village is truly miserable. He finally passed the scholar exam, only to fall off a mountain and fall into a coma. I heard they don't even have money for medicine anymore; who knows if he can be saved."

"The Xiao family isn't going to do anything?"

"Haven't you heard about the Xiao family's business?"

"I just got back from town, what happened with the Xiao family?"

"Scholar Xiao's father went off to serve in the military, and who would have thought he’d become a great general? He came back a while ago, and he even brought a young mistress with him."

"I don't know what happened, but Scholar Xiao's mother pushed the woman, and the mistress had a miscarriage."

"In a fit of rage, the second master of the Xiao family wanted to demote his wife to a concubine. I don't know how they negotiated it in the end, but it turned into a divorce."

"Scholar Xiao and his siblings followed their mother, and they separated from the Xiao family to live on their own."

"Scholar Xiao is a man of conscience. I heard General Xiao originally wanted to take him back to the capital to groom him, but he refused, choosing to set up his own household and live with his mother and siblings."

"That angered General Xiao, who wrote a letter severing ties with Scholar Xiao and his siblings. He already returned to the capital a few days ago, so there's no way the Xiao family will care about them."

"Before, when the second master went to the army, Scholar Xiao's mother didn't have it easy in the Xiao household. She was often scolded by her mother-in-law and bullied by her sisters-in-law. If it weren't for Scholar Xiao protecting her, she probably would have been tormented to death long ago."

"What a sin. That second master is truly heartless."

"Everyone in the Xiao family is heartless. Ever since Scholar Xiao's maternal family passed away, they've treated the mother and her children with increasing cruelty."

"If Scholar Xiao hadn't earned his own merit, he wouldn't have been able to stand up for his mother this time."

"What's the use of passing the scholar exam and having a general for a father? He's still about to die."

"He used to be the most famous student in the whole town. It's such a pity, sigh!"

After listening to the gossip, Shi Qingluo continued toward the river.

Who would have thought that just as she arrived, she would see a child drowning in the river.

Without hesitation, she ran over, jumped into the water, and pulled him out.

After she performed first aid, the child coughed up some water and opened his eyes.

"Am I not dead?" he asked, dazed.

He had originally wanted to catch fish in the river, but his leg suddenly cramped and he started drowning. He thought he was going to die just like that.

Seeing his dazed expression, Shi Qingluo smiled and patted his head.

"Of course, someone saved you, that's why you're not dead."

Xiao Erlang looked up and saw a sister, soaked from head to toe, looking at him gently.

He wasn't stupid and quickly realized that this sister had saved him.

"Thank you, sister. I will definitely repay you for saving my life."

Right now, he was the only able-bodied male left in the family.

His older brother was already in a coma; if he were to die too, he didn't know how heartbroken his mother and sister would be.

Seeing how sensible the eight or nine-year-old boy was, Shi Qingluo had a very good impression of him.

"Alright, then I'll wait for you to repay me in the future."

For a child, giving him a goal was a good thing.

"Where is your home? I'll take you back."

Xiao Erlang originally wanted to decline, feeling embarrassed to trouble this sister further.

But as soon as he stood up, his foot cramped in pain, and he could only say sheepishly, "Then I'll trouble you, sister. My home is in the next village."

Shi Qingluo carried the child on her back and walked in the direction he pointed.

The child's home was in Xiaoxi Village, just across the river, accessible by a wooden bridge.

As she walked, Shi Qingluo chatted with the child.

She was surprised to discover that he was actually the younger brother of the Scholar Xiao the women were gossiping about.

After his brother fell off the mountain, he injured his leg and then developed a high fever that wouldn't break. After taking medicine, he would get better and worse, and in the last few days, he had fallen into a more serious coma.

His aunt and third aunt had taken advantage of his brother's coma to steal most of the family's grain.

They hadn't received much money when they separated from the main family, and now his family couldn't even afford medicine.

His mother went up the mountain every day to dig for herbs to boil for his brother, while his sister dug for wild vegetables to keep the family fed.

Seeing his brother getting thinner and thinner, he heard people say that feeding him some meat soup could keep him alive. They couldn't afford meat, so he had wanted to catch fish to make soup.

Who would have thought he would almost drown.

After learning the situation, Shi Qingluo felt quite sympathetic toward the child. It was a classic case of "it never rains but it pours"—truly miserable.

The house Xiao Erlang's family was assigned was the old Xiao family residence, located at the end of the village near the mountain.

It took Shi Qingluo nearly half an hour to carry Xiao Erlang there.

A dilapidated courtyard appeared before her eyes. There were other houses nearby, but not very close.

Pushing the door open, she heard two people crying.

Hearing the door open, a middle-aged woman with red, swollen eyes ran out, followed by a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl with equally red eyes.

Seeing her son, who had suddenly gone missing, return, Mother Xiao breathed a sigh of relief but couldn't help saying, "Erlang, where did you go? You scared me to death."

Xiao Erlang looked at his mother with guilt. "Mother, I wanted to go catch fish, but I ended up drowning. It was this sister who saved me."

Hearing this, Mother Xiao was nearly frightened to death, her body going limp.

It was fortunate that her youngest son had been saved; otherwise, what would she have done? It would have been like tearing her heart out.

She looked at Shi Qingluo and said gratefully, "Thank you, thank you so much."

She wiped her tears and continued, forcing herself to be strong. "We will definitely repay your great kindness in the future."

The events of these past few days had nearly crushed her.

If it weren't for her children, she would have wanted to die.

Looking at the legendary weak and bullied Mother Xiao, Shi Qingluo found that her personality was indeed soft, and she was currently forcing herself to be strong and composed.

But it was clear that she truly loved her children; her nervousness and the look of near-despair upon hearing her son had almost drowned were very real.

She smiled. "I just happened to be there, so it was no trouble at all."

Mother Xiao was quite observant and noticed that Shi Qingluo was still soaked. "If you don't mind, please wear my clothes for now. I'll wash yours and hang them to dry. The sun is strong right now, so they'll dry quickly."

"Even though it's summer, it's easy to catch a cold in wet clothes."

Shi Qingluo was indeed uncomfortable in her wet clothes. She saw that Mother Xiao was wearing patched clothes, but they were clean and tidy.

She nodded. "Alright, then I'll trouble you."

Mother Xiao hurriedly waved her hands. "No trouble, no trouble at all!"

She then took Shi Qingluo inside to change, gave her the best set of clothes she had, and took the wet clothes to the courtyard to wash.

After changing, Shi Qingluo sat in the courtyard waiting, chatting with the three of them.

She managed to get quite a bit of information out of them; the three of them were just too simple-minded.

If the person lying inside didn't wake up and there was no one to protect them, she didn't know how these three would survive.

A thought suddenly occurred to Shi Qingluo.

After Scholar Xiao separated from the main family, this household had a very simple family structure for a rural area.

There was no need to squeeze together with a large family, no grandparents to suppress them, and no uncles or aunts to stir up trouble. There would be fewer conflicts, and the family members wouldn't be hard to get along with. This kind of family was the top choice for marriage.