748 Awake
Now that Qiao Mei was becoming more and more famous in the village, many people said that Qiao Mei was like the leader of the village. As long as Qiao Mei had any issue, the entire village would help her without any hesitation.
There was a bumper harvest this autumn. In the past, the yield was not as high as this year, so everyone was much more tired from work than in the past. In the past few years, after the autumn harvest, they all looked like they had peeled off a layer of skin. This year, however, they all looked radiant after finishing their work. Everyone looked more energetic than usual.
This was all thanks to Qiao Mei. Who would not be motivated to work hard if there was delicious food to eat every day?
“The autumn harvest is over. Don’t go to the canteen anymore. Rest at home.” Qiao Qiang looked at Qiao Mei with heartache.
After working so hard during this period of time, Qiao Mei had lost a lot of weight. If this continued, she would be malnourished after giving birth.
“Alright, I’ll listen to grandfather. I won’t go tomorrow.” Qiao Mei carefully removed the bandage on Qiao Qiang’s head. The wound had already started to heal. He would be able to go to the clinic to remove the stitches after another week.
However, there would always be a scar as long as a finger on Qiao Qiang’s head. This scar would serve as a reminder to Qiao Mei that Qiao Zhuang’s family had harmed them.
Qiao Qiang snapped his fingers and interrupted Qiao Mei’s thoughts. He said calmly, “Cool down and don’t think too much. Qiao Zhuang won’t let the matter rest. Let’s just wait quietly.”
Qiao Mei nodded. In fact, she had not let down her guard for more than half a month and had been keeping an eye on Qiao Zhuang’s family. She heard that Qiao Zhuang had brought Qiao Gui into the mountains many times and would stay at that tree for a long time every time.
Qiao Zhuang was indeed thinking the same thing as Qiao Mei. He still wanted to blame Qiao Qiang’s family for what happened to Qiao Fu, but no matter how hard he investigated, he could not find any clues.
On Qiao Fu’s third day in the hospital, he gradually woke up. His eyes were dull and he looked as if his soul had been sucked out of him. He looked as if he had been possessed.
In reality, Qiao Fu also thought that he had been possessed. The people in the northeast believed in such things and that there were animals in the mountains which had absorbed the essence of the world after living for a long time and became spirits.
They would call such an animal the “Great Immortal”. Ordinary people would not be able to see a Great Immortal, and only those who were fated would meet one. Legends had it that as long as one saw a Great Immortal appear and help one to survive a calamity and reach enlightenment, the Great Immortal would protect one for the rest of one’s life.
However, if one accidentally offended the Great Immortal, one’s life would be over.
“Hurry up and tell us what happened! You’re making us so anxious! Did Qiao Qiang harm you? I’ll go and confront their family now!” Qiao Zhuang said.
Qiao Fu stared blankly at the ceiling and said, “No… I was possessed… That big tree just smashed straight at me… Do you think Qiao Qiang had something on him? Or maybe the place I was at was a little too particular and I offended the Great Immortal.”
As soon as he said this, all the family members could not help but have goosebumps. They heard from the elders in the village that if one offended the Great Immortal, one’s family could forget about living.
Everyone was afraid that what Qiao Fu said was true.
“Nonsense! This is all nonsense that the village says to fool people! Have you ever seen anyone who has really met such a thing? They’re just talking rubbish. Don’t scare people with such things.” Qiao Zhuang pointed at Qiao Fu and scolded him.
“But… isn’t the Guo family a perfect example? Back then, their family was so poor that they couldn’t even afford to eat and they didn’t even have a house. Later on, after Old Guo’s father went to the mountains, he came back and became rich. Look at how well the Guo family is doing now,” Wang Qin said softly.
Everyone knew about this matter. It was impossible that Old Guo had found gold in the mountain. Qiao Zhuang also did not know how to explain this matter.
After the Guo family became rich, many people went to that mountain to search around, but no one found anything. Later on, the Guo family even built a small temple on that mountain to burn incense and worship there.
Qiao Zhuang decided to leave Qiao Fu in the hospital and all of them went home. It would cause a delay in their work if they accompanied Qiao Fu every day. If they delayed it for a few more days, the work points from the autumn harvest would not be allocated to any of them.
Initially, the doctor had suggested that Qiao Fu be discharged after two months but Qiao Zhuang insisted on bringing him home before he completed his treatments. The family really did not have the money for him to continue with his treatments in the provincial city hospital. If this continued, they would have to sell their house.
They sent him to stay for two days at the clinic after he got home. It would not cost them anything for him to stay there. They reckoned that getting an IV drip would be good enough to keep him alive.
