Chapter 757 - 390: Do You Regret It?

Chapter 757: Chapter 390: Do You Regret It?

Seeing Mrs. Yang panting again, Juhua hurriedly said, "Mother, please don’t get upset. When do kids ever get together without fighting? Let Father and Brother deal with this. It doesn’t matter who hit him; they’ll definitely go and find his parents."

Qingmu nodded quickly and pulled Laishou over to ask for the details.

Juhua wanted to persuade Mrs. Yang to go inside. She was afraid her mother would fly into a rage upon hearing the details and make herself ill. But seeing the way she was staring at Laishou, Juhua could only sigh, though she continued to watch her mother closely.

With tears in his eyes, Laishou explained that the children at the academy had called him shameless. They said he wasn’t from Qingnan Village and was just freeloading to be able to study there. That morning, the master had gone to the ancestral hall, leaving the students to practice their calligraphy. They had knocked over his inkstone, snapped his brush, and then pinned him to the ground and beaten him.

Hearing this, Mrs. Yang shot up from her chair with a WHOOSH, trembling with rage. ’Those families! It’s one thing to try and stop him from studying, but to spread such vicious gossip in front of the children... This is taking the bullying too far!’

She had stood up too violently. Her vision swam with stars, and she began to vomit before finally passing out.

Seeing his aunt faint, Laishou was so frightened he burst into tears. Hulu, who was usually a quiet child, now clung tightly to his mother’s robes, his face a mask of panic.

Everyone crowded around Mrs. Yang, and chaos erupted once more.

Once they managed to bring her around, Qingmu could no longer hold back his anger. He said to Juhua in a cold voice, "Forget about the ancestral hall this afternoon. We’re dropping this for now. Yunlan and I will take Mother to the market to have Doctor Qin take a look at her. I’m afraid she’s not doing well. Huai Zi, you..."

But Mrs. Yang would not have it. She struggled and cried out, "You... you take Laishou and go find them right now! You can take me to see a doctor at the market this afternoon. There’s nothing seriously wrong with me... I’m just... so angry. If I don’t let out this anger, it’ll be useless even if Doctor Qin’s own master were resurrected to treat me!"

She then turned to Laishou and asked, "Laishou, you tell your aunt, who hit you? Name every single one of them, and don’t you cry. A boy can’t be a coward. When someone hits you, you have to make them pay. What good does crying do?"

Seeing his usually sharp and decisive wife collapse from anger twice in one day, Zheng Changhe was so furious his hair could have pushed off a hat—if he’d been wearing one. His eyes wide and his teeth clenched, he said, "That’s right. We’ll go to their homes and settle this score first. If we don’t get this off our chests, we don’t deserve the name Zheng!" He then lowered his head and asked Mrs. Yang in a hushed voice, "My dear, can you hold on?"

Mrs. Yang glared at him. "Can’t hold on? I’m filled to the brim with anger! You let me get this out, and I guarantee I’ll eat three bowls of rice for dinner tonight. I won’t even need to see Doctor Qin."

Zheng Changhe said quickly, "We’ll let it out. I promise, you’ll get this off your chest."

Zhang Dashuan and his wife tried to suppress their smiles as they continued to try and soothe the situation.

Seeing her mother like this, Juhua knew they had to resolve this matter first. She said to Qingmu, "Brother, you and Huai Zi should eat quickly. After you’re done, take Laishou to the academy. We’ll stay here and watch over Mother. If she feels unwell, we’ll have Uncle Liu take us to the market in his cart."

With a grim expression, Qingmu nodded. His own anger had been stoked. ’Do these people still think our family is as easily bullied as we once were? This time, I’ll make sure their plans amount to nothing.’

Huai Zi had already pulled Laishou aside to ask in detail just who had beaten him.

Laishou said it was Li Jingteng, and he named a few others. Though Huai Zi didn’t recognize the names, he knew they were all from the Li Family.

He said to Laishou, "Don’t be afraid when you go to the academy this afternoon. Just say what happened. We’re boys. It’s no big deal to get hit, but you can’t back down. You have to get even, or they’ll just hit you again next time. When you meet people like that, you have to be fierce. If you can’t do that, then you need to be clever like Little Shitou and come up with a scheme to thrash them."

Laishou listened and nodded earnestly.

Seeing that they had settled on a plan, Liu Yunlan and Mrs. Wang quickly brought out the food and urged the men to eat so they could attend to their business. Zhang Dashuan and his wife, meanwhile, returned home.

After the meal, Qingmu and Huai Zi took Laishou to the academy. Zheng Changhe wanted to go with them, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave Mrs. Yang’s side, so he remained at home to watch over her.

Juhua saw that Mrs. Yang was stable for the moment, so she helped her lie down to rest. She then reminded her own grandmother not to worry, assuring her that the matter would be resolved soon. After a quick word with Liu Yunlan, Juhua finally headed back to the Zhang family’s home to check on her son and daughter.

’Thinking about her mother’s condition, Juhua was deeply worried. ’She fainted twice and threw up twice today. Even if it’s from anger, this isn’t normal. It’s really strange. We have to take her to the market to see Yun Ying. I won’t be able to rest easy otherwise.’

’Then again, this whole mess started because of Laishou’s schooling. The beating was because of his schooling, too. As long as we solve the problem of him attending the academy, everything else should fall into place.’

’But how are we going to do that?’

Preoccupied with Mrs. Yang’s illness and Laishou’s troubles at the academy, she had no time to look after Banli and Cong. She asked Aunt Liu to help Mrs. He take good care of them.