Chapter 181 - 180: The Miserable Old Man (Second Update)
What’s going on here?
It took Mr. Gu a long time to open his eyes, struggling to pull his hand away from Gu Ruhai’s grasp.
With difficulty, he gutturally uttered a sentence from his throat: "You should go!"
Gu Ruhai held onto Mr. Gu tightly, crying bitterly.
Anyone would feel heartbroken—their own father, who not long ago was still doing well, able to walk and sit, had become like this in just two short years.
What child could feel good about that?
Li Xuemei said nothing, hastily tidying up the room.
The room clearly hadn’t been cleaned for a long time, even the bed was cold.
When the cupboards were opened, there was nothing inside except Mr. Gu’s clothes.
Li Xuemei wondered where Mrs. Gu had gone.
Who could have left Mr. Gu? Mrs. Gu surely couldn’t have left him.
Isn’t this supposed to be a marriage?
The old man was sick, and the old woman was nowhere to be found.
Who had been bringing him food?
Gu Ruhai wiped his tears; it wasn’t the time to cry, he needed to find out what exactly had happened.
He went straight to the neighboring house.
Asking Gu Rushan wouldn’t be as good as asking others.
Li Xuemei and Gu Xiaoying used the dry wood left against the wall in the yard to fire up the stove and warm the bed.
It was freezing cold; a rural house was no match for a city house. Without this heated bed, how could a person bear it?
They boiled a large pot of water; everything in the kitchen was gone, with layers of dust several inches thick.
They washed Mr. Gu’s face and wiped his body. When they lifted the quilt, Li Xuemei was shocked.
She quickly told Gu Xiaoying to leave.
Mr. Gu lay under the quilt wearing only thin velvet clothes, unable to move. With no one to take care of him, he lay in a soiled mess of urine and feces, disgusting to anyone who saw it.
No wonder Mr. Gu had clung to the quilt so desperately at first—what an embarrassment.
Gu Ruhai entered the room with a few neighbors, and upon seeing the scene, his rage surged.
The neighbors exchanged glances and sighed.
Mr. Gu had always been shrewd and capable, handling his family’s affairs with awareness, yet in his old age, he could not escape the unfilial conduct of his children.
What a miserable sight.
Seeing several old acquaintances, Mr. Gu closed his eyes and wept.
The elderly people gathered around Mr. Gu, consoling him: "Old Gu, everyone faces this day. Why didn’t you speak up earlier?"
"That wife of yours, too—I thought your illness wasn’t serious. Even when you’re bedridden and unable to move, no one takes you to the hospital for treatment."
"Hey, your wife goes to Gu Rushan’s house all the time, so I thought everything was fine with you."
"Aren’t all these children bringing trouble?"
Gu Ruhai sent Li Xuemei out, then personally cleaned Mr. Gu’s body, changed him into clean clothes, and replaced the filthy bedding with fresh ones, tidying up Mr. Gu completely.
The elderly folks sat together and began talking.
Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei threw the bedding aside; it was beyond cleaning, not fit for use anymore, and had become unbearably odoriferous over time.
The yard was swept clean.
Li Xuemei placed the items brought in beside the bed and first mixed a cup of milk powder, which was originally bought for the two elderly people, and now came in handy.
Gu Ruhai fed a bowl to Mr. Gu, and the bluish hue on his face eased somewhat.
It turned out that after Gu Ruhai and the others left, they hadn’t returned.
Just last fall, Gu Xiaocheng from Gu Rushan’s family got engaged to the daughter of the county’s tax bureau chief. The entire family was delighted, but the bride’s family demanded a dowry of three thousand yuan and four major items, along with gold jewelry.
Customarily, the four major items these days were the latest for city dwellers: color TV, refrigerator, washing machine, and motorcycle, along with gold jewelry like rings, necklaces, and earrings.
All this cost at least ten thousand yuan, not to mention the money needed to prepare a new house and host a banquet.
Gu Rushan and his wife were in anguish.
They were just two poor farmers, where would they find so much money?
Having no choice, they sought the old man’s counsel.
What was there to discuss?
Gu Rushan’s pocket only had three thousand yuan.
They checked how much money the old man had left.
Mr. Gu had five thousand yuan in total, and this included the money from when Gu Ruhai initially cut ties.
With much persuasion and promises, they finally got the old man to hand over the money.
With a thousand assurances, pledging that Gu Rushan would take care of the two old people’s retirement later.
Only then did they receive the money.
The engagement was set, with plans for a spring wedding the following year.
No sooner was it arranged.
At the start of winter, Mr. Gu accidentally fell while going out, leading to the incident.
He ended up bedridden, unable to get up.
Mrs. Gu initially intended to take Mr. Gu to the county hospital for an examination, but the family had no money.
She then sought out Gu Rushan.
It wasn’t easy—Gu Rushan adamantly claimed he couldn’t produce the money.
He coaxed Mrs. Gu, saying it was an old ailment of Mr. Gu’s.
Incurable.
Just lay there to recuperate.
Mrs. Gu had no solution. She approached the third son, Gu Ruhe, who was even more strapped for cash. All the money at home was tightly controlled by Xiao Xue, who merely gave Mrs. Gu twenty yuan, telling her to take care of Mr. Gu as best as she could.
And so, Mr. Gu was left lying there every day.
Over time, he became entirely immobile.
Every day he needed care; Mrs. Gu was elderly herself and couldn’t endure this exhaustive routine every day. She thought about having Jiang Xiulan take care of him, believing since it was the second son who took their money, they should be responsible for the elderly’s care.
But Jiang Xiulan refused.
A big argument followed.
Gu Rushan, resorting to a bad idea, took Mrs. Gu to live at their house, considering Mrs. Gu was still fairly agile and could help them with chores.
Also claiming it showed filial piety, they left Mr. Gu alone here. Although they had Mrs. Gu delivering food daily, it was just cornmeal paste, two meals a day at most.
Claiming the family wasn’t well-off.
They moved all the valuable belongings from Mr. Gu’s house.
Outwardly, they claimed Mr. Gu was somewhat unhealthy, but didn’t say how bad it was, making everyone think he would just recover after resting a bit.
Little did they know, Mr. Gu was practically left to die.
If not for Gu Ruhai returning today and asking around, nobody would have known. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com)