Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 222: 220: Father Di visits the sick, Father-son affection is strong.

He was only sick, not stupid!

Since Ruo Ning wasn’t his biological child, she was spoiled and pampered since she was little. She was always fearful of being bumped or injured, attracting gossip and attention. They kept her close and gave her all the best food and drink, which eventually developed in her a selfish, self-serving nature.

Ah-Bao was spoiled by Ms. Zhao, and had never seriously accomplished anything by his twenties.

On the contrary, Third Child had been through hardships since he was little. He endured much more suffering and had to swallow his blood along with the pain of his knocked-out teeth.

“Father, Ye Lei! There’s plenty of time to talk. It’s more important to take care of your health. Let’s eat first and then talk slowly.”

Liu Sisi had just scooped out rabbit meat from the kitchen and happily placed it on the side table, followed by Di Xuan holding vegetables.

This small table was originally placed in the kitchen, but it was moved here to facilitate Di Yelei’s meal.

As Liu Sisi set the meal, she happily said, “I was just about to have Xuan’er bring food to you, Father. It’s a good thing you’re here ourselves, saving us the back-and-forth. Here, Father, let Sisi help you sit down.”

Pretending not to notice the teary-eyed siblings, Liu Sisi carefully helped the Elderly Mr. Di to sit down in the superior position.

She carefully passed the cooked dishes and even spooned some soup into a small bowl, and also picked up some easy-to-chew rabbit meat.

“Father, please eat. There’s plenty more here.”

As Liu Sisi was speaking, she poured more soup and picked up more meat for Di Yelei, handing him a bowl of rice. Di Yelei had injured his back, so sleeping had not been comfortable for him. Although he was stubborn about eating on his own, it was quite difficult.

“Xuan’er and YingEr, they…”

Elderly Mr. Di was still worried about his two young grandsons.

“Grandfather, you eat first. Xuan’er and YingEr will be here in a moment.”

While they were talking, Di Xuan placed a serving of steamed egg custard in front of Elderly Mr. Di: “Grandfather, this egg custard is soft and easy to swallow. It’s perfect for you since your teeth are not good.”

Di Xuan displayed a bit of Di Yelei’s demeanor at this moment!

He already looked 70-80% similar to Di Yelei. After a few months of learning, he’s even developed an air of scholarly elegance. Wearing a blue cloth short outfit, he stood with grace at the lower end, gazing straight at his grandfather.

At a glance, Elderly Mr. Di couldn’t help but mistake him for a younger Di Yelei and whispered, “Third child…”

“Father! That’s your grandson, Di Xuan. Don’t you recognize him?”

Di Yelei’s heart ached, and his hand trembled as he reached for the chopsticks.

His feeble father, who had difficulty even walking, was a shadow of his former strong, powerful self. Now he couldn’t even recognize people. How could Di Yelei not feel sad?

Elderly Mr. Di stared for a long time before finally nodding, “You look like your brother when he was little…”

Liu Sisi also laughed, “Right? You’re absolutely correct, Father. Many people say that Xuan’er looks just like Yelei when he was little, like a carbon copy. But they say he looks even more like his Eldest Uncle. I haven’t met him, so I don’t know if he really does.”

“He does look like Hongyuan, he…”

Upon mentioning this topic, Elderly Mr. Di suddenly stopped speaking. Back then, Hongyuan opposed his father’s marriage to Ms. Zhao, so he left home in a huff and never kept in touch. Now, it seemed that Hongyuan had foresight. Since Ms. Zhao entered Di Family, they had never lived in peace for even a day.

He fell silent for a moment, then slowly began eating with his bamboo chopsticks.

Once he started eating, Liu Sisi realized that his left side was the disobedient one. His left hand shook terribly when he tried to support the bowl, but his right hand was still quite agile.

“Mom! Mom, is the food ready yet? YingEr is hungry! Mom, YingEr is home!”

YingEr’s voice rang out outside, accompanied by the low, whining pleas of Ah-Huang and Ah-Hua, and they quickly rushed into the kitchen.

After looking around, she didn’t find anything. She immediately crawled out and asked, “Huh? Where did everyone go? Mom——” As she was speaking, footsteps quickly approached the inner room.

“This child is becoming more and more unruly.”

Liu Sisi shook her head with a smile and added another bowl of rice.

“Sister, lower your voice. What’s all the shouting about? Grandfather is in the inner room.”

Di Xuan who went to greet her scolded, and soon there was no more noise outside.

Not long after, the siblings appeared at the entrance, one behind the other.

YingEr has become even more adorable, sweetly smiling at Elderly Mr. Di, she blurted out, “Grandfather, are you here to see my father? YingEr didn’t know Grandfather was coming, otherwise, I would have helped you over here.”

Her words amused everyone in the room.

“Hurry up and wash your hands and come eat, just look at how dirty your little hands are!” Liu Sisi quickly said.

“Alright, Mom! This is the medicine Uncle Zhang prepared for Dad, and I brought it back. I’ll leave it here.”

As she was speaking, she casually placed the bottle in her hand on the bedside cabinet, “Grandfather, my father’s injuries are very severe, there’s hardly a patch of unbruised skin on his back. Looking at his injuries, YingEr feels pain for father…”

“YingEr, hurry up and wash your hands.” Liu Sisi interrupted her.

“Alright, Mom.” As expected, Di Ying quickly left.

Though she left, she made everyone in the room silent.

Elderly Mr. Di moved his mouth and sighed for quite a while before reluctantly saying, “Ruoning… Third Child, it’s your father’s fault for being useless, unable… to-avenge you! Father…”

For a moment, he couldn’t say anything more.

“Dad! Stop talking like that! The situation is not something that can be explained in a few words… You…”

Di Yelei clearly didn’t know what to say either.

“Dad, let’s just let bygones be bygones. After all, Ruo Ning is my little sister and she’s pregnant. Anyway, they’re just superficial injuries, I’ll be fine after recovering. Let’s talk about the rest after my wounds are completely healed and my sister has given birth.”

Di Yelei’s words were clear – if they were going to discuss anything, it would have to wait until Di Ruoning had given birth.

“What superficial injuries? Didn’t Dad also break two ribs?” Di Ying quickly washed her hands and came back just in time to hear this and promptly retorted.

Her words immediately changed Elderly Mr. Di’s complexion!

Apparently, he had broken two ribs, and everyone had kept it from him! No wonder his always strong Third Child was bedridden.

“Superficial injuries are fine, eat… eat!”

Elderly Mr. Di couldn’t help but shed tears, burying his head and continued to eat, tears mixing with his rice.

The others exchanged glances, pretending not to see. The meal ended without any further discussion.

After dinner, Elderly Mr. Di didn’t leave but instead curled up in front of the sickbed and dozed off.

Di Yelei felt somewhat helpless, knowing that his father’s health was deteriorating and that he was more and more unwelcome in the old house. On top of the issue with Di Ah-bao, he had almost fallen out with Ms. Zhao and her son, and food was often withheld from him.

He wanted to take his father home to live with him, but according to the village’s customs, his father shouldn’t live with him regardless of his family’s arrangements.