A century of poverty

Chapter 9 Blindness

The Third Master and Third Mistress seized most of the family property and kicked the Second Mistress and her son out.

This year, I hope I've just turned nine (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning).

This was not their ultimate goal; he still wanted to drive the mother and her children away alone. This was just the first step in his change of tactics.

Second Madam knew she had been terribly wronged. She was stunned by the scene and pressed her fingerprint on the document. She was helpless; with the head of the household gone, how would she live from now on? Tears streamed down her face.

She was in a daze with a splitting headache, and she didn't know what time it was or why it wasn't dawn yet. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

"Mom! Why aren't you cooking yet? I'm starving!" the son called out hopefully.

"It's not even light yet, and you're already cooking?" Second Grandma replied.

Hope: "It's bright now, the sun is out."

Xiaodie also said, "Yes, Mom, the sun is already so high."

"Why does it still look so dark to me?" Second Grandma said.

Xiaodie, hoping to get a closer look at her mother, asked anxiously as she saw her mother blinking, "Mom, what's wrong with your eyes? Why aren't you rolling your eyes?"

Hope, too, was anxious: "Mom, Mom, can you see me?"

The two children, terrified and in tears, shook their mother's shoulders, creating a chaotic scene.

Second Grandma knew something was wrong; her head still ached. She said, "Don't be afraid. Hopefully, you'll go to Xidang Street and find your aunt."

"Mom, I will." Hope agreed, got out of bed, put on her shoes, and went outside.

A moment later, Hope led her aunt in hurriedly. "Little sister, what's wrong?" Moo-headed Mom asked as soon as she entered the room.

"I'm sick. My head hurts terribly, and I can't see. Go to Diaoyutai and find his second uncle. Tell him to bring some money and take me to see a doctor."

"Okay! Okay! I'll go right away. You wait for me at home!" Moo-tou's mother was a straightforward person, and she agreed and left.

Xiaodie is thirteen years old. She is sensible enough to go to the fields, carry firewood, and boil water to help her mother get up and wash.

"Mom! Should we tell Grandpa?" she asked her mother.

"No need, the people in the house across the street are waiting to laugh at us!" Second Grandma replied.

Second Grandma told Xiaodie how to make something to eat, and the mother and children waited for Second Uncle to arrive.

In the afternoon, Moo-tou's mother came back and told her second uncle to come early tomorrow morning to take you to see a doctor, and that you should just wait at home.

Grandma said, "Thank you, cousin. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Moo-tou's Mom: "What trouble or not? We're not outsiders. Even if we were, helping out is the least we can do."

The next day, the second uncle finished breakfast early, took some money, and led the donkey to his sister's house. Xiaodie had also prepared and eaten for her mother and children that morning, and helped her mother onto the donkey. The second uncle said, "Take hope with you."

Second Uncle led the donkey, and Hope followed. The group went out down the big slope, passed a village to the south, crossed the South River, and headed west through the South Pass towards Luan County.

On the flat road heading west, the second uncle quickened his pace and asked his nephew if he was tired. Hope said he wasn't. After less than twenty li, they crossed the Luan River, and Luanzhou City was in sight.

Luanzhou City, a strategically important location east of Jindong, has witnessed the civil and military affairs of these years, making it famous far and wide.

My second uncle was very familiar with this town. He led my sister to "Renyitang" with his donkey. Renyitang was a well-established clinic in the area, and the traditional Chinese medicine doctor Zhao Yiming was in his prime, renowned for his excellent medical skills and character. My second uncle brought my sister in, hoping she would stay by his side.

Dr. Zhao, tall and with a square face, possessed a calm and patient demeanor, attending to each patient with care. His second grandmother sat opposite him, while his second uncle and Xiwang stood behind him.

While taking the pulse, the doctor asked about the symptoms and examined the upper and lower eyelids with his hands.

He calmly replied, "Your sister's eyes are 'blinded by internal heat'!"

The second uncle asked, "Can it be cured?"

Doctor: "It's hard to say. I'll prescribe some medicine for you, and it will definitely help alleviate the symptoms."

"Can't it be completely cured?" Second Grandma asked.

"To fully recover, after you've taken the medicine and your condition has stabilized, you can go to a Western medicine hospital in Tianjin or Beijing for surgery to remove the 'monkey' (a lesion). The results will be even better," Dr. Zhao explained clearly. He then wrote out a prescription and gestured to the clerk at the counter to fill it.

After paying the bill and handing the medicine to Xiwang, the second uncle helped his sister outside to mount the donkey. He then took the medicine from Xiwang and put it in the pack bag. He took his sister and nephew to a small restaurant for a quick meal and a rest.

Now that the illness was clear, he wasn't so anxious anymore. Afraid of tiring himself with hope, his second uncle slowed his pace on the way back.

When I got home, the sun was still high in the sky. I was very tired from the trip, so I sat down as soon as I got home.

Second Uncle asked Xiaodie to find a medicine pot, set up a fire in the yard, and taught her how to brew the medicine. Xiaodie remembered everything. Before it got dark, Second Uncle led the donkey home.

Xiaodie served her mother medicine once in the morning and once in the evening, just as her uncle had instructed.

Seven days passed, and the medicine was finished. Sure enough, Grandma's headache was gone, and her eyesight had improved. Although she still couldn't see clearly, she could vaguely make out something.

Xiaodie asked, "Mom, we're out of medicine. Should we have Uncle come again tomorrow and take you to Luanzhou to get more, Mom?"

Grandma replied, "No, this time it was all paid for by your second uncle, and it was quite a lot. We don't have any money left, and we'll have to pay it back later anyway. Let's wait until we have more money before we get treatment."

Hope was there. This time, while accompanying his mother to see an eye doctor, he overheard his husband's words and silently made a promise to himself: when he had the money in the future, he would definitely take his mother to have surgery to remove the growth on her eye.