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Li Xu’s face flushed with annoyance. He said indignantly to the middle-aged man, “Uncle, this person saved my life, please don’t speak inconsiderately.”

After speaking, he picked up his pack and led Chunniang and her daughter to a house surrounded by a dilapidated bamboo fence.

The room inside was dim, but it was clean and tidy.

“Mother!” Li Xu put down his backpack and ran into the room.

On the wooden bed in the room lay an elderly woman with silvery hair. Hearing the sound, she struggled to get up from the bed, “Xuxu…”

Li Xu rushed over, knelt down in front of the bed and cried, “Mother, what’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”

The old woman with silvery hair was in tears, and she reached out with her thin hand to touch her son, “Xuxu, is it really you?”

“Mhm, it’s me, your son is back.”

Li Xu held the old woman’s hand as he wept. Seeming to remember something, he took out a small package from his bosom, pinched out a pill and stuffed it into the old woman’s mouth. “Mother, eat this. It was given by the Divine Doctor. The only reason I was able to come back to see you is because of this pill.”

The elderly woman swallowed the pill, choking on her words, “Xuxu, you’re really back… am I dreaming?”

Li Xu replied, “You’re not dreaming. I fell ill at the inn, and fortunately, I was saved by the Divine Doctor. Only then was I able to escape death.”

Upon hearing these words, the elderly woman, An, burst into loud weeping, “My son, it’s all because I’m good for nothing. I wanted to come meet you after receiving your letter, but I tripped and sprained my ankle on the road.”

At that time, her ankle was so swollen that she couldn’t walk at all, so she had to turn to Xuxu’s uncle’s family for help.

Unfortunately, his uncle was not home during those few days, and his aunt outright refused, accusing her of making a big fuss out of a small matter.

Overcome with anger and distress, An fell ill that night and remained so for several days.

Afterwards, when his uncle returned, he told her that Li Xu had been arranged to recuperate at an inn, and that there was no need for the family to worry. Once he recovered, he would go directly to Prefecture City for the examination.

An felt somewhat relieved after hearing his words. After recuperating at home for a few days, her ankle injury improved slightly. However, her eyesight deteriorated and she was now nearly blind.

Noticing his mother’s unusual gaze, Li Xu quickly asked, “Mother, what’s wrong with your eyes? Can you see me?”

His mother had ruined her eyes from years of embroidery to support his studies, and was unable to see clearly at night.

But now it was daytime, and she couldn’t see clearly. Why was that?

“I can… I can see.” An, worried her son would be concerned, wiped away her tears and struggled to sit up. “Now that we have guests, I need to go out and greet them, so as not to be impolite.”

“Okay.” Li Xu helped his mother up, found her shoes, and began explaining how he had sent a letter to his uncle in Anping County.

Upon hearing this, An fell silent, but the tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

Outside the house, Yingbao, Chunniang, and Chen Zhao were waiting under the eaves of the house. Soon they saw Li Xu helping an elderly woman with silvery hair out of the house.

“Guests, please come inside to sit.” An slightly bowed in the direction of the figures, saying, “I apologize for the humble conditions of my home.”

Chunniang quickly answered with her two children, “Not at all, it’s us who are intruding.”

Li Xu looked around, went back into the house and carried a few stools out, arranging them under the eaves for Chunniang and the others.

Chunniang and An exchanged names and chatted for a bit before talking about Li Xu and what had happened at the inn.

Initially, Chunniang didn’t want to say much but An kept asking for more information.

When An learned that her son was at death’s door at the inn, she couldn’t help but sob and cover her face.

It turns out that after Li Xu sent the first letter to his mother, he wrote two more to his uncle, hoping his uncle would bring some silver to take him home.

Because An had never traveled far from home and her eyesight was poor, she could not possibly go to Anping County, which was over a hundred miles away, to fetch her son.

His uncle not only disregarded his nephew’s plea for help but also concealed the truth from his sister-in-law, nearly resulting in Li Xu’s death in a foreign land.

It was fortunate that the innkeeper was kind-hearted. He didn’t desert him, but instead got a doctor and medicine for Li Xu. With this, Li Xu managed to hang on for over two months until he met Yingbao.

With just a brief exchange with her son, An Family understood the situation and felt a mix of anger and desolation.

Her husband died young, and she, a widow, had raised her son in hardship, desperately saving money to send him to school.

Her son didn’t let her down. He passed the scholar examination at seventeen. He wasn’t an official scholar with an allocated rice supply, but he had land exempt from labor service tax.

As a woman, she couldn’t farm, so she gave the tax exemption benefits to her elder brother’s family.

She had hoped that if anything happened to her, her brother’s family would provide some support. Unexpectedly, they not only didn’t help but also didn’t lift a finger to save her son.

Almost noon, An Family stood up, “Mrs. Jiang, rest here. I’ll go cook.”

Chen Zhao politely stood up, “I’ll help you light the fire.”

An Family glanced at the young girl, and smiled, “I appreciate it.”

Meantime, Yingbao ran to get some tangerines from her bag and put them on the table as a gift.

News of Li Xu’s return spread swiftly through Sanba Village, attracting curious onlookers and sparking debate.

“Isn’t he supposed to take the local scholarship tests in August? Why did he come back now? It’s still only July.”

“My, he’s brought a woman back. Did he get entrapped by a widow and quit the examination?”

“Don’t you think that’s possible? Those two children must be the widow’s burdens.”

The villagers’ outrageous speculations inspired someone to tell Li Xu’s uncle, the village head, Li Jishan.

Li Jishan was pacing nervously in his home. On hearing the gossip, he hastily made his way to Li Xu’s house.

As soon as he entered the yard, he saw a beautiful woman in her thirties under the eaves. Her charm was in full bloom, even better than younger girls.

“Li Xu!” Li Jishan shouted, “Come out!”

Li Xu was pulling vegetables in the backyard for cooking. Hearing his uncle’s call, he immediately walked over.

“Uncle,” Li Xu asked flatly, “What’s the matter?”

Li Jishan, with his hands behind his back, rebuked angrily, “Why are you back now? Did you take the local scholarship test?”

Li Xu replied, “I’ve been sick in Anping County for over two months and just got a bit better. I can’t take the scholarship test.”

“Stop making up stories! I can see you’re smitten by a woman!” Li Jishan pointed at Mrs. Jiang, “Who is she? Why did she come with you?”

Li Xu immediately realized what his uncle was implying and was embarrassed, “Uncle! Mrs. Jiang saved my life! She’s a doctor!”

This was all he could say for the moment, or else he would only make things worse.

Their argument attracted a crowd that ogled Mrs. Jiang and Yingbao.

When Mrs. Jiang realized the villagers were targeting her, she got a bit flustered.

Yingbao urged her mother to retreat into the kitchen, then stood by Li Xu and asked, “Li Xu, who is this man?”

“Young doctor, this is my uncle,” Li Xu answered, “He’s also our village head.”

Yingbao calmly said, “Since you have an uncle and so many kinsfolk, how come no one helped when you were critically ill in the inn? Didn’t they know you were seriously ill in Anping County?”

Li Xu’s eyes welled up with tears, he sniffed and said, “I wrote two letters asking my uncle for help, but… but no one came to save me.”

Li Jishan turned black with anger and shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about? When did I receive your letters?”

Li Xu wiped his eyes and said calmly, still looking straight at his uncle, “If you didn’t receive my letters, then how did you know I was staying at the Penglai Inn? You even told my mother that you had arranged for me to rest and recuperate there. Uncle, when did you ever go to Anping County to arrange for my stay?”