Yang Ruqing felt Wu Shu's strength was great, she couldn't hold on at all, and hurriedly shouted to Sun Shi who was still wiping tears by the bed, as if she had completely entered another world: "Mother, come here and help!"

Sun finally came to her senses. Looking at the situation, she panicked again and hurriedly came over to grab Yang Huazhou's other arm, whispering in a low voice, "Fifth brother, we all know your intentions. Things have come to this, Granny has made up her mind, if we, as juniors, go against it, what good will it do? It's the middle of the night, making such a commotion, waking up the neighbors, letting the whole village laugh at our Yang family!"

Yang Huazhou stood frozen, his brow furrowed with bulging veins.

Yang Ruoqing didn't agree with Sun's words from the bottom of her heart. They were too old-fashioned! But at this moment, she couldn't spare the time to correct them. She could only persuade Yang Huazhou, who was on the verge of exploding: "Fifth Uncle, please calm down. Grandma and Grandpa just had this idea. That Wang woman won't come to our house for a few days. We can't be impulsive. Let me wait until my father wakes up, and then we'll sit down and discuss how to handle this!"

>

"Qing'er is right, Fifth Brother, you should go back to your room and rest. Let's keep this quiet for now!" Mrs. Sun also advised.

Yang Huazhou glanced at the mother and daughter beside him, sighed deeply, and nodded with a look of grief and indignation. "Then I'll go back to my room first. If there is any movement at night, just shout. My house is next door!"

OK, you go first!

After Yang Huazhou left, Mrs. Sun stumbled and almost fell.

Yang Ruqing glanced at Sun's nearly lifeless face, and the wound on her forehead, her brows furrowed slightly. This night's upheaval had taken its toll on Sun!

“Mother, please sit down and rest for a moment. I’ll get you some water and wipe your face!”

Leaning on the long bench at the bedside, Fu Zhu settled down. Yang Ruqing turned and walked towards the washbasin stand in the corner by the wall.

A basin for washing face sat on the washstand, with most of the clean, cold water still remaining. Yang Ruqing placed the yellowed towel that was draped beside it into the water to soak it through, wrung out its excess water forcefully, and turned towards the bedside.

"Mother, don't kneel or kowtow to anyone anymore. If words can't resolve a matter, even if we smash our heads against the ground, it won't help!"

She whispered softly to Sun, lifting her slightly disheveled bangs with her fingers and carefully placing a folded handkerchief against Sun's swollen forehead. Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! ?

A cold compress can help cool damaged capillaries and alleviate discomfort at the site of a sunburned wound to some extent.

Sun Shi made no sound, only looked at Yang Ruoqing with guilt in her eyes, "It's mother who is useless..."

>

Yang Ruqing knew what Mrs. Sun wanted to express, and she also sighed inwardly. In this backward and isolated rural area of ancient times, feudal ideas were very serious.

Strict parental authoritarianism, patriarchal preference for sons over daughters, and feudal superstition... these are all shackles that oppress people!

Yang Ruqing couldn't help but imagine that if Old Yang and Tan insisted on selling her, even if Mrs. Sun pleaded with them desperately, it would be useless.

>

A flash of coldness crossed her eyes. Want to sell me off? Humph, I'm not that naive and foolish fatty from before, I won't let you guys toy with me anymore!

"Qing'er, don't be afraid, tomorrow your mother will go again to beg your grandmother and grandfather not to sell you!" Sun shi looked at Yang Ruqing with swollen eyes, her voice already hoarse beyond recognition!

Yang Ruqing was speechless, but her heart still warmed slightly. She looked up at Mrs. Sun and immediately gave her a sweet smile, nodding lightly.

"Mother, I'll go boil some hot water. Let's soak our feet together and then go to bed. We've been busy all day!" Yang Ruqing said, standing up to go to the kitchen, but was held back by Sun Shi.

"It's pitch black out there, you stay inside! I'm going out!"

Mrs. Sun ignored Yang Ruqing's objections, took the handkerchief off her forehead after a moment, and placed it back on the washstand. She picked up the large ceramic basin, turned around, and walked out of the room.

In a short while, Mrs. Sun brought back a basin full of steaming hot water. Mother and daughter made do by wiping their faces haphazardly, then soaked their feet in the hot water. Yang Ruqing, having just recovered from a serious illness, hadn't regained her energy yet. She had been holding on all night, but now as she put her feet in the hot water, a warm feeling spread throughout her body, so comfortable that she couldn't help but sigh with relief.

Before she could even lift her feet out of the water to dry them, she fell asleep on the long bench. In the end, it was Mrs. Sun who dried her feet and carried her back to the neighboring room, placing her on the hard wooden plank bed.

Sun gently pulled the slightly damp blanket over Yang Ruqing's body, leaning down slightly. His rough fingers lightly caressed Yang Ruqing's forehead, his eyes filled with tenderness and guilt.

Qing'er, don't be afraid, Mother would risk her own life to protect you!

Yang Huaming sat on a stool by the bed. Liu, with her big belly, squatted halfway in front of Yang Huaming and was washing his feet.

A single green bean-sized oil lamp illuminated the room, flickering weakly. Liu lifted her face to look at Yang Huaming who was leaning back in a chair, squinting with eyes like an old man. She lowered her voice and said, "Father Ho'er, I want to talk to you about something."

"What's up?" Yang Huaming asked without opening his eyes.

Liu pursed her lips and said, "You're saying that if the third brother is truly disabled, wouldn't the third house really collapse? Wouldn't the three children in the third house have to rely on all of us to support them?"

“That's obvious, isn't it? But what can we do about it? Our parents are still healthy. As long as they're around, humph, our Yang family better not even think about splitting up!” Yang Huaming said.

Living together like this, even though our pockets might not be full of money, it's nice to have big communal meals. And if I slack off a bit, no one really notices.

“Alright, let's not talk about the third house anymore. My ears are hurting from all the noise last night. You didn't tell me what happened. What's going on?” Yang Huaming immediately asked Liu Shi again.

“What I want to discuss with you is related to the third house!” Liu said, while wiping Yang Huaming’s feet dry with a towel and putting his shoes on. She glanced at him and said, “The children of the third house are all raised by everyone. Why don't we take a chance and ask our parents to adopt Xiao An from the third house into our family? We won't raise him ourselves anyway. Once he is adopted, he will be our child. When we are old, there will be a son to wait on us. Even after we die, there will be someone to clean up.”

Before Liu could finish her words, Yang Huaming kicked her in the stomach. She flew backward and landed hard on her backside, a wet footprint on her chest.