40: Chapter 40: Madam Zhou’s Bitter Efforts 40: Chapter 40: Madam Zhou’s Bitter Efforts Madam Zhou looked at Wufu as she brought back the medicine and hurriedly began to prepare it, suddenly feeling a headache.
“Wufu, you go sit down, let mother take care of it.”
Wufu felt somewhat embarrassed as she looked at the chaotic scene.
She had never really made medicine before, especially not in such a primitive way.
In her “previous life”, even if she drank herbal medicine, it was always prepared by the hospital, divided into packets, and she just needed to heat it up when it was time to drink.
“Shall I cook instead?” Wufu offered with a sheepish smile.
Madam Zhou wanted to say there was no need, that she could handle it, but seeing the embarrassed look on her daughter’s face, her heart softened and she said, “Hmm, you start by washing the rice.”
The mother and daughter divided the tasks, one cooking the medicine, the other cooking the meal.
Madam Zhou looked at her daughter’s beautiful face and said, “Wufu, if that person wakes up, and after taking the medicine is able to leave, let him go.”
Wufu looked back and replied, “Okay.”
Madam Zhou’s face felt warm as she explained, “It’s not that I’m heartless, but people can be malicious and rumors are to be feared.
We’ve already done a good deed by saving him once and even had a doctor prepare medicine for him; our kindness and duty are fulfilled.
The Bodhisattva knows this and won’t think we’ve done wrong.
It’s good to save a life, but we can’t risk our own in the process.”
“Mother, there’s no need to explain; I understand,” Wufu said with a pursed smile, her heart flustered by the ancients’ preoccupation with reputation, but also knowing that a person’s nature isn’t easily changed.
Especially for someone like Madam Zhou, who from a young age was taught the old ways.
Actually, considering Madam Zhou was born in a rural area where the distinction between the sexes was relatively relaxed, it was unlikely she would have easily pledged her life to a man and conceived Wufu.
In the truly great clans, the chastity of women was scrutinized with exacting caution; if Madam Zhou had engaged in a union like she did, resulting in not being able to marry, she would probably have been reduced to bones long ago.
Madam Zhou knew that in matters of guarding against interactions between men and women, she actually had no right to be prescriptive, but precisely because of this, she feared her only daughter might tread the same mistaken path as herself, saying, “When mother was young, I made a mistake, a terrible mistake, so I don’t hope for you to…
She couldn’t continue, out of shame.
Madam Zhou’s complexion turned slightly gloomy, likely regretting her previous recklessness.
Hands pressed on her shoulders, Wufu patted them and said, “Mother, I understand all the bitter efforts you’ve made.” That was all she said; she was not good at comforting others.
Madam Zhou grabbed her hand, sniffled, and said, “The one I owe the most is you, making you endure so much—it’s my fault.”
Wufu remained silent.
In the end, all the faults were that man’s!
A faint sense of melancholy filled the kitchen, and Wufu, feeling unsettled, said, “I’ll go feed that man some ginger soup.”
As she spoke, she left the kitchen as if fleeing without waiting for Madam Zhou to respond.
Upon reaching the firewood shed, Ah Jiu was still curled up, but because of the fire basin, his expression was no longer as painful as it had initially been.
“Your mission is not a simple one,” Wufu mused as she sat cross-legged, gazing at his face.
Since Madam Zhou was so reluctant, he definitely couldn’t stay in their house to heal his wounds, which meant they needed a different place.
Oh well, they would make arrangements once he woke up.
Given that he possessed such a precious jade pendant, he must have been a person of some refinement – he would probably be unwilling to settle down in their humble home.
Wufu touched the Kirin jade pendant hanging from her chest and pursed her lips.
Soon after, Madam Zhou came with a bowl of black, sticky medicine.
Together they fed it to him, added another blanket, and Wufu insisted that her mother not go back to the firewood shed anymore.