Chapter 16
A Blind Cat Caught a Dead Rat
Lu Jiao brewed the medicine as she thought it over. Outside the courtyard, much noise appeared. The noise was also mixed with heart-wrenching cries.
Lu Jiao focused and listened and realized that the noise came from Second Grandma’s house. What happened over there?
Lu Jiao remembered how kind the Second Grandma was and decided to go check it out. Efficiently, she put out the fire underneath the crock.
Just as she stepped outside, she found the four little ones peeking out the door in terror.
Lu Jiao quickly comforted the four little ones, “It’s okay. Go back inside and stay with daddy. I’ll go and see what happened.”
The four little ones retreated right away. Lu Jiao walked to her neighbor’s in giant steps.
By the time she arrived, she saw that many people from the village were there. They stood around in the yard and chitchatted.
“I heard Xiaobao got a fish bone stuck in his throat.”
“If a fish bone is stuck, you have to eat something dry to push it down.”
Lu Jiao listened to the villagers as they chatted and peeked inside the room. Inside the room, the Second Grandma and her oldest daughter-in-law had begun to cry from anxiety.
Xie Xiaobao was the youngest son of Lady Zhao. He was only 13 years old and was very spoiled in this family. This young man had a rather good reputation.
When he had some free time, he would go up the mountains to hunt birds or go into the rivers to catch fish. He never bullied little kids nor did he ever steal or sneak around. He was rather likable. Nobody could expect him to get hurt like this today.
Inside the room, the Second Grandma’s eldest son, Xie Laifu, gritted through his teeth, “Let’s bring Xiaobao to Chuntang Hospital immediately.”
Xie Laifu’s eldest son, Xie Hu, hurriedly left to borrow an ox cart.
Lu Jiao watched everything unfold before her and couldn’t help but step forward. For a fish bone to get stuck wasn’t exactly a big deal. But it wasn’t a small matter either. If the fishbone slid into the esophagus, it would become troublesome. It would be fine if the fishbone slid into the stomach though.
The villagers noticed Lu Jiao the moment she stepped out. Each one of them started to mumble.
“What is that woman doing out here?”
“She’s here to gossip. Xiaobao is in pain yet she came to watch the show. How heartless.”
“She’s always been like this. Stop talking about her. If you provoke her, she’ll make a scene again.”
People said all sorts of things. Within the crowd, a soft and thin voice arose, “She doesn’t even care about her own man and children. Let alone other people’s.”
Lu Jiao turned her head just in time to watch Shen Xiu nonchalantly say this to the others.
The person beside Shen Xiu instantly cursed, “It’s unfortunate for the Xie Village to have such a scourge.”
Lu Jiao’s gaze was unspeakably cold. She cooly glared at Shen Xiu and then turned back to walk into the Xie main room.
Inside the Xie family’s main room, everyone had perspired from stress. The moment Lady Zhao saw Lu Jiao walk in, she started to curse angrily.
“You jinx. What are you doing inside my home? Are you happy to see my Xiaobao in pain?”
Lady Zhao’s words earned a glare from the Second Grandma, “Just what are you saying?”
The Second Grandma looked over to Lu Jiao, “Jiaojiao, is something the matter?”
Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow, “I can help Xiaobao and take out the fish bone.”
Her words made everyone inside the room freeze. Only Xie Xiaobao continued to cry.
Outside, people didn’t hear clearly and asked, “What did Lu Jiao say?”
Someone repeated, “She said she can help Xiaobao take out the fish bone.”
Her words made everyone inside the yard sarcastic.
“She sure dares to speak. I hope she doesn’t hurt Xiaobao.”
“She’s trying to show off again.”
“She’s only been good at bullying the kids before. Now she’s pretending to know how to treat kids?”
Lady Zhao heard what everyone was saying and her face grew ugly. She pointed at Lu Jiao and screamed, “Get the **** out of here!”
Lu Jiao glanced at Lady Zhao. She didn’t try to persuade her. She had spoken honestly and if Lady Zhao didn’t want to believe her, then that’s not her problem.
Lu Jiao turned to leave. Behind her, the Second Grandma chased after Lu Jiao, “Jiaojiao, tell me, can you really take out the fish bone?”
Lu Jiao stopped walking and turned back to look at the Second Grandma. This Grandma has had a hard life to have lost her husband young and to have raised her four children by herself. Despite the hardships, she managed to maintain her kind heart.
“I can.”
The Second Grandma instantly turned to look at Lady Zhao. Lady Zhao had her arms around Xiaobao as if someone was there to hurt him.
“Mom, you cannot treat Xiaobao as a joke. Do you not know what that woman was like? She takes pleasure in causing others pain and is known to be a bully. Look at how much she’s hit her own four children. You really believe she’s kind enough to help Xiaobao with the fish bone?”
Lady Zhao then shouted at Lu Jiao, “You, leave right now!”
Lu Jiao turned to leave. She had to get back and brew medicine anyway.
Behind her, Xie Laifu stopped her, “Yunjin’s wife, can you really take out the bone?”
Lu Jiao was now impatient and frowned, “Yes.”
Xie Laifu clenched his teeth and looked over at Lady Zhao, “Let Yunjin’s wife try.”
Lady Zhao didn’t agree and held onto Xiaobao. She directed her anger at Xie Laifu, “You want our Xiaobao to die?”
Xie Laifu was angry as well, “Look at how much pain Xiaobao is in. Who knows what will happen once he’s at the hospital. What if he becomes mute and can no longer speak? Would you be satisfied then?”
Lady Zhao silenced and started to cry while he held onto her son. However, she no longer insisted Lu Jiao should leave.
Lu Jiao walked over to Xie Xiaobao, “Endure for a moment. Open your mouth and let me see where the bone is.”
While Xie Xiaobao was in a great deal of pain, he was 13 after all. After Lu Jiao’s instructions, he opened his mouth despite the pain.
Lu Jiao stared but couldn’t see well. The lighting here was far too dim. She indicated for someone to come over with an oil lamp. But still, it wasn’t clear.
Lu Jiao took out a mouth stretcher from her space and placed it into Xiaobao’s mouth. Lady Zhao instantly started to scream, “What are you doing? What is that?”
Lu Jiao answered leisurely, “A mouth stretcher. This can hold his mouth open so I can see clearly where the bone is.”
She then located the fish bone, “It’s okay. The bone didn’t slide into the esophagus. I will take it out for him.”
Lu Jiao then secretly took out a thin and long tweezer. Then, she followed the light and extracted the fish bone.
No wonder he was in so much pain. The fish bone was large and was stuck on the bottom of his throat. That would’ve made it very painful.
“It’s okay. It’s over. The fish bone is out.”
Lu Jiao then put away the mouth stretcher and the tweezer.
The Xie family’s faces were all in disbelief. It was that simple? It was that easy?
Xie Xiaobao swallowed a few times. Since the pain was gone, he had stopped crying.
Lady Zhao rubbed his neck, “My son, does it still hurt?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m not in pain.”
Outside the room, everyone was stunned to watch this happen. Such a big problem was resolved just like that?
When did that fat woman become so capable?
Lu Jiao had her mind on Xie Yunjin’s medicine. She left right after she took out the bone. The Xie family was so happy they didn’t even notice.
The villagers in the yard, however, cleared a path for Lu Jiao. This was because her actions shocked everyone.
As people watched her leave, someone said, “Yunjin’s wife feels different now.”
“Yes, I think she’s different from before as well.”
Shen Xie listened to these comments and her heart burned like a flame. Angrily, she sputtered, “A blind cat caught a dead rat, that’s all. Do you really expect something from her?”