Chapter 177: Falling Ill, Appalling
Bai Ruozhu was surprised to see Granny Wang kneeling down in such earnest. True, considering Granny Wang’s character, it wasn’t unusual for her to kneel for a bit of silver, but Xi Ya was genuinely pitiful. This situation made both her and Yu Hongxiu feel awkward.
Xi Ya quickly got up, and with a ’plop’ knelt on the ground, her voice trembling as she spoke, "Please, Madam, buy Xi Ya."
Upon seeing this, Fang Guizhi’s mother became flustered. Before Yu Hongxiu could respond, she snapped at Granny Wang, "The Madam has chosen our Guizhi. What are you two doing? Just because she’s pitiful, does the Madam have to choose her? Did the Madam owe you anything?"
Despite the harsh words, Guizhi’s mother did make some sense.
Granny Wang, being of higher status in the village than Guizhi’s Mother and a formidable figure, glared back at her and pointed, "They are so poor they have nothing to eat and are looking for silver to save their lives! Is your family that poor? So desperate for money that you’re selling your daughter? You aren’t afraid of being stigmatized by the village, even purposely having your daughter wear tattered clothes, not even ashamed!"
Guizhi’s mother didn’t seem to care, but Fang Guizhi’s face turned an intense red. Bai Ruozhu felt uncomfortable and was about to say something in Granny Wang’s defense, but Guizhi’s mother’s resilience was unexpectedly strong, and she immediately retorted.
"Stop with all the pretending, how could you possibly know our troubles? It’s you, you claim your distant relatives are in difficulty, but you’re just trying to embezzle their slave-sale silver. So greedy, are you not afraid Lord Yama will chop off your hands when you die?"
"For people that make money by selling daughters, wouldn’t they descend into the eighteen layers of hell?" Granny Wang retorted fiercely. The argument escalated, and the words grew harsher. Bai Ruozhu, seeing that Yu Hongxiu had begun to frown in discomfort, had no choice but break up the verbal fight.
"Enough! Stop the arguing, lest the Madam is offended." Bai Ruozhu, somewhat exasperated, snapped.
Granny Wang had already stood up, but Xi Ya continued to kneel and refused to rise.
"Oh, Ruozhu, are you not going to speak up for Xi Ya? If you sell Guizhi, are you not afraid of being mocked by the villagers that you’ve even sold your best friend?" Granny Wang sarcastically retorted.
Upon hearing this, Fang Guizhi anxiously looked at Bai Ruozhu. She hadn’t expected that her predicament could harm Bai Ruozhu’s reputation, otherwise she wouldn’t have agreed to this at all.
At this point, Bai Ruozhu, angered, coldly regarded Granny Wang and said, "Your remark is strange Granny Wang, I am not Guizhi’s parent, how could I have the right to sell her? Her family has difficulties, and this was the only solution to help. I hardly see where I’ve done wrong."
Guizhi’s mother quickly chimed in, "Yes, we had to resort to this due to our difficulties. I am truly thankful to Ruozhu."
"Enough with your pretense, Ruozhu, surely you’re benefiting from this too?" Granny Wang’s beady eyes squinted, her speech considered no longer tactful; she seemed to have forgotten that Madam Xie was still present.
Bai Ruozhu put on a distressed expression and said, "Guizhi’s family urgently needs money. If she doesn’t become a maid, she would have to marry an elderly widower who is said to have beaten his previous wives to death. It is out of compassion for my dear friend that I’ve got involved in this."
Having said that, she turned to Guizhi’s mother and asked, "Right, Auntie?"
Guizhi’s mother’s face darkened at the mention of forcing her daughter to marry a widower who had beaten his former wives to death. But fearful that Madam Xie might change her mind, she grit her teeth and acknowledged this.
Granny Wang, hearing this, had her eyes squinting again, "How desperate must one be for money? I have never seen a mother so heartless before."
Upon seeing that the argument had more or less ended, Yu Hongxiu let out a light cough, instantly silencing everyone. Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but envy her aura. The difference between them was obvious- one was an affluent lady while the other a** poor.
"Enough, all this arguing is giving me a headache. I’m a woman of my word. I said I’d buy Guizhi, so it’s Guizhi. But I can’t let the Wang’s leave empty-handed. I’ll reward both of you with a silver liang," Yu Hongxiu nonchalantly declared.
On hearing about the reward, Granny Wang immediately looked delighted. Madam Yu’s maid handed over the reward to her, disdain clearly visible on the maid’s face, upon seeing Granny Wang’s greediness.
Guizhi’s mother’s eyes shone, if a single silver liang was given just for nothing, the price for later ought be easily negotiable. Maybe there would be rewards for Guizhi out of the blue, the money saved could help sustain their family.
Just as Guizhi’s mother was lost in wishful thinking, she suddenly heard a ’thud’ and someone fell by her side, violently hitting the floor, the sound was absolutely terrifying.
Bai Ruozhu too was startled. It was only then that she realized Xi Ya had suddenly fainted. She originally thought it was just due to malnutrition, but then Xi Ya’s body began to convulse, and foam began to form at her mouth.
"My god, what’s happening to her? Her eyes have rolled back!" Guizhi’s mother, being the nearest one, screamed and jumped away, making sure she was a safe distance from Xi Ya. Guizhi was frightened as well, but out of sympathy, she wanted to help Xi Ya.
"Don’t touch her. It’s epilepsy, also known as insanity of the sheep. Stay with her; I’ll be right back," Bai Ruozhu quickly said and then ran off.
In Madam Yu’s household, there weren’t any people with epilepsy. This was her first-time seeing a person suffer a seizure, which scared her quite a bit. Fortunately, her maid shielded her, otherwise one more look would devastate her. However, the little maid was also somewhat afraid, her body slightly trembling.
Bai Ruozhu ran back to her room to get a silver needle. In her past life, she had encountered a similar situation while on the subway. A man suddenly fell and started having a seizure and foaming at the mouth. Everyone else ran away, leaving him laying convulsively alone on the floor. It was her who called for help and a kind young man helped to take him off the subway.
Fortunately, she was a student of traditional medicine, and with a few needles, she was able to stabilize him. The subway staff that arrived at the scene praised her incessantly.
Bai Ruozhu shook her head. Why ponder over past events? She was firmly rooted in this world now.
Lin Ping, busy in the kitchen, heard the commotion and asked when she saw her, "Ruozhu, what happened?"
"Mother, come help me, Xi Ya is having an epileptic seizure." After saying this, Bai Ruozhu turned around and rushed back to the main hall with the silver needle, immediately starting to prick Xi Ya with it.
After a few needles, Xi Ya normalized. She stopped convulsing, and her eyes steadied. Everyone in the room praised Bai Ruozhu for her ability.
Once Xi Ya regained consciousness, she still couldn’t get up on her own. Bai Ruozhu helped her up, had her mother heat some water to clean Xi Ya’s face and rinse her mouth, then gave her some rice soup to drink, finally, some color returned to Xi Ya’s pale face.
"How many years have you had this ailment?" Bai Ruozhu asked.
Xi Ya didn’t dare to respond and kept casting glances at Granny Wang. Bai Ruozhu understood, Granny Wang knew about Xi Ya’s epilepsy. Bai Ruozhu turned to Granny Wang, but seeing her reluctance to say anything, she simply went over to Xi Ya and took her pulse.
"You’ve had this since you were little, right? Congenital sicknesses are hard to cure." Bai Ruozhu asked.