Chapter 613 — Xiao Shu Is Going to Die

"G-good!" Tang Jucheng nodded with delight. "What do you need me to do?"

"Uncle Tang, just stay lying down. There's no need to move." Wei Zhao waved his hand to indicate that Tang Jucheng needn't stir, then walked over to examine his injuries.

Under the regimen of Chinese medicine, Tang Jucheng's fractured legs should heal in short order. The problem was the nerve damage, which remained unchanged. Even if his legs mended, he would still walk with a pronounced limp!

Wei Zhao frowned slightly. This was not a good sign. Even if Tang Jucheng could stand again, the nerve damage would make his gait uneven during rehabilitation -- and that, in turn, would very likely impair the recovery of his legs!

If he kept walking like that, the newly healed legs could develop deformities. Even if the nerve problem were eventually resolved, the two legs -- having healed to different degrees -- would end up mismatched in length, and the limp would be unavoidable.

"What is it? Wei Zhao -- is there a problem with my father's condition?" Tang Zhi had been watching Wei Zhao's expression the whole time, and the moment she saw him frown, her heart lurched. She blurted out the question without thinking.

"There is a bit of a problem." Wei Zhao did not hold back. He explained everything he had just worked out to Tang Zhi and Mother Tang, not leaving Tang Jucheng out of it either -- there was no need to.

"Then what do we do?" Tang Zhi was getting anxious.

But Tang Jucheng and Mother Tang were not all that alarmed. In fact, Tang Jucheng laughed. "So I limp. So what? Being able to stand at all is already wonderful -- that's far better than lying in this bed, isn't it?"

It was hardly surprising that Tang Jucheng could take it in stride. He had been bedridden for so long that merely being able to stand again was all that mattered -- who cared whether one leg dragged? A cripple was a damn sight better than a paralytic, wasn't he? Mother Tang felt much the same way. She had never once resented her husband for being paralyzed, so what difference did a limp make?

"I'd originally planned to bring back the nerve-stimulating medicine after the gaokao, when you came home with me to meet the old man. But that won't work -- there's no time." Wei Zhao shook his head. "Never mind, though. I'll have someone deliver it."

"We couldn't ask that of you." Tang Jucheng was more than a little flustered. Wei Zhao was going to trouble other people on his account.

"Not at all." Wei Zhao was thinking of Er Goudan, his old childhood companion. It had been a long time since he had seen him. It wasn't harvest season, so he should have plenty of free time.

"Dad, Wei Zhao's made up his mind, and so have we." Seeing that her father was about to object again, Tang Zhi cut him off and settled the matter once and for all.

Of course Tang Zhi did not want her father to end up walking with a limp. Even if it meant owing Wei Zhao yet another favor, it was her debt -- and she already owed him so much that she had stopped keeping count. After the little misunderstanding they had just been through, Tang Zhi had finally learned to let go.

Paying off a debt of gratitude with one's body was, in its own way, a perfectly good arrangement. After all, Tang Zhi had already decided to stay by Wei Zhao's side -- so whatever he wanted in the future, worst came to worst, she would simply give it to him. The thought made her cheeks flush.

"That's right, Old Tang. Xiao Yi is doing this out of the goodness of his heart -- stop arguing with the boy!" Mother Tang might have been resigned to her husband's limp, but now that there was hope of a cure, she naturally wanted him to walk like any other man.

Wei Zhao pulled out his phone, intending to call Er Goudan, but the moment he took it out, it rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Gu Mengyao.

Shen Yushu had eaten until her belly was round as a drum, and now she lay sprawled on the sofa, unable to get up. At first it was merely uncomfortable but bearable; after a while, though, the discomfort kept getting worse.

"Sister Yaoyao, my tummy hurts so bad. It's so big -- could I be pregnant? I feel so nauseous!" Shen Yushu lay on the sofa, her voice feeble.

"...Good grief, how does eating too much make you pregnant? Stop talking nonsense!" Gu Mengyao had been watching television. Hearing Xiao Shu's words, she switched it off and walked over.

"Sister Yaoyao, you got pregnant from drinking soda -- why couldn't I get pregnant from eating? There might be Brother Jianpai's spit in there somewhere..." Shen Yushu said, her small face drained of color.

"Enough, stop messing around." Being reminded of that episode from the past, Gu Mengyao could not help but flush with embarrassment. "Did you overeat? Why don't you go to the bathroom?"

"It hasn't even digested yet -- how am I supposed to go?... It hurts so much, it hurts so much..." Shen Yushu felt her stomach was unbearably full and she was horribly nauseous. She was miserable in every possible way.

"Just hold on, let me find some stomach medicine for you..." Seeing Shen Yushu in such wretched discomfort, Gu Mengyao felt a pang of regret. She shouldn't have acted on impulse and dragged Xiao Shu into all of this.

She had no idea whether a person really could eat themselves to death, but since there was such a phrase as "ate himself to death," it probably was possible, wasn't it? The thought made Gu Mengyao panic even more, and she hurried off to find medicine.

"I can't eat it, I can't get it down, one more bite and I'll burst..." How could Shen Yushu possibly swallow any medicine?

"Then what do we do?" Gu Mengyao was at a loss too.

"I'm going to die... I'm going to die again... I don't want to die!" Shen Yushu felt she was terribly unlucky. Just a couple of days ago she had nearly died once, and now today she was going to die again. "Yao-yao, why are you secretly trying to kill me? I never meant to fight you over Arrow-Brand Bro, I already said I'd be your junior wife, and you still want to do away with me, ahhhh..."

"Me... why would I secretly try to kill you?" Gu Mengyao was caught between laughter and tears at Shen Yushu's words. "I don't even like Wei Zhao, so what would I be fighting you over? I just didn't want him bringing food to Tang Zhi, that's why I made you eat it all... Oh right, Wei Zhao — you... you hold on a moment, I'll call Wei Zhao!"

Hearing Shen Yushu's words, Gu Mengyao suddenly thought of Wei Zhao. How could she have forgotten him? Surely he would have some way to save Little Shu?

Wei Zhao picked up Gu Mengyao's call, and the young miss's exclamation came through from the other end: "Wei Zhao, where are you? Come back right now, Little Shu is fading fast!"

"Huh? What did you say?" Wei Zhao was stunned. Little Shu fading fast? What did that mean?

"Little Shu ate too much, she's stuffed and miserable, she's about to die, hurry back!" Gu Mengyao said urgently.

"...All right, I'm on my way back." Wei Zhao sighed in some exasperation and hung up. Stuffed and miserable? Then why had she eaten so much in the first place, even finishing Tang Zhi's portion?

"What's wrong?" Tang Zhi hadn't been able to hear what was said on the other end of the call, but hearing that Wei Zhao wanted to go back, she could not help asking, "You're leaving now?"