The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 212: Regret

Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Regret

Wang Yongfu was stunned, the last scene before he spit blood and fell unconscious reemerged before his eyes.

Yes, Jindou and Jinguan came back and said that Lady Lin was going to remarry, and she was already seeing someone!

But how could Lady Lin do this? She grew up with him from childhood, their hearts and souls aligned. Otherwise, he would not have defied his own mother and insisted on marrying her.

After marriage, the two of them were also affectionate towards each other: he was considerate of her, she was considerate of him, always thinking of the other first whenever there was something delicious to eat.

Even if there were some small disagreements, by evening, lying together under one quilt, cozy and warm, any discord would dissipate.

Later, after the second brother became a Scholar, the family arranged marriages for the younger brothers one after another, and their wives all came from better families than Lady Lin’s. At that time, many brothers close to him said he was milked by the nanny for his mother’s sake, that’s why he married Lady Lin.

He did have a bit of regret, regretting that he should not have listened to his mother, but when Lady Lin hid under the quilt crying at night, hugging him and asking if he would ever despise her.

He said he would not despise her! From that moment on, he truly did not despise Lady Lin, thinking about how she had given birth to his son, how she always thought of him in everything she did, and how she often spoke out against his mother for being partial and unfair.

A woman who was so devoted to him, he wanted to be good to her for a lifetime; even in death, they should be buried together.

But why, when he had never despised Lady Lin, could she, after his injury, just leave him to remarry another man?

Wang Yongfu couldn’t understand why. Wasn’t he good enough to Lady Lin? Just because he had become disabled, could Lady Lin leave him and their three children, not even waiting for the divorce, and just return to her family to see other men?

If he had truly been bedridden, a burden to Lady Lin for two or three years, he wouldn’t blame her for having such thoughts.

But how long had it been? Remembering the last time he was at the medical clinic, after Eldest Uncle Lin’s visit, Lady Lin’s impatient demeanor, Wang Yongfu’s heart turned completely cold.

Not even a month had passed, and Lady Lin couldn’t hold out; she left her husband and children behind and went back to her maternal home. This was the woman he had insisted on marrying, even if it meant breaking with his own mother!

Wang Yongfu didn’t know why, but he remembered the oath he had made before Old Granny Zhang when he was about to marry Lady Lin: If he was unkind to his parents and didn’t cherish his sister after marriage, he would let his family be destroyed, suffering divorce and loss of children!

Now, wasn’t he suffering from divorce and loss of children!

This was retribution! Retribution! Tears streamed down Wang Yongfu’s face.

Jinhoo hadn’t expected that his words would make his father, a grown man, cry; he panicked and was about to get down from the kang to find someone.

But as soon as he moved, he was firmly grasped by Wang Yongfu, "Don’t call for anyone!"

Jinhoo had no idea of the conflict and regret in Wang Yongfu’s heart at that moment, and looked around the room uneasily.

In the room, besides father and son, there was only Wang Laozhu.

Wang Laozhu lay at the end of the kang, hearing the commotion; learning that his eldest son had woken up, the worry he carried finally settled down, thinking, it’s good that he’s awake, it’s good.

Indeed, a daughter is a lucky star. Not only did she bring back silver, but she also brought about her elder brother’s awakening.

But for the moment, he couldn’t speak; he struggled to rise, wanting to see Eldest Brother’s condition.

After much effort, he managed to lift half of his body, only to see Eldest Brother with tears streaming down his face.

Wang Laozhu suddenly felt a pang in his heart. His eldest son had really suffered. It was all his own fault. Why had he listened to his mother back then, agreeing to let his son marry Lady Lin, a woman who could not present herself properly and only had eyes for money?

"It’s all because the wife he married is no virtuous woman!" If only he had married someone more honest. Had he not explicitly forbidden him to go up the mountain, his wife would not have prompted her husband to sneak away and do it anyway, right?

Eldest Brother had been injured, and before even a month of care had passed, she could not endure it and ran back to her parental home to seek another marriage!

Such a woman, having married into the family, was truly the ruin of Eldest Brother!

With these thoughts, Wang Laozhu couldn’t help but feel resentment towards Old Lady Lin. Originally, his mother insisted on raising several children; his eldest daughter grew up too compliant, taking whatever people said as gospel, never listening to her parents. Eldest Brother was coerced into marrying Lady Lin, his second brother developed scheming ambitions, his third brother was useless, and only his fourth brother was alright—by the time Laosi was born, his mother’s energy had waned, and she hardly interfered.

Therefore, although Laosi was raised by Old Lady Lin and saw his own wife more often than the other children, let alone the daughter, who was brought up solely by his wife. The daughter seemed a bit unrefined growing up, but as the saying goes, ’Girls change eighteen times between childhood and womanhood’. Once she came of age, she truly had the capability to take charge of the household.

Having had so many children, it was only the youngest two that seemed promising now. The elders had all been spoiled by their grandmother.

At that moment, Wang Laozhu was filled with such regret that he felt as if his guts were turning green.

Seeing Eldest Brother with a look of despair greater than death itself, Wang Laozhu couldn’t hold back his tears, sobbing, "Ah... El... Ah... Eldest Brother..." He actually managed to utter these two words, though indistinctly.

Wang Yongfu felt that living his life in such a way was truly humiliating. As a man, his dignity and face had been trampled underfoot by his own wife.

Moreover, feeling as he did now upon waking, he found himself unusually weak, as if half his vitality had been drained away. His heart sank, and he thought even the Divine Doctor’s remedies would make no difference.

With his wife gone and himself crippled, every day hereafter would be filled with mockery and suffering through existence. What was the point of living any longer?

The thought of death began to grow in his heart. Thinking of himself as a useless burden, Lady Lin remarrying and bringing him shame, humiliating his sons—if he continued to be a drag on them, how would his children manage?

Better to die, he figured, than to continue bringing disaster upon his family and children.

No sooner had he resolved to do this than he heard someone nearby calling out to Eldest Brother in a muffled voice. Turning his head, he saw Wang Laozhu’s tear-streaked face and the muddled words "Eldest Brother".

Wang Yongfu was stunned, "Father, what has happened to you?"

Jinhoo managed to break free from Wang Yongfu’s grip and hurried to Wang Laozhu’s side, slowly helping him to sit up.

Wang Laozhu kept reaching out towards Wang Yongfu, but Jinhoo didn’t have the strength to move him. Sweat poured from her forehead as she looked helplessly toward the door and called, "Uncle Four, Auntie—"

Wang Yongping had been splitting wood behind the stovehouse at the clinic. The family had been using the clinic’s firewood for several days now and, having just returned, Old Granny Zhang had sent him out here to work early in the morning.

Barely discerning Jinhoo’s voice, he dropped his axe and ran towards the ward.

Upon entering the room, he saw that his big brother, Wang Yongfu, had woken up and was with their father, Wang Laozhu, both sitting on the bed. Yet, they were separated by a span of two people and had faces that bore the look of a heartbreaking farewell, crying like the world was ending.

He was bewildered, "What’s going on here? What... what has happened?"

Wang Yongping was already scared; one calamity after another had befallen the family, and now his big brother and father were crying like lost souls. Surely, something else hadn’t happened, had it?

With that thought, his legs gave