Chapter 5: Sick and Die

Translator: Cenniwdyl  Editor: Caron_

Mo Tiange awoke at dawn and immediately sat up.

A good night of sleep completely healed her aching head. She was now very energized.

After she put on her clothes and got out of bed, she saw that the Fourth Lady was leaning against the bed, holding a sewing kit in her hands with her eyes closed. Seeing her mother like this, Mo Tiange gave her a soft shake and said, “Mother, you should lie on the bed and sleep if you haven’t had a good sleep.”

The Fourth Lady was still.

Mo Tiange shook her hard, “Mother…”

She didn’t have the chance to finish speaking. After being shaken by Mo Tiange, the Fourth Lady fell headfirst onto the bed.

Mo Tiange was shocked and hastily jumped onto the bed. However, the Fourth Lady didn’t make the slightest response. Her eyes were closed and her face was awfully pale. Mo Tiange finally saw that there was a bloodstain at the corner of the Fourth Lady’s lips. A part of her clothing had also turned red from blood.

“Mother!”

Mo Tiange was frantic. She jumped down from the bed and ran out of the house wildly. She had just run out of their little yard when she crashed into Aunt Awang who had also just come out of her yard. “Ouch!” They both fell to the ground.

Aunt Awang didn’t have the chance to ask what was happening as Mo Tiange quickly yelled out, “Aunt Awang! My mother fainted and vomited blood! What should I do!? What should I do!?”

Hearing about what happened from Mo Tiange, Aunt Awang was also very scared. She hastily said, “Tiange, don’t worry. Let Aunt take a look.”

She followed Mo Tiange back into the house. Seeing that the upper half of Fourth Lady’s body was planted on the bed and blood had soaked the quilt, she said, “Tell your Uncle Awang to go and call the physician!”

Mo Tiange quickly wiped the tears off her face and hastily ran to the house next door. Uncle Awang was eating when she barged in.

When he heard that her mother fainted, Uncle Awang pushed his rice bowl away and quickly rushed to a neighboring town.

Mo Tiange returned to her own house and found that Aunt Awang had repositioned her mother properly on the bed. Seeing her mother’s closed eyes and lifeless appearance, tears fell once again.

Aunt Awang gave her a long hug to comfort her.

Two hours later, Uncle Awang finally arrived with the physician.

Mo Tiange was watching anxiously with an endless stream of tears.

After a while, the physician stood up and shook his head. “This lady has a naturally weak body and she’s also overworked. She experienced a heart attack, and I’m afraid she will only last one night. You should give her a proper send-off.”

After the physician said that, he picked up his medicine box and left without asking for payment.

Aunt Awang already guessed that the Fourth Lady wouldn’t last long. Thus, she sighed and told Uncle Awang, “You should go to the patriarch’s house and report this.”

Uncle Awang also sighed. He shook his head and left.

Aunt Awang stared at the unconscious Fourth Lady and shifted her gaze to the side towards Mo Tiange, who was weeping and calling for her mother. She heaved another sigh and said, “Pitiful child, to have to lose her mother at such a young age.”

The sky gradually turned dark. Mo Tiange had run out of tears. She sat on the bed, blankly watching her mother.

During this period of time, uncles and aunts from her grandfather’s home visited the house, one after another. Finally, her grandfather and grandmother also came. After seeing the situation, they left to arrange a funeral.

Her eyes were exhausted from crying, but her mother still didn’t wake up. She understood what the physician meant –”couldn’t last” meant her mother would die. Her mother once said that death meant sleeping forever. Dead people would never wake up again and would be buried in the ground. Finally, those people would also turn into soil.

She hastily looked up when she felt a movement under her palm. She saw her mother’s eyelids moving. It was as if her mother was about to wake up.

She hastily called out, “Mother! Mother!”

Aunt Awang heard this and rushed towards them and called out, “Fourth Lady?”

The Fourth Lady finally opened her eyes. Her tears fell when she saw Mo Tiange. However, she didn’t have any strength to raise her hand and could only stare at Mo Tiange.

“Fourth Lady,” Aunt Wang whispered, “You can tell me if you have any unfulfilled wishes.”

Upon seeing the bleak room, the Fourth Lady understood that even approaching her death, nobody from her so-called family came to care for her. She stared at Mo Tiange, feeling increasingly bitter. She also lost her mother as a child, but she never expected Tiange would have to go through the same fate as herself.

Upon seeing her lips trembling, Aunt Awang hastily moved closer. Aunt Awang heard the faint words “Tiange” and asked, “Fourth Lady, are you worried about Tiange?”

The Fourth Lady nodded tearfully.

“Rest assured, I’ll look after her on your behalf.”

The Fourth Lady shifted her gaze again and focused on a spot. Aunt Awang followed her gaze. She picked up a makeup box and said, “Did you want box?”

Seeing as the Fourth Lady nodded and tried to say something, Aunt Awang moved her ear closer. After listening to a few words, Aunt Awang opened the box. There were actually several pieces of high-quality jewelry inside. She knew that before, Fourth Son-in-law was a very successful individual. It wasn’t strange that the Fourth Lady had these items in her possession.

Aunt Awang picked the jewelry up one by one while watching the Fourth Lady’s expression. When she picked a pearl bracelet, she saw a change in the Fourth Lady’s expression. Aunt Awang lowered her head again to listen to what the Fourth Lady wanted to say. After a moment, she asked, “Does this belong to the Fourth Son-in-law?”

The Fourth Lady tried hard to nod and stared at Mo Tiange who was weeping silently.

“Mother! Mother!” Mo Tiange wailed. However, the Fourth Lady fainted again.

The Fourth Lady kept on fainting and waking up the entire night. In the end, she couldn’t hold on. A moment before dawn came, her breaths ceased to exist.

The patriarch of the Mo family finally came to see her, but he left even before her eyes were properly closed. Although some of her aunts came, they were actually waiting to proceed with the funeral arrangements.

The only thing Mo Tiange did was grasp her mother’s hand tightly. Sometimes she cried, sometimes she just sat there blankly. She finally cried herself to sleep once she could no longer feel any warmth in the Fourth Lady’s body.

Three days later, the Fourth Lady was buried.

During this time, Mo Tiange was still stunned and her mind went completely blank. Sometimes, Aunt Awang took care of her. Other times, Mo Tianqiao kept her company.

Once they came back from the burial and tidied up the mourning hall, the Mo family started to make arrangements for the things the Fourth Lady left behind.

Years ago, when the Fourth Lady married the Fourth Son-in-law, she was treated like a son and was given a house. Although her share wasn’t as much as a son would have, a courtyard was purposely constructed for her. She was also given a few hectares of a field. These past few years, she and Mo Tiange had depended on these few hectares to sustain their lives and buy medicine.

Since the Fourth Son-in-law married into their family, the Fourth Lady could be considered an extension of their family. Her fields and house could naturally be passed on. Unfortunately, Mo Tiange was a girl and an orphan at that. These fields and house would naturally be taken back by her uncles. Because of this matter, the patriarch’s sons became rather excited. They were only rural landlords, not genuinely rich. For them, although the Fourth Lady’s belongings weren’t plentiful, they still made a difference.

The patriarch frowned deeply as he watched his sons fighting over those fields. This daughter was born out of his recklessness during his younger years. Although he hadn’t had a deep affection towards her, in the end, she was still his daughter. Seeing his sons scrambling for the few properties that belonged to her when she had just been buried and fighting without the slightest respect for him, the Old Patriarch naturally felt very unhappy.

Watching their arguments becoming increasingly outrageous, the Old Patriarch used a tobacco pipe to knock the table leg. A heavy echo resounded and everyone instantly became silent. He expressionlessly said, “The eldest will take care of the land for the moment. The grain harvested each year will be stored and returned to her husband when he comes back. If he still hasn’t returned by the time the child has grown up, the grain and those several hectares of land will be her dowry. We will keep the house.”

Since the Old Patriarch had made his decision, his young sons didn’t dare to continue arguing. The village elders saw that the patriarch had handled the matter fairly and didn’t raise any objections. They only asked, “Then what about this child? Who among you will raise her?”

“We’ll bring the child back with us – this old man will raise her! No need for anybody else to waste their grain!”

Those sons looked embarrassed because of his words.

The Old Patriarch hmphed and said, “That’ll do. Go back!”

“Tiange, since your grandfather has spoken, you’ll have someone looking after you in the future. Aunt also feels relieved now.” Aunt Awang spoke while helping Mo Tiange fold her clothes.

Mo Tiange sat on the bedside, fiddling with the pearl bracelet on her wrist. She was silent and her head was lowered.

Seeing her losing her mother at such a young age, Aunt Awang also felt she was very pitiful. Thus, Aunt Awang said softly, “Tiange, your mother wished for you to be safe and sound. You have to take care of yourself well. Maybe someday your father will return.”

Hearing Aunt Awang mentioning her mother, Mo Tiange finally showed a change in expression. She looked up and stared at Aunt Awang and said, “Rest assured, Aunt Awang. I’m going to be okay. I won’t make Mother worry about me.”

Aunt Awang pitied her even more. These words weren’t something people should hear from a seven-year-old child. Having finished packing Mo Tiange’s things, Aunt Awang said, “Your luggage is packed, so Aunt will take you to your grandfather’s house. About this house, rest assured, we’ll clean it every day. It will still be clean and tidy when your father comes back.”

“En! Thank you, Aunt Awang.”