Chapter 277: Applying Medicine

Mou Lili couldn't help but retort: "Mom, what are you talking about? Who is registering for anything? He and I are just ordinary friends."

Mou Mu rolled her eyes: "Anyway, I've laid it out here. Do whatever you want, say whatever you want. Without a marriage certificate, you won't even know where to register the household for the children you have in the future."

This meal ended unhappily once again.

……

In the evening, Mou Nainai went next door to visit an old friend.

The old friend said: "I crouched at the corner of your wall today and listened for a while. That son and daughter-in-law of yours... tsk tsk. You tell me, in our area, which family doesn't value boys over girls? But who is so biased that they would sell their daughter? Even I know that in this day and age, you can't have arranged marriages."

"Girls nowadays all emphasize being raised in luxury. Many young fathers want daughters. I hear many young girls don't even want to get married anymore; if they do, they just have kids and do housework, and they still have to earn money."

Mou Nainai said: "Isn't that so? But they won't listen to me. Sigh, I suppose it's because I didn't raise my son well in the past."

"You can't say it like that. In our era, who wasn't just worried about filling their stomachs? It was good enough just to be able to raise the children. It wasn't like today with so many complicated things; we didn't even read many books."

Mou Nainai thought back to when she was young; her husband was out working, and she was at home raising the children and taking care of the elderly. She truly didn't have the energy to teach the children anything.

What kind of person a child becomes when they grow up depends entirely on their own experiences and knowledge.

She sighed slightly.

The old friend asked again: "So how is Lili doing now? Didn't her boyfriend come looking for her? Will they get married?"

Mou Nainai said: "The young man looks good, but the family is poor. There is no bride price, so they aren't allowed to marry unless they can produce the bride price."

"Lili is truly miserable. And that grandson of yours, running around and messing about outside every day, what kind of behavior is that?"

Mou Nainai said: "Let's not talk about it. Let's sleep early; we have to get up early tomorrow morning to make steamed buns."

The night was cold, so the old friend moved the quilt over a bit to cover Mou Nainai more.

……

On the other side, Ling Feng and Mou Lili were also in the room.

Both of them had washed up. Mou Lili gave her bed to Ling Feng, and she slept on her grandmother's.

A bed an old person has slept in always has a certain "old person smell"—partly body odor, and partly because old people often love to rub on things like cooling oil or muscle-soothing oil.

Ling Feng looked at Mou Lili, who was wearing pajamas, and said: "Take your clothes off a bit; I'll apply some ointment for you."

Mou Lili said: "No need."

"What are you being coy for? It's not like I haven't seen it before." Ling Feng walked over, unscrewed the ointment, and coaxed: "Don't you often go to bars to perform and sing? If you don't get this treated quickly, be careful of scarring."

Mou Lili thought for a moment and simply took it off openly: "Fine, go ahead and apply it."

Ling Feng glanced at the wounds on Mou Lili's body and first drew in a cold breath.

Then, while applying it, he asked: "Do you get beaten often?"

"From childhood until now."

"Do you hate your parents?"

"I don't hate them, but I don't love them either. I don't have any feelings left."

Ling Feng dipped into the medicine, his fingertips lightly brushing across her skin. The ointment had a cooling effect, and Mou Lili felt very comfortable; at the same time, she felt very sleepy.

Ling Feng continued to ask: "Have you ever thought about paying the bride price for your younger brother?"

"I don't have money."

"The money you earned before all went to pay for your boyfriend's medical treatment, right?"

"Yes, I only paid off the debt half a year ago."

Ling Feng thought for a moment and suddenly said: "How about this, I'll lend it to you? You pay your brother's bride price, and you can pay me back slowly when you have money later."

As soon as this was mentioned, Mou Lili became angry: "Stop meddling in other people's business. If I had money, wouldn't it be better to spend it on my own food and drink? Why should I give it to him? What does it matter if he gets a wife? You tell me, what kind of good woman could someone like him meet?"

Ling Feng couldn't help but say: "Birds of a feather flock together."

"Let him marry another ancestor for my grandmother to serve? And then have a bunch of kids for my parents to raise in the future?" Mou Lili sneered: "If he were seriously ill, I would lend him money, but marriage? Forget it. I'll help in an emergency, but not with poverty."

Ling Feng continued to apply the medicine for her, while feeling that what she said made a lot of sense.

Besides, people are insatiable. Lend him money to get married today, then lend him money to raise kids tomorrow? What about the day after? Lend him money to buy a house?

Ling Feng asked: "Then when are you going back to Beishi?"

"I'm leaving early tomorrow morning. Since you're here, let's go together."

Ling Feng nodded.

The ointment was applied. Ling Feng was just about to tell Mou Lili to turn over, but she was lying motionless and had actually fallen asleep.

He pulled the blanket over to cover her and went to sleep on the small bed nearby.

He had never slept in such a crude environment before. The light here was still just a lightbulb, the ceiling had wooden beams, and he could even see spiderwebs.

However, such a house was at least warm in winter and cool in summer.

Ling Feng finally fell asleep, only to be woken up by mosquitoes in the middle of the night.

He turned to look at Mou Lili on the opposite bed; she had changed positions and was sleeping very soundly.

It seems the mosquitoes in this house only bully outsiders.

……

The next day, Mou Lili and Ling Feng left very early.

Mou Lili secretly tucked two thousand yuan under Mou Nainai's pillow, and when she left, she gave Mou Mu ten thousand yuan.

Mou Mu complained it was too little: "Only ten thousand?"

Mou Lili said: "It's to show filial piety to you. Do you want it or not? If not, forget it."

The grace of being raised, after all, always has to be repaid.

Mou Mu glanced at Ling Feng again: "Don't you forget, you must have the bride price before I can give you the household registration book. Otherwise, don't even think about marrying my Ah Li."

Ling Feng only smiled faintly.

With his family's connections, if he really wanted to get a marriage certificate, he wouldn't need the household registration book at all; he could just have an acquaintance help issue a household registration certificate.

But Ling Feng would not tell the Mou family about these matters.

Except for Mou Nainai, no one saw them off.

The two of them carried their luggage and took a taxi to the high-speed railway station.

Returning to Beishi requires an 8-hour ride on a bullet train.

Of course, one could also take a plane, but Mou Lili said she was not in a rush and it would be better to take the bullet train so she could look at the scenery outside the window.

Ling Feng also had nothing to do; otherwise, he would not have come to this small county town.

On the bullet train, Mou Lili leaned against the window, watching the city gradually being left behind, and she suddenly said, "Life is actually quite boring."

Ling Feng heard this and replied, "Isn't it just."

Mou Lili turned around to look at Ling Feng: "Why do you feel that way too? Do you have as many worries as I do?"

Ling Feng said: "People, we all have worries; if it's not one thing, it's another."

"Then I must give you a piece of advice: contentment brings happiness."

Ling Feng said: "It's not that I'm discontent, it's just that I feel life has suddenly lost its purpose."

Mou Lili leaned back against the seat and sighed: "My life's purpose is just to stay alive."