Chapter 321: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 321: Major Life Matters, Difficult Choices

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Liang Yuanchao came to Li Xiulan's home and sincerely apologized to Li Xiulan, only then did his inner heart feel somewhat settled.

But inner stability could not bring improvement to his condition.

On the contrary, ever since everyone in the village knew he had liver cancer, every person he met would, intentionally or unintentionally, remind him that he was a man marked for death.

This made him live constantly in the fear of death.

This fear brought enormous consumption to his body.

Only one week had passed, yet his weight had already dropped by over twenty jin.

He was originally thin to begin with; losing so much weight in such a short time made him look like nothing but skin and bones.

All signs indicated that his illness was beyond cure, and he truly had little time left.

"Why don't we still tell Xinghua about it?"

That evening at dinner, Zhou Aidi suddenly said such a sentence.

Her husband's grave illness left her mentally and physically haggard, washing her face with tears all day long.

She could barely hold on any longer.

Liang Yuanchao remained silent for a while, and finally nodded in agreement.

He said:

"Then you call him later and tell him; I can't bring myself to say it. I really don't want to trouble him. He doesn't live easily out there, and I don't want to drag him down."

Although Liang Yuanchao was very afraid of death, he had still made up his mind: he absolutely could not let his illness drag down this family. He feared that by then they would spend money on treatment but fail to cure it, leaving both people and wealth empty. Better to simply give up treatment and live however long he could live.

"Mm-hmm, I'll tell him."

Zhou Aidi took out her mobile phone and called her son Liang Xinghua.

The mobile phone rang for a while, then the call went through.

"Hello, Mom, what's wrong?"

Liang Xinghua's somewhat tired voice came from the other side of the phone.

He had just gotten off work not long ago and was now eating at a Longjiang Pig Trotter Rice Restaurant.

"Xinghua, your father is ill."

Zhou Aidi held back her tears and spoke with a choked voice.

"Ill? What illness does he have?" Liang Xinghua was stunned.

Zhou Aidi's lips trembled as she truthfully said: "Liver cancer, late-stage."

After speaking this truth, Zhou Aidi couldn't help but cry out.

Liang Xinghua's mind trembled, and the whole person was stunned for several seconds, then still found it difficult to accept:

"No way, was it a misdiagnosis? Wasn't Father perfectly fine before?"

But Zhou Aidi said:

"It's true. We went to the county hospital and the city hospital for examinations, and the results were all the same."

Liang Xinghua was struck as if by thunder:

"No... how could this be? I still wanted to go back this Spring Festival to tell you good news, but instead you give me such bad news..."

"What good news?" Zhou Aidi asked.

Liang Xinghua said:

"Meng Lian is pregnant."

Lan Menglian is Liang Xinghua's wife. The two had been married for several years and had never conceived. This year they finally managed to conceive, but they never expected that at this time they would encounter the bad news of Liang Yuanchao being diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer.

Zhou Aidi wiped her tears:

"That is good news. Your father will be a little happier hearing it. Our Liang Family can be considered to have an heir now."

Liang Xinghua remained silent for a long time, and finally said:

"I'll go to the factory tomorrow to ask for leave, and the day after tomorrow I'll bring Meng Lian back to our hometown. That's all for now. Other matters, we'll discuss face-to-face when we return."

Zhou Aidi nodded and said: "Good, good. Then we'll wait for you to come back."

After hanging up Liang Xinghua's call, Zhou Aidi turned back and said to Liang Yuanchao:

"Xinghua says he'll be back the day after tomorrow. He also says Meng Lian is pregnant."

Hearing this, a long-absent smile appeared on Liang Yuanchao's weak face:

"That is good news. If I can live to see the day the child is born, that would be wonderful. But even if I can't live until then, it doesn't matter. During the Qingming Festival, just come tell me whether it's a grandson or a granddaughter."

On the other side, after Liang Xinghua hung up the call from home, the whole person fell into anxiety and unease.

He looked at the plate of pig trotter rice before him and had lost most of his appetite.

He took out cigarettes and smoked one after another.

His wife was pregnant, which meant spending a lot of money.

From now until the child is born, the money needed is an unknown amount.

Not to mention after the child is born, various baby supplies will need to be purchased. Even if they don't buy milk powder and use breast milk feeding, the child's clothes, the child's medical care, the child's future schooling, and so on—all require a considerable amount of money.

What bad luck that at this time his old father at home suddenly got cancer, which also needs a lot of money. He, Liang Xinghua, is just an ordinary migrant worker. Over a whole year, after various expenses, he might not even save twenty thousand yuan. Clearly, he can only choose one of two: either give the money to his father for treatment, or keep the money to raise the child.

Under these circumstances, how is he supposed to face it?

If he spares no expense to treat his old father, what about his child?

But if he didn't treat his old father's illness, would his conscience be at peace?

This kind of choice is truly difficult.

At this moment, Liang Xinghua wished more than anything that he was a rich man.

As long as he had money, he wouldn't have to face this kind of choice, painful like torture.

He could only blame himself for having no ability; after working so many years, he still couldn't earn any real money.

Liang Xinghua smoked ten-odd cigarettes in a row, the pig's trotter rice on the table had already gone completely cold, only then did he leave the shop.

He had to go back and discuss with his wife what to do about this matter.

A big thing like this, he couldn't make the choice alone; after all, he was already married, already had his own family.

"How come you're back so late?"

Returning to the dilapidated, narrow rental house, Lan Menglian, belly protruding with pregnancy, came to open the door for Liang Xinghua; she wore a long face, clearly having some opinion about Liang Xinghua returning too late.

Previously Lan Menglian worked in a small garment factory; ever since she became pregnant, the boss fired her. This kind of small factory was originally very non-standard; Lan Menglian worked here without even five insurances and one fund, so being fired was also very normal.

As for the labor law stipulating that pregnant women cannot be fired, that only applies to proper companies; for this kind of small factory it has no binding force.

Lan Menglian also accepted this fact; the boss gave her one last month's salary, and she left obediently, because continuing to work in this kind of small factory was also not good for the child in her belly.

Now Lan Menglian has no job; she stays in the rental house peacefully raising the fetus.

A person staying in the rental house all day long, stuffy and bored, plus pregnant women's hormone levels are relatively high, emotional fluctuations are relatively large, so now Lan Menglian having some opinion about Liang Xinghua is also very normal.

Liang Xinghua also didn't get angry because of this; he patiently explained:

"Tonight my mom called me, saying my dad got late-stage liver cancer. I didn't know what to do, smoked quite a few cigarettes outside, only then dared come back and tell you this matter."

Hearing this, Lan Menglian was immediately surprised, face full of disbelief:

"How could this be? Father-in-law, just a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, wasn't he still able to go down to the fields and work? How did he suddenly become late-stage liver cancer?"