In the courtyard, as Gu Ya was leaving with the herbal medicine, he was met with the cold mockery of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, "Oh, third brother, you've gone to the market's pharmacy to get medicine for your sister-in-law again? You say, the doctor already declared her out of danger, so why are you foolishly wasting money on more medicine? Our Gu Family is so poor we're down to our last meal; are you intent on making our parents suffer with us and taste the northwest wind?"
Mrs. Zhang glanced at the medicine in Gu Ya's hands, thinking how many silver coins those large bags would cost.
It pained Mrs. Zhang to think about it.
"Sister-in-law, the money I borrowed to get my wife's medicine didn't come from the Gu Family's funds, not a single copper coin," Gu Ya spoke indifferently and didn't bother with sister-in-law Mrs. Zhang. He just headed straight for the kitchen.
Before Gu Ya's leg was lame, it was he who went hunting in the mountains to earn money. Gu Ya was an adept hunter, and in the whole Gu Family village, hardly a few hunters could match Gu Ya's ability.
The good days the Gu Family once enjoyed, with uninterrupted rice and meat, were all thanks to Gu Ya's efforts. Over the past few years, Mrs. Zhang and the others greatly benefited from Gu Ya's hunting gains.
Even the Gu Family's everyday household expenses were mostly covered by Gu Ya's earnings.
But once Gu Ya's leg became lame, Mrs. Zhang and the other sisters-in-law along with his brothers started to dislike him, thinking of him as nothing more than a burden to the Gu Family.
They never once thought about how much money Gu Ya had made for the Gu Family before or how they had benefited from his success!
When Gu Ya said he hadn't used any of the Gu Family's money for the medicine, Mrs. Zhang choked for a moment. She spat in the direction where Gu Ya had walked off to the kitchen, "Tch, that sounds good, doesn't it? Borrowed? Not using a single copper coin from the Gu Family, but with Gu Ya's crippled leg, how's he going to repay it? Will the Gu Family not end up having to pay it back?"
With both Gu Ya and his wife crippled and sick, if they didn't separate from the family, who knew how much more they would drag everyone down?
Mrs. Zhang had long been intending to split from the family. When Gu Ya first had his accident, Mrs. Zhang broached the subject of dividing the family, but she was scolded by her mother-in-law, Mrs. An, and the matter was dropped.
But now, with the addition of Su Yunjin as a burden, no matter what, Mrs. Zhang had decided to split from the family.
To live on their own would surely be better than staying with the Gu Family, dealing with those who couldn't earn a copper coin and only knew how to spend them, a bunch of cripples and invalids.
Mrs. Zhang made up her mind about splitting the family and went inside to incite her husband to action.
After Gu Ya finished preparing the medicine and returned to the room, Yunjin had already changed the dirty bedding and mattress.
Yunjin had also changed into clean clothes, choosing an old, somewhat faded, red coarse cloth dress that had been washed too many times.
"Yunjin, you're still sick, why aren't you resting properly?"
Seeing the bedding and mattress on the ground, Gu Ya knew his young wife must have just changed them.
Yunjin lowered her head and straightened her skirt, saying offhandedly, "I saw that the sheets and quilt were dirty, so I changed them."
"Yunjin, in the future, don't do such things, and if you must, wait until you're feeling better," Gu Ya said as he approached Yunjin with a bowl in hand, the strong scent of herbal medicine wafting towards her.
Gu Ya urged Yunjin to take the medicine, "Yunjin, the medicine is ready, drink it while it's hot."
Yunjin, smelling the bitter scent of the medicine and although not afraid of taking it, could not help but wrinkle her brow.
"Afraid of the bitterness?" Gu Ya asked, noticing Yunjin's expression.
Yunjin glanced at Gu Ya, didn't respond to him, and under his astonished gaze, she downed the medicine in one go.