Reborn: Back to the 1980s Chapter 39 Part 1

Chapter 39: The Guan Family Makes a Fool of Themselves

Li Yuezhi couldn't hold back anymore: "Mom, now Manyue's legs are crippled like that. If it can actually be cured, can we even afford the medical bills? If we pour everything we have into fixing her legs, are you really willing to watch all these grandkids suffer? And besides, if we spend all that money and it still doesn't work, then Manyue will just end up suffering right along with us!"

Yang Xiucui's eyebrows shot up the moment she heard that: "Oh, so that's how it is. I knew you were black-hearted. Watching Manyue suffer and you don't even blink. I can tell exactly what you're scheming—you just don't want to part with the money, do you? Let me tell you, every penny of that money was bought with Manyue's own two legs, and nobody's touching a single cent of it!"

Li Yuezhi got angry too: "She's a cripple now. She's going to have to rely on us to take care of her anyway. That money is rightfully ours." 

Yang Feifang, for once, didn't argue with Li Yuezhi. In her mind, that money naturally belonged to them too.

Yang Xiucui was so furious she gave Li Yuezhi a hard slap across the face. Li Yuezhi covered her cheek, her eyes red, and was about to lash out and start brawling with Yang Xiucui when Guan Manku grabbed hold of her.

"Am I dead to all of you?!" Guan He roared. The chaos in the room finally died down, leaving only Li Yuezhi sobbing with her hand over her face.

Guan Manku said, "Dad, we really need to think this through carefully. Manyue's legs are already that badly crippled. I've never heard of legs that bad actually getting better. If we blow all our money on it and it doesn't work, we won't even be able to support her later on." His voice trailed off, sounding a bit guilty.

From the inner room, Guan Manyue heard them making excuses. She held back as long as she could, but finally couldn't take it anymore and started cursing at the top of her lungs, calling Guan Mancang and the others heartless for watching her suffer.

Guan Mancang and his brothers' faces darkened at the insults, but they didn't dare talk back. Who knew what the unhinged Guan Manyue might do?

Guan He tapped his pipe, thought for a moment, and then said, "Go find out whether Manyue's leg can still be treated, and then see how much it'll cost."

Guan Mancang and his brothers were unwilling, but one glare from Guan He made them agree. They went to the county hospital to ask. The doctors there said they couldn't tell without seeing the actual condition. So the Guan family brought Guan Manyue to the county hospital for a consultation. After examining her, the doctor said the county hospital couldn't treat it—she'd have to go to the city, and even then there was only a thirty percent chance.

After Guan He asked about the approximate cost, he had Guan Mancang and his brothers carry Guan Manyue back home. Once back, Guan Manyue spent all day cursing nonstop. Guan He had no choice but to try and calm her down: "Manyue, you heard what the doctor said. Even if you go to the city, there's only a thirty percent chance, and it'll cost at least four thousand yuan. How could our family possibly come up with that? You'd be driving the whole family to ruin."

Guan Manyue became hysterical: "I don't care! You have to get my legs treated! If you don't, I'll set this whole house on fire and take every last one of you down with me. We'll all burn in hell together! Hahaha..."

Guan He looked at Guan Manyue, laughing so terrifyingly, and couldn't help but feel uneasy: "Are you crazy? What can we do if we don't have the money?!"

"Exactly, I am crazy! If I can't be well, none of you will be well either!" Guan Manyue's face twisted into something vicious, like a demon's.

After this outburst, the Guan family all felt a bit scared, worried that Guan Manyue might actually set a fire while they were asleep.

"What do we do?" Guan He asked his sons.

Guan Mancang huffed: "What do we do? Let her scream. I don't believe she'd actually dare to start a fire." Guan Manku and the others were still a little uneasy, but they all nodded along with Guan Mancang. And so they put it out of their minds.

Guan Manyue cursed day after day, until everyone was at their limit. Even Yang Xiucui said to her, "Manyue, just calm down. You're going to have to rely on them in the future. If you push them too far, what will you do then? Your father and I can't take care of you forever."

But Guan Manyue just threw her head back and laughed: "They'll take care of me? I wouldn't be surprised if they just threw me in the pigpen. If my legs can't be fixed, I don't want to live anyway."

Since Guan Manyue only cursed every day and didn't do anything truly extreme, Guan Mancang and his brothers let their guard down. But then, in the middle of the night, Guan Manku woke up needing to use the outhouse because he'd drunk too much during the day. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a red glow outside the house. His drowsiness vanished in an instant. He yelled, "Fire! Everyone, put out the fire!"

He dashed out of the room to fetch water. The commotion woke up the rest of the Guan family. Guan He saw that the firewood piled up in the yard had all caught fire and was about to spread to the house. He stumbled back in shock and shouted for everyone to fight the fire. The neighbors were also woken up by the noise. When they saw the fire, they rushed over to help the Guan family put it out.

Luckily, the firewood was stacked against the courtyard wall, far from the house. The living quarters weren't burned, but the courtyard wall was almost completely destroyed, and the front gate was gone too.

Guan He stared at the blackened wall and bellowed, "Drag that girl Manyue out here!"

Guan Mancang and the others had been bottling up their anger too. They stormed into the house, grabbed Guan Manyue, who was lying on the floor laughing hysterically, and dragged her outside. Guan He was furious. He swung his hand hard across Guan Manyue's face and said through gritted teeth, "If you want to die, I'll hand you the rope myself."

Guan Manyue looked at the fuming Guan He and let out a creepy laugh: "If you don't fix my legs, then before I die, all of you are coming with me to hell."

"You—" Guan He was choked speechless and clutched his chest.

The family left Guan Manyue lying on the ground and stormed back inside. Guan Manku was the first to speak up: "Dad, we need to come up with a plan. You saw—Guan Manyue actually dared to set a fire. What if she grabs a knife and cuts us all down while we're sleeping?"

The others seemed to picture the same scene and all shuddered.

Guan Manwu frowned: "What plan is there? Why don't we just kick her out?"

But Guan He disagreed. The Guan family's reputation in Guanjia Village was already bad enough. If they did that, they might not even be able to stay in the village anymore.

"Then what? We can't do this, we can't do that—what else is there?!"

"Then we treat her. If it doesn't work, at least nobody can blame us." Guan He made the call.

"Dad, that's a terrible idea! Where are we going to get that much money for her treatment?" Guan Mancang objected.

Guan He took a drag from his pipe: "We don't have it, but those two brats Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu do. I heard that braised meat shop makes four or five hundred a month." Guan He didn't actually know how much Zhao Shenggu and the others made, but in his mind, four to five hundred a month was already the ceiling.

Guan Mancang and his brothers swallowed hard: "That much?!" 

Yang Feifang's eyes were full of longing. If she could make that much a month, she could eat whatever she wanted!

Guan Manku was the first to snap out of the daydream: "Those two little brats aren't easy to deal with. Getting money out of them? I doubt it. Have you all forgotten what happened last time?"

At the mention of the beating they'd taken, the brothers all looked a bit uncomfortable.

Guan He said, "This time's different. No matter what, Manyue is Guan Yuan's own aunt, and Zhao Shenggu practically grew up in our family. Now that she's in this condition, if they won't help out, they'll be in the wrong morally. We'll just go straight to their door and ask for it outright. There's no way they'd dare refuse!"

"Dad, how much are we asking for? If we ask for too much, they definitely won't give it." Guan Manku wasn't as optimistic as Guan He.

"Eldest son, what do you think? No matter what, Guan Yuan is your son. Can he really pretend you're not his father?" Guan He turned to Guan Mancang.

Guan Mancang shrank back and muttered, "You all know that little brat doesn't see me as his father."

Seeing that Guan Mancang was useless, Guan He gave up: "Forget it. Let's all go together. And bring Manyue along."

Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu were watering the flowers and plants in the yard when suddenly the door was pounded on like thunder. They exchanged a look, then Zhao Shenggu opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Guan Manyue, with her hair all disheveled, broke free from Guan Mancang and his brothers' support and threw herself at Zhao Shenggu's feet, grabbing his leg: "Shenggu, save me…"

Zhao Shenggu was taken aback by Guan Manyue's disheveled appearance. "What's all this about? Why is everyone showing up at my place?"

The Guan family had drawn a crowd as they walked through Guanjia Village. The onlookers gathered outside to watch the drama unfold. When they heard Zhao Shenggu's question, they all looked at the Guan family with curiosity.

Guan He put on a mournful face: "Shenggu, Xiao Yuan, please save your aunt!"

Zhao Shenggu knew exactly what they were up to the moment he heard that: "How are we supposed to save her? We're not doctors. Are you taking Aunt Manyue to get her legs treated? Even though we're two separate families now, we did live together once. If you're sending her for treatment, we can chip in a hundred yuan, but we can't give any more than that."

Guan Yuan knew Zhao Shenggu was cutting off any chance for the Guan family to ask for an outrageous amount. But Guan Yuan didn't want to let them off that easily.

When the villagers heard that Zhao Shenggu was still willing to pay for Guan Manyue's treatment even after how the Guan family had treated him, they all praised him for being kind-hearted and honorable.

But this was nowhere near what the Guan family had expected. Their faces turned purple with anger. Guan He said, "Shenggu… this, this really isn't enough. We asked around, and they said it would cost at least four thousand to fix her legs."

Guan Yuan looked completely shocked and turned to Zhao Shenggu. "Brother, I've never even seen that much money before!"

Zhao Shenggu also said, "That much, huh? Then you'll have to borrow from elsewhere. The most I can give is a hundred yuan."

Guan Manyue's nerves were already frayed. When she heard her last hope shatter, she screamed, "Zhao Shenggu, if you don't hand over the money today, I'll fight you to the death! Hahahaha!" Her piercing, miserable laugh echoed far and wide.