Li Yuan cried out, "Father, I came to the Li Household when I was three years old, and you treated me like your own son."
To send me to the private school, you worked the fields in the summer and mined in the winter without a single day of rest.
When I had a fever as a child, you carried me on your back to find a doctor overnight. The villagers said that mutton can't be applied to a dog, and they called me a bastard. You then cursed back at every single household.
"You were afraid I'd suffer, so you stubbornly refused to have your own child." Li Yuan cried, trembling all over. "But I... but all these years, I've only managed to pass the preliminary imperial examination..."
"Nonsense!" Old Man Li interrupted him sharply. "It's my body that's letting me down. I'm the one who's dragging you down. If I weren't sick, you wouldn't have wasted your life until today."
"No," Li Yuan reached out to grab his father's clothes, but his hand passed through the soul and grasped nothing.
He was devastated and cried uncontrollably, "It's my fault... it was my son who gave me that dangerous drug, it was my son who forced it down my throat."
"That's what I begged you for. It was me, it was me begging you to let me hold on for just one more day, just one more day, until my son goes to the exam hall."
The father and son took responsibility for each other, every word seemingly for the other's benefit, but the cacophony of human and ghostly voices... was enough to send chills down one's spine.
Meng Anzhi felt utterly dejected. What kind of life-saving medicine was this... it was all just a figment of her imagination! She stared at Old Man Li's spirit, utterly disappointed.
Meng Anci gripped the short blade, repeatedly telling himself, "My sister... she's my sister..."
Li Yuan knelt down with a thud, his forehead slamming heavily against the ground. "Father... I'm so sorry..." Thinking of the suffering his father endured before his death, a heart-wrenching pain swept through his body.
He suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face. Old Man Li cried out, "Stop! Stop it!" He tried to stop him, but each time he couldn't grab the object.
He cried out urgently, "Yuan's wife, pull her back quickly..."
"Dad, just let him hit him. He's feeling aggrieved..."
Old Man Li froze on the spot upon hearing this... his expression seemed to be crying, "Yuan'er, I don't blame you... I blame this fate! I blame this three-year mourning custom! My son wasted thirty years... just this one step away!"
He contracted tuberculosis while mining in his youth, so Li Yuan had to put his studies on hold and work tirelessly to earn money for his treatment. They finally managed to save enough to qualify for this year's provincial examination, but then his health failed him...
Old Man Li squatted on the ground in despair, pounding his head violently, "God... why can't you open your eyes and see?"
Jin Shanyao looked up at the sky and kindly reminded her, "The time is almost up... If you don't burn the paper money now, he won't be able to receive it."
Li Yuan hurriedly got up, grabbed a tinderbox, and shakily lit the paper. The paper money instantly appeared in Old Man Li's hand. But after the paper ox burned, it drooped its head and spun around on the ground.
Li Yuan hurriedly looked at Jin Shanyao, " Shopkeeper Jin, what's going on...?"
Jin Shanyao helplessly, "The ox needs to have its eyes opened." He stepped forward, brushed his hand across the ox's face, and instantly two large eyes appeared on the ox's face.
She took the reins and led the cow to Old Man Li, saying, "Here you go."
Old Man Li quickly took it, swallowed hard, and said weakly, "Thank you, Master."
After saying that, he turned to look at Li Yuan, "Son... I've never blamed you, don't feel guilty... It's fate that we're father and son."
He said, draping the paper money and food over the old ox, and smiled with relief, "These things will definitely make Old Man Cai green with envy; his son didn't burn any of these nice things for him."
Li Yuan grinned, trying his best to smile, "Dad... don't be stingy with the money. I'll burn more for you during this time, so we can make good arrangements when we get to the Underworld."
Old Man Li turned his face away, not daring to look Li Yuan in the eye. "Alas, I know... but I'm afraid we can't be father and son in the next life."
Upon hearing this, Li Yuan could no longer maintain his smile, and tears streamed down his face.
Old Man Li led his ox, took a deep look at all the members of the Li Household, and then slowly walked towards the back mountain. He and his son had lived a very tiring life, and death might be a relief.
Li Yuan withdrew his gaze, wiped away his tears, and, pulling his wife and children along, Jin Shanyao, saying, "Thank you, Shopkeeper Jin..."
Jin Shanyao around, took the cloth bag, and handed it to him. " Li Yuan... gratitude is not a vine that binds you; you should let it go."
Li Yuan stood there, holding the cloth bag, stunned. An indescribable sense of relief welled up from the bottom of his heart, and he felt as if he had been reborn.
Xiaoli and Dahuang walked beside the old ox, staring at its trembling legs, and said in a sinister tone, "If you dare to throw your master off balance, I'll make sure you never stand up again..."
The old ox dared not utter a sound, but glanced sideways at the Xiaoli, not wanting to be caught red-handed.
Xiaoli scolded angrily, "What are you looking at? What a waste of your tall stature! Your courage is smaller than a sesame seed."
The old ox remains silent, only pulling the cart relentlessly... Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't underestimate the old ox's timidity, one day I will make you look at me differently.
snort...
"Hmm..." Xiaoli looked up at Old Ox, "You dare to hum..."
Old Ox...
On the oxcart, Meng Anzhi asked, "Auntie, aren't you afraid of incurring karmic debts?"
"What karma do you owe... I've already taken the money." Jin Shanyao said, opening her hand to reveal a copper coin lying quietly in her palm.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci exchanged a glance. Their aunt was always like this—stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside.
Seeing the two children's helpless expressions, Jin Shanyao couldn't help but burst into laughter, pulling them into her arms with one in each hand.
He said slowly, "Kindness is a bond of fate mixed with cause and effect, not a strangling rein."
Everyone says Li Yuan is a very filial son, but in reality, he was bound by gratitude for most of his life.
Old Man Li never had his own children in his entire life because of him, and he would rather drink strong medicine to tough it out than not be able to send him to the examination hall.
This kind of sacrifice is like a knife held to Li Yuan's neck; one wrong step and he's doomed.
Li Yuan devoted everything he had to repay his stepfather for raising him, but if he did anything wrong, people would say he was heartless.
One person gives desperately, the other gives desperately in return; both are exhausted.
Putting aside the deep bond between Li Yuan and his son, I hope you will remember the kindness shown to you.
True gratitude is repaid with dignity and composure. If someone helps you up, you extend a helping hand when they stumble.
If the other party turns this 'kindness' into a chain binding you, then it's better not to repay it.
Actually, Jin Shanyao had ulterior motives; otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making this trip.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci glances, sensing that their aunt's words had a hidden meaning.
They didn't understand at the time, but it wasn't until many years later, when Jin Shanyao left, that they truly grasped the profound meaning of her words.
My aunt won't be bound by the debt of saving her life, and they shouldn't be bound by the debt of raising her.
Everything should be done in moderation; too much of anything is as bad as too little.
Time flies, and the results of the college entrance examination are in.
With Jin Shanyao, Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci waited outside the government office early in the morning. As soon as the notice was posted, Meng Anci couldn't wait to squeeze inside.
Not wanting to stand too close and not be able to see, he took two steps back, but his view was completely blocked and he couldn't see anything at all.
Damn it... when will he grow up to be as tall as his aunt?
Thinking this, a pair of large hands gripped his waist, and his body was suddenly lifted into the air. Meng Anci subconsciously turned around and saw Shi Chang'an laughing, "What are you looking at me for? Quickly look at the list..."
Meng Anci hurriedly turned his head to look, but he didn't recognize the person at the top of the list. He continued looking down, and he didn't see himself in second or third place. His heart skipped a beat. Had he messed up?