Courtyard House: The Fisherman Never Goes Sick

He Yuzhu's anger flared up instantly, and he turned to punch Jia Dongxu, but he stopped abruptly just as he raised his arm. Qin Huairu was standing in front of him, and Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng also came over.

These people, Jia Zhangshi, Bang Geng, and Jia Dongxu, had faces as white as if they had been powdered, without a trace of blood.

Standing there, Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng were bent over, clutching their stomachs, groaning "Ouch, ouch," which was heartbreaking to hear.

"Get him to the hospital immediately!" Yi Zhonghai's brows furrowed, his voice filled with urgency.

The two young men next to them immediately took action. One carried Xiaodang on his back, and the other carried Xiaohuaihua on his back. They took off running out of the yard.

When Yi Zhonghai came to his senses, there were only three people left in the courtyard who could lend a hand: him, an old woman, and He Yuzhu. However, Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng could not walk at all. Qin Huairu seemed to be able to hold on. He Yuzhu had to carry Jia Dongxu, and the old woman could only carry Banggeng at most. As for the fat woman Jia Zhangshi, was he, the old man, supposed to carry her?

Yi Zhonghai's face turned as black as an iron pot.

"Uncle... quickly carry this old woman to the hospital!" Jia Zhangshi shouted in a weak voice, seeing that only Yi Zhonghai was left, but her words were clear.

"Uncle, thank you for your trouble," Qin Huairu added.

"Alright, for the sake of my reputation, I, Yi Zhonghai, will risk it all!" Yi Zhonghai sighed inwardly. Well, today I'll take on the challenge and carry Jia Zhangshi to the hospital with these old bones.

He bent down and, with all his might, carried Jia Zhangshi on his back, his steps faltering as he moved out.

He Yuzhu carried Jia Dongxu on his back. With others around and Jia Dongxu in excruciating pain, he stopped making a fuss.

An older woman carried a rice stalk on her back, while Qin Huairu followed behind, clutching her stomach.

The group walked out of the courtyard in the dark.

After taking only a few steps, Yi Zhonghai's brows furrowed deeply. Jia Zhangshi's back pressed down on him like a mountain, making it difficult for him to breathe. But he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep moving forward.

Just then, he tripped over a stone.

Normally, this little bump wouldn't be a problem, but now that he's carrying a thousand-pound Jia Zhangshi on his back, how can he keep his balance?

His body tilted, and he fell straight forward, landing with a "thud" with his mouth full of mud.

This fall was much worse than He Yuzhu's. He Yuzhu was young and strong, but this old man was carrying a fat woman on his back. How could he withstand such an impact?

My mouth felt burning hot, and when I touched it, I found that the skin was broken and bleeding, and even one of my teeth was loose.

"Uncle, how come you're so fragile?" Jia Zhangshi said coolly from behind.

These words infuriated Yi Zhonghai, who was practically fuming. His heart skipped a beat: No way, he couldn't possibly carry this fat woman! He immediately stopped, decided to give up, and went on strike!

We can't just leave Jia Zhangshi like this.

The only way is to wake up the others and come up with a solution together.

"Are you alright?" Qin Huairu walked over at this moment.

"It's nothing," Yi Zhonghai replied with a pained expression, his lips swollen.

"Oh dear, sir, did you hurt your mouth?" Qin Huairu was shocked when she saw it.

"Not only his mouth, but he also knocked out a tooth, and his knee is probably scraped and bleeding." Yi Zhonghai said with a wry smile.

"What should we do then?" Qin Huairu was at a loss for what to do.

Just then, someone pushed out a cart: "Come on, come on, take a ride on the cart, so you won't be unable to walk."

When Yi Zhonghai saw this, he almost burst into tears; at least there was hope.

Several people hurriedly helped Jia Zhangshi into the car and pushed her towards the hospital.

The cart was narrow, and He Yuzhu had to carry Jia Dongxu on his back. Jia Dongxu was tall and heavy, making He Yuzhu pant heavily.

If Qin Huairu hadn't accompanied him the whole way, occasionally reaching out to gently pat the back of his hand to give him a little encouragement, he would have given up halfway through the journey.

It took the group more than half an hour to get to the hospital. He Yuzhu was so tired that his legs were trembling.

When they arrived at the hospital, the entire Jia family was still clutching their stomachs and crying out in pain.

Qin Huairu was also in so much pain that she squatted on the ground. Jia Zhangshi, Banggeng, and Jia Dongxu were in even worse shape, lying directly on the ground with their faces pale and bluish, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

The young doctor rushed over: "What happened?"

"It's probably food poisoning," said He Yuzhu, who was well-informed.

"Probably." The doctor nodded, then asked, "What did you eat today?"

"I ate the same things I usually eat today, how could I get food poisoning?" Qin Huairu asked, puzzled. Suddenly remembering shrimp heads, she quickly said, "Could it be the shrimp heads from those crayfish?"

"Crayfish?" The doctor was stunned. This thing only became popular in later generations. He had never heard of it before.

"It's... a pretty big shrimp..." Qin Huairu said, gesturing as she spoke. The doctor hadn't seen it before, but guessed it was probably the culprit.

"How can you eat random things!" He frowned.

"Yang Wei ate some too, so why are Lou Xiao'e and the others alright?" Jia Zhangshi interjected, enduring the pain. Suddenly remembering Yang Wei's warning earlier that shrimp heads were poisonous, she exclaimed, "Could it be... that shrimp heads really are poisonous?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai's expression changed. He had also eaten a shrimp head himself, and fortunately, he was not feeling unwell at the moment, probably because he hadn't eaten enough. But just to be on the safe side, he would need to get an injection later.

"Are there any shrimp heads left? If so, bring them in for testing," the doctor said.

"That's all, we ate it all." Qin Huairu shook her head. The shrimp heads were so delicious, why would the Jia family leave them?

"Okay, let's do a blood test first, then we'll treat you after the results come back. I'll prescribe some antidote for emergency use." The doctor turned and went into the emergency room.

The nurse came quickly to give the injection. Bang Geng cried and struggled, but he was too weak to resist. He Yuzhu pressed him down, and he couldn't move. After the injection, Jia Zhangshi and the others were visibly relieved.

Not long after, the test results came out, and the doctor frowned as soon as he saw them: heavy metal poisoning.

It seems that the lobster contained heavy metals.

"Doctor, how is it?" Qin Huairu asked anxiously.

"Heavy metal poisoning can be treated with injections, but the medication is expensive."

"Save the people first. The Jia family owns a steel mill; they're not short of money," Yi Zhonghai replied.

"Okay." The doctor nodded and wrote out a prescription.

Qin Huairu took the prescription to pay, and the cashier frowned as soon as she calculated the bill: twenty-five yuan in total. This was a huge sum for the Jia family.

"Doctor, is this price wrong?" she couldn't help but ask. Injections weren't this expensive before.

"These are imported medicines, they're expensive, there's nothing we can do about it," the cashier said helplessly.

Qin Huairu's heart tightened immediately. If they didn't have the money to pay, Jia Zhangshi and the others wouldn't be able to get their injections. What if something really happened to them?

She didn't care whether Jia Zhangshi lived or died, but she couldn't bear to lose her child.

Having no other choice, she had to go find He Yuzhu and Yi Zhonghai. She met Yi Zhonghai first, and immediately said with concern, "Uncle, the medicine is too expensive, it costs twenty-five yuan."

"Twenty-five?!" Yi Zhonghai's eyes widened in surprise. He had thought it would be at most seven or eight yuan, but it turned out to be several times more.

"Twenty-five is nothing, we can all discuss it and it'll be fine. Don't panic, Qin Huairu." He patted Qin Huairu on the shoulder, and seeing that she breathed a sigh of relief, he added, "You go talk to Shazhu first, I'm going to the outhouse, we'll discuss it later."

Twenty-five yuan? This old fox was planning to slip away anyway. He figured He Yuzhu, that "lapdog," would cover for him, so what was he afraid of?

Qin Huairu believed her and turned to look for Sha Zhu. Yi Zhonghai disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if his feet were oiled.

As for Yi Zhonghai, he originally planned to bring up the matter of getting an injection after the Jia family left, since he had no symptoms at the moment.

But just as he reached the courtyard gate, He Yuzhu called out from behind, panting, "Grandpa! Where are you going?"

Just now, Qin Huairu mentioned that the medicine was expensive and that Yi Zhonghai had gone to the outhouse. How could Sha Zhu not understand? Although he was called "Sha Zhu," he was not stupid at all. Sure enough, Yi Zhonghai was crouching down, trying to slip away!

"I...I remembered I have something to do at home, I need to go back and tidy up before coming back!" Yi Zhonghai's face was stiff when he turned around. "Shazhu, you keep an eye on things!"

"Uncle, I'd like to keep an eye on it too, but I only have five yuan in my pocket!" Sha Zhu retorted bluntly. "Qin Huairu said it would cost twenty-five! I can only afford five yuan!"

Yi Zhonghai's old face twitched, never expecting that Sha Zhu would turn the tables on him!

"Well, I'll go take a look first." He had no choice but to go back to the hospital.

After pooling their resources, Qin Huairu had three pieces, Sha Zhu had five pieces, and they were still short seventeen pieces.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and took out the money; he had to preserve his reputation as a "righteous and helpful old man."

But the thought that the Jia family definitely couldn't repay the money immediately made his face turn as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Uncle, Sha Zhu, thank you so much!" Qin Huairu bowed repeatedly while clutching the payment slip.

"It's only right to lend a hand to neighbors, unlike that selfish Yang Wei!" Yi Zhonghai said frankly, but in his heart he was thinking: I'll get my revenge on you, woman, later.

"Sister Qin, your family's affairs are my affairs!" Sha Zhu patted his chest, his voice so loud it could lift the roof off.

Yi Zhonghai frowned deeply. "That idiot Zhu!"

After paying, it was time for the injections. Qin Huairu, Xiao Dang, and Xiao Huaihua ate less and had milder poisoning, so they each received a small dose of injection. Bang Geng, Jia Dongxu, and Jia Zhangshi were not so lucky, especially Jia Zhangshi, who was as fat as a steamed bun and had to receive five injections.

The medicine pierced her skin with excruciating pain. Jia Zhangshi screamed like a pig whose head had been stabbed, her face covered in snot and tears, and she even defecated.

Sha Zhu gritted his teeth and held her down, otherwise the needle would be bent by her fat. He was really going all out to please Qin Huairu.

Although Bang Geng and Jia Dongxu's screams weren't as loud, they still made people in the hospital cover their ears. Yi Zhonghai also paid for an injection himself.

After several hours of fussing, the Jia family finally finished their injections. Just as dawn broke, He Yuzhu and Yi Zhonghai helped them back to the courtyard.

"It's all that damned Yang Wei's fault!" Madam Jia Zhang started throwing a tantrum as soon as she entered the courtyard. "He ate all the food for himself and ruined our Jia family. His heart is so poisonous he deserves to be shot!"

"Yes! He'll get struck by lightning sooner or later and die a horrible death!" Jia Dongxu cursed along, but both of them were weak and their voices were like the buzzing of mosquitoes, without any strength.

A few minutes later, it was completely light. Yang Wei rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. He then stewed some braised pork.

The aroma wafted into the courtyard on the wind. The Jia family members were hungry and waiting for Qin Huairu to cook white noodles. The smell of meat made their throats tighten.

"That son of a bitch Yang Wei is making braised pork again!" Jia Zhangshi stared in the direction of Yang Wei's house, her teeth itching with hatred.