Doctor Brooks was drinking tea to quench his thirst, and upon hearing this, he sprayed Edward Walker’s face.

Old Lady glared fiercely at Mrs. Edward Walker, and said to Doctor Brooks, “She’s asking when he’ll fully recover?”

“This can’t be rushed,” Doctor Brooks said unhurriedly, “His body is too weak. I’ll prescribe a nourishing remedy. Let’s see how he does after taking it for a month.”

“Ah, he still has to take medicine!” Mrs. Edward Walker’s joy vanished, and she complained loudly, “He’s already eaten the family out of house and home, and now more medicine!”

“Can’t he just recover slowly?” Old Lady actually couldn’t bear to spend more money either. Where would she get any more?

“Of course he can,” Doctor Brooks stroked his beard and said, “But he’s been bedridden too long, his body is extremely depleted. If he doesn’t recuperate quickly, even if he recovers, he’ll be a chronic invalid.”

“Then can’t we just give him tonics directly?” Old Lady asked again.

“He’s too weak for tonics. If you give him supplements now, it’ll kill him.” Doctor Brooks shook his head, looking compassionate, and said, “Sister-in-law, Henry Walker is so young, you can’t let him be left with a lifelong illness!”

“Alright.” Old Lady’s expression shifted back and forth, but finally she nodded firmly, “Doctor, please write the prescription!”

So Edward Walker ground the ink, Doctor Brooks spread out the paper, and with swift strokes wrote out a prescription, dried the ink, and handed it to Edward Walker, saying, “Go get the medicine. The sooner he takes it, the sooner he’ll recover!”

“Mm, mm.” Edward Walker responded, carefully taking the prescription, and glanced at Old Lady.

“See the doctor home, and pick up the medicine on the way.” Old Lady sighed, “Tell Mr. Carter to put it on the tab, and we’ll settle up at the end of the month.”

“Ma, the pharmacy already said they won’t give us credit anymore…” Watching his sister pack up Doctor Brooks’s medicine box, Edward Walker whispered to Old Lady, “They say you’re totally untrustworthy. They’ve been saying this for three months, and haven’t seen a single coin…”

“How would you know if you don’t pester them?” Old Lady angrily took off a gold bracelet from her wrist and slapped it into his hand, “Pawn this, get the medicine first, we’ll talk later!”

“Mm, mm.” Edward Walker finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Doctor Brooks had already packed up and was leisurely drinking tea. When the mother and son finished talking, he got up to take his leave.

“Edward Walker, go see the doctor out.” Old Lady took out a string of coins from her waist, about twenty in total, and handed them to her son.

Doctor Brooks saw this and laughed, “The sun must be rising in the west today, I actually get to see sister-in-law’s money.”

“You’ve helped us so many times, and finally cured the younger one.” Old Lady said shamelessly, “This time I’ll settle the consultation fee in full.”

Doctor Brooks stepped outside and almost tripped. He turned back with a wry smile, “So my house call is worth just one coin?” Waving his hand, he said, “Forget it, I’ll be a good person to the end—this one’s on the house!”

“Thank you, doctor.” Old Lady didn’t refuse, and snatched the money back from her son, “When our family prospers, I’ll give you two bags of silver myself.”

“I’d like to see you try, but I wouldn’t dare accept it.” Mr. Brooks shook his head and laughed as he left, and Edward Walker hurried to see him out.

……

After Edward Walker saw Mr. Brooks off, Old Lady glanced at her daughter-in-law and said, “You’re not feeling unwell anymore?”

Mrs. Edward Walker blushed and said awkwardly, “Not yet, I just came to check and need to go back to bed.” With that, she slunk back to her room.

Old Lady snorted, then turned her gaze to her son, feeling both pleased and angry. The pleasure was understandable, but the anger was because her son had come back from the gambling den, beaten up. The county never solved the case, and in the end, it was ruled as “revenge after a gambling dispute.” So in Old Lady’s mind, her son was beaten because of gambling!

For this idle, gambling son, Old Lady had long since lost hope. Thinking that he’d surely relapse in the future and bring even more misfortune to the family, Old Lady couldn’t help but fume. If Henry Walker hadn’t just woken up, he’d have gotten a good scolding.

“I’ll settle accounts with you later!” Old Lady looked her son up and down, then gave him a fierce glare, left Grace to look after him, and went back to her own room to work. Perhaps from exhaustion after the excitement, her steps were a bit unsteady, and she stumbled on the threshold at the door. Old Lady kicked the threshold angrily and said, “One of these days I’ll saw you off for firewood!”

After Old Lady left, little sister Grace took the millet porridge cooked in the morning, added some hot water, and fed it to Henry Walker. Grace’s personality was much like Old Lady’s, but being young, she wasn’t fierce yet, just lively. As she fed him porridge, she chattered away, telling him what happened while he was unconscious, and inevitably scolded him a bit.

From her words, Henry Walker learned that although the family was in dire straits, if he hadn’t collapsed, things wouldn’t be as bad as they were now—not only were they deep in debt, but they could barely afford food… Thinking of this, Henry Walker realized that Old Lady’s stumbling earlier was probably because she was so hungry her limbs were weak.

Even six hundred years later, there’s still the saying “one illness leads to poverty.” Henry Walker remembered that Lu Xun’s family was ruined this way, so he believed his sister’s words without doubt, and couldn’t help but feel deeply guilty.

“The neighbors all told Ma you’d never wake up, that every extra day you lingered was another day’s expense, and you’d drag good people down with you. They said it’d be better if you just died quickly. Only Ma is so stubborn—once she’s set on something, no one can change her mind. If it were any other family, you’d be dead and buried by now!”