Chapter 2: The Details of the Lawsuit Cause Father's Heartache

  The old man pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and gazed at me for a long time. His eyes showed an unwavering determination and affectionate expression. This familiar gaze made my heart tremble slightly.

  I seem to have seen the time when I was a novice in rushing corpses, my master ordered me to carry a heavy stone mill of over 100 kilograms and climb to the top of Luo Gong Mountain with difficulty. My master beside me was also looking at me with this kind of eyes, which was his care and affirmation for me. But I deeply know that this old man is now using this gaze to look at me, but it is from my body that he has seen the hope of curing his own son.

  The old man, seeing me staring at him, hastily averted his eyes and lowered his head, saying: "We are from Wupu Village in Pucheng. Our family originally had some property. In order to cure my son's illness, our family fortune has been exhausted, and the fields have also been sold or mortgaged. Alas! It must be the karma I created in my previous life!"

  The old man finished speaking and let out a heart-wrenching sigh. I didn't dare interrupt him, and after he sighed, he continued: "A month ago, my nephew's son got married, and our family was filled with joy as we helped with the wedding arrangements. My brother is a wealthy man, so on this happy day, he invited all of us in the family to a banquet. After dinner, everyone was in high spirits, eating and drinking without restraint. When it was time to leave, I went outside to call my son, but saw that he was still sitting there, eating frantically as if he were starving. I thought maybe he had been hungry all day, so I decided to wait for him to finish eating before we headed back home together. But the person sitting next to him told me that he had already eaten nine big bowls of rice."

  "Wow, nine big bowls of rice? Can your son really eat that much? I, Liu Si, think my stomach capacity is large, but even I couldn't finish this much. Is your son a reincarnation of the Food God?" Old Six exclaimed on the side.

  What Lao Liu said was very unpleasant and made him a bit angry. This guy didn't even consider the occasion when speaking, and saying this at this time would undoubtedly make the old man feel very uncomfortable. He quickly signaled to Lao Liu to shut up, with an apologetic expression, and said to the old man: "Don't blame me, elder. My brother is a fool who can't turn his brain around."

  "It's nothing. I heard that my son ate eight or nine big bowls of rice, and I was shocked in my heart. So I asked him if he was hungry, but unexpectedly, he seemed to have not heard me at all, just burying his head and eating with big mouthfuls. At the time, I was a bit angry, thinking that eating so much would be hard on his stomach. Then I went over and took away his bowl and chopsticks, planning to pull him home. But then I saw him use his hands to grab food from the table. At the time, I thought he might be uncomfortable due to physical reasons, so I called two young people from our clan to help take him back home. At first, we couldn't budge him at all - he just sat there, using his hands to grab food and eat. Later, when the people around us were shocked, we finally managed to drag him home. When we got home, he was still shouting that he wanted to eat. I opened up his clothes and saw that his belly had swollen into a ball shape, with all the blood vessels on his stomach visible, looking like they might burst at any moment. I was afraid something would happen to him, so I ordered someone to hurry and invite the village's barefoot doctor to come and diagnose him. Unexpectedly, the doctor couldn't find any symptoms on my son at all. In the middle of the night, he suddenly got out of bed and started hitting the wall with his hands, as if the wall had a grudge against him."

  The old man suddenly stopped here and looked at me with a pleading gaze in his eyes, possibly hoping that I could express my opinion after all, from start to finish, I didn't say a word.

  Seeing this, I took over the conversation and asked: "Did your son use his hand to hit the wall? This wall is made of bricks and stones. With such a desperate blow, his hand must have been in unbearable pain. Didn't your son feel anything? Was his mind still normal at that time?"

  He looked at me with a grateful glance, picked up the tea on the table with his sleeve and took a sip, saying in a hoarse voice: "Yes, hitting the wall with bare hands will definitely be painful. My family pulled him but couldn't pull him away, after just a few pulls, my son's hand was already bloody, but his hand seemed to be someone else's, completely numb to the pain. After calling over several villagers to help pull him away, the flesh on his hand was already mashed, and even the white bones were clearly visible. Alas, my poor son!

  The old man was already sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing the old man so heartbroken, I couldn't help but be deeply moved by his paternal love. I thought to myself that for the sake of all parents in this world, I must do my best to help this poor father in front of me, even though I had never seen my own biological parents.

  "What happened afterwards? How did you deal with your son's strange illness? What do the neighbors say about it? At this time, Uncle, please don't be too sad. The matter has already occurred, and we can only try to salvage it afterwards. Please tell us all the details that have happened since then, so that my brother and I can understand what happened to your son." Meanwhile, Second Brother had also entered the room, and was now looking at the sorrowful old man with a sympathetic expression on his face.

  The old man heard the second brother speak and saw a stranger standing beside him, looking a bit awkward. Seeing this, I quickly introduced: "Don't be afraid, old man, he is my second brother."

  The old man nodded and tried his best to hold back his sorrow, saying: "Neighbors and family members all say that my son has lost his mind, possibly due to a stroke, but I don't think so. Because when I pulled him up, his eyes clearly showed a moment of pain, which means his heart is still clear. It's as if everything he did was beyond his control..."

  The old man's words left me a little astonished, I couldn't believe that an ordinary farmer could be so perceptive and meticulous, not even the smallest details were overlooked. It seems that a father's love for his son can be said to have reached the point of being extremely meticulous. My heart couldn't help but look at him with new eyes.

  "All the villagers and family members said that my son was sick because of illness, but only an old man said that my son might have been possessed by a hungry ghost due to superstition. At that time, I also had the same feeling as him, but under the consistent advice of the family, we still took my son to see doctors everywhere and tried all kinds of famous medicines, but there was no effect at all. In just a few days, my son was unable to speak, move his hands or feet, and was almost gone. Seeing that he would not survive if this continued, I didn't expect that a nephew from our clan who had been working outside the village suddenly returned home and said that traditional Chinese medicine could not cure this illness, but Western modern medical techniques were excellent, and the best way was to go to the provincial city, where there were hospitals set up by foreigners. After spending a lot of money in the provincial city, we found a foreign doctor through connections, and after the foreign doctor examined my son, he still couldn't find any symptoms. This examination had already exhausted our family's property, and yesterday when we left home, we even killed our last chicken for him to eat, but he ate it all up without even spitting out a single bone. This is the whole process of my son's illness, but I always feel that he didn't lose his mind, seeing me, although he couldn't shout, he could still wave at me and make sounds... Alas, alas, what a sin! What a sin!" The old man finished speaking and let out several long sighs, sitting on the wooden chair with a painful expression, beating his chest and stamping his feet in grief.

  I hurried over to hold him and comfort him, but my second brother suddenly said: "Old man, I have a few questions to ask you. This may help us brothers to cure your son's illness."

  "Please ask me anything that can help you cure my son, I'll tell you everything." The old man said excitedly as if he saw the hope of his son's recovery.