Rebirth: Not Being a Waste - Chapter 90

That night, Grandpa Zhang falls ill as soon as he gets home. The sudden high fever catches everyone off guard. Zhang Shu quickly hitches the ox cart and rushes his grandfather to the town’s medical clinic. The town is pitch dark, with doors shut everywhere. Relying on his memory, Zhang Shu makes his way to the clinic and bangs heavily on the door.

“Doctor! Doctor! Come out and save him!” Zhang Shu and Yu Xiaoliu take turns pounding on the door. After repeated knocking and shouting, the doctor finally opens the door, yawning and still dressed in his sleepwear.

“You again? What is it this time? If it’s some trivial matter, don’t blame me for sticking you with a needle!” The old doctor is exasperated. He has barely lain down, deep in a good dream, only to be rudely awakened by their knocking. It drives him mad.

With Yu Xiaoliu’s help, Zhang Shu lifts his grandfather onto his back and says urgently, “Please step aside! My grandfather is sick, burning with fever, and he looks really unwell!”

Zhang Shu’s face is filled with anxiety, and he doesn’t have the heart to joke around. He carefully lays Grandpa Zhang on the treatment table and touches his forehead. The scorching heat against his palm makes his heart sink even further.

The doctor’s irritation fades as soon as he examines Grandpa Zhang. When it comes to elderly patients, children, and pregnant individuals, he never dares to be careless.

Pushing Zhang Shu aside, he sits down and carefully takes Grandpa Zhang’s pulse. His frown deepens.

Grandpa Zhang lies motionless, his face flushed, his body burning up, yet he isn’t sweating. His lips are dry and cracked, with a layer of dead skin forming from dehydration.

“His internal energy is depleted, and his body is burning up from within while remaining cold on the outside! His pulse is erratic—this is critical!”

Zhang Shu’s heart clenches with every word the doctor speaks. By the time the diagnosis is finished, he is trembling all over.

In his past life, his grandparents live longer than this. Is it possible that because of him, his grandfather will die earlier this time? If the price of his rebirth is their shortened lives, he would rather not have been reborn at all.

No! He can’t think like that. Grandpa must be saved. He can’t accept losing him so soon.

“Doctor, please! I’ll do anything to save him!” Zhang Shu nearly drops to his knees in desperation.

The doctor’s expression turns serious. “Right now, the priority is to bring down his fever. If it continues, his brain could be damaged. Even if he survives, he might never recover fully.”

He instructs Zhang Shu to remove Grandpa Zhang’s clothes, then sends Xiaoliu to fetch a basin of cold water from the backyard. Using a cloth, they begin wiping Grandpa Zhang’s forehead, armpits, and limbs, hoping to lower his temperature.

When Zhang Shu lifts the cloth from his grandfather’s forehead, steam rises from it—it is scalding. His fever shows no sign of breaking.

After several rounds of cold compresses, there is still no improvement. The doctor hesitates. His usual method for reducing fevers—cooling with water—isn’t working. But what else can they do? They can’t just let him burn all night.

He considers giving Grandpa Zhang an antipyretic medicine to help. While Xiaoliu goes to boil the prescribed herbs in the backyard, he and Zhang Shu continue cooling Grandpa Zhang with water.

Zhang Shu grows increasingly anxious. “Doctor, this isn’t working. What else can we do?”

“I’ve already prepared medicine. Once it’s ready, we’ll give it to him and continue cooling him down with water.”

Suddenly, Zhang Shu thinks of something. “Doctor, do you have any strong liquor?”

The old doctor glares at him. “You’re still thinking about drinking at a time like this?”

“No, just bring it out! I have an idea.”

The doctor is still skeptical, but since he usually keeps a jar of liquor in the backyard for occasional drinking, he fetches it. “What exactly are you planning to do? You’re not thinking of making him drink it, are you?”

Zhang Shu carefully pours some of the liquor onto a cloth and wipes it over Grandpa Zhang’s forehead, armpits, and limbs.

The doctor’s heart aches at the sight. “You’re wasting my best wine on this! Will this even work?”

Zhang Shu drips a little liquor onto the doctor’s hand. The doctor feels the cooling effect as the alcohol evaporates, leaving a refreshing sensation. It is clearly more effective than water.

Realizing this, the doctor quickly soaks another cloth and helps wipe down Grandpa Zhang’s lower limbs.

After a few moments, Zhang Shu tests his grandfather’s skin with his hand. The temperature has gone down significantly, though it will soon rise again. Still, this method is much better than just using water.

At this moment, Zhang Shu is immensely grateful for the daughter-in-law who introduces them to so many new ideas. The knowledge she shares is proving incredibly useful.

The old doctor changes the cloth while asking Zhang Shu, “How did you anger the old man this badly? If it weren’t such a heavy blow, it wouldn’t have gotten this severe so suddenly.”

Zhang Shu’s face darkens. “It’s… a family matter. My grandfather was…” He sighs heavily, unable to find the right words.

The old doctor doesn’t press further. Every family has its troubles, and it’s normal for people to keep some things to themselves. When he checks the old man’s pulse earlier, he senses a deep weakness—an indication that Grandpa Zhang has lost the will to fight. “You need to talk to him, keep his spirit up. If he loses hope, no matter what we do, it will be in vain.”

Zhang Shu realizes the doctor is right. He leans closer to Grandpa Zhang and says, “Grandpa, don’t be sad. You still have us! Jin’er is about to give birth—you’re going to be a great-grandfather soon! Do you want a great-grandson or a great-granddaughter? I know you’ve never said it, but I bet you’d prefer a little ger grandson, right? You’re still strong. Jin’er and I have so many things to do, and we need you and Grandma to help take care of our child for a few more years! Grandma isn’t in good health, and she can’t do everything on her own. How can you bear to leave her behind to suffer alone?”

Tears stream down Zhang Shu’s face as he speaks. “I’ve been an orphan since I was a child, and you and Grandma raise me. I haven’t even begun to repay your kindness—how could you just leave us like this? Those people are blind, but we aren’t. If my parents are still alive, they would have been so filial to you! Please don’t give up. Our family is still together, and that’s more important than anything else. As for outsiders and all their nonsense—let them be!”

Zhang Shu keeps talking, switching topics from their household pigs to the bag of dried tobacco Grandpa Zhang hasn’t finished. As he speaks, he continues wiping his grandfather down.

The old doctor checks Grandpa Zhang’s pulse again and notices that it has grown steadier, gradually returning to normal. He nods at Zhang Shu and says, “Keep talking. He’s listening.”

Zhang Shu takes a deep breath, drinks some water, and continues. When he runs out of things to say, he repeats himself, anything to keep his grandfather engaged. He speaks like this for half an hour.

Finally, Yu Xiaoliu rushes in with a bowl of medicine. “Brother Shu, the medicine is ready! Give it to Grandpa!”

Zhang Shu carefully lifts Grandpa Zhang into a sitting position. When he tries to open his grandfather’s mouth, his lips are so dry and cracked that a little blood seeps out.

He gestures for Yu Xiaoliu to pour the medicine in and speaks gently, “Grandpa, just drink this medicine. Grandma is still waiting for you at home! She pickled so much cabbage for you, just the way you like it. When we go back, we’ll buy some meat and make a big stew, just like you love.”

Slowly, Grandpa Zhang swallows the medicine. The three of them let out a breath of relief. If he can still swallow, that means he is conscious—the chances of his recovery are much better now.

After he finishes the bowl of medicine and is wiped down with liquor to help lower his fever, the rooster’s crow signals the coming dawn. Finally, Grandpa Zhang’s temperature drops.

The old doctor quickly instructs Zhang Shu to dress his grandfather and cover him with a quilt. “Now that the fever has broken, we can’t let him catch a cold.”

Seeing that Grandpa Zhang is out of danger, the doctor tells them to watch over him while he goes to catch up on sleep. He is getting old—pulling an all-nighter isn’t something he can do easily anymore.

Zhang Shu thanks him profusely, then urges Yu Xiaoliu to rest. Meanwhile, he stays by his grandfather’s side, keeping watch.

Exhausted, Zhang Shu eventually nods off while sitting upright.

A gentle touch on his head wakes him. He looks up and sees Grandpa Zhang stroking his hair with a kind smile.

Zhang Shu’s throat tightens, and his eyes sting with unshed tears. His grandpa is awake. He is okay.

“Ah’shu, you’ve been through so much,” Grandpa Zhang says hoarsely. “It was my own foolishness that made you worry and work so hard because of those ungrateful wretches.”

Zhang Shu quickly pours him some water.

Grandpa Zhang takes a slow sip and continues, “Last night, I almost went to see your parents. They told me that you’re still too young to be left without guidance. If I went to them, your grandmother would surely follow. They told me to stay and help you for a few more years, so I came back.”

A faint smile appears on Grandpa Zhang’s lips, as if he has truly seen his son and daughter-in-law in a dream.

Zhang Shu nods earnestly. “Yes, Jin’er and I are still young. We need you.”

As they are talking, someone rushes in from outside. Grandma Zhang, looking utterly exhausted, takes one look at her husband and bursts into tears. “Old man, you scared me to death!”

Grandpa Zhang scoffs. “You’re too old to be crying in front of the younger generation. Aren’t you embarrassed?” Yet, despite his words, his hand clings tightly to hers.

Li Mujin enters, supported by his Aba. Seeing them, Zhang Shu hurries over to welcome them.

“Grandpa, are you feeling better?” Li Aba asks, his voice full of concern. “These children still need your guidance.”

Grandpa Zhang nods. “Thank you. This old man is fine now.”

Everyone sits and talks for a while before the old doctor emerges again. After checking Grandpa Zhang’s pulse, he prescribes some more medicine and gives them the green light to go home.

The family piles onto two ox carts and makes their way back. Just as they near the village entrance, Grandpa Zhang suddenly speaks. “Ah’shu, let’s go to the village chief’s house.”

Zhang Shu looks at him in surprise. “Grandpa, why? You should rest first.”

Grandpa Zhang replies, “We’re going to the village chief’s house first. I won’t be able to sleep until we do. You heard what your second uncle said yesterday. Your father gave his life to save him, and yet he doesn’t have even a shred of gratitude. Thinking back on all his actions over the years, your grandmother and I must have been blind to ever believe he would treat you well and lend you a hand in times of trouble. Now that I think about it, it’s already fortunate he hasn’t tried to push you down instead. As for your aunt, we raised her to be naïve, and now she’s been completely deceived by the Zhang family. She’s already in her forties—she won’t change now. I won’t let them use your grandmother and me as an excuse to hold you back. While I still have breath in my body, I’m going to the village chief to write a severance letter. You’ll keep one copy, and the village chief will keep another. That way, no matter what they try to do in the future, they’ll have no power over you.”

If a child wants to sever ties with their elders, they need the elders’ consent. But if an elder wishes to sever ties with their descendants, they don’t have to inform them.

Grandma Zhang opens her mouth as if to object, but then she remembers the terrifying sight of her husband last night, burning up with fever and close to death. In the end, she swallows her words.

It is better this way. She is old, and there is only so much she can care about now.