Now that Old Madam Yang was no longer lost in daily anxieties, the three children felt considerably relieved. Wang Youfu had left for corvée labor more than half a month ago, and he was expected back in another half a month or so.

Several days of continuous rain proved highly beneficial for the crops, easing the villagers' worries about those who had gone off to labor.

The busy farming season had passed, and there was less work in the fields. Consequently, as soon as the rain stopped, some people headed to the mountains to gather mushrooms. Old Madam Yang recalled that the straw mushrooms the children had gathered last time were too few; she thought this would be a good chance to collect more after the rain. So, right after finishing lunch, she took the three children and headed up the mountain.

Wang Qingchen was delighted about going mushroom picking. He had been worrying that too many straw mushrooms were growing in his spatial pocket, and now he could take out a good portion.

Old Madam Yang and the two older sons each carried a basket on their backs. Caiyun had insisted on carrying a basket too, but since she was too small and the basket too large, she had to give up the idea.

Upon reaching the mountain, they found quite a few villagers out gathering mushrooms. After exchanging greetings with them, Old Madam Yang sought out a less crowded spot to begin picking. Wang Qingchen walked further into the distance until he was out of sight of others, then secretly moved the straw mushrooms from his spatial pocket into his basket. He stopped only when his basket was more than half full. After waiting a while, Wang Qingchen went back to find Old Madam Yang.

“Mother, look, I’ve picked so much already,” Wang Qingchen said to Old Madam Yang, feigning an expression of, “Look how capable I am!”

Old Madam Yang glanced at Wang Qingchen’s basket. “Oh, Qingchen, you’ve gathered so much?”

Caiyun, standing nearby, immediately scampered over. Seeing Wang Qingchen’s basket nearly overflowing with straw mushrooms, she cried out, “Wow, Second Brother, where did you find so many? I want to go there too!”

“Heh heh, Second Brother is amazing, right?” Wang Qingchen said with a smug look.

Old Madam Yang looked at Wang Qingchen and thought that he was, after all, still a child. She praised him, “Qingchen is truly amazing. You’ve picked more straw mushrooms than I have!”

Wang Qingchen felt he was basking in too much praise and realized he shouldn't pretend to be a child anymore! But he said aloud, “Mother, I’ll take these back first, or there won’t be room to put any more later.”

Old Madam Yang agreed that they should take some back and instructed him, “Be careful on the run, don’t fall!”

“En!” Wang Qingchen agreed and left.

Upon returning home, Wang Qingchen took a sieve out to the yard and spread the mushrooms from his basket onto it, mimicking what Old Madam Yang usually did. After dropping off the mushrooms, Wang Qingchen hoisted his empty basket and headed back up the mountain. As he walked, he pondered how many mushrooms he should take from his spatial pocket this time.

However, before he reached the mountain path, he saw a group of people walking back down. As he drew closer, he saw Wang Qinghua leading the way, carrying Old Madam Yang on his back, with Aunt Gui holding Caiyun, and several other villagers following behind.

The moment Aunt Gui spotted Wang Qingchen, she exclaimed, “Qingchen, quickly... quickly go call Physician Li! Your mother just took a bad fall and injured her leg!”

Caiyun, crying in Aunt Gui’s arms, also wailed, “Second Brother, Mother is bleeding a lot from her leg.”

Hearing this, Wang Qingchen immediately dropped his basket and ran toward Physician Li’s house. By the time Wang Qingchen brought Physician Li back, people from the main household and the third branch had also arrived. The other villagers were gone, only Aunt Gui remained, sitting to one side, still holding Caiyun.

Physician Li was practically dragged by Wang Qingchen and arrived breathless. Fortunately, he didn't fault them and immediately attended to Old Madam Yang.

But not long after, Physician Li exclaimed urgently, “Your mother’s leg injury isn't the worst of it. The real danger is that she has miscarried! This is perilous, and you’ve delayed so long. You must hurry to the town to find a proper doctor; I cannot treat this condition.”

Everyone in the room froze. Old Madam Yang was pregnant? Wang Qingchen was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Brother, hurry! Let’s go to town to fetch a doctor!”

Wang Qinghua, alarmed by Physician Li’s words, was about to leave with Wang Qingchen, but Madam Zhang quickly stopped them. “Wait, it’s not proper for you two boys to go alone. Let your Third Uncle and Qinghua go.”

Madam Zhang’s comment made Wang Qingchen realize his mistake; it was indeed inappropriate for the two boys to go alone, as worry had clouded his judgment. Meanwhile, Wang Youtian didn't delay and had already taken Wang Qinghua off to fetch the doctor.

Old Madam Yang lay on the kang, continuously bleeding from below. Looking at her pale, unconscious face on the bed, Wang Qingchen felt terrible. Losing so much blood—how could anyone endure that? Although Old Madam Yang wasn't his biological mother, he knew how she had treated him during their time together, and she deeply loved her children, which Wang Qingchen truly appreciated. Wang Qingchen was the type of person who reciprocated kindness, and because of this, he desperately didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Wang Qingchen walked to the edge of the kang, took Old Madam Yang’s hand, and then turned to ask Aunt Gui, “Auntie, how did my mother fall?”

“Alas, the ground was slick right after the rain. Your mother lost her footing unintentionally. Who would have known she was carrying a child inside? And your father isn't home…” Aunt Gui said with deep concern.

“This second daughter-in-law—she even falls while picking mushrooms and loses the baby too! So clumsy!” the old woman muttered unhappily.

Wang Qingchen instantly became angry. His own mother had a miscarriage from a fall, and the old woman, her mother-in-law, showed no concern, only censure. Just as Wang Qingchen was about to retort, he heard the Old Master sharply scold, “What are you saying? Stop causing trouble here!”

The old woman pouted and fell silent. Tian Shi walked over and began massaging the old woman's shoulders. The old woman patted Tian Shi’s hand. “You are the most worry-free one!”

Madam Zhang glanced at the old woman and Tian Shi and let out a disdainful sneer.

When Wang Youtian and Wang Qinghua returned with Doctor Lin from town, Wang Qingchen quickly yielded the space to the physician. Doctor Lin felt her pulse, his brow furrowed. “This has been delayed too long. I can only guarantee her life will be out of danger, but her constitution will certainly be weakened.”

Saying this, Doctor Lin moved aside and wrote a prescription, handing the paper to the young attendant who had accompanied him. The attendant looked at the prescription and retrieved medicine from his satchel. It turned out Doctor Lin had inquired about the patient's condition beforehand, fearing delays in getting herbs if needed urgently, so he brought along potentially necessary medications. The attendant prepared the dosage and handed it to Wang Qinghua, instructing him on how to decoct it.

Once Wang Qinghua finished boiling the medicine, Madam Zhang helped pour it down Old Madam Yang’s throat. After a while, the bleeding from her lower body gradually stopped.

Wang Qingchen finally let out a sigh of relief and turned to Doctor Lin. “Doctor, since my mother’s health is weakened, is there a way to treat it?”

Doctor Lin hesitated for a moment. “There is a method, but several herbs in that prescription are quite rare, making the cost very high. For your mother’s condition, it will likely require no less than thirty taels of silver to cure.”

Although Wang Qingchen was mentally prepared, hearing the required sum still startled him. The family probably only had three or four taels put away. It was a pity that Boss Xue hadn't arrived yet; otherwise, there might have been some hope.

“Thirty taels?” The old woman gasped upon hearing the amount.

“It’s a good thing her life was saved. Thirty taels could build a few tiled-roof houses and still have enough left to find a wife for Qinghua,” Wang Youliang remarked.

Wang Qingchen ignored them and spoke directly to the Old Master. “Grandfather, my mother is facing such a major crisis, and my father is not home. You cannot abandon us!”

“Yes, Grandfather, we are counting on you,” Wang Qinghua chimed in.

“What do you two children know? That’s thirty taels! How many years would it take to save that up? Besides, where would you even raise thirty taels?” Wang Youliang grumbled.

The Old Master sat there silently, deep in thought.

“Grandfather, we are not asking for it for free; we will borrow it, and we will pay it back,” Wang Qingchen said. His thought process was to borrow thirty taels immediately to help Old Madam Yang recover her strength. When Boss Xue arrived, regardless of whether he bought the potted orchids propagated from cuttings, he would certainly pay a reward, and that money could be used to repay the thirty taels.

“Oh, you are so young to promise to pay back money. Can you even earn money? If his Second Uncle were here, he probably wouldn’t offer thirty taels either,” Tian Shi commented.

“First Aunt, you are mistaken. If my father were home, he would absolutely treat my mother. If anything happened to my mother, my father would have to take care of everything, and then the fields and the home would fall to him—how could he manage it all?” Wang Qingchen countered.

The Old Master considered Wang Qingchen’s logic; if the second daughter-in-law suffered any permanent harm, Wang Youfu would be the one to suffer the consequences. With this thought, the Old Master coughed and said, “Eldest son, Third son, see how much silver your respective households can gather. It won’t be a gift; consider it a loan to the second branch.”

“Father, how can I possibly produce silver right now? Furthermore, how do you know for sure that the second branch will repay it?” Wang Youliang complained.

“You haven't even paid the bride price for Qingyun yet, and now you claim you have no silver? This money will be counted as a loan to the second branch; I will decide this for him today. If he dares not repay it later, then…” The Old Master stated firmly.

“So much silver, can he really afford to pay it back?” Wang Youliang mumbled.

“Why must it be so expensive to treat her? With that much silver, the second son could afford to marry two or three more wives,” the old woman said, clearly dissatisfied with the Old Master's decision.

The Old Master ignored the old woman and asked the third branch, “Third son, how much can you produce right now?”

“Father, our side can provide eighteen taels. We genuinely cannot pull out any more,” Madam Zhang said.

“Hmph, Third Aunt is quite wealthy. I remember when Qingyun was getting engaged, someone was causing a scene over ten taels. Now, eighteen taels are handed out without batting an eye,” Tian Shi sneered.

“This is my family’s silver. It’s none of your business who I give it to,” Madam Zhang retorted.

“You…” Tian Shi cursed inwardly but could do nothing about Madam Zhang.

“Thank you, Third Aunt. I will definitely repay this money in the future,” Wang Qingchen said gratefully, privately vowing to repay Madam Zhang’s kindness when he had the chance.

“Your mother’s treatment is the priority. Third Aunt doesn't need this money back urgently right now. You can repay me when your family earns it,” Madam Zhang replied.

“I… I can also offer five taels of silver,” Aunt Gui interjected, having had no chance to speak before.

“Thank you, Aunt Gui. I will certainly repay this money,” Wang Qingchen said gratefully.

“Third Aunt is right; curing your mother is the most important thing,” Aunt Gui added.

“We are still seven taels short. Eldest son, you make up the difference,” the Old Master instructed Wang Youliang.

“Father! Qingyun is about to get married! If this bride price is lent to the second branch, how will Qingyun marry? Oh, my poor Qingyun…” Tian Shi wailed dramatically.

Seeing Tian Shi throw a tantrum, Wang Qingchen felt a surge of anger. He could overlook past grievances, but on such a serious day, the first branch was stubbornly refusing to contribute any money. This wasn't a handout; it was a loan, yet the first branch wouldn't even offer minimal assistance. He took note of this today: if their second branch were ever to prosper in the future, the first branch would not gain a single copper coin of advantage from them.

Just then, Li Yuntai’s voice came from the courtyard. “Qingchen, is your mother alright? I just got back from school and heard your mother fell and was injured.”

When Li Yuntai entered the room and greeted everyone inside, Wang Qingchen replied, “She is stable now, but her constitution is weak. We are currently pooling money for the medicine.”

“Have you gathered enough for the medicine?” Li Yuntai asked.

“No, we are still short seven taels,” Wang Qingchen said dejectedly.

“Wait for me, I’ll raise that seven taels for you,” Li Yuntai said, turning and heading back toward his own home.