Under One Person: Sincerity Moves the Gods

Chapter 40 What is Filial Piety?

Although at first I just wanted to settle Ah Zhen here when I got home, I didn’t intend for her to stay any longer.

But now that Mr. Li has contracted lung disease, the Li brothers naturally chose to stay a few more days to fulfill their filial duty.

This stop lasted for ten days.

Since joining the Sanyi Sect, this has probably been the longest period of time that the Li brothers have spent with their boss.

For ten days, before dawn each day, Li Cunzhen would carry the medicine bowl into the inner room.

The medicine was brewed the night before and kept warm on the stove; it was still steaming when I brought it over.

He supported the bottom of the bowl with one hand and held his father's back with the other, slowly helping him up and lean against the pillow.

"Dad, drink your medicine."

Boss Li opened his eyes, looked at Li Cunzhen, and swallowed the medicine from the spoon.

Traditional Chinese medicine is bitter, but Mr. Li, who has spent half his life navigating the ups and downs of the business world, is not afraid of bitterness at all. Of course, he wouldn't refuse to drink the medicine like other elderly people who would be fed it for a long time.

But he was old and sick, so much so that even a simple action like taking medicine would deplete his remaining life force.

He would stop to catch his breath after every two or three sips.

A bowl of medicine contains only about ten spoonfuls, but Li Cunzhen has to bend over and guard the bedside for a full quarter of an hour.

Li Cunzhen was in charge of feeding the medicine, while Li Muxuan was in charge of feeding the food.

It was supposed to be feeding, but Boss Li could only swallow liquids, and the process was similar to feeding him medicine.

Li Muxuan fed him spoonful by spoonful, and occasionally the porridge would spill from the corner of his mouth, which he would gently wipe away with a handkerchief.

This was probably the time he was most patient in his entire life.

"Dad, please eat more. You'll recover faster if you can eat more."

Hearing this, Boss Li grinned and said, "Fourth brother, when did you learn to say things like that?"

Li Muxuan was taken aback, and his ears turned a little red.

Days passed by like this.

The two brothers took turns caring for him, but Boss Li's condition fluctuated. When he was in good condition, he could sit up and say a few words, but when he was in bad condition, he would close his eyes and breathe but not exhale.

On the eighth night, Boss Li suddenly woke up.

He held Li Cunzhen's hand and said many things.

He talked about his business days when he was young, and about the embarrassing things his brothers did when they were kids.

It is said that Li Muxuan was mischievous when he was a child, and that Li Cunzhen was stubborn from a young age.

Li Cunzhen sat at the head of the bed, and Li Muxuan sat at the foot of the bed. Both of them had their heads down, so their expressions could not be seen.

"You two, stay with Zuo Men Changxiu and don't worry about me."

Boss Li suddenly gave a word of advice, and then lost his energy again.

On the ninth day, Li Cunzhen pulled his elder brother to the backyard.

There is an old locust tree in the courtyard, with dense shade and the sound of cicadas chirping.

Li Cunyi leaned against the tree trunk and looked at Li Cunzhen:

"Third brother, what's the matter that you specifically dragged me here? Is there something that the second and fourth brothers can't listen to?"

Li Cunzhen nodded:

"Big brother, we don't know when Dad's illness will be resolved. Second brother is twenty-one years old this year. These are the best years for him to study. We can't let him keep dragging this on."

Li Cunyi was taken aback upon hearing this. He wanted to laugh but didn't, then sighed and said:

"Third brother, from childhood to adulthood, the neighbors have always said that you are stubborn and can't lie, but I've always felt that you have the most delicate mind. Now that I see it, it's really true."

"You're right, Cunzhi's matter can't be dragged on like this, but he refuses to leave, saying he wants to wait until Dad is feeling better before we talk about it."

Li Cunzhen shook his head:

"Who knows how long we'll have to wait? We can't delay any longer. Luckily, I'm home now, so I'll go with you to persuade them."

"OK."

Li Cunyi was silent for a while, then nodded: "Now that you've been back these past few days, he's finally had some free time and has probably been spending all his time in his study."

Having reached an agreement, the two said no more.

When Li Cunzhen entered the study, he saw Li Cunzhi reading a book.

He held a pen in his hand, and in front of him lay a thick, well-worn book written in foreign languages.

Seeing Li Cunyi and Li Cunzhen enter, he looked up and adjusted his glasses:

"Big brother, third brother, what's up?"

"As your older brother, can't I come to you for no reason? I just finished dealing with the accounts and wanted to sit down with you for a bit."

Li Cunyi sat down opposite him with a smile on his face, not in a hurry to talk about studying abroad.

"Yes, second brother, it's been so long since we brothers sat together like this."

Li Cunzhen chimed in from the side.

"Ah... okay."

Li Cunzhi, not understanding what was going on, responded half-heartedly to his brother's words.

After a while, the topic finally turned to studying abroad.

Li Cunyi finally spoke.

"Second brother, it's time for you to go."

"Dad's illness won't get better in a day or two. You can't stay here forever. Haven't you always wanted to study abroad? Now the opportunity is right there, don't miss it."

Li Cunzhi was stunned upon hearing this, then clutched his head, his expression one of pain.

"But the West is so far away, it would take several months to travel back and forth. If I leave now, I might not even be able to see them one last time! Wouldn't I become an unfilial son?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Cunyi immediately showed a helpless expression.

Li Cunzhi always used the same excuse.

But he simply couldn't refute it.

He could only look to Li Cunzhen for help.

I've done my best; the rest is up to you.

In fact, Li Cunyi didn't have much hope this time, after all, the reason that he was the second son was really hard to refute.

That's the logic, but Li Cunzhi is truly the first person I've ever seen who gets stuck on this point and uses rigid rules to confine people.

Speechless, really speechless.

Thinking of this, Li Cunyi felt somewhat disheartened and slumped weakly against the recliner.

However, as soon as Li Cunzhen finished speaking, he sat up straight again.

"If you can't see it, you can't see it. Even if you could, it wouldn't count as filial piety."

Li Cunzhen sat down and met Li Cunzhi's shocked yet angry expression.

"To put it bluntly, it's only because Dad is sick, his mind isn't as sharp as before, and he doesn't have the strength, that he would have scolded you a few times if he saw you like this."

Li Cunzhen, observing their conversation, understood that Li Cunzhi was stuck in a rut and that only strong words would have an effect.

Therefore, he was not polite at all.

"If Second Brother wants to fulfill his filial duty, he can ask Father whether he wants a son who has studied abroad and is capable, or a son who stays at home all day, only feeding him medicine and basically just waiting to die?"

"Or do you actually know what Father is thinking, but you just can't bear to lose the reputation of being a filial son?"

"Third brother, how dare you talk to your brother like that?"

As soon as Li Cunzhen finished speaking, Li Cunyi's voice rang out.

He stood up abruptly, staring wide-eyed at Li Cunzhen as if he were furious. He walked toward Li Cunzhen while rolling up his sleeves, his fist raised high.

"Big brother, what are you doing? Are you going to hit me?"

Li Cunzhen hurriedly ran towards the door.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do!"

Li Cunyi pursued relentlessly.

The two of them ran out of the study quickly, one after the other.

Li Cunzhi was left alone, head down, his expression unreadable, only his body trembling.

............

"Third brother, you're really bold to take such a strong medicine."

"There's no other way, brother, this is the only method I can think of."

"She's incredibly bold, and she's also very intelligent."

"You're not bad either. You know your second brother cares about his reputation, so you immediately offered him a way out."