5 05. Sick and abandoned

The kids in the corner were still arguing while their mother was lying sprawled on the floor, ignoring it completely.

The fire rose in Lee Mei Li's heart. "Stop arguing and help me!"

The older girl came forward and just pushed the woman with the tip of her shoe. "Let her lay on the floor for a while, she will wake up."

"Oh, so it's like that." Lee Mei Li pinched her ear and dragged her towards the woman. "This is your mother. Have some respect. Help me get her onto the bed."

"I don't wanna. And she is not my mother. She is my father's second wife. Even if she dies, it is fine with me." The girl stated making Lee Mei Li stare at her speechlessly.

She turned to the twin brothers. "Quickly go to neighbors and bring them here. I need help to pick her up. Quickly. And you, children like you don't deserve to eat a meal. Where are your mother and father?"

"They are dead. So we are stuck with this woman. Horrible." The girl started crying.

"So if she dies what will happen to all of you?" Lee Mei Li looked at her calmly.

The girl suddenly stopped crying and shrugged. "I can become a servant in Lord Lu's household. And my brothers and sisters would be adopted by villagers."

Lee Mei Li suddenly had a strange idea. "Good. But to become a servant in Lord's household you must know the rules. I'll teach you some."

From the back, she could hear steps and stopped talking. A burly man entered the yard with pressed lips and just picked the woman up and brought her yo the nearby room.

"I told her clearly that she must rest. Idiot." He mumbled while he checked her wrist under Lee Mei Li's astonished eyes. It seems to be a village physician.

"She has a fever again. Girl, you must be the Lee girl that came to the village?" He turned his calm eyes towards her.

Lee Mei Li bowed politely and nodded. "Yes."

"Bring me water and help me wash her body. Her temperature must become lower." He rushed out and yelled at children that were still arguing in the corner. "Shut up!"

Children became silent instantly, as they feared him. Lee Mei Li saw on the girls' face anger appearing and knocked her head. "Go and bring your siblings to play somewhere else. Or you might be beaten up."

"He wouldn't dare." She paled as she heard that.

"He would dare and he has right. If there is no mother to protect you, you and your siblings become orphans. In that case, everyone will beat you up, no matter who it is. There will be no one else to protect you. And if you think it's easy to be a servant in Lord's household, be warned. As orphans, they will give you the worst jobs like cleaning night pots or latrines. Without parents, you are nothing." She pushed the dazed girl away and went to pick up a heavy bucket near the well.

Bringing water into the house is quite a feat. She missed plastic cans. But now was not the time to cry about simple commodities.

Lee Mei Li took a few clean cloths, first washed her face and body, and then did something else. Hands, feet and forehead had a moist cloth that should be exchanged often. She pressed her hand on the woman's forehead and pressed her lips. Elder Min was burning hot.

Lee Mei Li went out and looked at the two boys. "Go to your parents. Tell them Elder Min is sick and I'll stay here to take care of her." She saw boys bowing slightly and rushing away.