Chapter 5
The nausea and belching just now were definitely not without cause.
Back when Jiang Li lived in the psychiatric hospital, even when her stepmother and stepsister brought her meals crawling with white maggots, she never once felt acid reflux or vomited.
And the dishes before her now were just a bit more bloody, nothing more.
Given Jiang Li’s temperament, it was even less likely for her to be so nauseated.
There was only one possibility that could trigger such a strong physical reaction.
That was: the wife in this Instance has gastritis, and the symptoms are quite severe.
With severe gastritis, one cannot eat any meat at all.
The protein and fat in meat are very difficult to absorb and digest; eating meat would only worsen the condition.
And the second rule of the Family Rules:
[Please believe that your Husband loves you very much.]
If this rule is true, then a Husband who loves his wife would never stand by and watch her condition deteriorate.
Jiang Li clutched her stomach and looked sincerely at her Husband.
She tried to catch a hint of wavering in his expression.
Could she use her Husband this time to get out of trouble?
Jiang Li decided to take a gamble.
Sure enough, her guess paid off.
The Husband took the meatball Jiang Li had picked up and swallowed it in one bite.
As he chewed, juice burst in his mouth, making loud smacking sounds.
Jiang Li thought it was over, but unexpectedly, the Husband suddenly grabbed her hand.
His hand was covered in greasy, yellow fat.
After swallowing the meatball, he gave Jiang Li a concerned look and spoke apologetically:
“Wife, it’s my fault for locking you up these past few days and not giving you your stomach medicine.”
Jiang Li forced a comforting smile and shook her head. “It’s my own health that’s the problem.”
“Huanhuan, go get your mom’s stomach medicine,” the Husband turned and instructed their son.
The son answered loudly, “Okay!”
Then he hopped off the stool and headed to his parents’ room.
He walked cheerfully, but accidentally bumped into his sister’s funeral wreath.
The character “Dian” pasted in the center of the wreath floated to the floor.
Watching her son enter the room, Jiang Li’s heart clenched.
Now, this father and son were going to force her to take medicine.
Jiang Li bowed her head, thinking of a countermeasure.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, the Husband suddenly pulled out his chair and stood up.
Jiang Li’s heart tensed again.
Under her gaze, the Husband walked over to the wreath and picked up the “Dian” character from the floor.
Then he stood up and slowly pasted the character back on.
Jiang Li stared at the character for a while, her expression a bit odd.
Why did he paste the character upside down?
Was it like how people in Huaguo like to paste the character “Fu” (fortune) upside down?
When “Fu” is upside down, it means fortune has arrived.
When “Dian” is upside down, does it mean-the anniversary of death has arrived?
Seeing her Husband turn back, Jiang Li calmly withdrew her gaze.
At this moment, the son had already brought over a box of medicine for treating gastritis.
On the stomach medicine, it said “Motilium.”
Jiang Li glanced at it and felt a chill in her heart.
Motilium is a stomach medicine that must be taken before meals.
Trying to bluff and say she’d take it after eating probably wouldn’t work.
But in the Strange Tale World, Jiang Li really didn’t dare to swallow any medicine lightly.
Who knows what side effects it might have.
Just as Jiang Li was hesitating, the Motilium was already handed to her.
Her Husband and son’s four Eyes stared at her like venomous snakes, unblinking.
Jiang Li braced herself, opened the box, and pulled out a strip of tablets.
The medication leaflet slipped out and fell onto the dining table.
Jiang Li bent down to pick up the leaflet.
Unexpectedly, she discovered that stuck to the bottom of the leaflet was a train ticket.
The train ticket was for a journey from Hui City to Fenling.
On the ticket stub, the “Passenger” field bore the name “Zhang Hui.”
And the date on the train ticket was seven days from now.
It was a ticket booked by the Wife!
By a twist of fate, Jiang Li had actually managed to get her hands on a train ticket to escape this city.
All thanks to this box of stomach medicine.
“What’s that?” The Husband’s face suddenly appeared beside Jiang Li’s.
Jiang Li’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest.
She told herself to stay calm, then quietly folded the instruction leaflet backward.
From the Husband’s angle, the ticket was perfectly hidden.
Only the large characters “Instruction Leaflet” remained visible.
She showed the bold text to her Husband.
“It’s just the instructions for the stomach medicine, honey,” Jiang Li said, doing her best to keep smiling.
The Husband stared at the paper for a few more moments, as if trying to burn a hole through it.
His expression grew a little suspicious, his brow furrowing slightly, but then he stood up from under the table.
Jiang Li stood up as well.
She tried to act natural as she casually slipped both the leaflet and the ticket into her pocket.
The Husband urged, “Take your medicine now, it’s good for your health.”
Their son chimed in, “Mom, take your medicine, you’ll get better faster if you do!”
If Jiang Li didn’t take this pill, she’d probably die right here on the spot.
Jiang Li hesitated for half a second, then popped out a tablet and put it in her mouth.
She picked up the glass of water on the table, tilted her head back, and swallowed it.
Seeing Jiang Li obediently take the pill, the Husband and son stopped watching her.
Instead, they busied themselves tearing into and chewing the fragrant red meat in their bowls, slurping up the bloody soup.
No sooner had Jiang Li finished the medicine than she got up and headed for the Kitchen.
“Honey, there’s nothing but meat on the table, it’s not convenient for me to eat. I’ll go get some biscuits from the fridge.”
The Husband lifted his head, his pudgy pig nose snorting twice, clearly a bit displeased.
But realizing there really weren’t any vegetables on the table and his Wife couldn’t eat, he didn’t say much more.
He just muttered to himself, “All the vegetables in the house were eaten by those damned rats! I’ll go buy more at the market tomorrow.”
Jiang Li replied with a cheerful smile, “Mm, thank you, honey.”
She chatted as she walked into the Kitchen.
Standing before the fridge, she opened the door.
A wave of delicious aroma hit her, making her appetite surge.
But after just two seconds, the food in the fridge instantly transformed from fresh and tempting to rotten, maggot-infested meat.
The simultaneous assault on her senses made Jiang Li’s stomach churn again.
She suppressed the rising bile, using the open fridge door to block the Husband and son’s view.
Then, she secretly fished the pill from under her tongue and slipped it into her shirt pocket.
There really was something wrong with this pill.
Even just holding it in her mouth for a short while had begun to pollute her mind.
She had nearly mistaken that foul food for something delicious.
Seeing how the Husband and son were enjoying the food at the table, their minds must have been polluted long ago.
The Husband would turn into a pig, but as for what the son would become, Jiang Li hadn’t figured out yet.
Jiang Li quietly put away the pill.
At the same time, she took out the Finger Biscuits from the very back of the fridge.
Just as Jiang Li was about to close the fridge door, the Red Infant resting on her shoulder spoke up.
“Mommy, Yingying is hungry. Yingying wants to eat a heart.”
The Red Infant reached out a finger and poked Jiang Li’s chest.
Jiang Li could transfer physical harm to herself.
If he wanted to eat a heart, she could just give it to him.
But Jiang Li’s face gradually darkened.