The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 50 A Kind Neighbor

Zhao Minghua brought his mother to deliver congratulatory gifts.

Chunnuan went back to the village, firstly to persuade the old lady to move, secondly to change Aunt Luo's dressing, and also to thank her for the big chicken leg that she stewed a big bowl of soup for her elder sister-in-law.

“Mother, this is Madam Xiao. Madam Xiao, this is my mother, surnamed Zhou.”

Zhao Minghua had eaten at the Xiao family's house before, and since he often went there, he naturally became familiar with them. He quickly introduced his mother to Madam Xu.

"Mrs. Zhao, Mr. Zhao, please come in and have a seat."

When the Xiao family arrived in Sichuan, this was the first truly significant guest to visit them.

Having managed the Xiao household for many years, Madam Xu was naturally skilled in dealing with people and matters.

On the contrary, Mrs. Zhao saw something different about her from other wealthy families in the capital.

She clicked her tongue inwardly: Both are wives of the Xiao family, but Madam Wen is nowhere near as good as Madam Xu!
Whether in appearance, speech, or manner of dealing with people, Xu gives people a feeling of warmth and comfort, while Wen always has a bit of arrogance in her.

Compared to Madam Wen, she preferred this Madam Xiao.

Although the two had never met, they were both mothers and grandmothers, so they naturally had something to talk about when they talked about children. They became more and more engrossed in their conversation and there was no sense of unfamiliarity between them.

Overall, the visit was very pleasant.

As they were talking, Mrs. Xu heard her beloved grandson crying from the inner room.

"Mrs. Zhao, I'm sorry to bother you for a moment. I have to go check on the children. My daughter-in-law suffered last night and is sleeping soundly, so I can't disturb her."

"Okay, please go ahead."

After the congratulatory gift was delivered to her home, Mrs. Zhao should have taken her leave, but she just didn't want to go. She felt that since she was already there, she had to see what that Miss Xiao looked like.

When Mrs. Zhao entered the room, Zhu Lingling had also woken up.

"Mother, have we had guests?"

Zhu Lingling listened for a long time but couldn't recognize who it was.

"Yes, Mrs. Zhao and Mr. Zhao have brought their congratulatory gifts." Madam Xu said softly, "I'll take the baby out to soothe him, you can sleep a little longer."

"Mother, no need, the child has soiled himself, I'll change his clothes."

"Let me do it."

As a result, neither the mother-in-law nor the daughter-in-law were able to put pants on the baby, mainly because the baby was too delicate and they didn't know how to do it.

Yes, although Ms. Xu is the mother of three children, she has never personally raised her children. They were all raised by wet nurses and old women.

Zhu Lingling was exhausted after giving birth and had been in a semi-rest state. Chunnuan had been taking care of the baby's needs, whether it was hunger or diaper changes. Now, Zhu Lingling was at a loss.

Mrs. Zhao and Zhao Minghua sat for quite a while and could still hear the child crying.

I couldn't resist going over and standing at the door to ask what was going on.

"Mrs. Zhao, I'm sorry, the child has soiled his diaper. We're changing his diaper. Please wait a moment."

Mrs. Xu was getting anxious, and Zhu Lingling quickly called out, "Mother, why don't you come over, daughter-in-law?"

"No need, no need, I've got it done right away."

In fact, she really couldn't do it right; she'd put the pants on the child on one leg, and then the other leg would kick off. The child cried even harder.

"Mother, why don't you feed the child first? He must be hungry."

"Alright, let's not wear pants for now. We'll wrap him in this blanket and feed him first." Mrs. Xu asked with a hint of anticipation, "Is there any milk?"

Zhu Lingling blushed, but still didn't.

"Then I'll go get the rice soup."

Mrs. Zhao was surprised to find that the Xiao family's precious child was drinking rice porridge.

"How can this be? How can the baby grow if we feed him rice water?" Mrs. Zhao was worried for them: "If the eldest young mistress doesn't have breast milk, why don't we hire a wet nurse?"

The Xu family was embarrassed; it wasn't that they didn't want to invite him, but that they couldn't afford to.

In the village, Chunnuan also reported this matter to her grandmother.

“Lingling’s child was never very strong to begin with. Ever since the accident at home, she’s been living in fear and anxiety. She’s suffered a lot coming all the way to Sichuan. Now that the baby is premature, it’s normal that she doesn’t have enough breast milk.” The old lady sighed. “Nuannuan, do you think we can spare some money to hire a wet nurse?”

"Grandmother, I've thought about it. We'll see tomorrow. If my sister-in-law still doesn't have water by tomorrow, we'll definitely have to call the wet nurse." She knows how to manage money wisely, and hopes the soup she made will be effective for her sister-in-law today.

"I'm really putting you in a difficult position. I'm just an old woman, and I'm nothing but a burden. I can't help you at all. Everything, big and small, depends on you."

“Grandmother, you mustn’t say such discouraging things. Your spirit still lives in the Xiao family. Don’t worry, our family will definitely get better.” Chunnuan said, “Grandmother, let’s move to town. Look at this place…”

After a night of storm, there were still puddles of varying depths on the ground. Xu Shi and Huang Shi, who had returned from town with Chun Nuan, took apart and washed the bed sheets, blankets, and wet clothes with Chun Yan and Chun Shu. Chun An and Chun Xin were struggling to wipe the tables, chairs, and benches... The place was a complete mess inside and out.

“Nuan Nuan, listen to me. There are many people in the family. Your eldest sister-in-law and the baby need quiet rest during her postpartum period. We will move there after she has completed her postpartum period.” The old lady insisted on her opinion: “Look, the millet has turned yellow. It looks like we need to harvest the millet. This task is also a tough one for our group of women and children. Let’s postpone the move.”

As expected, the Xiao family members are all stubborn, and there's nothing that can be done to persuade Chunnuan.

I had no choice but to go next door to change Aunt Luo's dressing.

"Spring is here, and I feel a bit of pain in this wound. Is it because it got wet this morning?"

"Auntie, you should be careful not to get it wet in the future," Chunnuan said. "If you poke your scalp, it will definitely hurt for two or three days. When it gets better and new flesh grows, it will itch. You must bear with it and not scratch it with your hands."

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to you." Aunt Luo sighed, "This chicken is really unlucky. It got stuck in the bamboo forest. I searched high and low yesterday afternoon but couldn't think of where to look. I thought about it all night last night, and when I went to check early this morning, it was really there. Luckily we found it, otherwise we wouldn't even have been able to drink a sip of chicken soup."

"Speaking of which, I have to thank my aunt for the big chicken leg."

"No need to thank me, you didn't even charge me for applying the medicine." Aunt Luo said, "Spring is here, the rice harvest is almost here. Your family doesn't have a lot of fields, but you have a small family, so harvesting rice is hard work. I'm afraid it will be a bit difficult."

"It's alright, we'll harvest slowly, a little bit each day, and we'll eventually finish."

“Look at you, child. Just by listening to this, you know you’ve never grown crops. Crops need to be harvested while the weather is good. If there’s another downpour like this after the start of autumn, the grain will fall to the ground, and the harvest will be reduced. Besides, if the weather is bad, the harvested grain won’t be able to be dried and will sprout. People won’t even accept rent for sprouted grain.” Aunt Luo said, “I’ve already told the child’s father to help your family harvest for a day.”

"Then let's pay Uncle Luo his wages."

"You silly child, we're all from the same village, why would we pay you wages?" Aunt Luo said, "When it's harvest time, we villagers exchange workers. If you have Chun Ning help us for a day, that's how you exchange workers."

"Aunt Luo, thank you."

Chun Ning has never harvested millet; instead, he exchanges labor with strong laborers.

The Luo family was simply helping out; they were fortunate to have such kind and helpful neighbors!
(End of this chapter)