89 Chapter 89

◎Poison◎

There is a dilapidated house in Zhaojia Village, where a family surnamed Ma used to live. Before Cheng Mi and her companions came, the land in Zhaojia Village could not produce much food. The family went to live with relatives, and the uninhabited house soon collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, leaving only half of the earthen wall.

Because someone died in their family before they moved out, not many people go there on weekdays.

Children like to run around the village. Xiaoqi and Badou have been there several times.

A cluster of tender branches and leaves grew by the wall, and he pulled them back to feed the old cow.

The cows eat grass and leaves, but they don't realize that the food they feed is poisonous. Xiao Qi is worried because the grass and leaves are pulled from places that everyone avoids, and they must be contaminated with bad things.

Cheng Xi changed her mind and asked the two children to take her there to check it out.

The branches near the corner had been nearly ripped clean by Xiao Qi, leaving not a single leaf. "Cheng Tai, do you remember what those branches and leaves looked like?" Cheng Mu asked, squatting down to examine the surroundings carefully.

From the broken stem, the stem is red and hollow.

"I still remember it." Xiaoliu found a piece of hard soil and said, "Mom, I'll draw it for you."

There was a lot of dust on the ground, and hard objects scratched on it showed clear outlines.

"Like this, like this." Xiao Qi instructed.

It looked like a maple leaf. But it couldn't be a maple tree. Cheng Xi was concentrating on thinking when she suddenly heard Xiao Qi shout, "Thorn fruit."

Xiao Qi dug out two brown fruits from the ash pile nearby. "These are the fruits of this plant. They have thorns."

Cheng Mu picked it up between her fingers and examined it carefully. It was not a thorn, but grew out like a thorn, but it did not prick her.

castor bean.

"Look carefully, is there any left on the ground?"

Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi didn't mind the dirt and swept the area inch by inch with their hands.

"I found one!" Xiaoliu shouted.

Cheng Mu marked out an area with this place as the center and searched with them, and finally found two more.

Castor beans are poisonous, so it is best to find clean ones.

When asked if they had seen it anywhere else besides here, they both shook their heads. It was only born in this place, so it was probably brought there by a bird.

Xiaoliu asked, "Mom, is this poisonous?"

"Yes, but children should not put it in their mouths."

"Did the cow get poisoned by it?"

"Very likely."

Xiaoliu asked Xiaoqi, "Did Badou take this? Did he put it in his mouth?"

"He grabbed a handful." Xiao Qi's face turned pale at this time.

"Let's go find Badou!" Xiaoliu took the lead and ran.

Although Badou was registered under Zhao Shu's name, Xu Xiuying no longer accompanied her ex-husband's family, so she gave them the house and land, and naturally returned Zhao Shu's incense to them.

Zhao Badou returned to his parents, who gave him two mu of land for raising Zhao Shu's son. Now Badou and his family live where Xu Xiuying used to live.

Badou has two older brothers and two older sisters, who were working in the fields that day. His mother came back first to cook. Seeing a bucket of water on the stove, she drank it. As she was very thirsty, she gulped it down in one gulp, only to find that the water was a bit bitter. There were a few thorns exposed at the bottom of the bucket. His mother scolded, "You little bastard, what are you doing again!" She threw the bucket, and the fruits flew into the stove.

Badou heard his mother swearing outside and ran away quickly.

When his father and his brothers and sisters came back, the house was still deserted. His father went to look for his mother, cursing, and found her lying by the well, dead.

The children were terrified. Then Badou cried out in abdominal pain and rolled on the ground in pain. His father Zhao Gen was so scared that he didn't know what to do.

Then Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi rushed over together.

"Mom, Badou has been poisoned!" Xiaoliu turned around and shouted.

Poisoned? Zhao Gen's legs went weak.

Cheng Mu ran over quickly. Badou was rolling on the ground, his clothes covered in dust, and he was wailing non-stop.

"Mrs. Cheng?" Zhao Gen staggered forward. Why did Mrs. Cheng come to his house? What did Xiaoliu mean by shouting that he was poisoned?

Cheng Mu was not a doctor, so she didn't know if Badou had accidentally eaten castor beans and was poisoned. Seeing Badou's two sisters crying by the well, she asked, "What happened to Sister Xian'er?"

"He was working in the fields an hour ago, and died when he came back to cook." Zhao Gen didn't know the reason. He had no illness or pain, so how could he die suddenly?

Cheng Mei went to check and found that the man was indeed dead. There were no external injuries, and he looked like he was asleep.

Cheng Mu asked one of Badou's brothers to get the chopsticks, and the other brother helped Badou up.

If Badou is also poisoned, he needs to be induced to vomit and have his stomach washed. Given limited resources, the only way to induce vomiting is to press the base of his tongue with chopsticks. If he fails to vomit, he can be given water to induce vomiting again.

There is a lot of water in the stomach, so it is easy to vomit.

Perhaps Badou did not ingest much toxin, and after vomiting and having diarrhea, his condition improved and he survived.

Before leaving, Cheng Mu asked Zhao Gen to cook some rice soup for him.

"You evil son who brings trouble to your father and mother!" After Zhao Gen came to his senses, he vented all his anger on Badou and started beating him with a rolling pin.

If he had known that it was the poisonous fruit he brought back that killed his mother, why would he have saved him!

Cheng Mu hid five castor seeds in the space.

Castor is an oil crop that generally grows in tropical regions. It has strong adaptability and can be grown in various soil types.

However, generally no one grows it because its oil cannot be eaten as oil, cannot be used as food, and is poisonous. The bark of the stems can only be used to make hemp ropes after being fermented.

But it is poisonous.

poisonous.

Cheng Mu planted a crop in the space and harvested a lot of poison.

If she had poison in her hand at that time, she would not be so passive.

Amuta was so arrogant, trying to possess her by force. If she had poison in her hand, she would have been able to kill him without a trace. Poison is not necessarily a bad thing, it is a powerful counterattack when she has no choice.

She can do without it, but she can't live without it.

Unfortunately, many poisonous plants, such as datura and aconite, grow in tropical areas or deep forests and are difficult to obtain.

Fan Qingsong led the way in burying the old ox with honor. The fields couldn't work without oxen, so they needed to buy more. Cheng Mu took out some money and asked Li Yu and Sao Hu to go to Puyang City to buy two large blue oxen. Fan Qingsong volunteered to go with them, and the next day they brought back two large blue oxen and a calf.

A large blue ox was assigned to Songzhuang.

When Guier came back from Songzhuang, she cried when the old cow was buried. She was pregnant, heavy, and hadn't slept well, so her complexion was very bad.

"Madam Cheng, when will this baby come out? It's so tiring being pregnant."

"Then why are you still chopping wood? Put down the axe." Cheng Mu pulled her to sit down. "Let the men next door do this kind of hard work. You can rest when you have time. No one reminded you to eat less. The baby is too big and it will be difficult to deliver."

"Why?" Gui'er's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she came over to Cheng Mu, "Don't we all like big fat boys? Why is it so difficult to give birth? Madam Cheng, when you gave birth to Xiao Qi, you gave birth as quickly as you said you would, just like going to the toilet. Tell me about it."

Gui'er stared at her with a pair of eyes eager for knowledge. Cheng Mu was embarrassed. Giving birth was her blind spot. All she knew were bad things, such as the woman in Mengguo who died in childbirth, and Mu Yun's mother who was tortured by postpartum complications...

"If you want to know the details, you should ask Dong'er. She has given birth to four children and is pregnant with the fifth."

Cheng Xi sighed. Dong'er was pregnant and gave birth almost every year without a break.

Gui'er curled her lips. "She didn't say anything. She just said giving birth is like a hen laying eggs. The first one is hard, but the rest are easier. When I asked her what was hard about the first one, she said she couldn't remember."

Yu came into the room to get something and overheard half of what she said. "Madam Cheng, please don't scare her. What woman doesn't feel pain during childbirth? It will be fine after the birth."

Yu then scolded Gui'er, saying that the baby was about to be born and she hadn't finished making a pair of shoes yet, and urged her to hurry up.

Gui'er said impatiently: "Mom is here, why do you have to make me learn? I can't finish it, so you can just finish it for me!"

"You are going to be a mother, but you don't even make a pair of shoes for your own child?" Yu had a lot of words waiting for her.

Guier complained confidently, "Mom never let me learn before! I used to think I had no life left, but now I have earned my living. Why do you still have to torment me? Can't I just live my life to my heart's content?"

"Mrs. Cheng, please give me some advice, Cheng..."

Yu was looking for an ally for herself with red eyes, but Cheng Mu left first and went to the west wing to find Xiao Qi.

Yu keenly sensed that Madam Cheng was angry. After carefully recalling her own words and actions, she did not feel that she had offended her in any way. Perhaps it was just her illusion?

After returning from Mongolia, there were some changes in Madam Cheng, but she couldn't tell what the specific changes were.

In the past, I felt that they were very close, like a family. Now, although they look the same as before, I always feel that there is a layer of distance between them.

Something must have happened in Mongolia.

"Taylor, what are you doing?"

Xiaoqi sat on the kang in a daze. There was a book spread out on the small table in front of him, and he hadn't read it for a long time.

"Mom..." Xiao Qi came back to his senses, a little panicked.

Cheng Mu sat down on the edge of the kang and asked him, "Why didn't you go out to play these past two days? Xiaoliu went to pick up ground ears, and when I asked you to go, you refused to go."

Xiao Qi lowered his head and said nothing, pretending to read a book, but his eyes were not focused and his hand unconsciously turned a page.

"Are you thinking about never picking up things outside again?"

Cheng Mu lowered her voice to a gentle tone and looked at his face. Xiao Qi's tears fell like beans, "Mother..." her voice was filled with infinite grievance.

The child had been holding it in for several days. Cheng Mu hugged him and let him cry for a while.

"Mom, will the old cow come back?" After crying for a while, Xiao Qi said, "Xiao Liu said that the cow we buy back won't be an old cow."

"Yes, the old cow worked diligently for our family for many years. Now that it has died, it will no longer be a cow. Just think of it as going to a good place."

"Will he be reborn as a human in Aunt Gui'er's belly?"

Just now, Gui'er told Cheng Mu that she hoped the old cow would be reborn as her own, and she named her unborn child "Jiuniu." Xiaoqi heard it.

Cheng Mu patted Xiao Qi's head and said, "It's very likely. If you feel guilty towards him, you should be a good brother and treat him well in the future."

"Yes. I definitely will." There was a lot of spirit in Xiaoqi's eyes.

"That's how the bonds and fate between people are formed," Cheng Mu took out a handkerchief to wipe his face. "He wasn't even born yet, but you, his elder brother, are looking forward to him so much. I wonder how lucky he must be. You need to learn more about everything and know how to play, so that you can guide and teach him in the future."

"Mom, I understand."

Xiao Qi now had a goal again, and the dark cloud lingering in his heart had disappeared without a trace.

Woo woo woo…

The mother and son turned around and saw Guier leaning against the wall crying uncontrollably.

"Mrs. Cheng, you are really - you are really good at talking - wow..." Gui'er cried and felt that she was crying very ridiculously.

She didn't know why, but ever since she found out she was pregnant, it seemed as if all her mother's tears were running into her eyes.

She didn't used to be such a tearful person. Dong'er said that she had some strange reactions when she was pregnant. She really hoped that this period would pass quickly, as always crying would affect her image.

However, what Madam Cheng said moved her so much. What merits did the baby in her belly have to deserve Madam Cheng to teach and treat her like this...