After having lunch in the cafeteria at noon, Mu Huaixi found Liu Qing who worked in the kitchen and took the two large enamel vats she had delivered in the morning.

Liu Qing was the wife of the commander of the Second Company of the Fourth Battalion, where Ying Mingcheng served. She was one of the first military wives to accompany the troops and was assigned to work in the kitchen. Liu Qing lived in the tube-shaped building behind the guesthouse. The two had been introduced by Sister Yu. They didn't interact much, but when they occasionally met at lunch, Liu Qing would always put more meat in her bowl.

"I've stewed it all morning as you said, and it's guaranteed to be soft and rotten." Liu Qing also helped her tie a cloth rope on the enamel pot so that she could carry it easily.

Mu Huaixi thanked her and handed her a fifty-cent note. Seeing her waving her hand to refuse, he quickly said, "I know Sister Liu didn't help me for money, but she did use the cafeteria's stove. If I don't pay you today, it will be difficult for you to refuse if someone asks you again tomorrow. We don't take advantage of the army, so we should accept this money."

"That won't cost that much. You only used the stove fire." Liu Qing thought for a moment. "Give me ten cents and I'll give it to Director Chen."

Mu Huaixi felt in his pocket and took out a green bill and handed it over. "Sister Liu Qing, I only have two dimes on me. Please keep it. I may have to trouble you again in the future!"

Liu Qing was also a quick-witted person. She took the money and shook it, "Okay, then I'll talk to Director Chen. If you need to use the stove next time, just let me know."

She watched Mu Huaixi leave and was about to go back to the kitchen when she felt someone bump into her. It was Wang Xiaoshui who also worked in the kitchen.

"Hey Liu Qing, have you heard? We're both temporary workers, but Mu Huaixi's salary is ten yuan more than ours! It turns out that the deputy battalion commander's wife is different. So many people are unemployed, but she got a good job right after she arrived. What do you think of her..."

"If I give you ten more dollars, can you treat patients and prescribe medicine for others?" Liu Qing frowned. She didn't like interacting with Wang Xiaoshui. She was serious about her work, but she loved chatting with people too much.

"Hey," Wang Xiaoshui said with sharp eyes. He grabbed her arm and pointed at the two dimes in her hand, curling his lips. "Really? You earn so much and you only give her two dimes? If it were you, I'd say you shouldn't have helped her!"

"You use the kitchen stove to boil water for your home every day, and Doctor Xiao Mu pays you. Why shouldn't I help her?" Liu Qing turned around and left, taking the money and going back to the kitchen to find Director Chen.

"You've been shot! So annoying!" Wang Xiaoshui was annoyed and rolled his eyes as he went to find someone else to chat with. "Let me tell you, Liu Qing is really a snob. He sticks up to the battalion commander's wife whenever he sees her. I think Doctor Mu is just like that..."

Mu Huaixi didn’t know that someone was talking about her behind her back, and even if she knew, she wouldn’t care.

She carried the heavy enamel pot to the guardhouse, where Jiang Wenyuan and the other two were waiting for her at the door. After the Sang family had delivered the wedding eggs that day, Jiang Wenyuan suggested visiting both families. After the four of them discussed it, they asked Fengjuan to help buy an old hen in the village. She also added some ingredients and herbs to make two soups.

Originally, they planned to stew it in the clinic, but Wang Xiaohua said that she was afraid that the chicken soup would be too fragrant and she would be distracted from work, so Mu Huaixi sent the enamel pot to the kitchen.

Jiang Wenyuan treated the health center as the two children's uncle. He tied a large straw basket to the back seat of his bicycle, filled it with millet and eggs, and two large enamel pots, making it full.

"Let's go," Wang Xiaohua patted the back seat. "Doctor Mu, I'll take you today. I promise you won't be bumpy."

Mu Huaixi still doesn't know how to ride a bicycle very well. Since there are four people in the clinic, Xiaohua has to take her with her, and Fengjuan rides her bike.

Maidiping is not far from Huluai, but it takes nearly an hour to ride there. When they arrived at Li Erya's parents' home, Sang Dahe and Li Erya's father were holding the two children and coaxing them to sleep in the yard. When they saw them, they came up to them with a smile.

"Doctor Jiang, Doctor Mu, Nurse Xiaohua, Nurse Li, why are you here?" Sang Dahe quickly turned around and called for help. Li Erya's mother hurried out of the kitchen, wiped her hands on her apron, and hurried to greet them.

"Let's come and see Erya," Jiang Wenyuan walked in with millet and eggs and was immediately welcomed by the whole family.

Wang Xiaohua also hurried to get the enamel pot. When Mu Huaixi saw her pick up the Double Happiness one, he quickly shouted, "Xiaohua, you got the wrong one. It's the one with the Dragon and Phoenix."

Xiaohua immediately changed and ran to her side and whispered, "Doctor Mu, aren't the contents of these two tanks different? Aren't they both the same old hens that Fengjuan bought?"

"It's different," Mu Huaixi also replied in a low voice, "I put tongcao in the chicken soup for Erya, which helps with lactation."

"Then..." Wang Xiaohua hadn't figured it out yet, but Li Fengjuan had already understood. She whispered to Xiaohua that Li Erya and Yu Xiuhong were both in confinement after giving birth, but Yu Xiuhong's child was also with Erya, and it was her first child, so it was very likely that she would have blocked milk ducts and a lack of milk supply.

In fact, Erya was really worried about this. Her aunt gave her a massage and prepared pig's trotter and soybean soup, but she still didn't produce milk. The child had no food, and she was in so much pain that she couldn't sleep.

Li Erya's mother brought them into the room where her daughter was recuperating after giving birth. When she heard that they had even made her a milk-inducing soup, she was so moved that she kept wiping her eyes. "Oh my God, how can there be such good doctors and nurses like you in the world? You saved my daughter and my grandson, and you still care about her. You, you, you..."

Li Erya's mother was not as eloquent as her elder sister, Xipo. When she saw Mu Huaixiyao giving Erya a massage, she immediately asked her younger daughter Sanya to follow suit and learn from her. She wiped her eyes and went to the kitchen to make brown sugar egg tea for them.

Coming out of Erya's house, Xiaohua sighed, "No wonder Erya is so lovable, her family dotes on her so much."

Li Erya was at home during her confinement period, living in the best and brightest room in the house. Her two children were well taken care of by her parents and sister, and her husband happily washed their diapers every day. Apart from the lack of milk production, she really had no worries at all.

Li Fengjuan was pushing the cart when she suddenly felt like teasing him. "It's okay, Xiaohua. We love you too."

Wang Xiaohua was stunned for a moment, then angrily chased after Fengjuan. Their laughter echoed in the village avenue, but when they arrived in front of Yu Xiuhong's house, all four of them fell silent.

Maidiping is the brigade with the largest number of residents in the vicinity. In addition to the indigenous residents, it has also accepted many mountain people who originally lived in the mountains. The houses are also diverse, including newly built blue brick and red brick houses, stone houses, and old loess houses, but most of them are very clean.

Yu Xiuhong, Xia Dazhuang's house was also a loess house, but it was different from the others. The weathered loess walls had three or four gaping holes, some blocked by wooden boxes of garbage, others left wide open.

The exterior walls were already so welcoming, but the main gate was even more crooked. Even if it was closed tightly, the filthy courtyard could be seen through the large hole in the center. From there, Old Lady Xia's full-throated curses could be heard, "That thief Zhang Daxi did it on purpose! It was clearly our Xia family's son who was born first, and who knows what kind of sorcery she used to make her thief niece come out first and steal our lifeblood!"

She stood with her hands on her hips in front of the tattered paper window, pointing at the vague figure inside and cursing, "You're useless! The child's hands were already sticking out, and you asked someone to stuff them back in? You let that old bastard steal the boy! Can't you make an effort to give birth to the lifeblood of the Xia family? Now my little grandson is gone, and you have the nerve to live, bah!"