Xiao Cheng didn't feel much pain in his neck. Instead, the trembling, curled-up little body in his arms and Bai Lu's weak, fragile voice made his heart stop for a moment.
"Shall we go to the health center?"
“No…” The girl in my arms shook her head, shaking it weakly but forcefully, clearly resisting going to the hospital.
She also said, "I want to drink hot water..."
Xiao Cheng didn't think drinking hot water would be of any use at a time like this, so he picked her up and got out of bed to walk outside.
Bai Lu refused, swaying as she tried to get down, pushing him away and refusing his embrace. When she couldn't push him away, she grabbed his arm and pinched him, saying, "I want water, I want water."
"Drink hot water."
I don't even have the energy to get angry.
I felt no pain at all in the arm that was being pinched.
Xiao Cheng wanted to take Bai Lu directly to the hospital, but she was too resistant. Apart from clutching her stomach and complaining of discomfort, frowning, biting him, and constantly shrinking into his arms, pushing him and pinching him, she did not show any greater or more painful reactions.
The little face buried in his neck was still warm, not pale or bloodless, and his forehead was at normal temperature.
It shouldn't be too serious.
She suggested drinking some hot water, saying that it might be worth a try.
After calming down, Xiao Cheng gently placed Bai Lu back on the bed, covered her with the blanket, poured a cup of boiling water from the thermos on the table, and shook the two cups from side to side.
I shook the water until it wasn't so hot before putting it back on the bed, helping Bailu up, and feeding her.
Bai Lu frowned, opened her eyes slightly, and her weak gaze fell on the cup: "What is this..."
Xiao Cheng blew on it and then held it to her lips. "Hot water."
"Why isn't there any sugar?" Bailu refused to drink.
Xiao Cheng went to the drawer, took out a piece of maltose candy, put it in the cup in front of her, and shook it.
Tell her, "There's candy."
Bai Lu still frowned, refusing to drink, burying her face in his neck: "It's not dissolved, it's not sweet..."
Xiao Cheng said nothing, put her back on the bed, covered her with the blanket, poured another glass of water, and brought back two maltose candies, putting them in her mouth in front of her.
Shake gently until it dissolves: "Two maltose candies."
Bai Lu bit her lower lip, and a faint, almost inaudible voice escaped from her lips: "Hot."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
He then grabbed two more cups and shook them.
I ran around and got all hot.
I simply took off my coat and shoes, folded my own blanket and put it at the foot of the bed, then went back to bed, helped Bailu up, and fed her maltose water at a suitable temperature.
This time, Bai Lu didn't refuse. She leaned against him and obediently drank the hot sugar water, taking small sips at a time.
She had only drunk half of it when she shrank back, her hands trembling as she hugged his waist: "Cold..."
Xiao Cheng pulled up the blanket and covered the two of them.
Bai Lu continued to drink the sugar water, but very slowly.
He would take a sip and then touch his stomach, as if to make sure the sugar water had reached his stomach.
They drank until the moon was high in the sky before they finished.
Xiao Cheng gently rubbed her slightly swollen belly and asked in a low voice, "Are you feeling better?"
Bai Lu had closed her eyes, her tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and she stopped complaining of feeling unwell.
"I want to sleep..."
She was still holding his waist.
Xiao Cheng glanced at the sky outside, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he hesitated. Suddenly, the pressure on his waist increased, and the girl's soft, warm lips pressed against his neck.
It wasn't a bite, but it felt like an electric current shooting up to the nerve endings, the burning sensation instantly spreading throughout the body.
Apply temperature to each nerve cell.
Xiao Cheng lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping down to Bai Lu's sleeping face against his neck. Her soft breath gently brushed against his neck, warming him to the bone.
He placed the cup on the small wooden cabinet by his bedside.
He reached out and pulled the rope, turned off the light, and held her as she fell asleep.
...
Five grown men were squatting on the ground outside the wall, desperately trying to keep their eyes open as they played poker, specifically Texas Hold'em.
"Sixteen, is Brother Cheng coming out tonight?" Wang Hao kept yawning.
"What time is it now? It must be twelve o'clock, right? I just heard the clock in Cheng-ge's room strike twelve times, and the stray dogs on the street are all asleep."
The brother squatting next to Xiao Dazhuang was also yawning, his eyes fixed on the cards in his hand, which looked like mosquito coils.
Luo Shiliu threw out a pair of royal flushes, took the cigarette that was flickering in his mouth, and stubbed it out on the ground.
He got up and looked at the main house in the courtyard.
Looking back at his four brothers who were eagerly awaiting an answer, he delivered the bombshell news: "The lights are off."
"The lights are off!!!"
"Is Cheng-ge asleep???"
Wang Hao: "..."
Xiao Dazhuang: "..."
The other two brothers: "..."
"Go home, wash up, and go to bed." Luo Shiliu wiped his face, shrugged, and left first.
Xiao Dazhuang followed closely behind: "Why is Brother Cheng asleep? Didn't we agree to close a big deal tonight?"
Wang Hao chimed in, "Building houses is too slow for making money; collecting debts is a hundred times faster."
The two brothers, carrying a sack of equipment, were completely bewildered: "So, are we postponing it, or are we not going at all?"
They had followed Xiao Cheng for a while before, but later got into trouble and were expelled from the gang.
They might not know whether other gang leaders are capable or not, but Xiao Cheng's abilities are absolutely undeniable within the gang. No matter what he does, they won't be made to work for nothing.
Luo Shiliu smacked his lips: "We'll know when we start work tomorrow."
Xiao Dazhuang scratched his head, a terrible thought popping into his head: "Brother Cheng isn't going to quit, is he? His wife has been making money selling roasted chestnuts lately, enough to support the family."
"Who told you that?" Luo Shiliu knew he wasn't that bright; he was too straightforward to think that far ahead.
Xiao Dazhuang bluntly stated: "Yesterday, Chen Chunli went to my mother's shoe stall to get her shoes repaired. She chatted with my mother and mentioned that she also wanted to make candied chestnuts, but she couldn't find good sugar."
In an instant, four pairs of eyes simultaneously turned towards Wang Hao.
Wang Hao's face immediately flushed.
Ever since Chen Chunli found out that Bailu was the supplier of the fifth aunt's roasted chestnuts, she has been trying to get information out of him all day long.
They also said that Xiao Cheng was selfish, only caring about making a fortune for himself while leaving his brothers to do manual labor and earn meager wages.
They say Bai Lu has good connections, but they don't know how to take care of their own people. Instead of cooperating with their own people, they insist on cooperating with a country bumpkin who moved up from the countryside.
They said that Xiao Cheng and Bai Lu had made money and looked down on their brothers, not even caring about their lives.
She would pester him to come to Bai Lu all day long, asking Bai Lu to teach her how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts, saying that everyone was like brothers and sisters-in-law, and that if there was money, everyone should make it together.
Luo Shiliu smiled enigmatically, "The chestnut trees haven't even blossomed yet, but you already have chestnuts at home?"
Many families in the town have front and back yards, and many people used to plant chestnut trees in their front or back yards. However, very few people have kept their chestnut trees uncut.
They were all too lazy to cut the chestnuts because Xiao Cheng wasn't going to, but they never expected that the chestnuts would have a chance to turn things around.
So, nobody stored chestnuts; they just braised chicken or boiled them, and they were too lazy to even pick them up if they fell on the ground.
Xiao Dazhuang remembered it clearly: "At the beginning of the year, on your mother's birthday, you invited us to your house for dinner. Chen Chunli said that chestnuts were too awful and that she would never keep such a dreadful thing. Now, why are you suddenly thinking of making candied chestnuts?"
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