Chapter 4 Heavy Rain
Fan Xiaoxiao knew what Uncle Wang was talking about. She looked up and met his scrutinizing eyes through the rain. The sound of rain hitting the river filled her ears. The two stared at each other without speaking, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little cold.
Rainwater seeped through the raincoat and soaked into the inner shirt, making the summer garment underneath feel sticky and uncomfortable. Fan Xiaoxiao stared unblinkingly at the resolute middle-aged man before her, feeling a strange mix of envy and gratitude at his protectiveness towards Fan Shi. She was an orphan, abandoned at birth. No one had ever protected her before; Fan Shi was the first. And now, Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang were protecting Fan Shi. Fan Xiaoxiao knew she wasn't a purely kind person, but she never maliciously schemed against those who were good to her.
"You and Aunt Wang are very good to my sister."
The Fan family treated her very well. She had schemed against many people throughout her life, but she had never schemed against anyone who had been kind to her.
Because she loves the house, she won't harm those who are good to the Fan family, at least not for now. Fan Xiaoxiao stared steadily at Uncle Wang, her clear black and white eyes filled with determination and composure.
Uncle Wang stared at her for a long time, then suddenly chuckled softly.
"Heh, you're quite something, girl. Of course, I know you meant no harm. Otherwise, you wouldn't have told me before you left that you'd open the front door and leave through the backyard with your sister and nephew. But!"
Uncle Wang changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat serious, and said, "You'd better not use this kind of half-threat approach on Fan Niang! Understand?"
Fan Xiaoxiao felt a warmth in her heart, realizing that Uncle Wang was only worried that she was plotting against and threatening the Fan family, which was why he warned her.
"Don't worry, Uncle, I won't."
As they talked, the rain intensified. Fan Xiaoxiao and the others put on raincoats. They dared not stop at the shore and had no choice but to row in the rain. They rowed along the current for about half an hour before the river became turbulent, forcing the five of them to come to the shore.
"Find a place to hide the boat. The rain is too heavy, and it's too dangerous to continue rowing."
Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at the somewhat listless Xiaobao, frowned, and added, "And Xiaobao won't be able to handle it!"
"Alright! My wife and I will go to the hidden boat. You all wait for us here."
After saying that, the group groped their way ashore in the dark, and Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang pulled the boat into the reeds. Fan Xiaoxiao walked to Fan Shi's side and saw that Yu Xiaobao was hanging his head and didn't want to talk, so she reached out and patted Yu Xiaobao's head.
But when her hand touched Xiao Bao's forehead, the slightly hot temperature under her hand startled her.
"Sister! Xiao Bao's forehead feels a little hot!"
Madam Fan was also startled and quickly went to pick up Xiao Bao.
"Yes! What do we do now!?"
At this moment, Aunt Wang and her husband had already hidden the boat and came out. Seeing the two of them looking anxious around Xiao Bao, they asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Xiao Bao has a fever! Come on, we need to find a place to shelter from the rain!"
Fan Xiaoxiao took the package from Fan Shi's hands so she could hold the child more easily. This sudden turn of events made her anxious. Although a fever isn't a serious illness in modern times, it could be fatal in ancient times. Besides, Xiao Bao was only three years old!
Without hesitation, the adults draped raincoats over the children and then trudged into the dark forest, hoping to find shelter from the rain as soon as possible.
Fortunately, there is always a way out. Uncle Wang had been hunting in this mountain forest a few years ago, and with his memory, they finally found a cave under a cliff that could temporarily shelter them from the rain.
They found some dry branches that hadn't been rained on and lit a campfire. By the firelight, they noticed that Yu Xiaobao's face was flushed, his eyes were half-closed, and he was breathing heavily, looking very uncomfortable. But even so, the child hadn't cried or fussed at all.
Fan Xiaoxiao felt a pang of sympathy for him; the child was so sensible. Remembering how he had just joked and teased her, urging her to eat more, Fan Xiaoxiao unconsciously tightened her grip on her dripping straw hat. She gritted her teeth and said to Uncle Wang, "Uncle! Come with me out again! Auntie, Sister, boil some water, and remember to wrap the child up tightly after drying his clothes. We'll be right back!"
Having said that, Fan Xiaoxiao led Uncle Wang out of the cave without letting Fan Shi say a word of refusal. Fortunately, the rain outside was gradually subsiding, and moonlight shone through the dark clouds.
"Uncle Wang, do you recognize wild ginger?"
“I recognize it! Come with me, I know where they might be!”
The two walked one after the other into a bamboo grove. By the moonlight, they searched for quite a while before finally digging up a few wild ginger plants in the grove.
When she got back, the water was already boiling. Fan Xiaoxiao washed the wild ginger roughly with the rainwater, then quickly took a wood-chopping knife, broke it apart, and threw it into the boiling water.
"Sister, where's our sugarcane?"
Madam Fan rummaged through the packages placed to the side, took out a small oil paper packet from it, and handed it to Fan Xiaoxiao: "Here, it's all."
"good."
After receiving the sugar, Fan Xiaoxiao immediately opened the container and threw it all into the water. Instantly, the spiciness of the wild ginger mixed with the sweetness of the cane sugar rose with the boiling water. Knowing it was almost ready, Fan Xiaoxiao quickly moved the pot away from the fire. The ginger sugar water had a powerful flavor, and the cave was soon filled with a sweet and spicy aroma.
"Alright, once the ginger and brown sugar water isn't so hot anymore, I'll feed it to Xiaobao. Then I'll wrap him up tightly. As long as he sweats, he'll be fine. I made a lot of this soup, so everyone should have some."
"This...child, let Xiaobao drink it, we'll be fine."
Looking at the ginger and brown sugar water, Aunt Wang hesitated to take a sip; it was all the sugar the Yu family owned.
"It's alright, Auntie, just drink it. Listen to Er Ya! She's been smart since she was little, she won't make a mistake! Besides, I haven't even had a chance to thank you properly for saving Er Ya today!"
Fan Xiaoxiao was slightly taken aback, not expecting that her rescue was related to the Wang family, and she felt even more grateful.
"Yes, ma'am! Now is a critical moment, we can't afford to catch a cold!"
Aunt Wang hesitated for a moment, then Uncle Wang came over, picked up a bowl, scooped out two bowls of ginger and brown sugar water, blew on them to cool them down, handed one bowl to Fan, who was holding a child, and drank the other bowl himself.
"Drink up. This girl is right. We don't know what we'll face next, so we all need to be careful."
(End of this chapter)
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