Chapter 84 Fish in the Rice Field
The sun gradually rose.
The morning sun brought heat, signaling another hot and dry day.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Sanniu went to town to deliver goods. Zhao Ergou has not returned yet. Zhao Sidan herded ducks to the rice paddies. Xia Hua sat in the yard winding dry grass. Wu Huiniang lay in bed, still unconscious.
Cheng Wanwan sat at the back of the house, holding a book in her hands.
She had no medical training and dared not prescribe medicine to Wu Huiniang without proper knowledge, so she could only buy a book to brush up on her basic knowledge.
The book says that if a pregnant woman falls and bleeds, she should use medication to prevent miscarriage, but she should not use it blindly. First, she should go to the hospital to determine if the fetus is normal. To determine if the fetus is healthy, the fetal heartbeat needs to be monitored.
She bought a fetal heart monitor from the mall, read the instructions and learned how to use it, then went to Wu Huiniang's room and quietly closed the door.
If the baby has already died in utero, the next step is to consider how to induce labor.
If the baby is still alive, that would be wonderful. We can always find the most suitable medication to save the baby.
Cheng Wanwan lifted Wu Huiniang's clothes, placed the probe on her stomach, and the next second, a strong heartbeat filled the room. She didn't dare to be too happy, so she started counting how many heartbeats per minute, and then checked the instructions. Luckily, the baby's heartbeat was within the normal range, which meant that the baby was fine. It was probably because the mother was too weak that she had been unconscious.
Cheng Wanwan put away the fetal heart monitor and sat down at the back of the house to continue reading, mainly trying to find the most suitable medicine to prevent miscarriage for Wu Huiniang's current condition.
"Woof..."
Big Black suddenly trotted over, lay down on the ground, and bit her trouser leg.
Those dark eyes looked at her with a face full of self-reproach.
Cheng Wanwan lowered her head and stroked its head gently, saying, "This isn't your fault. You're not even a month old yet; you're still a baby."
It's not entirely Xiao Hei's fault. Xiao Hei is less than ten days old and has injured its hind legs, making it unsteady on its feet.
However, puppies grow quickly, changing shape every few days. In another half month, these two dogs should be able to guard the house.
Big Black lay down beside her and remained quiet.
Cheng Wanwan quickly read the book, absorbing the information like a dried-up sponge. Finally, she decided to take the medication.
This is a newly developed pregnancy-preserving drug, applicable to 28 types of symptoms that could lead to miscarriage. However, the drug is very expensive, costing five taels of silver per pill.
The instructions say that a course of treatment lasts three days, which means you need to buy at least three pills, costing a total of fifteen taels of silver.
Cheng Wanwan felt a pang of regret; she would hold Zhao Fugui accountable for this and make him suffer for a few more days.
She went into the house, crushed the pills, dissolved them in hot water, and carefully fed them to Wu Huiniang. Wu Huiniang was still conscious and knew that drinking the medicine could save the child. She opened her mouth and gulped down the whole bowl of medicine.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Sanniu returned right after the medicine was given.
“Mother, there are no fish for sale in town.” Zhao Dashan looked dejected. “But I bought a squab. Squabs are more expensive than chickens and ducks. They cost sixty coins.”
Pigeons are expensive, and he hesitated for a long time before deciding to buy them.
He used his mother's earnings to buy the pigeons, and he will definitely find a way to pay her back later.
Cheng Wanwan nodded approvingly. Although the pigeons were small, they were very nutritious, rich in various vitamins, and most suitable for pregnant women to eat.
She instructed, "Dashan, you kill the pigeon first, pluck its feathers and clean it. I'll make pigeon soup."
Zhao Dashan immediately got to work.
Zhao Sanniu scratched his head and said, "Mother, we went to town today and heard that the county magistrate has found more than a dozen water sources. Second Brother and the others should be back soon."
Cheng Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief.
There had been no news about Ergou in the past few days, and she was really worried. Now that she had the news, she was worried that the child had not eaten enough or slept well outside these days.
She's clearly a single woman, so why is she suddenly acting like a mother hen, worrying about everything?
Cheng Wanwan shook her head and went to the kitchen to prepare the seasonings for stewing the pigeon. She secretly bought some donkey-hide gelatin from the mall, as it is very nourishing.
The pigeon soup was simmering in a pot. Then, some wheat flour was mixed with buckwheat flour, an egg was cracked into the pot, and some wild vegetables were chopped and mixed together. These were then made into pancakes and stuck to the edge of the pot where the pigeon was simmering. Just wait for them to cook slowly.
"Mother, Erhuang has laid another egg!"
Zhao Sidan picked up an egg and presented it to Cheng Wanwan like a treasure.
He blinked and asked, "Mom, which is more nourishing, chicken soup or pigeon soup?"
Cheng Wanwan said, "For your sister-in-law, fish soup is the most nourishing. Crucian carp soup and perch soup are both excellent for protecting the fetus and ensuring a safe pregnancy."
Zhao Sidan immediately said, "Then if I go to the spring on the mountain to catch some fish, will Mother not kill Erhuang?"
"Four Eggs, you..."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and shook her head.
This child is so kind and innocent; he wants to protect Erhuang and also wants his sister-in-law to get better.
However, as the saying goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish," meaning there can't be fish in mountain springs.
She said, "There is water in our rice paddies. You can look for it there."
Zhao Sidan's eyes lit up immediately, and he turned and ran into the rice paddy.
"Four Eggs, wait a minute. First, put the dry grass and firewood in the yard into the kitchen and stack them neatly."
Zhao Sidan had no choice but to get to work.
Cheng Wanwan casually walked out of the yard, then quickly went down to the field and secretly released two large crucian carp into her rice paddy.
It doesn't make sense to see large crucian carp in a rice paddy. Releasing small crucian carp would be more understandable, but there are ducks in the paddy, so the small crucian carp would probably end up in the ducks' stomachs as soon as they entered the water.
After doing all that, she returned to the courtyard and said calmly, "Sidan, hurry up and go find some fish. Once you've caught them, bring the ducks back."
Zhao Sidan nodded and rushed into the rice paddy. He saw that the ducks had already eaten their fill and were pecking at the rice ears listlessly, so he quickly herded the ducks home before turning back to look for fish.
Five mu of paddy fields, not too big, not too small, he walked around barefoot in the rice paddies.
In the clear water, you can see small insects and grasshoppers, so he simply caught grasshoppers while looking for fish.
We've caught twenty or thirty grasshoppers, and finally we've spotted a fish.
Zhao Sidan's face was filled with disbelief: "Fish, such a big fish..."
Since the drought, the river has dried up rapidly, and he hasn't seen any fish for a very long time.
He didn't care about anything else, and suddenly lunged forward, plunging into the water in the rice paddy, with fish beneath him.
"Hehe, let's see how you run now!"
Zhao Sidan pulled the fish out, only to find that there were two fish under him.
He was so happy he couldn't stop smiling.
When I returned home with the two fish, Old Mrs. Zhao was there too. She was holding a bowl of deer blood and said in a low voice, "The hunter Zhao from our village hunted a deer last night. He usually doesn't make a fuss about it, but when he heard that Da Shan's wife had an accident, he specially sent a bowl of deer blood to our house. That's why I rushed over to bring it to you. Put it in a pot to heat it up and give it to Hui Niang to help her recover..."
Before she could finish speaking, the old lady turned around and saw Zhao Sidan standing at the gate of the yard, holding two fish and grinning foolishly.
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