The children nearby were all asleep, so they didn't smell the aroma. Only Zhang Xiu'e and a few others stared in surprise at the chicken in the yellow paper.
Li Qiang was an honest and simple man. He didn't often come to the tent where the women slept. Even when he did come, it was during the day when he had something to do, and he would stay for a short while before leaving.
But today, I'm so tempted by this chicken that I can't move my feet.
"Fifth Miss, where did this come from?"
Song He'er smiled and said, "I bought these from those servants."
"You bought it, do you still have money?" Zhang Xiu'e asked, pulling Song He'er aside. "You don't have much money left. It was given to you by the little prince of Xizhou. Don't squander it all. Your younger brother and your stepmother will always have places to spend money in the future."
Song He'er knew that Zhang Xiu'e's words came from the bottom of her heart, so she didn't intend to hide anything from her.
"It didn't cost much. When the servants brought the chicken, they said it was a free gift for us. At first, I didn't want it, but I was starving and my mother was still sick. I thought, 'I'll just buy it. There's no need to feel bad about it. Anyway, we'll start making money starting tomorrow, won't we?"
Zhang Xiue affectionately pinched Song He'er's little nose and laughed, "You little rascal! Alright, hurry up and take us to see those things, lest we lose them again!"
"yes!"
After saying that, Song He'er led Song Xiaoqi and Zhang Xiu'e to the river to retrieve their belongings.
Although there were no lights in this desolate place, the moon was very bright, and the journey was quite pleasant.
“There are so many! Can we finish them by tomorrow?” Song Xiaoyu suddenly asked.
"If we can't finish it, we'll just hire some day laborers. We'll pay them one copper coin each, and we can even make a little profit from it!" Zhang Xiue replied confidently.
Song Xiaoyu clearly disapproved of her approach and quickly shook her head, saying, "Those women are like madwomen. Don't get too entangled with them, or you might get into trouble."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiue rolled her eyes and retorted reluctantly, "You still have the nerve to call her a madwoman? That day, even if you didn't know who it was, you were willing to risk your own life to jump in and save someone! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, based on your words today, I would have thought that the righteous and fearless person wasn't you!"
Why do you have to bring up something you don't want to talk about?
"That's exactly right!"
Song He'er looked speechless and tossed the sack in her hand to Song Xiaoyu: "Since Third Uncle and Third Aunt like to argue so much, why don't you take more things? If you're tired, you'll naturally stop talking!"
With an embarrassed expression, Song Xiaoyu glared at Zhang Xiue and then fell silent.
After the group returned to the area around the tent with the sacks, Song He'er and Zhang Xiu'e stuffed all the items into the tent to prevent anyone from stealing them at night.
Perhaps the commotion was too loud, because it woke up Qin Xiaoniang who was still fast asleep.
"You...you people are..."
Song He'er was the first to hear the creaking sound, so she quickly put down what she was holding and went to Qin Xiaoniang's side, asking with concern, "Mother, you've been sleeping for five or six hours... How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?"
Qin Xiaoniang felt dizzy and had unbearable abdominal pain.
"I...I have no strength..."
"Feeling weak? Do you have a fever?" Song He'er reached out and touched her forehead.
"You don't have a fever, Mother. Where do you feel unwell?" Just as Song He'er was about to take Qin Xiaoniang's pulse, she saw Song Xiaoyu walking over from the side.
"Let me see."
Although Song Xiaoyu served as a civil official for several years without achieving much, he did learn a great deal about medicine and prescriptions from the Imperial Medical Academy in the palace.
Now it's second nature to do it effortlessly.
Song Xiaoyu placed his hand on Qin Xiaoniang's pulse, and after a moment, he frowned.
“For deficiency anemia, which is caused by insufficient Qi, ginseng is needed to replenish Qi.”
"Ginseng?" Zhang Xiu'e exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't startle people like that all the time, or you'll frighten the patient."
Zhang Xiue lowered her voice and replied again, "What I mean is... ginseng is too expensive. Let alone money, where to buy it these days is still a problem, isn't it?"
Song He'er has ginseng in her space. All she needs to do is find a secluded spot, stew some soup, and secretly feed it to Qin Xiaoniang.
“I know it’s expensive. Since we don’t have any, we’ll just have to buy some dates and make some date soup to tide us over for a while!” Song Xiaoyu said, then turned and left the tent.
Zhang Xiue glanced at Song Xiaoyu's departing figure with a resentful look in her eyes.
"None of the men in the Song family are good people. Look how angry they've made you!"
Qin Xiaoniang's lips were pale, and she weakly pulled Zhang Xiu'e's hand in front of her. As if giving her last instructions, she said solemnly, "For the sake of our past relationship, please take good care of Huan Ge'er and He'er in the future. If I am gone, I hope you will keep them safe and sound and not let that heartless dog of a man take them away! I beg you!"
Zhang Xiue's eyes reddened. She helped her lie down and covered her with a blanket. "What nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean you're gone? You're just weak. What are you thinking? Let me tell you, even for the sake of your children, you have to live bravely and strongly. Otherwise, I won't help you look after them!"
Song He'er had no idea how these two people were talking about such outrageous things; they were practically about to push her into the crematorium!
"Mother, Third Aunt, we still have a ton of work to do tomorrow! Hurry up and get some sleep! And you, Mother, you just need to eat more, you're malnourished! You're worrying too much!"
Qin Xiaoniang gave a forced smile, her thin lips pressed tightly together.
After a long silence, she finally spoke, "There are so many, I'm afraid we don't have enough manpower, and I really don't have the strength... I can't help you, what should we do?"
Zhang Xiue waved her hand, signaling her not to worry.
"I'll go over there tomorrow and see if there are any young women willing to lend us a hand!"
"Third Aunt, you need to speak properly, or you'll end up arguing with someone again!"
"I know! Go to sleep!"
With that, everyone closed their eyes and stopped talking.
The next day.
Song Xiaoyu got up early and put a few chicken legs in the pot to keep warm.
When Zhang Xiue went out, she saw him cleaning fish next to her.
"Isn't this a poisonous fish? You still want to eat it?"
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