Qin Xiaoniang looked at Song He'er with heartache, wanting to take Huan Ge'er and hold him herself, "He'er, you go to sleep, let me hold Huan Ge'er."
"Mother, you've gotten wet in the rain, you should take off your clothes quickly, how can you hold Huan-ge'er?"
As Zhang Xiue took off her clothes, she said, "Yes, you should take off your clothes quickly. Tonight, the three of us will just sleep together. Don't think about Huan-ge'er anymore. What if you make him catch a cold? Let him sleep with He'er instead."
Qin Xiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief, took off her outer garment, wrung it out, and draped it over the hemp rope in the tent.
"Then hurry up and go to sleep. The sun will definitely shine after the rain, and our journey will be easier tomorrow..."
"Um."
After saying that, the group fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Zhang Xiue got up early and carried the grain out. Just as Qin Xiaoniang had said, the sun was shining brightly outside.
Zhang Xiue spread all the grain out on the cart, wanting the sunlight to dry it properly and remove the musty smell!
Qin Xiaoniang looked very unwell; her face was as white as paper, as if she had caught a cold.
"Mother, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale..."
Qin Xiaoniang shook her head, her voice weak and feeble, "It's nothing, I probably just didn't sleep well last night. He'er, Mother can't cook today, why don't you go stir-fry some vegetables for us..."
Song He'er glanced at the group of people outside. Zhang Xiu'e was drying grain, Tian Niangzi and Zhou Niangzi were airing out tents, and the Chun Di sisters were leading a group of children to dig up small mushrooms in the soil.
With everyone busy, the task of cooking fell to Song He'er.
Looking at the simple ingredients, Song He'er couldn't help but feel worried. It had been almost a month since she left, and the meals were almost the same every day, leaving people with no taste at all.
"Mother, how about I make us a bowl of nutritious vegetable and egg porridge?"
As soon as Song He'er finished speaking, Qin Xiaoniang fainted, which frightened Huan Ge'er so much that he cried.
"Mother! Mother! What's wrong! Mother! Third Aunt, come quickly and see Huan-ge'er, my mother has fainted."
Hearing the shouts, Zhang Xiue quickly put down her work and ran over.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Song He'er touched Qin Xiaoniang's forehead, which was burning hot. She must have caught a cold from being caught in the rain last night, which was why her high fever wouldn't go down today.
"Third Aunt, my mother has a fever. Please ask Madam Tian and the others to wipe her body with cold water and change her into a clean new set of clothes. I'll go and gather some herbs!"
Song He'er wanted to leave, but before she could take a single step, Zhang Xiu'e pulled her back from behind.
"Where are you going to find herbs in this desolate wilderness? Don't we still have a piece of ginger? I'll go make some ginger soup..."
Song He'er knew there were no herbs around, but she had to use this as an excuse to go far away and take out the prepared medicinal herbs from her space. Only by drinking these would Qin Xiaoniang recover faster.
"We need to drink the ginger soup, and we also need to find some herbs. I saw a lot of mushrooms growing around here after the rain, maybe there are some herbs there. No, I have to go find them, I can't let my mother stay sick like this!"
After saying that, Song He'er ignored their attempts to stop her and ran off into the distance.
She didn't start taking out medicinal herbs from her spatial storage until she reached a secluded spot.
She remembered exchanging a gold ingot for hundreds of kinds of medicinal herbs at a peasant woman's house, but it was really hard to find the herbs to treat colds all at once.
It is probably the case that cinnamon twig, notopterygium root, asarum, aconite root, and ephedra are the best herbs for treating wind-cold.
Song He'er quickly mixed the medicinal herbs together. To avoid arousing suspicion from Zhang Xiu'e and the others, she even tore off a handful of leaves from a tree to cover them up, hoping that no one would notice when they were put into the pot.
Song He'er returned to the group with the medicinal herbs, and saw that Chun Di had already boiled a pot of water and was preparing to make ginger soup.
"Fourth Aunt, wait a minute!"
Chun Di stopped what she was doing and looked at Song He'er expectantly: "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"This ginger soup needs brown sugar to be effective. Boiling ginger without brown sugar won't make you sweat. Let me do it!"
"He'er, have you found the herbs?"
“Yes!” Song He’er showed the medicinal herbs in her hands to Chun Di.
"Isn't this just withered leaves? Where are the herbs?"
"If I say so, then so be it. Anyway, it will definitely be useful. Fourth Aunt, go and cook some eggs for the children. I'll use this pot first, and after I'm done, I'll make some porridge for us!"
Chun Di nodded with some doubt and handed the pot over.
Because water resources were limited, they could no longer use water to boil eggs. So Chun Di used a traditional method: she dug a pit, wrapped the eggs in mud, put them in the pit, and lit a fire to cook them. This method was both convenient and quick.
Chun Di worked very efficiently, and in no time she had fed the children.
"He'er, do you need my help?"
Song He'er stuffed the leaves directly into the fire to burn. The herbs in the pot had been simmering for a long time. When no one was looking, she took out the residue and threw it into the fire. Now the medicinal juice was quite thick. It just needed to be simmered a little more until it was ready to drink.
"Fourth Aunt, it's ready. You can take it and feed it to my mother. I'll cook some porridge for us."
Chun Di came over, took the bowl of medicine, and asked with concern, "Why don't you go take care of your mother? I'll cook the meals..."
Song He'er shook her head and chuckled, "Today I'm going to make a different kind of porridge for us!"
"What's so different about this porridge? Isn't it all just made from white rice? Don't tire yourself out, let me do it."
Song He'er stood up and pushed her out, "Oh, Fourth Aunt, you go take care of my mother, I promise you a surprise!"
After saying that, Song He'er began to busy herself with her own things.
She remembered that in modern KFC, there was a congee dish called Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee. Now there are no century eggs or lean pork here, but there are freshly dug mushrooms and eggs. Actually, if you add some salt to Century Egg and Lean Pork Congee according to the recipe, it should taste just as good!
Thinking of this, Song He'er blanched the few mushrooms the children had dug up with very little water, then put them into the oil pan along with a few green vegetables. After stir-frying them, she added water and salt, then added white rice and started simmering them over low heat.
When the porridge is almost cooked, add a leftover hard-boiled egg from the children's meal, mash it, stir well, and bring it to a boil again.
About an hour later, the porridge was ready.
Song He'er first served Qin Xiaoniang a bowl and then let Zhang Xiu'e and the others distribute it.
"It smells delicious! Wow! There are vegetables! How come we didn't think of doing this?" Li Qiang's wife exclaimed in surprise.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
