Xiao Yunying swayed back to her parents' home on the oxcart, and Mu Lianrong helped her into the house where she lived before she got married.
It wasn't that she was being pretentious or deliberately acting weak; she simply had no energy left, feeling as limp as a noodle, while her head felt as heavy as a lead ball, constantly wanting to bury itself in the ground.
Hmm... she seems to be a little carsick.
When she was healthy, she only felt a little dizzy. But when she had a fever, she was already dizzy, and the dizziness made her even more dizzy.
Mu Lianrong chased the men and boys out of the house, helped Xiao Yunying sit on the kang (a heated brick bed), and placed a small kang table on her lap.
Her two sisters-in-law brought out red date and millet porridge and steamed egg custard that they had prepared in advance and placed them on the kang table. They wiped her hands with a damp towel and put a wooden spoon in her hand.
Xiao Yunying said awkwardly, "Mother, sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, there's no need for this, I'm fine."
She was too embarrassed to say it; it felt like she was being taken care of during postpartum confinement, quite awkward.
Wang said, "You're delirious from the fever, but you're still alright. Hurry up and eat, I'll go make your medicine."
The steamed egg custard had soy sauce and sesame oil on it. Xiao Yunying felt a little nauseous from the smell of sesame oil, so she pushed the custard away and said, "Mom, I don't have an appetite because of the smell of oil. You eat it, I'll just have some porridge."
"Don't want to smell the oil? Mom will go and steam another bowl for you right away, without sesame oil. Just wait."
Xiao Yunying quickly stopped her: "No need, Mother, I don't want to eat steamed egg custard, and there's nothing else I want to eat. A bowl of porridge is enough."
"You don't want to eat? Then drink some porridge. Drink more. Those kids said you didn't eat much last night."
Xiao Yunying didn't want to drink the porridge either, but when she thought that her family had specially made it for her and that she would have to take medicine later, she forced herself to drink a bowl.
When the medicine was ready, she drank it all in one go, ate two jujubes to suppress the taste of the medicine in her mouth, and not long after, she fell asleep again, perhaps because the medicine was working.
Outside the gate, the Luo family's children stood in the courtyard, while the Xiao family's children watched them from a distance, curious but not daring to approach.
The parents and grandparents have told them many times to get along well with them, but apart from the youngest girl, the other three boys always have long faces and ignore them. They don't dare to go up to them at all.
As the eldest brother, Xiao Chunlei felt he should take the initiative and went over to say, "Grandma said that Aunt is very ill and needs to rest. You don't need to stand here. Grandma won't let you go in and disturb Aunt. You can go in to see her when she feels better."
Luo Chen's mind was filled with the old doctor's words, "If this continues, it will shorten your lifespan," and he didn't hear Xiao Chunlei's words.
His younger brother said discontentedly, "Big brother, why is he ignoring people? Grandpa said that's very impolite."
Luo Yang said, "I'm sorry, my older brother... was too worried about his stepmother's health, so he probably didn't hear what you said."
Luo Chen stared blankly at the ground, his stunned expression too obvious. Xiao Chunlei wasn't angry: "You should talk to him yourself. Standing here won't do any good."
Then he took a basket and a sickle, and called his younger brothers to go to the foot of the mountain to cut pig feed.
Luo Xin shook Luo Chen's hand: "Big brother, is Mother's illness really serious?"
Luo Chen said in a low voice, "It's very serious."
Luo Li blinked, looking like she was about to cry again, but Luo Yang quickly stopped her: "Don't cry, your stepmother will be fine."
Luo Li took a deep breath, suppressing her tears: "But, every time my stepmother gets sick, she changes her personality, as if she's a completely different person."
Luo Chen frowned: "What do you want to say?"
Did the younger brother also discover that his stepmother had been replaced?
Luo Li said anxiously, "My stepmother is sick this time. I don't know if she will turn bad after she recovers. I haven't apologized to her yet. If she turns bad, will she refuse to forgive me?"
Luo Yang patted Luo Li's head reassuringly: "Your stepmother won't turn bad anymore."
Luo Li remembered something: "Let her go bad if she wants to. If that doesn't work, just send her stepmother to the gates of hell again. Didn't she say something about her last time..."
Luo Yang hurriedly scolded, "Ah Li, shut up!"
When Mu Lianrong came out with the bowl, she heard Luo Li's last words; Luo Yang's reprimand was already too late.
He walked a few steps to Luo Li and, regardless of whether he was a five-year-old child or not, raised his hand and slapped him.
Luo Li was slapped to the ground, covering her face and looking at Mu Lianrong in horror, unable to even cry.
Luo Xin burst into tears: "Grandma, please don't hit Third Brother!"
Luo Yang hurriedly explained, "I'm sorry, my brother is still young. He didn't know what he meant. He didn't mean it."
Mu Lianrong stared with bloodshot eyes and said, "Don't know what that means? Let me tell you, the Gates of Hell is where the dying go. The next stop is the King of Hell's Palace. If a living person goes there, they die and never come back. Do you understand?"
Tears welled up in Luo Li's eyes: "I don't know, I said the wrong thing, I didn't mean to."
Hearing the commotion, Xiao Shanhai came out and pulled his wife aside, saying, "Why are you hitting the child?"
Mu Lianrong shook off his hand: "He cursed my daughter to death in front of me. I'm being kind by not killing him."
Seeing Mu Lianrong's red eyes, Xiao Shanhai couldn't find the words to comfort her.
Since the birth of their daughter, he had never seen his wife's eyes redden in all those years.
Mu Lianrong realized that something was wrong with her mood, so she turned around and went into the kitchen.
Xiao Shanhai said, "Eldest son, quickly help the child up."
Then he went into the kitchen to comfort his wife.
Zhang came over, pulled Luo Li up, and patted the dirt off him: "I heard from my father-in-law that your stepmother is quite ill this time. My mother was angry when you said those things and that's why she hit you. Don't hold a grudge against her."
Luo Li wiped away her tears: "It's my fault. I didn't know what I meant and I spoke nonsense."
"Good child, I know you didn't mean it. Little girl, don't cry. Don't wake your mother. Let her rest."
Luo Xin blinked her big eyes, holding back her tears, and wiped them away with her sleeve: "Okay, Xin'er, don't cry anymore."
Zhang fetched a basin of water for the two children, let them wash their faces, and then sent them back to the room that had been specially prepared for them.
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