Chapter Forty-One: Rainy Weather
It was as if the heavens had opened a floodgate, and the drizzling rain continued for several days in a row.
It wasn't a torrential downpour, but a lingering, chilly drizzle.
The sky is always gray, making people feel heavy-hearted.
The rain naturally dampened the crowds at the dock.
The turbid river water lapped against the wet banks, and the once noisy chants of boatmen, peddler's shouts, and the laughter of laborers all fell silent.
Occasionally a boat would dock, and two or three travelers would disembark, quickly disappearing into the rain.
Upon receiving a message from the yamen, Xiong Zixiang hurriedly put on a raincoat and left, staying at the yamen for several days in a row.
During the brief respite from the rain, he only managed to return twice. His raincoat was still dripping wet, and his boots were covered in mud. He hastily ate a couple of mouthfuls of hot food, and seeing that his family was alright, he braved the still-drizzling rain and hurried back to the yamen to stand guard, wading through mud puddles.
Zhang Yi's stall also failed to be set up for several days in a row.
There are two reasons:
Firstly, in this damp and chilly weather, there are very few customers willing to brave the mud and cold to go out just to have a bowl of hot soup or buy a piece of meat jelly, so setting up a stall would be a waste of energy.
Secondly, and what worried her the most, was that Xiao Nan'er was sick.
I don't know if it's the autumn chill creeping in, or the excessive dampness and rain of these past few days.
Little Nan'er first became listless and lethargic, her face losing its usual rosy hue, and then she suddenly developed a high fever.
Her small body was burning hot, and she curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed). Her usually bright eyes were now covered with a thick fog.
The little guy himself said that his vision was blurry, and when his family tried it, they couldn't even tell how many fingers were in front of his eyes.
Adding to the trouble, the edges of his eyelids became red and swollen, which must have been caused by a sty. It was itchy and painful, making it difficult for the child to sleep, and he often made uncomfortable mutterings in his sleep.
This really worried Li Xiulan and Zhang Liuji.
Li Xiulan stayed by her son's side day and night, wiping his burning little body with warm water again and again. She spoke softly, coaxing and persuading him, feeding him spoonful by spoonful of warm rice soup, her eyes turning red from the effort.
Zhang Liuji was extremely anxious. He put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat, and trudged through the mud to the village to fetch a doctor.
When he returned, his raincoat was dripping wet and his trousers were covered in mud. He didn't bother to change or wash them and went straight to the inner room.
The doctor held the oil lamp close to examine Xiao Nan'er's swollen eyelids closely, his brows furrowed.
He took out a thin needle, burned it over the lamp flame, and muttered something under his breath.
Before the words were even finished, the needle tip had already pierced the most swollen spot with precision, and amidst Xiao Nan'er's heart-wrenching cry, thick yellow pus mixed with blood gushed out.
Zhang Liuyi saw all of this and was very anxious.
The financial loss from closing the stall was insignificant compared to his nephew's illness.
She wasn't idle either; she turned her kitchen into a makeshift pharmacy.
Li Xiulan was so busy that she couldn't spare the time to decoct the medicine, so she took the initiative to do it. She guarded the small medicine pot, watched the heat, and gently fanned the medicine with a palm leaf fan, afraid that the medicine would dissipate if it was overcooked.
She boiled a large pot of water, let it cool to a suitable temperature, placed it in a wooden basin, and steadily carried it to the east wing of the Zhang family's house, preparing it for Li Xiulan to wipe and cool Xiao Nan'er down at any time.
Then she took out a piece of soft, fine cotton cloth that she had kept at the bottom of her trunk, cut it into small pieces, boiled it in boiling water, and used it to wipe Xiao Nan'er's eyes.
"Sister-in-law, the medicine is ready. Feed it to Nan'er while it's still hot."
Zhang Liuli carefully carried the warm bowl of medicine into the east wing of the Zhang family's house.
The room was dimly lit, with only a small oil lamp lit.
Li Xiulan was holding Xiao Nan'er, who was delirious with fever, and gently patting her. The child seemed to be curled up in her arms, breathing heavily.
Taking the medicine bowl, she looked at Zhang Xiaoyi gratefully and said, "Yi-jie... thank you again."
"We're family, don't talk about trouble." Zhang Yi waved his hand, his voice very soft.
She leaned closer to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and, by the dim candlelight, carefully examined Xiao Nan'er's swollen eyes, which were almost too red to open. "These styes must be really painful to look at. This morning, Brother Zixiang told me that pig liver is the best for nourishing the liver and improving eyesight. I'll slice some fresh pig liver, chop it finely, and mix it into Nan'er's porridge or soup. Maybe that will help alleviate the pain and also nourish his body."
"Give it a try, it might help."
Zhang Liuyi turned around and went to her own kitchen. Fortunately, Zhang Dashan had told her to salt the unsold scraps of meat, saying that it would keep them for longer.
The pig liver looks fairly fresh right now; it hasn't changed color or released any water.
She picked up the sharpened, thin-bladed knife from her home, the one she usually used to slice pork head.
With practiced ease, she placed the pig liver flat on the cutting board, gently pressed it down with her left hand, and held the knife in her right hand with a steady wrist, slicing the liver thinly and evenly along its surface.
Although his knife skills were not as superb as Zhang Dashan's, they were still clean, neat, and pleasing to the eye.
"Dad, the sliced pork liver is ready. I'll take it to Nan'er to mix with porridge," Zhang Liuyi said to Zhang Dashan, who was watching the fire in the kitchen, as he carried the plate.
"Okay, go quickly, the child is more important!" Zhang Dashan replied, looking up as he added firewood.
Zhang Liuyi carried the plate to the east wing of the Zhang family's house.
The child was delirious with fever and had little appetite.
"Sister-in-law, the pork liver slices are ready. Shall I get some hot porridge to mix with them?" Zhang asked softly.
Li Xiulan nodded, her eyes filled with exhaustion: "Thank you for your help, Yi-jie."
Zhang Liuyi quickly brought over a small bowl of thick rice porridge that had been simmering over a low flame.
She carefully picked up a few slices of pork liver, gently stirred them into the porridge with chopsticks, added a few drops of fragrant sesame oil, and patiently stirred them evenly with a spoon.
She sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), half-supporting and half-carrying Xiao Nan'er in her arms. She scooped up a little bit of fragrant porridge mixed with finely chopped pig liver with a spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and then carefully brought it to Xiao Nan'er's lips, coaxing her softly.
Little Nan'er was a little delirious from the fever. Smelling the aroma of pork liver porridge and hearing her aunt's gentle voice, she reluctantly opened her little mouth and put the spoon in her mouth.
The warm porridge slid down my throat, carrying the unique savory aroma of pork liver.
He moved his little mouth slightly and swallowed.
"Good boy! Have another bite!" Zhang Xiaoyi was delighted and fed him another spoonful.
In this way, most of the small bowl of pork liver porridge was fed to him.
Li Xiulan watched from the side, her eyes reddening again. This was the first time since her child fell ill that he had eaten half a bowl of porridge.
After feeding her the porridge, Zhang Xiaoyi wrung out a warm, damp cloth and gently applied it to Xiao Nan'er's swollen eyes.
The warmth seemed to relieve the itching and pain, and Xiao Nan'er's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and her breathing gradually became steady.
Taking advantage of his momentum, Li Xiulan forced the medicine down his throat.
Soon after, the child fell into a deep sleep under the influence of the medicine.
Li Xiulan finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned wearily against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
Zhang Liuyi said softly, "Sister-in-law, you should take a nap too. I'll watch over Nan'er."
"Sister Yi..."
"Stop talking, take a rest." Zhang Yili pressed her down to sit on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) without giving her a chance to speak.
In the kitchen, the medicine pot was still bubbling, emitting a faint bitter smell.
It was as if the heavens had heard the prayers of the people of Zhuohe Village, or perhaps the continuous rain had finally exhausted its strength.
Finally, on this morning, the long-awaited sun broke through the thick clouds and generously showered its light upon the earth.
Although the air still carried the damp chill of the rain, the brightness was enough to dispel the gloom that had settled in people's hearts.
Zhang Liuyi pushed open the door, took a deep breath of the fresh air carrying the scent of grass and earth, and felt his spirits lifted.
She walked briskly towards the preparation room at the east end of the courtyard, which had not yet been put to use.
"Dazhuang, come out for some fresh air and sunshine!" she called softly as she pushed open the half-closed door.
The room was dimly lit. In a corner covered with a thick layer of dry wheat straw, a robust yellow ox with a brownish-yellow coat stood quietly. It was their family's newest and most important member: Dazhuang.
The continuous rainy days have really worried Zhang Dashan.
His daughter had just bought this precious cow not long ago, and then this awful weather hit.
Although the open-air cowshed could provide shelter from the rain, it was drafty from all sides. Zhang Dashan was afraid that the damp and cold air would affect the cows and cause them to develop some kind of illness.
He circled the cowshed several times, then slapped his thigh and pointed to the empty storage room that had just been cleaned and was about to have some shelves put up.
"Let Dazhuang stay here. The walls are thick and there's no draft!"
Zhang Liuyi was both amused and exasperated, trying to reason with them: "Dad, this room is intended to be used specifically for cooking, making soup, and braising meat in the future, so cleanliness is the most important thing..."
"What kind of weather is this? The cows are more important!"
Zhang Dashan was adamant: "This ox weighs over twenty ounces. If it catches a cold, gets diarrhea, and loses weight, the loss will be huge. We'll make sure to clean the feed room thoroughly later. For now, let Dazhuang move in to avoid the damp and cold."
Seeing his father's anxious and flustered expression, Zhang Liuyi couldn't resist his father's deep affection for the ox, so he had no choice but to let Dazhuang stay in the luxurious single room.
At this moment, Dazhuang had also been cooped up inside for several days, so Zhang Yili quickly led it out and tied it up in the sunniest spot in the yard.
Dazhuang clearly also liked the warm sunshine, wagging its tail contentedly.
Zhang Dashan also arrived, holding a clean piece of coarse cloth in his hand. He carefully wiped the grass clippings off Dazhuang's body, then squatted down to check if its hooves were damp, muttering to himself.
"It's good to get some sun, it's good to get rid of the dampness... Dazhuang, I'm sorry you've been cooped up indoors for days, now's the day to get some sun!"
Looking at his father's serious expression and then at Dazhuang, who looked exceptionally energetic in the sunlight, Zhang Liuyi's frustration at the preparation room being occupied dissipated.
Never mind, good cow, Dad's happy, and she's happy too.
Pork worms? Bird flu? Children need to be vaccinated?
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