The shiitake mushrooms in the factory have grown quite a bit, and the first batch can be harvested in a few days.
Lu Qiqi has been staying in the factory for the past few days, checking the changes in the shiitake mushrooms and ensuring the humidity in the factory.
Lu Qiqi was about to leave the factory to go home for lunch when she saw Lu Shi hurrying towards the factory gate before she could even step out.
Lu Qiqi was somewhat surprised, "Auntie, didn't you go to the city? Why are you back so soon?"
Madam Lu paced anxiously, saying, "I went to Qingshui Town, but I was stopped by the soldiers who said I needed a household registration to enter the city."
“We’ve left our household registrations with you. Hurry up and come to the city. I won’t feel at ease until I see Xiao Liu and the others with my own eyes.”
Since registering their household in the veterans' village, the family's household registration has been kept by Lu Qiqi.
Lu Qiqi said, "Auntie, don't worry, I'll go get it for you right away. I'll also bring Xiao Liu's and the others' household registration documents with me, so that nothing goes wrong because we don't have them."
Ms. Lu nodded heavily and followed Lu Qiqi out of the factory.
Lu Qiqi entered the room, and Madam Lu waited outside. When Lu Qiqi came out of the room again, she had several household registration documents in her hand.
"Tell them to keep this household registration book safe and in a secure place where it won't be easily discovered. Tell them they don't need to carry it with them every day, as that would make it easier to lose," Lu Qiqi said as she handed the household registration book to Madam Lu.
Madam Lu carefully wrapped the household register in cloth and put it in her sleeve before saying, "Today at the city gate, I saw many people taking medicine home. Why don't you write down a prescription, Seventh Sister, and I'll go to the pharmacy to get some medicine so that A-Yao and the others can have some too, because they won't be able to buy any later."
Instead of answering, Lu Qiqi asked, "Auntie, do you know what the symptoms of the plague in Heshun Prefecture are?"
"How would I know!" Madam Lu thought Lu Qiqi's question was strange and replied without thinking.
Lu Qiqi: "Yes! We don't even know what the symptoms of this plague are. If we just randomly go to the pharmacy to get medicine, and then we actually get sick, not only will the medicine be useless, but it will also have the opposite effect, making the symptoms even worse. Wouldn't that be a loss for us!"
After thinking for a moment, Lu Qiqi felt that what she said made sense, so she didn't say anything more and hurriedly left the house.
Lu Qiqi thought about it and still felt uneasy, so she went to the stable, got a horse, mounted it, and went to chase after Madam Lu.
Lu Qiqi caught up with Lu Shi at the entrance of the veterans' village, even though Lu Shi was walking on her own two legs.
Lu Qiqi called out, "Auntie."
Mrs. Lu turned around, somewhat surprised, "Why are you here?"
“The situation is unclear right now. I can only feel at ease if I send you into the city,” Lu Qiqi said.
The two mounted their tall horses and soon arrived at the city gate.
The soldiers below the city gate were dressed in silver armor, with broadswords at their waists and black masks on their heads. They stood in two neat rows, looking extremely imposing.
Lu wrapped her arms around Lu Qiqi's waist and whispered in Lu Qiqi's ear, "There are twice as many soldiers as before, they look so scary, can we still enter the city?"
Seeing many people shaking their heads and walking back, Lu Qiqi wasn't sure if she could get into the city. She said, "Let's go and see first."
After saying that, Lu Qiqi dismounted and carefully helped Madam Lu down as well.
The two, wearing black masks, walked to the city gate. Madam Lu handed the household registration to the official behind the desk. After the official carefully checked it, he nodded, and then the soldiers holding long swords made way for them.
Once inside the city, the once bustling market was sparsely populated, and Lu Qiqi and her companions didn't linger on the road, heading straight back to their residence.
Lu Yao was overjoyed to see her sister. She put down her paintbrush and skipped over to Lu Qiqi.
"Sisters, what brings you here?" Lu Yao asked happily.
Lu Qiqi affectionately patted Lu Yao's head, "I missed you, so I came to see you."
Lu Yao was overjoyed that Lu Qiqi could come. Since Lu Qiqi started planting shiitake mushrooms, she hadn't been to the house for a month.
Lu Yao took Lu Qiqi's hand and walked to the painting she had just drawn. "Sister, look, this is the lotus flower I just painted."
On the thin sheet of Xuan paper, lotus flowers bloom, pure and elegant, surrounded by several lotus leaves that make them appear particularly resilient.
There are also two amusing koi carp under the lotus leaves, which are extremely cute.
Lu Qiqi carefully examined the ink painting and couldn't help but exclaim, "Ayao is amazing! It's so well painted. Could you give one to my sister so she can admire it every day?"
Lu Yao couldn't possibly refuse, so she quickly went to find a painting tube and packed the painting away.
Watching Lu Yao's departing figure, Lu Qiqi turned around and said to Zeng Shi, "Thank you for teaching Yao these past few days, Aunt Zeng."
Aunt Zeng sat on the wooden chair and said with a faint smile, "It's not a hardship. Ayao is very talented. Being able to be her master is a good thing for me."
Such a high evaluation is quite generous.
Remembering how Lu had rushed off to find the Zhou brothers, Zeng asked, "Jin Fei said that the plague in Heshun Prefecture is severe, and half the village has fled. Is this what you came here for?"
Aunt Zeng was always shrewd, and Lu Qiqi didn't intend to hide anything from her, saying, "Nothing can be hidden from you."
But what Lu Qiqi didn't expect was that half the people in Heshun Prefecture had actually escaped.
Plagues are generally infectious diseases, and if they all come to Luzhou County, the consequences are simply unimaginable.
Thinking of this, Lu Qiqi's expression became somewhat heavy.
It was Madam Zeng who broke the silence in the hall, "I haven't been able to go to the clinic to have my pulse checked these past few days. Could you take a look at my pulse?"
Taking a pulse is nothing difficult, so Lu Qiqi readily agreed.
After taking her pulse, Lu Qiqi looked at Zeng's increasingly protruding belly and said, "Mother and child are healthy, there is nothing wrong. However, Aunt Zeng should walk around more often and pay more attention to her diet. She should not take too much tonic, otherwise she may have a difficult childbirth in the future."
Upon hearing this, Zeng was startled and nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Jin Fei was afraid that I would harm the fetus and wouldn't let me do anything myself. He watched me eat every day, and I'm almost as round as a ball. With your words, I can finally relax a bit."
Zeng complained, but her face was beaming with a happy smile. Lu Qiqi didn't point it out and listened quietly.
While the group was eating lunch, Lu Qiqi accidentally discovered that Granny Wang's cooking skills were quite good; no wonder she could keep Lu Yao and the others looking so healthy and radiant.
After lunch, seeing that it was getting late, Lu Qiqi gave them a few instructions to be careful before heading back to the veterans' village.
She originally intended to bring Zeng Shi and Lu Yao back to the veterans' village, but now it seemed safer in the heavily guarded city, so Lu Qiqi didn't mention it.
Mrs. Lu lingered, clearly reluctant to part. Seeing this, Lu Qiqi said, "Auntie, why don't you stay and take care of them? I'm worried about leaving only Granny Wang in the house during the day."
Mrs. Lu hesitated, "But there are things at home, and the mushrooms..."
Before Madam Lu could finish speaking, Lu Qiqi interrupted, "With Third Aunt at home and me managing the mushrooms, nothing will happen. You can rest assured."
In the end, Mrs. Lu stayed at the house.
Lu Qiqi returned to the veterans' village alone.
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