Just as he was thinking this, the door of the ward suddenly opened. In came not only Hao Yuanchao and Shugen, but also Tiezhu. His hair was a little wet and his lips were a little purple from the cold. His clothes were soaked with water and had holes at the knees. His handmade cloth shoes were covered in mud, and the palms of his hands hanging at his sides seemed to be stained with mud. When he noticed Jiang Shuyao's gaze, he immediately put his hands behind his back, lowered his head slightly, and timidly called out, "Second Aunt."
Jiang Shuyao got up from the bed in surprise and walked over in white sneakers. "What happened to make it like this?"
"This kid ran out from home before daybreak and walked all the way to the hospital. I just happened to see him at the door. He's so brave that he dared to walk on the mountain road alone, not afraid of being eaten by wild animals." Hao Yuanchao put down his breakfast in a bad mood, took the towel that he had used to wrap the buttocks of the two little ones last night and wiped his head with it. Jiang Shuyao wanted to stop him but it was too late. He wiped his head twice and then wiped his face.
Forget it, the baby’s butt doesn’t smell and has been washed, so I’d better not say anything.
After Hao Yuanchao wiped him briefly, he went to take off his clothes. Tiezhu, who had been standing obediently just now, immediately put his hands in front of his body to protect himself from being touched.
"What are you doing? Take off your clothes quickly. You want to go to the hospital too, right?" It rained yesterday and the road was still wet. The kid's clothes were wet and his knees were torn in his pants. He must have fallen. Although it was daybreak now, he had to take off his wet clothes quickly. If he caught a cold and had a fever again, all four kids would have to take medicine.
Tiezhu or Juqiang were still protecting their clothes, but their eyes were secretly looking at Jiang Shuyao.
Hao Yuanchao was stunned for a second before he understood. "Why are you embarrassed? She's your Second Aunt." He said that, but he honestly stopped and carried Tiezhu to a bed, pulled the curtain and let him take it off himself. Then he took the blanket that had been used to wrap Xiao Er on the bicycle last night and wrapped it in him. "Wrap it up first. I'll buy you two sets of clothes later."
As he was talking, he wanted to go to the doctor to get some hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the scraped palms of his hands and then put some red medicine on them. However, the children woke up at this time, and the stronger little girl woke up first, howling in her characteristic voice. I couldn't tell if she was unhappy about being woken up, or was hungry, or just wanted to howl to show that she was awake.
Jiang Shuyao immediately picked up the little guy and asked Hao Yuanchao to make milk powder. In order not to expose the existence of the space in front of the tree root, Jiang Shuyao took out the milk powder and thermos last night while the tree root was asleep. The thermos was a dowry from the Jiang family when they got married, and it had the Double Happiness pattern printed on it.
After calling Hao Yuanchao to make milk powder, the other little one woke up and howled as well. Jiang Shuyao quickly walked to the bedside and freed up one hand to grab his little hand to tease him, hoping that he would be good and stop crying.
Fortunately, he was just being obedient. Jiang Shuyao gently shook his little hand and smiled at him, and he stopped howling. His dark eyes followed the shaking hand, as if he was trying hard to see clearly what it was.
The little girl in her arms was also attracted, and her eyes followed the shaking hand. Jiang Shuyao breathed a sigh of relief, and she just had to hold on until Hao Yuanchao finished running and came out with the milk powder.
Like Jiang Shuyao, Hao Yuanchao followed the instructions to make the milk powder. He was a little flustered, but he still made the milk powder smoothly. While waiting for the milk powder to cool down, he took the baby from Jiang Shuyao's arms and picked up the one on the bed to coax her. The two switched jobs, one coaxing the child while the other shook the bottle, then one held the baby while the other fed. It was a strange, busy but natural process, and there was no impatience between their brows.
Tiezhu secretly watched this scene and suddenly burst into tears. In fact, he did not rush here in the morning, but sneaked out when it was still dark because he had a nightmare. He dreamed that his brothers and sisters went to the hospital and died, just like their parents. He was so scared that he ran out without telling his second aunt because he knew in his heart that his second aunt would not agree to him going out before dawn, let alone taking him. He understood adults better than the roots of the tree. If he told his second aunt, she would only persuade him not to go and tell him to be sensible, saying that everything would be fine with his second uncle and second aunt.
But he was afraid, worried. Even though he'd taken the initiative to ask Hao Yuanchao for help last night, he still couldn't feel at ease. At first, his aunt had been nice to them, but hadn't she gradually become less attentive? He'd also heard from the village that some people had gone to the hospital and decided it was too expensive, so they didn't want to spend the money and didn't want to be treated. With three children to treat at once, would his uncle and aunt regret not treating them? The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. And with that nightmare again, Tiezhu had the guts to go to town on his own.
He had been to town only a handful of times, and had practically forgotten how to get there. It was still dark, and he'd fallen and taken the wrong path several times. There seemed to be strange noises in the mountains, but he wasn't afraid—he was only nine, after all. But when he thought of his younger siblings, and his mother's dying words that he was the eldest and should take good care of them, his fears seemed to fade a little, and he finally made it to town.
Before that, he was scared and panicked, even confused, because he didn't know what he would do if his uncle and aunt disliked the expensive medical treatment in town. He didn't know how he would live in the future. Without his parents, there were only four of them. He heard those aunts talking about them in private, saying that they were poor bastards and burdens. Even if his uncle would take care of them, his wife would definitely not be willing to take care of four ignorant burdens. When his uncle had his own children in the future, he would be even less willing to take care of them.
What should he do if even his second uncle, whom his father calls the closest and most powerful, doesn't take care of them?
Tiezhu was at a loss as to what to do.
Now seeing this scene, Tiezhu felt that those aunts were wrong. His second uncle and second aunt did not dislike them, and his second aunt was not what they said she was. She was very pretty, and when she looked at his brothers and sisters, she was like her mother looking at tree roots. She was even gentler and better than his mother. Such a second aunt would not dislike them, right?
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