Chapter 149
When Zhou Lin heard the commotion, he dropped his carpentry tools and rushed over. Mu Jin was soaking wet and was hugging Zhou Yaoyao, crying and calling his name.
"Peach, wake up! Don't scare your dad!"
Zhou Lin's heart turned to ice. He stood there stunned, his body frozen in place, unable to move.
Mu Jin held Zhou Yaoyao tightly, who was soaking wet and had her eyes closed, showing no signs of life. Her heart ached terribly.
Bai Qiqiu and Wen Zhaoran ran over from behind, and upon seeing this, they swayed and almost lost their footing.
Bai Qiqiu's hands trembled, and before he could say a word of comfort to Mu Jin, he turned around and staggered towards Doctor Mu's house.
The villagers who were drawn there by the child all looked heartbroken; such a beautiful young man was gone just like that.
Just as she was thinking this, she heard a violent coughing sound. Zhou Yaoyao had choked on the water in the river and then vomited it all up.
"Peach?! Peach!"
Mu Jin felt as if she had been reborn. When she saw Zhou Yaoyao, who had opened her eyes and was lying in her arms crying with a pout, the joy of having regained what she had lost filled her heart.
"Little Daddy, waaaaah..."
Zhou Lin finally came to her senses, her legs regained their strength, and she ran to Mu Jin's side in a few steps. She helped her husband up, took Zhou Yaoyao from Mu Jin's arms, and hurried home.
Wen Zhaoran, her legs weak, leaned against the tree trunk and wept with joy. After wiping away her tears, she followed behind Mu Jin and Zhou Lin. Hearing Zhou Yaoyao's cries, she felt wave after wave of fear.
Mu Jin and Zhou Lin had just brought Zhou Yaoyao home when Bai Qiqiu dragged and pulled Doctor Mu to the riverbank.
Before all the villagers had left, the kind-hearted woman spoke up.
"Brother Qiu, Taozi is very lucky and has just woken up."
The woman beside her said, "It was really frightening. Such a fine young man. Luckily he's awake. Otherwise, how would Jin-ge and Lin-xiaozi survive?"
"Who says otherwise? Thank goodness! But the river water is still chilly in spring. Qiu-ge'er should take Doctor Mu home to check on Jin-ge'er and Tao-zi."
Bai Qiqiu's legs were so weak that he barely managed to stay upright and not collapse to the ground.
He said in a trembling voice, "Thank you, Auntie."
Dr. Mu, panting, didn't blame Bai Qiqiu for torturing his old bones, since it was a matter of life and death.
On the way to Zhou Lin's house, he sighed and laughed, "You lad, you're quite strong."
With Zhou Yaoyao alright, Bai Qiqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon hearing this, he apologized, saying, "I was too anxious at the time, please forgive me, Dr. Mu!"
Doctor Mu smiled and shook his head. Everyone in the village knew that although Bai Qiqiu and Mu Jin were not born of the same mother, they were closer than brothers and had a very good relationship.
In Bai Qiqiu's heart, Zhou Yaoyao was like his own child, so it was only natural that he was so anxious about her.
The two walked towards Zhou Lin's house, talking as they went.
When Mu Jin and Zhou Lin returned home, they quickly dried Zhou Yaoyao's hair with a dry cloth and changed her soaked clothes.
Wen Zhaoran broke out in a cold sweat and said to Mu Jin, "Brother, you should go and change your wet clothes. Peach, your husband and I will take care of things here."
Seeing that Zhou Yaoyao had stopped crying and seemed to be alright, Mu Jin finally felt a bit cold.
She quickly went back inside to dry her hair and changed into clean clothes.
As soon as he stepped out of the house, Doctor Mu was already inside Zhou Yaoyao's room, taking his pulse.
"He seems a little frightened, but it's nothing serious. I'll prescribe some calming herbal medicine, and in case Taozi gets a fever, I'll also prescribe some antipyretics to keep on hand. If he does get a fever, I'll quickly boil some for him to drink."
Zhou Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Doctor Mu. My husband has also gone into the river. Please take a look at him."
Doctor Mu stroked his beard, took Mu Jin's pulse, and smiled, "These past few years, Jin-ge'er has been well taken care of. If he gets a fever at night, just brew him some herbal medicine, and he'll be fine."
Mu Jin thanked him, and Bai Qiqiu helped see Doctor Mu out the door, taking the medicine stove and medicine home with him.
A spring breeze blew in through the window, and Wen Zhaoran, sitting on the edge of the bed, suddenly felt a chill on her back.
"Big brother, Peach will sleep with me tonight, and I'll keep an eye on him."
Zhou Yaoyao sat on the bed, looking at Mu Jin with a guilty expression, trying to appease her.
Wen Zhaoran put the little papaya aside, looked at Zhou Yaoyao with her big eyes, patted Zhou Yaoyao with her little hand, and said in a childish voice, "Brother, don't be afraid."
He was young and unaware of what had happened, but instinctively, out of brotherly bond, he comforted Zhou Yaoyao and protected him.
Mu Jin said in a hoarse voice, "I told you not to play by the river, so how did you end up falling in?!"
Zhou Yaoyao lowered her head, tears falling one after another onto the bed. "Father, I know I was wrong."
Mu Jin took a deep breath, and Wen Zhaoran hurriedly said, "Big brother, Taozi knows he was wrong, so don't blame him. I think he won't dare to run to the river again."
Zhou Lin kept a sullen face, remembering that Zhou Yaoyao had just been frightened, and refrained from making a sound.
As expected, the whole family, big and small, got hot that evening.
Zhou Lin was looking after Mu Jin and Xiao Mugua, while Wen Zhaoran was watching over Zhou Yaoyao.
In the blink of an eye, four or five days had passed since Zhou Yaoyao fell into the water.
Zhou Yaoyao has recovered from her illness to a considerable extent recently. The usually mischievous young man is now even more well-behaved than her obedient younger brother.
Zhou Si, Mu Nianjun, and Mu Mian rushed over to see him, intending to scold Zhou Yaoyao. However, upon seeing how thin he had become and his pitiful little face, they immediately lost their temper and couldn't bring themselves to say anything harsh.
Seeing that Zhou Yaoyao was almost fully recovered, and that he had just eaten breakfast, Mu Jin pulled him back into the room and gave him a good scolding.
Zhou Lin stood to the side, holding up the wooden strips he had prepared earlier.
Seeing this scene, Zhou Yaoyao was so touched by the hibiscus that her eyes welled up with tears, and she looked extremely aggrieved.
"Waaah, Daddy, waaah, I know I was wrong, why are you bringing up the past again, sob sob sob..."
Goodness, they've even learned to bring up old grievances.
Mu Jin's face darkened. "You still dare to talk back! You almost didn't see your uncle again! Your Uncle Qiu was so scared he couldn't even stand up! How many times have I told you not to go to the riverbank, not to go to the riverbank, but you just ignored me!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and slapped Zhou Yaoyao hard on the buttocks.
Zhou Yaoyao immediately cried even harder.
The sobbing was heartbreaking to hear, but Zhou Lin didn't stop Mu Jin from disciplining the child.
Downstairs, Little Papaya nestled in Wen Zhaoran's arms. Hearing Zhou Yaoyao crying upstairs, she was eager to come down.
"Uncle! My brother is crying, we need to comfort him."
As she spoke, she grabbed Wen Zhaoran's hand and pulled him upstairs.
Wen Zhaoran bent down and picked him up. He felt sorry for him, but since Mu Jin and Zhou Lin were disciplining the child, he decided it was best not to interfere.
"Daddy and Little Daddy will coax your brother. Uncle will take you to the pepper garden so you can play with Uncle Li, okay?"
Without waiting for Little Papaya to nod, she led him out of the courtyard.
If you don't listen, you won't feel pain.
Upstairs, Mu Jin slapped him three more times before her anger subsided a little.
"Tell me, do you dare to go to the river again?"
Zhou Yaoyao's eyes were red and her face was covered in tears. "No... I won't do it again, sob sob sob, little daddy, I know I was wrong."
Mu Jin carried him to bed and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with her thumb.
"Don't cry. I've been thinking about it these past few days. You're over six years old now, it's time for you to start learning to read and write. Don't go out for a while, stay home and learn to read with me!"
Zhou Yaoyao sobbed and reluctantly nodded her little head.
Seeing Zhou Lin standing to the side with a wooden stick in his hand and a sullen face, she burst into tears again.
"Waaah, hiccup, Daddy, Daddy hit me, please don't hit me anymore, waaah."
Mu Jin burst into a sob, while Zhou Lin almost lost his composure as a strict father.
"Next time, if you're naughty and disobedient, it won't be your stepfather's slap that lands on your little bottom, but this wooden stick in my hand!"
"I...I understand."
After holding up the wooden stick for a long time, it was ultimately useless, and Zhou Lin put it back in the back room.
Even if Zhou Yaoyao didn't ask him for help, Zhou Lin still wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it.
When Bai Qiqiu heard that Mu Jin wanted to teach Zhou Yaoyao to read, he quickly sent Mu Zining over.
“Brother, it’s the same whether you teach one or two. My pumpkin will learn from you, so it can keep the peach company.”
Mu Jin sighed and laughed, "There's a school in the village, so Nan Gua will learn more there. I can only read and write, the Four Books and Five Classics. I'm no good at taking the imperial examinations. Don't hold Zi Ning back."
Bai Qiqiu waved his hand, "Let him learn to read first. If he has a talent for studying, Mu Zhaoye said he would send him to school in town. He doesn't like Zhou Qiang, so he never thought of sending Nan Gua to the village school."
Hibiscus: "..."
Don't you know why Mu Zhaoye dislikes Zhou Qiang?
However, it's better to have more people around. With someone to keep her company, Zhou Yaoyao can sit still, so Mu Jin nodded in agreement.
When Mu Nianjun found out about this, he used the excuse that he was too busy spinning and weaving cloth to buy writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, and threw Mu Weiji over as well.
Mu Jin sighed, "Fine, two is fine, three isn't too many, I can teach one more."
Judging from his appearance, when the children of his close relatives get a little older, they will probably send him here to learn to read.
Mu Jin specially asked Zhou Lin to buy a thousand-character book, along with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, in town. She taught them a few characters each day, not too many, but gradually.
Because she could write, she was able to go out. Zhou Yaoyao studied very hard, but she was also the dumbest among them.
Mu Weiji was older than both of them and learned faster. After learning, he didn't forget to teach Ben Taozi.
The two young men had already written some characters, but Zhou Yaoyao's handwriting was still as messy as a dog's scratch.
When I get tired of writing, I can't even make out what I'm writing anymore.
Mu Jin wasn't in a hurry or angry; after all, it wasn't him who was in a rush to go out and have fun.
Fortunately, Mu Weiji and Mu Zining were loyal enough not to abandon Zhou Yaoyao and went out to play together.
Otherwise, Zhou Yaoyao could have really cried on the spot in front of them.
Days passed by like this, and before we knew it, summer had arrived.
Zhou Yaoyao knew twenty or thirty characters, but she thought she was amazing.
He started showing off his literary skills in front of a group of complete novices, which made the group of young men and women extremely envious.
When Mu Jin found out, she found it both funny and infuriating.
With his terrible handwriting, he could only fool those kids who hadn't learned to read.
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