He Yuhan quickly picked up the child and placed him on the back of her bicycle, barely managing to push the bicycle forward with one hand while holding the child with the other.
Fortunately, she was not far from the Liu family now, so she took the child and went directly to the Liu family.
He Yuhan quickly arrived at the Liu family's house by pushing her bicycle.
The sun was shining brightly this morning, and Liu Jin carried the quilt to the yard to air it out. She turned around and saw He Yuhan already at the yard gate.
Liu Jin was delighted to see He Yuhan arrive. She quickly hung the quilt on the clothesline and, without even bothering to air it out, greeted her at the courtyard gate, saying happily, "Dr. He, you're here! Come in quickly."
He Yuhan pushed her bicycle and said, "Aunt Liu, I found a little boy who had fainted by the roadside. If I didn't take care of him, he would definitely freeze to death by the roadside. So I brought him to your house first."
Upon seeing He Yuhan supporting a child, Liu Jin quickly stepped forward, picked the child up from the bicycle, and said, "Let's go inside and warm the child up; he's cold."
Liu Jin carried the child, while He Yuhan carried the things she had brought into the house.
Liu Jin immediately placed the child on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and covered him with a fur coat. Then she poured a bowl of hot water and gave it to the child. The child's complexion improved somewhat.
He Yuhan said, "Aunt Liu, this child is from your village, right? Do you know him?"
Liu Jin sighed and said, "This child is from our village, named Li Zhu. He has a hard life. He fled famine with his mother, Li Mei, when he was young and came to Liujiatun. It just so happened that Liu Sheng's wife died in childbirth, leaving behind a one-month-old baby who needed someone to take care of him. So Liu Sheng took them in. Later, Li Mei married Liu Sheng."
However, Liu Sheng already had his own biological son, and later had a son and a daughter with Li Mei. Naturally, he didn't like the son that Li Mei brought with him.
In these famine years, people are naturally looking out for their own children, so it's Zhuzi who's suffering.
He Yuhan frowned and asked, "So Li Zhu's mother just watched her child being mistreated?"
Liu Jin said, "Li Mei married into the Liu family halfway through life and doesn't have much of a backbone. Plus, she has two children, so naturally she doesn't take care of her eldest son much. He's actually twelve years old, but look at him, he's not even as tall as a ten-year-old. It's pitiful for him."
He Yuhan was heartbroken. This child was at the height of his life, a time of sunshine and joy, but he had almost lost his life.
She imagined the child, dressed in thin, tattered clothes, collapsing from hunger and cold on the roadside in the freezing weather, instead of staying at home. She knew he must be being mistreated in the Liu family.
He Yuhan took out a packet of sugar and said, "Aunt Liu, I just happened to bring a packet of brown sugar. You can make some brown sugar water for this child, which will quickly replenish his strength. After he wakes up, you can give him something to eat. He must have been hungry when he collapsed by the roadside."
Liu Jin quickly made a bowl of hot brown sugar water, and He Yuhan helped the child up so the two of them could drink the brown sugar water.
The child woke up while drinking the brown sugar water, tasted the sweetness, and gulped down the whole thing.
After drinking the brown sugar water, the child opened his eyes.
He Yuhan noticed that the child had a pair of bright and deep eyes, which added a lot of charm to the child's features.
When Liu Jin saw that Li Zhu had woken up, she said, "Zhu Zi, you fainted by the roadside, and it was this Miss He who saved you."
The child looked at He Yuhan and said, "Thank you for saving my life, sister."
He Yuhan said, "You don't need to thank me. I would have saved anyone else too."
After saying that, He Yuhan took out a few pieces of cake from her bag and handed them to the little boy, saying, "Eat these pieces of cake. You must have been hungry to faint on the roadside."
The child swallowed hard, looking at the cake that smelled so tempting, and said, "This is so good, sister, you should keep it. I'm not hungry."
He Yuhan thought to herself that this child had quite a bit of self-control; even though he was so hungry, he could still refuse food offered by others. He really had perseverance.
She stuffed the cake into the child's hand and said, "Eat it if I tell you to. Consider it a gift from your older sister, and you can pay me back later."
The child didn't stand on ceremony and started eating the cake.
Looking at the little boy's behavior, He Yuhan felt that the child was very well-mannered and did not seem like a child from the countryside.
Liu Jin said, "I'll go make some hot noodle soup for this child, so he can eat it hot and sweat it out to avoid getting sick."
He Yuhan quickly said, "Aunt Liu, I just brought some flour, so I'll use this flour to make it."
As she spoke, He Yuhan took a small bag of flour and followed Liu Jin out of the east room and into the main room.
The two of them quickly worked together to make a large bowl of hot noodle soup made entirely of white flour.
Liu Jin placed a large bowl of hot noodle soup on the kang table and said, "Zhuzi, come on, eat this bowl of hot noodle soup. After you finish eating the hot noodle soup, you'll sweat it out and won't get sick."
The little boy looked at the fragrant and steaming noodle soup on the table, swallowed hard, shook his head, and said, "Save this precious stuff for Uncle Liu and the others."
Liu Jin said, "Listen to Aunt Liu and eat the noodle soup. This is also a token of your sister He's goodwill."
He Yuhan said, "Yes, Aunt Liu has already prepared everything for you, so just eat it. You fainted from hunger by the roadside, so fill your stomach first."
With tears in his eyes, the boy nodded and moved to the kang table, then lowered his head to eat the noodles.
Seeing the little boy eating his noodles so obediently, He Yuhan felt more comfortable talking to Aunt Liu. "Aunt Liu, I haven't visited you for a while. I came today because I didn't have many patients. How is the child?"
Liu Jin nodded and smiled, "Good, good, the baby is doing well. With the formula you gave him, plus some rice water, the baby is growing very well now, fair and tender, and especially cute. He's sleeping soundly right now."
He Yuhan looked at the baby lying on the quilt on the kang (a heated brick bed), who had been so thin and frail just a few days ago, but now looked fair and tender, and very cute. She smiled and said, "You look much better than before. Where has my Uncle Liu been?"
Liu Jin replied, "He went into the mountains to gather firewood. With a child at home, it's important to keep things warm. Gathering extra firewood is also a good idea, in case it snows and the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, making it difficult to gather firewood."
He Yuhan nodded and said, "Aunt Liu, I brought you some things."
As she spoke, He Yuhan took things out of her bag.
Liu Jin said, "Why are you bringing things again? We've already taken quite a few things from you. You can't bring any more here in the future. Everyone's struggling these days. You need to be more careful with your money."
He Yuhan said, "I know that most of these things are for the child, and I also want to do my part for the child. Please don't refuse."
I brought a few sets of clothes for the child, but they're a bit big, so the child can wear them for a while. I made them all myself, so please don't mind.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
