The courtyard was also bustling with activity.
That day, Shen Zhou was leading a group of people to weed the vegetables and corn planted in the field. The land was not very big, but there was a lot of work to be done.
Suddenly, a wad of paper appeared on the roof of the greenhouse.
There's no wind today, so this crumpled paper couldn't have been blown here by the wind. The most likely explanation is that it was done by someone.
Shen Zhou took a stick from the greenhouse and hooked down the crumpled paper from the roof. When he unfolded it, he found it was a plea for help. The letter read: "I am Old Li from Unit 1, 601, Building 2. My wife is sick, very sick. Can you help her see a doctor? We can exchange things!"
Shen Zhou vaguely remembered the elderly couple on the sixth floor.
Su Xinran had taken him to Grandpa Li's house before. He took the note to Aunt Fang and took her upstairs to see Grandma Li.
When they arrived on the sixth floor, Grandpa Li had already opened the front door.
Shen Zhou felt that Grandpa Li looked much thinner than when they first met. After seeing Shen Zhou and Aunt Fang, Grandpa Li quickly opened the iron gate, led Shen Zhou and Aunt Fang through it, and then quickly closed the gate. Shen Zhou and Aunt Fang saw all of this, and it seemed that Grandpa Li still did not trust them.
Upon entering Grandpa Li's room, they discovered that rooms 601 and 602 were connected. Inside, there were several buckets filled with rainwater and a water purifier pitcher, which they likely used to filter clean water.
He has two balconies; one is for raising chickens, and the other is for growing vegetables. He has about five or six chickens and several varieties of vegetables, all lush and green.
Seeing that Aunt Li, who was lying in a wheelchair, was in very poor condition, Aunt Fang didn't bother to look around the room. Instead, she quickly picked up a stethoscope and a blood pressure monitor to examine Aunt Li.
Aunt Fang was just a nurse, not a professional doctor, but she still quickly found the problem. She took out a piece of hard candy from her pocket, which she had prepared as a reward for the students in class, and stuffed it into Aunt Li's mouth. Then she said to Uncle Li, "She is severely calcium deficient, so she falls down easily when she walks and can only use a wheelchair. She also has symptoms of hypoglycemia, so she is currently in a coma."
Mr. Li was somewhat surprised: "My wife's blood sugar has always been very high, how could she have low blood sugar?"
Aunt Fang said, "High blood sugar is a disease of the rich. Since the end of the world, everyone has not been eating well. If you don't consume enough calories after taking blood sugar-lowering drugs, you are prone to hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is more dangerous than high blood sugar and can take her life at any time. As her lover, you must observe her condition at all times. If she has symptoms such as palpitations or cold sweats, you must give her sugar instead of waiting until she falls into a coma."
As they were talking, Aunt Li slowly woke up.
Seeing that his wife had woken up, Mr. Li trusted Aunt Fang's doctor even more and asked, "You just said that my wife is severely calcium deficient, but we have been taking calcium supplements all along, so why is she still calcium deficient?"
Aunt Fang said, "Calcium tablets can supplement calcium, but the calcium particles in them are very large and difficult for people to absorb. In my opinion, your wife doesn't get enough sun. You should take her downstairs for walks and get some sun more often."
Mr. Li hesitated after hearing this.
Shen Zhou said, "If you're worried that we'll take your food, you can rest assured that we have enough food reserves right now."
Grandpa Li hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, I'm not afraid you'll steal my things, it's just that my old bones really can't take my wife downstairs."
After hearing this, Shen Zhou immediately picked up Aunt Li and carried her on his back: "It's alright, we're here for you. You just need to tell us."
It was almost lunchtime, so Grandpa Li grabbed two chickens and a basket of eggs, and followed Chen Zhou and the others downstairs.
We haven't had fresh meat in our neighborhood for a long time.
Nan Qiao, Aunt Fang, and Zhou Ya prepared to kill the two chickens.
Chen Zhou objected, saying, "Why not keep them to lay eggs and hatch chicks?"
Grandpa Li waved his hand and said, "Eat up. My chicks will hatch in two days. I'll give you some to raise then."
Seeing this, Chen Zhou stopped trying to stop them.
Nan Qiao, Aunt Fang, and Zhou Ya killed and chopped the chicken to make braised chicken. They boiled six eggs in water and gave one to each of the five older children and one to the younger child as a snack. They saved the rest for the next meal.
With meat, vegetables, and fragrant rice, this was the best meal the residents of the neighborhood had ever had.
After dinner, Nan Qiao read to the children. Aunt Li was very interested and kept looking around at Nan Qiao and the children. Nan Qiao asked, puzzled, "Aunt Zhang, is there something you need?"
Aunt Li quickly shook her head: "It's nothing, I just miss it. I used to be a primary school teacher."
Nan Qiao was busy but happy, so she grabbed Aunt Li's hand and said, "We have three children here who should be in first grade, but I've only taught kindergarten and I'm afraid I won't be able to teach them well. Aunt Li, could you help me teach these children?"
Mr. Li and Mrs. Li were initially reluctant to go downstairs because they felt that these people might not be good people. Later, they were also glad that they did not go down, otherwise they might have been killed by Su Xinran and Ms. Wu who came later.
But then Chen Zhou threw Su Xinran out.
They took in another group of children.
Despite past grievances, they came upstairs to help them. This series of actions made Aunt Li feel that Chen Zhou was a good person, and that the people in the community were not bad people either. She wanted to do what she could to help, so she readily agreed: "No problem, but my leg is not very convenient, so I may have to trouble you in the future..."
Shen Zhou hurriedly said, "From now on, I'll be Auntie's personal driver."
Song Chi was very unhappy to see that Aunt Li had volunteered to teach the children. He had known for a long time that Nan Qiao wanted to find someone to teach the children, and he had even intentionally or unintentionally revealed that he was a middle school teacher. He had to ask Nan Qiao for help, but he never expected that a paralyzed person would beat him to it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, but there was nothing he could do.
In the courtyard, Ya Ya looked on with great envy at the children sitting in rows listening to the lessons in the community.
She pointed to the residential complex across the street and asked Qiao An'an, "Mom, what are they doing?"
As Qiao An'an weeded inside the greenhouse, she said to Ya Ya, "They're going to school."
Ya Ya had never been to kindergarten and didn't know what school was, but children all have the desire to play with their peers. She tugged at Qiao An'an's clothes and said, "Ya Ya wants to go to school too."
Gu Bei, who was also engrossed in weeding, looked up at Ya Ya and gave her a thumbs up when she said she was going to school: "That's good, you actually know you need to study. I'll take you to learn to read after I finish weeding."
Ya Ya is the only one here who doesn't have to do any work, but her mother forces her to learn to recognize characters and do addition and subtraction every day. Ya Ya hates going to class the most. She waved her hands repeatedly and said, "I don't want to learn characters. I want to go to school."
Gu Bei couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Ya Ya, you don't even know that going to school is about recognizing characters and learning addition and subtraction?"
Ya Ya retorted, "Going to school isn't just about recognizing characters and learning addition and subtraction! I just saw that grandma on the second floor leading them in games, drawing, and folding paper cranes—things you've never done for me!!!"
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