Ever since the report, no one from the Song family had come to the cowshed. Song Jianshe and Li Qingyan had returned to the county town. Zhao Rongsheng, on the other hand, hadn't been to the Song family either. It was as if the two sides didn't know each other, returning to their previous state.
However, Zhao Rongsheng and the others had been feeling a bit guilty these past few days. After all, Xu Zhijin was innocent and had been implicated by them. Therefore, they had been paying more attention to the bullpen next door.
That day, Zhao Rongsheng came back from work. While weeding at the door, he looked up and saw Xu Zhijin coming back. However, he looked a little tired. Zhao Rongsheng noticed that his steps were a little unsteady when he walked.
Soon Xu Zhi walked into the room. Zhao Rongsheng looked at him worriedly for a few seconds, then looked away and continued with the work in his hands.
But he was still a little worried, as he felt Xu Zhijin wasn't doing well. During dinner, he would occasionally check in. There was no smoke coming out of the cowshed, suggesting they hadn't started cooking yet.
"I feel like something's not right with him. It's already this late, and he hasn't cooked yet. There's been no movement since I went in." Zhao Rongsheng said with a frown.
"Maybe he's feeling unwell?" Jiang Qiuli was also a little worried.
Shen Yibei remembered that he had occasionally heard a few coughs before, so he said, “Maybe he’s sick, I seemed to hear coughs yesterday.”
"The temperature has dropped again in the past two days. Do you have a cold?"
Zhao Rongsheng sighed and said, "Let's wait a little longer." With their current status, they have to think twice before doing anything, so he didn't dare to go over rashly.
After waiting for nearly another hour, it was already dark outside, and there was still no movement in the cowshed next door. Dinner hadn't been cooked yet. There was no light in the house, completely blending in with the night outside.
Zhao Rongsheng felt that something must have happened over there, and now he couldn't care about anything else and was about to go over there. However, when he reached the door, he was stopped by Shen Yibei:
"I'll go over and take a look at the situation first. I'll call you if there's anything." He was just a child after all, so it would be easier for him to explain anything.
Zhao Rongsheng did not refuse, and soon Shen Yibei went over there. He threw a few pebbles at the door from outside, but it was still quiet inside. Shen Yibei waited.
After a while, he walked to the door, gently pushed it open and went in.
After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Shen Yibei could vaguely see something, and then vaguely saw that there seemed to be someone lying on the bed over there. He walked over slowly and called Xu Zhijin a few times, but he seemed not to hear and did not respond.
Shen Yibei frowned and gently pushed him a few times. However, when his hand touched it, Shen Yibei felt the scorching temperature under his hand.
Fever. Realizing this, Shen Yibei put his hand on Xu Zhijin's forehead again and found that the temperature was even more frightening.
Shen Yibei turned around and ran out quickly, saying to Zhao Rongsheng: “Grandpa, he has a fever.”
"Fever?" Zhao Rongsheng didn't wait any longer and hurried over.
After a quick diagnosis, Zhao Rongsheng concluded that Xu Zhijin had caught a cold, which had also caused a fever, with the temperature estimated to be close to 39 degrees Celsius. He needed to lower the temperature immediately, otherwise, if it continued like this, he would become delirious.
Fortunately, he had collected some herbs before, and there were some that could be used among them. Zhao Rongsheng hurriedly asked Shen Yibei to boil water and make medicine, while he stayed here to physically cool down Xu Zhijin.
After taking the medicine and continuing the wet compress, Zhao Rongsheng continued to toss and turn until midnight. He felt Xu Zhijin's forehead again, confirmed that his temperature had dropped, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, he didn't dare to let his guard down, fearing that the fever would flare up again during the night. So he stayed by Xu Zhijin's bedside that night. After a short rest, he got up to feel Xu Zhijin's temperature. Around four or five in the morning, confirming that Xu Zhijin's fever had subsided, Zhao Rongsheng dragged his exhausted body back home.
......
When Xu Zhijin woke up that morning, his mind was momentarily dazed. He looked around and remembered someone seemed to be beside him when he was half asleep yesterday.
He slowly propped himself up with his hands and sat up, a slight pain still lingering in his body. He vaguely remembered that he had a fever yesterday. He insisted on finishing work and coming back, intending to rest for a while before getting up. But then his eyelids began to feel heavier, and he tried to wake up but couldn't. He was half-conscious for a while, feeling as if someone was cooling him down.
Xu Zhijin looked at the towel beside the bed and the herbs with a little juice left on them, and realized that what happened yesterday was not his illusion. And inexplicably, he felt that the man should be from the cowshed next door.
.
Seeing that it was getting late, and he hadn't eaten dinner yesterday, he was now tired and hungry. Xu Zhijin didn't think about it anymore. He dragged his heavy body up and simply cooked a bowl of porridge.
After finishing his meal, Xu Zhijin went out to work. When he got outside, he saw Zhao Rongsheng and the others coming out. Their eyes met, and Xu Zhijin nodded slightly to Zhao Rongsheng to express his gratitude. Without further communication, he left.
Seeing that he was feeling better, Zhao Rongsheng's worries eased a little. He no longer thought about how Xu Zhijin knew about it and went to work with Jiang Qiuli.
After work in the evening, Zhao Rongsheng went to the back mountain to pick some herbs. Although Xu Zhijin's high fever had subsided, his illness was not yet cured. He had a cold and a cough, and his spleen and kidneys were a little weak, so he had to continue taking some medicine for treatment.
After returning, Zhao Rongsheng prepared the medicine and asked Shen Yibei to deliver it. This time, Xu Zhijin was awake, so he did not show up again. Shen Yibei placed the medicine next to the door, knocked on the door, and left. Xu Zhijin opened the door and came out, but did not see anyone. When he turned around, he saw the medicine by the door. He glanced at the cowshed next to him, then went in with the bowl.
After delivering medicine like this for several days, Xu Zhijin's coughing gradually became less frequent, he was no longer woken up by coughing at night, and his energy and spirit began to improve.
Although the two sides have not spoken to each other, they would occasionally nod slightly when they met as a greeting.
Xu Zhijin was grateful to Zhao Rongsheng and the others for their help. Sometimes when he went to the back mountain to dig up wild peanuts, he would put some in front of their door.
After a few exchanges, the two sides began to interact. Although they had never spoken, they both felt that the other was someone they could make friends with.
......
In the blink of an eye, it was December and the weather was getting colder. Everyone started wearing sweaters and trousers, and also wore cotton coats on the outside.
The little ones in Old Song's family, especially Yuanbao and Baoya, are not tall to begin with, and with so many clothes on, they look round and chubby, which makes them extremely cute.
Especially Baoya, who was wearing thick clothes, revealing only her fair and tender little face. The tip of her nose was red from the cold, which made people want to pinch her little face.
"Sister Xiaobao, the Winter Solstice is coming in a few days. Do you know what to eat on the Winter Solstice?" Yuanbao asked Baoya with a red face while running.
Baoya frowned and thought about it, but she couldn't think of anything.
Regarding this festival, he could only shake his head. Then, with his eyes wide open, he asked:
"Winter Solstice? What should we eat?"
"We have to eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice~! Grandma said that eating dumplings will prevent our ears from getting frozen." Yuanbao said as he stretched out his little hands to cover Baoya's cold little ears.
When Baoya heard that her ears would be frozen, she was so scared that she stretched out her little hands to cover her ears.
"Also, there's more. After the winter solstice, there will be the Nine-Nine Songs~"
Baoya blinked when she heard this. She felt that Yuanbao could always tell her a lot of things she didn't know.
"Nine-Nine Song?"
Yuanbao looked at Baoya's bewildered expression and recited with his mouth open: "Don't make a move on the 19th and 29th days. Walk on the ice on the 39th and 49th days. Watch the willows by the river on the 59th and 69th days. On the 79th day, the river blooms and swallows come. On the 99th and 19th day, oxen plow everywhere~!"
Baoya opened her mouth in surprise and exclaimed: "Wow~"
It was the first time she heard the Jiujiu song, but she didn't know what it meant.
Then Yuanbao explained to Baoya: "1929 does not take action, that is... that is..."
Yuanbao knew what it meant, but when asked to speak, he didn't know how to explain it. Then he had no choice but to go to Feng Guizhi for help:
"Grandma, grandma, please tell little sister Xiaobao what the Jiujiu song means. Little sister Xiaobao doesn't know."
Feng Guizhi smiled, and then told Baoya what the song represented: "Don't take action on the first and second nine days. It means that the weather has started to get cold, and it's too cold to leave your hands outside. You can't help but put them in your pockets..."
After saying this, Yuanbao counted on his fingers: "There are still eleven days until the winter solstice. Then in another nine days, two nine days, three nine days, the ice will freeze! Little Bao sister, I will take you ice skating then. If the ice is thick, we can even walk on the river!"
Yuanbao said excitedly, and he was already looking forward to it.
He was only four years old at this time last year, so he had never been to play. He had only heard his older brothers talk about it, and his heart was filled with envy. This year he is a year older, and then he can play with them.
Moreover, they will protect little sister Xiaobao, and little sister Xiaobao can also play with them.
Baoya started to look forward to what she heard, and her eyes lit up.
"Grandma, what kind of filling should we have in the dumplings then?" Yuanbao asked Feng Guizhi expectantly.
Last year, the Song family was still very poor. Although they ate dumplings during the winter solstice, they were vegetarian, and the skins were made of a mixture of white flour and black flour. The taste was definitely not as good, and there was not even enough for the whole family to eat. Everyone would just try a few to celebrate the solar term.
But this year, the Song family is better off, so they can have a good meal of dumplings during the Winter Solstice.
However, after hearing Yuanbao's mention, Feng Guizhi suddenly remembered something. Tianen's birthday seemed to be this month, the day before the winter solstice.
Moreover, Feng Guizhi looked at the fair and tender Baoya in front of her and remembered that she had been in the Song family for half a year, but they had not asked her when her birthday was.
The year is coming to an end, and I don’t know if she has celebrated her birthday yet.
Feng Guizhi looked at Baoya for a few seconds, and then she had an idea in her mind. However, she had to wait for Yang Yulan and Song Jianye to come back and ask for their opinions.
The author has something to say: Note: The Jiujiu song originated from farming customs?
I have a headache today, everyone should go to bed early
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
