"Did our Qingqing make this meal? Our Qingqing is so amazing, she can even cook."
Grandma gently patted Lin Qing's head with her rough, calloused hands, saying with a loving expression that she hadn't seen her granddaughter in a long time and that she had grown up so much. Grandpa also looked at Lin Qing with a smile.
"Grandpa and Grandma, please eat! I made all of this. I just let it cool down a little because I was worried the aroma would be too strong, but it's still warm!"
Lin Qing felt a little embarrassed by her grandmother's praise. She didn't have the original owner's memories. Although she knew from her second brother's description that her grandparents loved her very much, she still didn't know how to approach them. So, while talking, she served each of her grandparents a bowl of chicken soup.
"Qingqing, your grandfather and I can't finish all of this. Could we give some to them too? We're so grateful for their help today!"
Wang Yufen looked at the food in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Lin Qing.
"Of course, I brought so much because I was thinking of giving some to the neighbors. To thank them for their help to my grandparents today."
Hearing her grandmother's words, Lin Qing smiled and explained. She herself was not short of food, and the people next door were talents needed for the future of the country. She was willing to help them if she could, especially since they had helped her grandparents today.
"Good, good, Qingqing has really grown up!"
Wang Yufen separated the rice and chicken soup, keeping only enough for herself and her husband, and prepared to take the rest to the next room.
"Grandma, let me help you!" Lin Qing said as she took the chicken soup from her grandmother's hand, looking at the chicken soup and food her grandmother had served.
"Knock knock knock..."
Grandma gently knocked on the door next door, and the door opened quickly. Actually, the family next door had known since Lin Qing and her family knocked. Having gone through so much hardship, they were light sleepers, easily awakened by the slightest noise. They had kept quiet because they knew Lin Qing and her family were looking for Grandpa and Grandma, but they never expected them to knock on their door.
A middle-aged man, around 40 years old, walked out after the door opened.
"Xiao Zheng, this is my granddaughter. She brought some food for us, but we can't eat it all, so we shared some with you. Take it back for your parents and children."
The middle-aged man looked at the food and chicken soup handed to him, opened his mouth, but couldn't bring himself to refuse. So, with reddened eyes, he said, "Thank you, Aunt Wang." Then he turned to Lin Qing and said, "Thank you!"
The middle-aged man was named Zheng Guoan. He was actually only in his early thirties, but he had been wasting his life for so long that he looked like he was forty. He knew that it was wrong for him to accept food from others without reason, but when he thought of his elderly parents, as well as his thin wife and son, he finally accepted the food that Lin Qing brought.
After delivering the food, Lin Qing and her grandmother returned to the house. It was not a good place to stay for long, so her grandparents quickly finished their meal. Lin Qing then spread the bedding she had brought on the kang (a heated brick bed) for her grandparents and left behind the grain, pots, pans, and other household items in the bamboo basket.
"By the way, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, don't worry, Brother Nanxun and Second Brother went there together, they'll be fine."
"Alright, alright, with your second brother here, we're at ease."
Actually, the grandparents had always been concerned about their son's family, but they knew they couldn't let their granddaughter worry as well, so they refrained from asking. Little did they know that their granddaughter already knew.
"Grandpa and Grandma, these are ginseng pills I made. Keep them safe and take one every day."
Lin Qing took out another bottle of ginseng pills and handed it to her grandfather. Her grandfather poured out one ginseng pill, looked at it carefully for a while, smelled it, and finally put it in his mouth.
"Good, the ginseng pills are very well made and the medicinal effect is also very good. It seems that you have learned the knowledge I taught you very well."
After swallowing the ginseng pill, Dong Weiguo felt a warm current spreading to his stomach. After sensing the effects of the medicine, he smiled at Lin Qing, his smile full of praise and pride.
"Grandpa, you're too kind. I still need to study hard."
Upon hearing her grandfather's words, Lin Qing realized that her grandfather had taught the original owner of medicine. When she went to the countryside, she had lied and said that someone in her family was studying medicine, but she hadn't expected that her words would be so true.
"Alright... Qingqing can come and ask Grandpa if she has any questions in the future... But, Qingqing, try not to come here too often! Try not to come unless it's absolutely necessary!"
Grandpa smiled at Lin Qing, but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered something and changed the subject with a disappointed look.
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I know!"
Lin Qing knew what her grandfather was worried about, and she didn't object to his words, so she smiled and agreed.
"Alright, it's getting late, you should all go back now! We can't stay here any longer."
Finally, Lin Qing checked her grandparents' wounds again. Seeing that the wounds were treated well, she felt relieved and left with her second brother, Lin Yunfeng.
The family next door sat together, their faces filled with emotion, drinking chicken soup and eating delicious food. They had no candles, so they ate happily by the moonlight outside.
"This chicken soup even has medicinal herbs in it, probably ginseng too! Qiang, we've really gotten a great deal!" Zheng Aiguo said gratefully, feeling the warmth of the chicken soup as it went down his throat. Zheng Aiguo was the one who knew medicine; he had also helped bandage his grandfather's injury today. Zheng Aiguo was a surgeon with some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, but he wasn't an expert. However, he could still tell that there were good things in the chicken soup.
"Dad, I understand. I will repay them when I have the chance."
Zheng Daqiang, Zheng Aiguo's son, the middle-aged man Lin Qing had just met, refused to touch the chicken soup after hearing his father say there was ginseng in it. Only after his wife's persuasion did he reluctantly drink a bowl, then gave the rest to his parents, wife, and children. The family of five finished all the food and soup, and were even stuffed in the end.
"I never thought that after being sent down to the countryside for so long, we would still have a day when we'd be stuffed."
Zheng Daqiang's mother, Zhao Hongmei, said with a smile, while his wife, Liu Lihong, smiled contentedly beside her. Their son, Zheng Heping, had already eaten and drunk his fill and was asleep.
Looking at the scene before him, Zheng Daqiang couldn't help but smile, suddenly feeling that there was hope for the future again.
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