The door was closed. The pregnant woman's family squatted down and blocked the door again with a cloth strip. They held Qiao Qingqing's hand and begged: "Save my daughter!"
The good mother-in-law cursed: "Don't drag Qingqing along and waste time! Meiyun has already given birth to two children, two is not enough, and you still want her to have more, are you crazy?"
The family members hesitated: "There is no other way!"
Qiao Qingqing broke free from the family member's hand and walked towards the good mother-in-law. The good mother-in-law pulled her into the room and said, "I have no choice. Meiyun's situation is very similar to that of Sister Liuzi. I can't think of anyone else who can help except you. She is stupid, but I still want her to survive!"
"Let's start." Qiao Qingqing opened the medicine box and took out a needle.
Shao Shengan found a corner and sat down, patiently waiting for his wife to come out. He heard the girl crying, frowned and looked towards the other room: "What's going on?"
Liuzi asked hurriedly: "Uncle, why do I hear Xiaoni crying?"
The middle-aged man wiped his tears and said, "It was Da Ni and Xiao Ni. Their mother was giving birth and the house was a mess, so I locked them in the room."
"How can we do this? The children are scared and crying. Open the door and I will play with them." Liuzi said immediately.
The door opened, and Shao Shengan saw that the room was very messy. The two girls were thin and small, and looked about three or four years old. Liuzi held one in each hand and shook his head: "How can that be possible? This is Da Ni, six years old, and this is Xiao Ni, she is only three years old. Be good and don't cry. Your mother is giving birth to a younger brother or sister. You will see them after the birth. Don't cry."
Shao Shengan felt around in his pocket and took out two candies, which he had used to coax his elder brother in the morning.
Xiao Ni had never eaten candy before. As soon as the candy entered her mouth, her eyes widened in shock. She tilted her head and said to her sister, "It's delicious, sister, what is this?"
Dani had eaten some when she was a child, but she hadn’t eaten any in the past few years. She put the candy away and said, “I’ll give it to my brother.”
Shao Shengan touched her yellow and soft hair and said, "Your brother is still young and can't eat candy. You eat it first, otherwise it will go bad."
Dani frowned: "Broken means smelly?"
Seeing Shao Shengan nod, she took out the candy and ate it. Soon she showed the same surprised expression as her sister: "It's delicious."
The two are three years apart in age, but they look like twins. Liuzi felt a little sad, remembering that his nephew was also so thin. He didn't want to think about it anymore, so he found a topic to chat with the child: "How do you know your mother gave birth to a brother? It could be a sister."
Dani's face changed instantly. She made a "hush" sound and carefully glanced at the door of the master bedroom, where her grandfather, grandparents and father were standing.
"Don't let anyone hear you, or I'll beat you." Dani warned him seriously in a low voice, "Just say he's your younger brother, okay?"
Liuzi was stunned, Shao Shengan was also stunned, he even felt a little cold.
Forcing a smile, Shao Shengan changed the subject: "What toys do you usually play with..."
Two hours later, with a scream of pain, the baby was finally born, and the mother fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Is it a boy?" the woman's father asked hurriedly.
The good mother-in-law opened the door and said with a grim look: "It's a boy. Now you are satisfied."
The middle-aged man was delighted and kept thanking his mother-in-law, totally ignoring her ridicule.
"Can we go in and take a look?"
"No, Qingqing is examining Meiyun. Let me take the baby out."
Qiao Qingqing pierced Mei Yun's body with needles, hoping to save this woman's life.
After carrying the child out, Haopo sat down on a chair tiredly, leaning against the wall and watching Qiao Qingqing's movements, and asked in a low voice: "How is it?"
Qiao Qingqing said calmly: "You sewed it very well. Mei Yun's condition is better than Ye Fang's at that time. I am 70% sure."
The good mother-in-law breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Mei Yun on the bed with complicated eyes. After a long silence, she said, "She is too stupid. Her father is also sick."
Qiao Qingqing did not comment on this and did not respond, just concentrating on her current work.
For dinner, the family brought in potato porridge and diligently made vinegar water for her, her mother-in-law, and Shao Shengan's six sons to drink.
The father of the woman in labor rubbed his hands and said, "Thank you so much for taking the risk to go out. I have prepared the reward. I will ask Daqiang to move it to you."
The good mother-in-law waved her hand: "I'm not busy, let's talk about it tomorrow."
That night, Mei Yun had some abnormal bleeding symptoms, so Qiao Qingqing gave her acupuncture and took out some medicinal herbs and asked her family to boil them for her to drink.
After a day and a night of careful care, Mei Yun finally passed the critical period. If nothing unexpected happened, her life would be saved.
The family members thanked them profusely, but Qiao Qingqing was too tired to attend the socializing. Shao Shengan did not have a good impression of this family and was not in the mood to deal with them. He did not let them send their gift and tied the reward - three bags of sweet potatoes - to the back of the car. He and Qiao Qingqing each rode home on one car.
The headlights of the car penetrated the thick fog, barely illuminating the road ahead. Qiao Qingqing stared at the road with tired eyes, afraid that she would ride off the track and fall into the ditch.
On the way, Shao Shengan kept calling her and cheering Qiao Qingqing up, so she returned home safely.
After returning home, Qiao Qingqing quickly took a shower and changed clothes, then quickly ate some egg noodles with vinegar made by Qiao Songzhi and fell asleep.
"Sheng An, you should finish eating and go to sleep."
Shao Shengan shook his head, drank the last mouthful of soup and began to clean up the dishes. He avoided the hand that Qiao Songzhi stretched out to him: "It's okay, I'm not tired. Qingqing is more tired and didn't sleep the whole night. I took several naps and I'm not sleepy at all."
While he was washing dishes, Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother came over to ask about the delivery. When she heard that everything went well, Shao's mother folded her hands and thanked God: "Now, I am afraid to hear that the birth was not smooth. Oh, it makes me sad to hear it."
Qiao Qingqing didn't wake up until noon the next day. After a good sleep, she felt her fatigue disappear. After dinner, she began to sort out the medical records of Ye Meiyun's delivery yesterday. Shao Shengan was sitting on the side reading a book. Qiao Qingqing looked back at him and asked, "Why do I feel like you don't seem very happy?" She put down her pen, turned around and sat facing Shao Shengan, "You have been like this since you were at Meiyun's house. What happened?"
"There is a little thing—" Shao Shengan closed the book and told the conversation he had with the two children that day.
"So that's what it is." Qiao Qingqing smiled coldly, "It's just preference for boys over girls. When I delivered Mei Yun, she struggled and begged me to be good to her mother-in-law and to keep her son."
"How did they know it was a boy? Did they do a test?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask."
Shao Shengan shook his head: "Instead of taking good care of two healthy children, she insisted on giving birth to this one. In the end, she couldn't even save enough money for the medical expenses to go to the hospital for the birth. Have you seen the two girls? The older one is actually six years old, and doesn't look much older than her three-year-old sister. It's been several years since the natural disaster, how can there still be such outdated ideas?" He felt sorry for the two girls.
Qiao Qingqing looked indifferent: "No matter when, this concept exists, and outsiders can't control it."
Shao Shengan was worried: "Are you okay? Did you go out these two days——"
"It's okay, cough, just a little cough."
Shao Shengan went out to pour her some water and told her not to get too tired: "Just take your time writing the case."
"Not tired." Qiao Qingqing took a sip of water, "Sweet?"
"I added some honey. Then you can write. I won't bother you anymore."
Unable to concentrate on reading, he decided to dismantle the solar generator.
"It shouldn't be needed for the time being, right?"
"That's right, you can put it away so it won't get damaged by acid rain."
Shao's father helped with the dismantling, and Shao's mother discussed it with Qiao Songzhi and suggested dismantling the air conditioner as well.
"There's no need to use the air conditioner now. Take it down. It's autumn now and it's not hot. Wait until next year when it's hot. It will deteriorate more slowly if you put it away."
Shao Shengan smiled and nodded: "Okay."
The weather has really cooled down. It's been more than two years since we last had autumn. It would be nice if there was no thick fog. This kind of weather is perfect for going out for a walk and enjoying the autumn breeze.
The thick fog obscured the view and cast a shadow on people's hearts.
The next day after dismantling the solar generator and air conditioner, Qi Ming came to Shao Shengan's house. He had many connections and got a new job. He said that a boss in the villa area wanted to reinstall the fresh air system, and the price he offered was quite high.
"This mist is not very healthy, so I want to improve the fresh air system. I have written a little design plan. Can you help me study it and see how to improve it to achieve the best effect?"
Shao Shengan was moved and decided to go immediately. Qiao Qingqing prepared a backpack for him. When the couple said goodbye, they didn't need to say much, just a look was enough.
With one person missing from the house, it seems a lot emptier.
After Qiao Qingqing finished writing the case, she decided to go into the kitchen to cook.
The storage of cooked food is very important at all times. Qiao Qingqing knows very well that the time they live in Building 20 of Ping'an Community should be the most stable days for their family in recent years. Therefore, it is very important to cherish the time living here and make adequate preparations for the future.
The thick fog brings trouble, but this period is the best time to cook food, and the closed environment will be the best cover.
To be on the safe side, they went to the seventh floor to cook and blocked the door gap with two more layers to ensure that the smell would not penetrate into the corridor, leaving only the door to the rooftop for ventilation.
Before opening the door to the rooftop, everyone put on fire masks, looked at each other, and couldn't help laughing.
The house was bustling with activity, and even Shao Shengfei took on the task of peeling potatoes and cutting sweet potatoes.
Several stoves were lit at the same time, dispelling the cool autumn air. The aroma of food mixed and intertwined, filling the space of 601.
Some ingredients that you usually don’t dare to use too much can be cooked boldly at this time.
"Ahem! This pepper is so spicy!" Shao's mother covered the pot, but couldn't block out the explosive spicy smell.
She was cooking stir-fried pork slices with chili peppers in her pot, while Qiao Songzhi in the next stove was cooking stir-fried squid. She was also choked by the spicy smell and coughed. She laughed and said, "I feel so spicy even with a mask on, cough cough!"
"This is what they say on TV about pain and pleasure. It's really spicy and smells so good," said Shao's mother.
Qiao Qingqing listened to the mothers chatting with a smile, and continued with her work. She picked up the fragrant salted fish, and did not pour out the remaining oil in the pot. She added a little more oil and fried the eggplant that had been cut into pieces and soaked in salt. When the eggplant was put into the pot, oil and water splashed, and she quickly covered the lid. After frying, she took out the eggplant and spread it in the casserole, then put the salted fish in, covered the casserole lid, added water and started to simmer.
The aroma of the salted fish and eggplant casserole is so overbearing that it quickly covers the aroma of other dishes in the house.
"It smells so good. I've already eaten the salted fish and eggplant casserole you made a long time ago. I've occasionally thought about it over the past two years, but it's a pity that I haven't had the chance to make it. Qingqing, your cooking skills are really great now, and the dishes you make smell so good."
"Then I'll make more and save it for later consumption."
Shao's father's cooking skills were the most mediocre, so he was assigned to steam rice and make sweet potato soup. He first opened the lid of the deflated pressure cooker, scooped out the rice with a clean large spoon and put it into the rice bucket. When the bucket was full, he closed the lid and asked Qiao Qingqing to put the rice bucket away. After washing the rice again and putting it into the pot, he stirred the sweet potatoes in the stainless steel bucket, added sugar, and scooped a spoonful of it to Shao Shengfei: "Try it and see if it's sweet."
Shao Shengfei took off his mask, puffed up his cheeks and blew a few times quickly, then pouted and drank the soup, then put on the mask and shook his head: "It's not sweet, add sugar, dad."
Just as he was about to add more, Shao's mother shouted, "Try it yourself! Let Feifei taste it and it's not sweet! I've told you several times, why don't you remember?"
"oh oh."
"Forget it, no need to taste it. It's unsafe to keep removing the mask!"
"Qingqing, the lid of the curry pot you are stewing is moving, I opened it for you." Qiao Songzhi reminded her. Qiao Qingqing responded and walked to the fourth stove, stirring with a long spoon. The curry chicken was already stewed to be fragrant and tasty. She couldn't help but drool and decided to eat curry rice tonight.
People living in around 20 buildings seemed to smell a vague fragrance. The fragrance was so tempting that even if one could only smell a little bit, it would make people fascinated.
"What does it smell like? It sounds like curry."
"No, it smells like fried chili peppers."
"I smell the aroma of braised prawns. Do you smell it?"
"It must be an illusion. How could someone be cooking these dishes?"
"That's right. It's okay to smell one or two things, but how could anyone cook so many dishes? If someone had that much money, they would have bought a house in the villa area a long time ago."
"You're going to die! Hurry up and block the window gaps! Are you going to kill our whole family?"
A faint fragrance flew over Building 20, which could not be detected or traced, and finally dissipated in the thick fog.
Qiao Qingqing's family was cooking until Shao Shengan finished work and came home.
That was nine days later. Shao Shengan wore a mask and carried his bicycle and wages up the stairs, sweat dripping from his forehead. He knocked on the door, but no one opened it for him. He frowned slightly and looked up at the seventh floor, thinking that his family should be there. He planned to go into the house first, change clothes, and then go upstairs to reunite.
Five minutes later, at the door of 701, Shao Shengan turned the key and was about to push the door open when his father's voice behind the door sounded anxious: "Shengan?"
"Yes, it's me, Dad—"
"Don't open the door yet!"
"Dad? What's wrong?"
"Why did you come back so suddenly? Go sit downstairs for a while."
Shao Shengan was puzzled and had to do as he was told.
He waited for three hours. After three hours, the family member came down from the seventh floor. As soon as he entered the house, he brought in a fragrance. When he smelled the fragrance, he became hungry and his stomach growled.
Shao's father closed the door quickly like a thief. Shao's mother happily walked over, sat down, took his hand and touched his face: "You have lost weight. Ask Qingqing to get you anything you want to eat."
Qiao Songzhi smiled and said, "We have added a lot of cooked food to our house. What do you want to eat?"
The family members surrounded Shao Shengan and asked him about his health. Shao Shengan thought there was something wrong with his nose. Why did everyone smell like food?
He looked at his wife who had been smiling at him for help. Qiao Qingqing winked at him and said, "We are cooking on the seventh floor, so we can't open the door for you. It would be bad if the aroma escaped. While you are waiting, we will clean up everything before we dare to open the door."
Shao Shengan suddenly realized: "No wonder you smell so good, it makes me hungry." He touched his stomach, "I want to eat braised prawns. I smelled this smell in the villa's restaurant while I was working."
Qiao Songzhi felt very distressed: "I just made this dish! Qingqing, I'll set the table, you take out the dishes."
At the dinner table, only Shao Shengan was wolfing down his food. Qiao Qingqing and the others had been eating while cooking these days, so they weren't greedy anymore. Shao Shengan felt a little embarrassed, and his mother picked up some food for him with concern: "We're all family, why should you be embarrassed? Eat quickly, don't swallow too fast, chew more, otherwise it's bad for your stomach."
After dinner, Qiao Qingqing brought him water to take a bath. Shao Shengan shaved his hair in the bathroom. When he walked out of the bathroom, his long hair had turned into a buzz cut. Qiao Qingqing felt a little regretful: "I wanted to tell you to keep your hair and not have a buzz cut."
"This is convenient." Shao Shengan touched her hair, looked around, and gave her a quick kiss.
Qiao Qingqing's eyes were filled with smiles.
"Here, you take my salary."
He brought home four bags of wages, one bag of half-green tomatoes, two bags of potatoes, and one bag of steamed buns, each as big as a fist.
"The bag of potatoes belonged to Brother Qi Ming. He still had work to do and only needed an electrician, so I came back first. He asked me to deliver the bag of potatoes to his family. By the way, this bag of steamed buns also has a story. It was originally made of flour, so I made a small request to my employer, hoping that he could make steamed buns for me, and the boss generously agreed." Shao Shengan said happily, "This way we can save water and electricity and steam our own buns."
"This tomato is good. Leave it there for a while until it's ripe, then put it in your space." Shao's mother checked it, took the tomato away, took it to the kitchen, and put it in a bamboo basket.
"The buns are still a little hot, just put them away." Qiao Songzhi said. Qiao Qingqing nodded and did as she was told.
"Sheng An, you've worked hard. This time, your employer is quite generous. You get paid so much for just nine days of work."
Shao Shengan smiled and shook his head: "Didn't I bring some medicine with me? Qingqing brought me all the medicine. I saw his old man suddenly fall down and couldn't breathe, so I gave him some quick-acting heart-saving pills. The effect was very good. He survived. The boss sent his father to the hospital. When he came back, he told me that it was thanks to the pill I gave him, otherwise he wouldn't have survived to the hospital for rescue. He thanked me very much, and this bag of steamed buns and tomatoes is a thank you gift."
Qiao Songzhi felt like it was a story: "It's exactly the same as what's shown on TV! No wonder your salary is different from Qi Ming's. It's a lot more than his. I was worried that the difference in your salary would affect your friendship."
Shao Shengan smiled and shook his head: "Qi Ming said I was lucky and he was very happy for me."
When Shao Shengan returned home, the atmosphere at home was very good.
The next day, Shao Shengan was going to the town to deliver wages to Qi Ming's family, and Qiao Qingqing wanted to go with him: "I'll take care of you."
The two rode a bicycle, Shao Shengan took her and Qiao Qingqing held Potato.
“Is it heavy?”
"It's not heavy, let's go."
The headlights of the car penetrated the thick fog. Shao Shengan rang the bell from time to time, and Qiao Qingqing pointed the flashlight to the back, reminding the pedestrians behind them of their positions and not to hit them. Even so, a motorcycle on the road looked over quickly and almost collided.
"Didn't they say that motor vehicles are banned? Why are there still people driving motorcycles?" Shao Shengan was very angry.
Qiao Qingqing comforted him: "Didn't the security team just pass by? If this car moves forward, it will definitely run into the security team and will definitely be punished. Don't be angry."
After riding for another ten minutes, Qiao Qingqing saw the yellow lights of the security team. When she passed by, she saw that the motorcycle had been confiscated. The owner took off his mask unconvinced, raised his chin and threatened loudly: "You confiscated my bike because you know who my uncle is. Who is your captain? I tell you that you dare not offend my uncle. If I tell you, you will be scared to death!..."
At this sight, Qiao Qingqing frowned. The motorcycle had just passed by her quickly and she didn't look closely. But now looking again, wasn't that Lin Mingyong's son Lin Dejun?
She looked away angrily and didn't look again.
Before entering Pingshan Community, there is a dirt road with few buildings on both sides. Usually, the security team pays more attention to patrolling this area to maintain order on this road. But today, they did not encounter the security team when they passed by. The surroundings were covered with white fog. Shao Shengan felt a little uneasy and stepped on the pedal faster. Qiao Qingqing looked around, listened carefully, and held the knife tightly in her hand.
Suddenly, a cry for help was heard in the thick fog. It was so urgent that it could no longer be heard.
"Qingqing——" Shao Shengan called softly.
"It's okay, just speed up and pass this road." Qiao Qingqing was very calm.
Shao Shengan said "hmm" and rode faster. The wheel suddenly ran over something and the bicycle almost fell over, but fortunately Shao Shengan managed to control it.
The light swept over quickly, and Qiao Qingqing vaguely recognized that it was a shoe.
There was danger hidden in the thick fog, and the couple knew it very well.
They did not encounter any difficulties on the rest of the journey, but both knew in their hearts that just now, a pedestrian had been robbed some distance ahead of them.
After entering Pingshan Community, the two went to the nearest sentry post to report the case. The soldier on guard nodded and said that he would ask the security team to check it out, and told them to go in and out with a group: "Two people are too few."
"Okay, thank you."
The two of them did not think about where to find someone to accompany them back to the new community. After figuring out the direction, they went to Qi Ming's house first and delivered the bag of potatoes. Shao Shengan also gave six large tomatoes as a gift to Qi Ming's family to thank Qi Ming for his help. If it weren't for Qi Ming, a local, to lead him, Shao Shengan would not have been able to get so many jobs.
Qi Ming's family warmly invited them to have dinner, but the couple declined. Shao Shengan smiled and said, "Come again when you have a chance. We should go back early. We're afraid it will be unsafe on the road if we go back late."
The couple did not rush home, but went to the market in Pingshan Community for a stroll.
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