My brother Jinniu said that when a person is unconscious with his eyes closed, his mind is sometimes clear and he knows what others say and do. If you cry like this and let Brother Erhu hear you, he will feel bad and worry about your health. The more anxious he is, the harder it will be for you to wake up.

Sister-in-law, you have to think positively. Stay by Brother Erhu's side and say something nice to him, telling him that the children are waiting for him at home. Brother Erhu will be relaxed and may wake up soon! Sister-in-law knows that my brother Jinniu was also seriously injured before and was unconscious. I asked Brother Dagang to drive a tractor to take him to the hospital. Now my brother Jinniu is fine and can almost go to work in the fields. "

Ge Xiangqin: “…”

Lin Dagang is Lin Erhu's cousin. He drove the tractor with Taohua to take Meng Jinniu to the county hospital that time and told her about it when he came back. Of course she knew about it.

However, no matter how badly Meng Jinniu was injured, it was certainly not more serious than her husband's. It was a wild boar, and its long fangs were as sharp as knives and pierced her body. She ran to the field and saw with her own eyes that her husband fell there, covered in blood. It was so tragic and horrible that many people in the village said he would not survive.

However, Ge Xiangqin was still willing to believe that Meng Tao's words could come true. She stopped crying, wiped away her tears, and cheered up to talk to Meng Tao.

Meng Tao learned that Lin Erhu's brother Lin Sanmeng had come with him to take care of the injured. He went to the hospital cafeteria to buy breakfast, so she asked, "Sister-in-law, the doctor said that we can give Brother Erhu some water, right?"

Ge Xiangqin nodded and sighed sadly: "He can't eat anything else. He won't even open his mouth. I have to feed him water slowly, little by little."

Meng Tao looked towards the door and saw no one coming in. She glanced at the other three beds in the room and saw the patients were all sleeping in their beds. No one was paying attention to Lin Erhu. She had to find a way to feed Lin Erhu some medicine, but she couldn't let Ge Xiangqin notice.

Meng Tao picked up the rattan basket on the bedside table and handed it to Ge Xiangqin, saying, "Sister-in-law, I came from the provincial capital and couldn't buy any nutritional supplements. I happened to have some ready-made food at home, so I brought it here. Brother Erhu can't eat it for the time being, but you can. You're pregnant with my nephew, and you've been worried about him these past two days, so you need some nourishment."

When Ge Xiangqin saw that there were five or six red apples, a can of malted milk, and two bags of sugar biscuits in the wicker basket, she declined, saying, "These are all expensive things and cost a lot of money. Sister, you..."

"I've already brought it here, do you still want me to carry it back? Don't be polite, sister-in-law."

Meng Tao stuffed the basket into Ge Xiangqin's hands and said, "Sister-in-law, did you wash your face this morning? Do you have any clothes to wash? Can I help you?"

Ge Xiangqin waved her hands: "I can wash the clothes. The washroom is over there. It's very close and convenient."

"Then I'll go get a kettle of water."

"No, no, my third brother has already boiled water this morning. Sister Taohua, just sit there."

Ge Xiangqin thought of something and took out an enamel cup from the drawer. She said embarrassedly, "Are you thirsty, Taohua? I forgot to pour you a glass of water after being here for so long. Don't blame your sister-in-law. I was really scared when your brother Erhu suddenly became like this. I've been dizzy these past two days and I don't know how I got through it..."

"It's okay. There's no need to be polite to one another. Sister-in-law, leave it alone. I'll pour it."

Meng Tao walked over, picked up the thermos, opened the lid, pulled out the cork, turned her back to Ge Xiangqin, and dripped two drops of pine needle dew into the thermos.

Then he poured half a cup of water into the cup, but did not drink it, using the excuse that the water was too hot and left it to cool.

Ge Xiangqin wanted to go to the toilet and asked Meng Tao to help look after Lin Erhu, and Meng Tao agreed.

After Ge Xiangqin walked out of the ward, Meng Tao took out a red pill the size of a mung bean. It was an internal medicine for healing wounds. She had bought it in Province Y some time ago. Province Y had several secret Chinese medicines passed down from generation to generation with remarkable effects, and they were also very famous in later generations. Meng Tao asked Shen Yu to use his connections to buy a lot of them directly from the pharmaceutical factory. They had been stored in the space for more than a month, and now the effect of the medicine should have increased by more than ten times.

Meng Tao stuffed the pill into Lin Erhu's mouth, then used the aluminum spoon on the table to scoop boiling water from the cup and feed it little by little, allowing the pill to melt and flow into his throat.

Pine needle dew has been added to the thermos. When you leave, remind Ge Xiangqin to feed the injured person water at least two or three times a day.

Last time I only fed Taurus water mixed with pine needle dew, and I haven’t given him this golden medicine yet.

This time, Lin Erhu's injury seems to be more serious. He should be able to recover with pine needle dew mixed with water and gold medicine.

Meng Tao finished feeding Ge Xiangqin the water in the cup. Lin Sanmeng came back first, holding a steaming bowl in his hand. He approached his brother's bedside and saw Meng Tao. He was stunned and blurted out, "It's you. Didn't you marry and move to the provincial capital?"

Meng Tao: "Can't I go back to my parents' home?"

"Tsk, everyone knows that you were born without parents. It's good enough that you can get married. What's the point of having a mother's family?"

"Lin Sanmeng, based on what you said, I can beat you up severely. It's not convenient now, so just owe me. When we get back to the village, I promise not to beat you to death. I will beat you into a pig's head so that even your parents won't recognize you!"

Lin Sanmeng: “…”

A pair of bull eyes glared at Meng Tao fiercely. He was beaten by her during the Chinese New Year and was forced to kneel down and admit his fault. He was not convinced. This woman was too hateful. She had so much strength for no reason and crushed a strong man like him without any ability to fight back. How shameless is she? Just as he was glaring at her, Ge Xiangqin came back.

Lin Sanmeng pointed at the bowl of porridge on the counter and said to Ge Xiangqin, "This is big bone porridge. It's delicious. I waited in a long line to buy it. Come and have a drink, sister-in-law."

Ge Xiangqin wanted to give the drink to Meng Tao, but Meng Tao said she was not hungry and asked Ge Xiangqin to drink it while it was hot.

Lin Sanmeng said: "This is called nutritious porridge, specially made for patients, the elderly and children. Sister-in-law is pregnant, so you can drink it. Taohua is not pregnant, so it would be a waste to eat anything!"

Meng Tao: “…”

The saying "a dog can't spit out ivory" applies to people like this.

Ge Xiangqin also blamed Lin Sanmeng: "You are such a grown-up, why don't you know things? Sister Taohua is married, and she will get pregnant soon. Maybe she is already pregnant now. You are offending the baby by talking like this. What if she gets upset and makes a fuss? It will not be a good pregnancy. It is very hard for a woman to have a bad pregnancy. Sister Taohua will beat you up ten times, and you are not wronged - apologize to Sister Taohua!"

This was a bit mysterious. Lin Sanmeng couldn't help but glance at Meng Tao's belly. Meng Tao subconsciously covered her belly with her hands. Lin Sanmeng didn't apologize, but stuttered and said, "I'll go to the canteen and buy her two buns."

He ran away in a hurry.

Meng Tao's heart beat faster, thinking about her period, which was supposed to come at the beginning of the month, but had not come yet. The couple had relied on the "safe period" to do whatever they wanted, but by the middle of the month there was still no movement, and her period just didn't come. Meng Tao asked Shen Yu if something was wrong.

After a thorough discussion, the two of them came to the conclusion that the biggest reason for the delayed menstruation might be that at the jade mine in Province Y, the space absorbed the energy from the ore veins, and Meng Tao's body was more or less impacted, which might also affect the normal menstruation.

Even though I thought that way, I was still a little worried about getting pregnant, so I was more cautious during my sexual intercourse and used family planning products.

Shen Yu doesn't like children, and Meng Tao also thinks it would be more scientific to have children in a few years. By then, in the 1980s, Shen Yu would be in his thirties and in the prime of life. Whether he continued in his official career or went into business, he would definitely have made some achievements. And she would be twenty-five or twenty-six years old and would have finished college. She could spend a year having a child, and then she could concentrate on building her empire of wealth. It would be great for the child to grow up in a relaxed and affluent environment.

So now when I heard Ge Xiangqin's unintentional guess that she might be pregnant, I felt a little panicked for some reason. After all, I was not mentally prepared for this.

Seeing that Meng Tao refused to drink the porridge, Ge Xiangqin felt embarrassed to drink it herself. A pregnant woman cannot be hungry, so in order not to affect her eating, Meng Tao left first.

Before leaving, I told Ge Xiangqin that I drove back and had more freedom of movement. I might stay at a friend's house in the county town for two days. When I was about to return to the village, I would come over to see Ge Xiangqin and the others and see if they had anything to say back home.

She would definitely have to come again in two days, hoping that Lin Erhu could wake up. She would also feed Lin Erhu another pill mixed with some pine needle dew to promote his recovery.

Ge Xiangqin walked Meng Tao to the corridor, wiping her tears. She was grateful in her heart but couldn't say a word. Meng Tao waved at her and walked away quickly.

She knew several doctors and nurses in the hospital, so it would be better not to meet them at this time. Too many coincidences would be related to her, which would arouse suspicion.

After leaving the hospital, Meng Tao drove back to Mengzhou.

They arrived at the freight yard near Mengzhou Railway Station at around eleven o'clock. Ma Fengnian had already rented a freight shed and unloaded all the goods inside. He was squatting at the entrance of the freight yard, smoking, looking left and right with wide eyes, probably hoping that Meng Tao would show up soon.

Meng Tao parked the jeep in front of him and opened the door. When Ma Fengnian saw it was her, he jumped for joy, quickly put out the half-smoked cigarette and clamped it between his ears.

The two went to the cargo shed, and Meng Tao saw the adult tiger and two wild boars that had been killed, which together weighed more than a thousand pounds. Ma Fengnian said that his cousin and his family were willing to do long-term business with "Miss Xiao Tao" and the price would just be the same as last time.

Meng Tao readily paid the tiger and the wild boar.

Then he came to calculate the payment for the mountain products that Ma Fengnian had collected. He roughly checked the products, which included mushrooms, black fungus, matsutake mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, nuts such as walnuts and chestnuts, smoked chicken, duck and goose, tea oil squeezed using traditional methods, as well as large dried fish and small dried silver fish from deep mountain springs and lakes. They were all very good. Meng Tao was particular about quality, so Ma Fengnian strictly controlled the quality and would not accept any that did not meet the standards, as he was also afraid of losing money.

This time, they also received more than a dozen sacks of precious medicinal materials, including Panax notoginseng, Gastrodia elata, Polygonum multiflorum, Dendrobium officinale, Ganoderma lucidum, etc. Ma Fengnian asked a local person who knew how to prepare medicinal materials to make the preliminary preparations, and the price went up a little, but it was not a big deal. As long as the quality was guaranteed, Meng Tao would buy as many as he could.

After settling the bill and paying the full amount on the spot, Ma Fengnian left happily. He still had to hurry to deliver the public goods.

Meng Tao first put the tiger and wild boar into the space, then waited for about half an hour to see the cars coming and going outside the cargo shed. When the loading and unloading was busy, he put away all the goods in the cargo shed and left the cargo yard.

There was nothing to do for the time being. Meng Tao drove slowly on the street. When he passed the post office, he thought that it had been two days and one night since he left the provincial capital, and he hadn't called Director Shen to report his safety yet. So he parked his car and went into the post office to queue up to make the call.

When the call was connected, Meng Tao was scolded by Director Shen as expected. Knowing she was in the wrong, she kept silent and listened attentively. After that, she admitted her mistake seriously. Director Shen calmed down, talked a few more words about safety issues, then gave her a number and said that Shen Yu was waiting for her call there. He also asked her to call Meng Zhehan as well, otherwise Meng Zhehan would come over overnight.

Meng Tao hung up the phone with Director Shen and called Meng Zhehan first. Someone picked up the phone and immediately went to inform Meng Zhehan. After waiting for a few minutes, Meng Zhehan finally came over. He was obviously quite far away. After talking for a while, Meng Zhehan was relieved to know that there was really no situation on Meng Tao's side. He also told her some safety issues before hanging up the phone.

Then she dialed the number again and Shen Yu picked up the phone quickly. It had been four days since they had separated, so it was inevitable that they would talk to each other about their longing for each other. It was not easy to tell the purpose of her return over the phone, so Meng Tao only told him that she had returned to Xingyang County to visit a neighbor who was injured by a wild boar, and was now in Mengzhou, where she had just met the cousin of the Ma family.

I have to go to Xingyang County the day after tomorrow and then go back to the village to take a look. I don’t think I will go to the provincial capital so soon.

Shen Yu said that since she had returned to the village, she could just stay there and he would come to pick her up after a week when he finished his official duties.

After coming out of the post office, Meng Tao was in a happy and high spirits. She talked to her lover on the phone and felt different.

He drove back to Zuo Xingzi Lane and parked the car in the family compound of the unit. The gatekeeper always watched Shen Yu drive in, but this time he saw that it was Meng Tao who drove. He blinked in surprise and gave her a thumbs up:

"Female driver, you are awesome!"

Usually Shen Yu would give the old master one or two packs of cigarettes. Meng Tao knew that the old master had a pair of twin granddaughters about ten years old, and that little girls loved to eat sweet and sour fruits, so she wrapped more than two kilograms of cherries in newspaper and gave them to him, saying that she brought them from the provincial capital, as there were no cherries for sale in Mengzhou.

The old master was indeed very happy. He said that it happened to be the birthday of his two granddaughters today, and the two girls would definitely be delighted to receive such beautiful red fruits.

Back in Yard No. 9, the yard was full of luxuriant flowers and plants, each one enchanting. Clusters of wisteria flowers hung low, fragrant and beautiful like a dream. Meng Tao lingered among the flowers, deeply intoxicated by them, and once again sighed that the original owner, Mr. Jia, really knew how to live and enjoy life.

(End of this chapter)