After Song Liyun started stewing the chicken, she began to busy herself with other things.
She cleaned the large stove in the bathroom and heated the water, preparing to take a proper bath.
Ever since I put myself in this body, I had just washed myself when I fell into the water in Xiaoshi Village. I haven't had a chance to take a bath these past few days, having traveled hundreds of miles, and I've been feeling uncomfortable all over.
The bathrooms of wealthy families were very elaborate, with bluestone paving the floor, wastewater flowing down into the drain along the trough, and a place to put bath tubs nearby.
The bath tub had already been chopped into firewood by Song Liyun and thrown into the stove to burn.
Although Song Liyun is not a germaphobe, she would not use a bathtub that someone else has used.
While the large stove in the bathroom is heating water, it also warms the room, making it very cozy.
Song Liyun stood on the wooden board, used a wooden ladle to scoop water from the pot and rinsed herself thoroughly, then changed into Song Shuirong's new jacket, and immediately felt comfortable from the inside out.
After reheating the water, Song Liyun grabbed Xiao An and started to wash him.
Xiao An was very shy when her older sister offered to give her a bath, but Song Liyun was not shy at all.
In her eyes, Xiao An was just a child.
If I were to get married and have children in the apocalypse, the kids would probably be old enough to run errands by now.
If at the beginning she felt only kinship with the two brothers because of their blood ties, now that she has spent more time with them and understands them better, Song Liyun's maternal love has outweighed her sympathy.
Looking at Xiao An, who had taken off all her clothes, Song Liyun felt a pang of heartache.
A few days ago, she only felt that Xiao An was not in good health, but she did not have the direct feeling after taking off her clothes now.
Malnutrition has seriously affected Xiao An's physical and mental development.
Xiao An is ten years old, but his development is only at the level of a five or six-year-old child.
Furthermore, the sternum and ribs protrude high, resulting in deformity.
Even though Song Liyun wasn't a doctor, she could recognize this as a typical case of rickets caused by a deficiency in vitamin D and calcium.
Ten days after leaving Xiaoshi Village, Xiao An still had bruises and welts on his body, as well as mottled marks left from lice bites and scratches.
Song Liyun suppressed the tears welling up in her eyes and comforted herself again and again: I'm here, there's still a chance to make amends, everything is still possible.
It took a whole pot of water to scrub away the years of grime on Xiao An's body. He also used soap powder to wash his thin, yellow hair before taking out a set of clothes from Song Xiaobao's room.
Song Xiaobao is older than Xiao An and looks healthier. His clothes look long and big on Xiao An.
Fortunately, clothes in this era all required belts. By rolling up the cuffs and pant legs and tying them around the waist with a cloth belt, one could barely manage to wear them.
Although Xiao An was thin and sallow after washing her face, she had delicate features. Her long eyelashes partially covered her slightly gray eyes, which looked like clear spring water. Because of her shyness, she was even more endearing.
Song Liyun couldn't take her eyes off him, and her maternal love overflowed: what an adorable yet pitiful little guy.
Seeing his second sister looking at him with a smile, Xiao An felt embarrassed and turned his head away to avoid Song Liyun's gaze, looking like a shy and timid little boy.
Song Liyun chuckled: "Xiao An is really good-looking. She would be even more beautiful if she gained a little weight!"
When she came out with Xiao An, who looked completely refreshed, Song Zhenping stared blankly at the clothes they were wearing.
The clay pots and dishes used at noon were all newly made by Song Lao Er. Song Zhenping had never seen them before. Seeing that they were all new, he assumed that everything in the "treasure bag" was new.
The clothes Xiao An was wearing looked very familiar; they were the same as the ones Song Liyun was wearing.
"This... Yun'er, your clothes?"
Song Liyun didn't explain, but simply took out a set of clothes and stuffed them into his arms: "Don't ask any questions. There's hot water in the bathroom. Go take a shower, and remember to take off these clothes and throw them out. We'll wait for you to eat."
"oh oh!"
Song Zhenping was holding the clothes, feeling a bit overwhelmed. It seemed like the clothes in his hand belonged to his second uncle!
Why are there clothes from my second uncle's family in the treasure bag?
Despite feeling dizzy, Song Zhenping still went to the bathroom under Song Liyun's urging.
After he took off his tattered jacket and threw it out, Song Liyun lit a fire in the courtyard and used a wooden stick to pick up a few sets of clothes and throw them into the fire.
The brothers' bedding was also thrown into the fire.
Flames swept across the fabric, where countless generations of lice and fleas, now fully grown, were annihilated. The crackling and popping of the burning fabric produced smoke that smelled of meat.
Song Liyun discovered this in the side room of Xiaoshi Village; the brothers' tattered and old bedding and clothes were full of insect eggs.
Song Liyun didn't even feel like washing the clothes. She was worried that Song Zhenping would be reluctant to part with them, so she figured it was a good time to get rid of them.
When Song Zhenping came out after washing up, he dressed exactly the same way as Xiao An.
Because Song Lao Er was obese, his clothes were very large. When Song Zhenping wore them, they could fit two people inside, and the belt had to be tied four times around his waist.
Song Zhenping's hair had been washed, and his hair-binding cloth had been burned by Song Liyun, so he could only let it hang loosely over his shoulders.
He was so thin that he looked like a bound-up cloth tube.
Song Liyun burst into laughter, and Xiao An next to her also covered her mouth and laughed.
The three of them burst into laughter.
By this time, the bedding and clothes in the yard had been burned to only half their original size. Seeing the clothes he could still wear turn to ashes, Song Zhenping felt very distressed. These clothes were the ones his father wore before he died, and they had been patched and mended until now.
Unlike his melancholy, Xiao An was happy at this moment.
By the time the three of them had finished washing up, it was almost dark.
The clay pot on the red clay stove was bubbling and steaming, the chicken was cooked until tender, and the potatoes roasting in the hot ashes of the firewood underneath were emitting a sweet aroma.
Song Zhenping set up a table in the clean and spacious main room.
A casserole dish with stewed chicken was also placed on the table, with each person receiving a bowl of radish and chicken soup, and then a stewed potato for each person.
The chicken soup was already filling, so adding a potato would make it a main dish as well.
The chicken soup simmered over low heat was indeed different; the broth was rich and flavorful, and the chicken meat was tender and smooth.
In addition, the fresh radish inside absorbs the greasiness of the chicken soup, making the soup refreshing.
The stewed potatoes were soft and delicious, and Xiao An ate them until her cheeks were bulging and her eyes were sparkling.
The Song brothers had no objection to eating potatoes for dinner.
In their memory, those who didn't eat anything at night almost always fell asleep in a state of semi-consciousness from hunger.
Now that there was chicken soup with potatoes, Song Zhenping's instinctive craving for food made him forget to ask about the origin of these things.
All three were at the age when their appetites were at their best and their bodies needed the most nutrition, so they ate and drank without any restraint, easily finishing an ordinary free-range chicken.
As night fell, the desolate house, which had been deserted during the day, was shrouded in darkness, and a mournful sound came from somewhere.
Song Zhenping finally remembered where he was, and his expression turned sour.
But in front of his younger siblings, he still has to be the eldest brother, strong and composed.
And only now have I realized that there are still many problems with the house I cleaned.
The window paper in the main room was torn, and cold wind was blowing in. The kang (heated brick bed) hole hadn't been cleaned yet, so it was impossible to heat the kang.
There was also no firewood prepared.
Song Zhenping's face burned: "Yun'er cooks and boils water so that everyone is well-fed and warmly clothed."
I didn't even prepare one room properly.
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