A few days later, Pan Yongjun, the third son of the Pan family, was leaving to take over from Pan Yongguo, who was taking care of Li Shaozhong. The night before, Ye Shuning waited until Li Jingyu fell asleep before sneaking into the west room and stewing a pre-killed chicken in the pot.
This was the old hen she had exchanged with other villagers in advance. She had raised it for two days and killed it today.
While the chicken soup was cooking, she also made a lot of meat buns. They were made of pure white flour, and the plump white buns looked very tempting. When the chicken soup was almost done, Ye Shuning turned off the fire and went to bed. She had to get up early the next day, so she set the alarm.
The next day, Ye Shuning boiled the chicken soup again and poured it into the thermos she had bought earlier. She wrapped the meat buns in a clean cloth and placed them in a basket she had woven herself before heading to the Pan family.
Ye Shuning had said she would make some food for Li Shaozhong. It was too hot now, and bringing too much food wouldn't keep. So the Pan family didn't make much food, only bringing some dry provisions for Pan Yongjun.
Pan Dongshan sent his son to town and watched him get on the bus before returning.
After a few days of recuperation, Li Shaozhong was much better. His young body recovered quickly, and his wounds were almost healed. In a few days, he would be discharged and able to go home to recuperate. Being in the hospital was not as convenient as being at home, and it was difficult to take care of his meals.
Because of the injury, Li Shaozhong was much thinner and looked like a weak scholar. However, it did not affect his handsome appearance.
Because Li Shaozhong was young and handsome, with an elegant and noble temperament, he attracted many young nurses during his hospitalization. Several young nurses especially loved to visit Li Shaozhong's ward from time to time to check on him and take the opportunity to see him.
Li Shaozhong was unaware of this, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care, let alone respond.
Pan Yongguo had seen how popular Li Shaozhong was, and thought that he was indeed a talented man from the Li family in Kyoto, as he was still so popular even though he was injured.
Pan Yongjun hurried to the hospital carrying his things.
Seeing his younger brother coming, Pan Yongguo quickly stood up and said, "Third brother, you're here."
"Second brother, let me replace you." Pan Yongjun put the things in his hand on the small cabinet next to the bed.
He took out the thermos from his pocket and said, "Brother Li San, this is the chicken soup Xiao Ning made for you. It's still hot, so drink some while it's hot. Chicken soup won't keep well in this hot weather, so try to eat as much as you can."
Pan Yongguo quickly took out the spoon from his lunch box and said, "Brother Li San didn't eat much for breakfast, so it's a good opportunity to give him some chicken soup."
Li Shaozhong looked at the fragrant chicken soup in the thermos and said, "Xiao Ning must have killed the hen that lays eggs at home, right?"
Pan Yongjun chuckled and said, "No, the hen at Xiaoning's house just laid eggs. She said she wanted to keep them for you to eat. Xiaoning traded this old hen with someone else. You need nutrition now, so you should eat more good food. Oh, and Xiaoning also made some meat buns for you to eat."
Pan Yongjun picked up the basket and pulled open the cloth covering the buns, revealing the plump white buns inside.
Li Shaozhong knew at a glance that Ye Shuning was using pure white flour. The little girl was really willing to do so.
Li Shaozhong said, "It's so hot now, and food can't be kept out, so let's have lunch together."
The Pan brothers also knew that the food would not last long, so Pan Yongguo said, "Leave a few of the meat buns for you to eat tonight, and drink more chicken soup. And this chicken is already stewed very well, it's just right for you to eat."
The three of them drank all the chicken soup and ate the chicken at noon. There were quite a few meat buns left, enough for two people to eat in the evening.
Pan Yongjun came to replace him, and Pan Yongguo took the afternoon bus back after lunch.
Ye Shuning cleaned up the west room, which had been unoccupied, to welcome Li Shaozhong's arrival. She covered the walls with newspapers and spread a reed mat on the earthen kang. She also had to prepare a quilt.
Ye Shuning went into the research institute and found a few quilts, planning to dismantle them and remake them. The outer quilt cover and quilt cover had to be made of plain material.
Before Ye Shuning could make the quilt, someone drove to her house on the weekend.
Ye Shuning looked at the man at the door, whom she didn't recognize at all, and asked, "Excuse me, who are you?"
The man quickly said, "Hello, you must be Ye Shuning, right? I'm Li Shaozhong's friend Liu Feng. He asked me to prepare some things for you a few days ago. Because some of the items were difficult to obtain, it took a few days. I've brought them to you today."
As he spoke, Liu Feng opened the car door and took out a large package. There was another large package inside the car.
Ye Shuning quickly helped open the door, led Liu Feng into the west room, and put the things on the kang in the west room.
Liu Feng placed the package on the kang and said, "Shaozhong knows you don't have any extra bedding. I have cotton and cloth here, so I'd like to trouble you to make some into a quilt."
Ye Shuning said, "That's no problem. Third Brother Li is very thoughtful. Thank you for your help."
Liu Feng waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. Shaozhong and I have a very close relationship. He was injured so badly and couldn't move around easily, so he came to me. I'll have to trouble you a lot when he recuperates here."
Liu Feng carried in another large package and two more bags of food. After putting the things down, Liu Feng did not stay for long and drove away.
Ye Shuning sent the people away and returned to the house to open the big packages to check. One package contained tightly packed snow-white cotton, and the other package contained a lot of cloth, some for making quilts and some for making clothes.
Ye Shuning was thinking of making two sets of clothes for Li Jingyu, and now she has a source of fabric.
The package contained some cloth and daily necessities, apparently meant for Li Shaozhong. There were also two bags of food: one cornmeal and one flour. Li Shaozhong had prepared them in advance, fearing she might run out of food. He was quite thoughtful.
Now that she had the cotton and cloth, she no longer had to worry about the quilt, so Ye Shuning asked Aunt Pan for help.
Yang Xiuying also knew that Ye Shuning's family didn't have much and was short of everything. With cloth and cotton, things would be easy. She and her daughters-in-law finished making several quilts in just one day.
Ye Shuning first laid a kang mat on the kang in the west room, then found a double quilt from the research institute and spread it on the kang mat, and then covered it with a layer of sheets. The west room became clean and warm, and it was completely suitable for living.
Li Shaozhong had previously given Pan Yongguo some money and asked him to help find a village carpenter to order a set of kang cabinets, a cabinet that was half a person tall, a desk and a chair after he returned to the village.
Once the furniture was packed and placed in the west room, the room immediately changed and looked much more comfortable.
Ye Shuning cleaned the west room and waited for Li Shaozhong to be discharged from the hospital before moving in.
Yang Xiuying also knew that when Li Shaozhong was discharged and moved to Ye Shuning's home, either the eldest grandson or the youngest son would have to live there, to avoid suspicion. With two children living together and Li Shaozhong injured, there shouldn't be anyone to gossip about.
Yang Xiuying thought that if it really didn't work out in the future, she would let Li Shaozhong build another house, which could be built next to Ye Shuning's house. That way, the two families would be next to each other and could take care of each other.
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