Another half month passed, and the group took turns on leave. Each person took an extra quilt, plus a hot water bottle.
Every day when I get into bed, it's so warm and cozy that I can't get up in the morning.
Stretching, Wang Yan struggled to get up and fold the blankets. She got out of bed and called to her roommate.
It seems that the relaxation and laziness of spring and summer are all made up for in autumn and winter.
I thought it would be more comfortable with fewer fallen leaves, but in this kind of weather, it's better to sweep up fallen leaves every day.
As soon as the door opened, a gust of wind sent a chill through them. Several people hugged their shoulders and shivered as they went forward to sweep.
Wang Ying asked someone to send her a box of frostbite ointment, which Wang Yan applied every morning and evening.
I decanted a small bottle and put it in my pocket. I'll reapply whenever needed.
Therefore, my hands weren't frostbitten. But the wind couldn't keep out the chill, and by the end of the day, my hands were bright red.
It's cold and I easily get hungry, so I crave something warm to drink. But Grandma Sun's red date and rice porridge doesn't work anymore.
Although it warms you up after drinking it, it just doesn't feel right.
Until this day, when Wang Yan saw Fu Ling grinding pepper in the kitchen, her eyes lit up and she thought of a delicious dish—spicy soup.
More than a dozen spices, including pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, cardamom, cloves, black cardamom, and dried ginger, are ground together into small pieces and placed in a gauze bag.
Knead a dough ball, fill a basin with water to wash out the gluten, and cut it into small pieces.
Shredded wood ear mushrooms, daylily buds, shredded bean curd sheets, dried bean curd sticks, peanuts, and sliced mutton (beef was rarely eaten in ancient times).
Pour the starch water from washing the gluten into a pot, add the spice packet, bring to a boil, then remove the spice packet.
Then add the shredded ingredients mentioned above, and then gradually add the gluten in little by little.
After cooking, add salt, pepper, vinegar, and sesame oil, stir well, and the spicy and delicious Hu La Tang (a type of spicy soup) that warms the stomach and satisfies cravings is ready.
Having a bowl of this every day makes you feel warm and energetic.
Spring snow and spring rain are falling now, and their shifts are about the same time as theirs. The front yard is hard to sweep, and the wind and sand are strong in winter.
Every day after their shift, the four of them would walk hand in hand, carrying hot water bottles, in a grand procession through the night, laughing and joking as they returned to their back room.
Chunlan stumbled upon this once, scoffed at the poor fellow, and turned back to Granny Hua's room.
Because of her advanced age, Madam granted Hua special permission to light a charcoal brazier a few days ago.
She could sleep on the footstool outside and still feel warm, so the house was cozy every day and there was no need for a hot water bottle.
………………
"The madam has spoken; everyone will receive an extra quilt this year."
"Sister Qingqian, why?" Chunxi asked, bewildered.
Qingqian pinched her nose, "You are a lucky person, you don't have to worry about clothes or bedding."
Sitting in the tea room all day, with a hand warmer at night, I naturally don't feel cold.
Almost all the old women outside the gate have fallen ill from the cold. The thick blue cloth curtains have been put up early now, and the mistress even allows them to burn charcoal.
Also, fearing that people might get sick from the cold and be unable to perform their duties, they specially went and bought several truckloads of blankets to distribute beforehand.
“Yes, yes, yes,” the two gatekeepers in the front yard replied hastily.
"I'm getting old and can't stand the cold. This year we might have a warm New Year. My wife is truly the kindest of all."
Qingqian smiled and flicked her handkerchief, creating a gust of cold air. "Madam said that anyone with a hot water bottle can fill it up anytime. The kitchen will continue to provide hot water before the end of the shift."
Oh my! The old woman slapped her thigh in praise again.
Qingqian returned to the main room with a smile on her face, and the madam, along with Qingyu and Qingmei, went to pay their respects.
She took the incense burner and lit a wisp of cypress incense, a scent that the lady had been enjoying for the past few days.
Qingping also lost her will to work, looking at her with a conflicted expression, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
"What's wrong? Speak your mind."
"A letter came the other day saying that Zhimo was being mistreated at home and seemed to be dying!"
Upon hearing this, Qingqian was shocked. "How could that be? Didn't we send medicine over back then? If we had applied the medicine and taken the medicine on time, we should have been better by now."
Zhi Mo was sent home, and the women secretly delivered some medicine to her without the wife's knowledge.
"I don't know what happened, so I'm wondering if I should go check it out."
Qingqian was silent for a few moments, then said softly, "Since we're going, we can't hide it from Madam. We should report it to her truthfully."
The wife could turn a blind eye to the secret delivery of medicine, after all, she had served him for so many years, and this was a token of her affection.
But if they come to our door openly and honestly, that means they're backing us up. We can't let them have their way.
………………
On the winter solstice, Qingmei and Qingping, along with an old woman, went to Zhimo's house.
Before even stepping into the courtyard, the shrill, piercing curses could be heard clearly from outside the courtyard wall.
"What a waste of money I've raised, you useless brat, lying in bed like a sickly princess, do you really think you're some kind of rich young lady?"
"You have to get up today whether you want to or not. It's a holiday, and if you bring bad luck upon me, I don't care how you pretend, I'll send you to a mass grave tomorrow!"
Qingmei and Qingping both frowned and their faces fell as they entered her house.
Just as Zhimo's mother was getting into her rant, several people suddenly appeared behind her.
After realizing that they were the maids from the madam's quarters, they quickly stepped forward with a smile, "Please sit down, ladies. What brings you here?"
He greeted them politely, but his eyes were fixed on the quilt and charcoal in the gatekeeper's hands.
"What are you doing?" Qingping sneered. "Naturally, I'm here to see why Zhimo, despite all the medicine and soup she's been given, isn't getting any better!"
The old woman looked embarrassed. "This girl is unlucky. We've given her medicine and taken good care of her every day, but she still hasn't gotten better after all this time."
"nonsense!"
Qingmei slammed her hand on the table. "What a wicked servant! How dare you resell the medicine bestowed by the madam!"
Zhimo's mother stared wide-eyed in disbelief. How could they possibly know about this?
They delivered it quietly under the cover of darkness, could it be that Dog's mother betrayed them! That little slut!
Her heart pounded like a drum, but she stubbornly denied it, saying, "I'm innocent! I boiled that medicine down to the dregs and couldn't bear to throw it away. I took it once a day without missing a dose, but it didn't help, so I stopped."
Qingmei chuckled, but didn't argue with the old woman.
"I won't tell you whether you sold it or not right now. The physician will be here soon."
Just you wait and see, if you greedily take even the slightest bit, won't your wife skin you alive?
Zhimo's mother was terrified. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat, her legs trembled, and she collapsed onto the edge of Zhimo's bed.
The two then had a moment to give the gatekeeper, who had followed them, a wink, and the gatekeeper placed the quilt on Zhimo's bed.
As soon as I put it down, it made her cough.
When Qingmei and her companion heard the sound, they turned around and saw that Zhimo was awake.
Its face was ashen, and it lay there motionless, its eyes wide open.
Her eyes were empty as she stared at the sky. Qingping called out to her softly or nudged her gently, but she did not respond.
In no time, the physician arrived. After taking her pulse, she said, "You should have recovered long ago. Why did you stop taking your medicine for five or six days? This delay means you'll have to take medicine for another half month."
Qingping had finally found a way to get her hands on something and made a move to rush out.
"Even after Zhimo recovers from her injuries, she still has to go back to work as Madam sends her. How dare you be so mean, you old hag!"
Zhimo's mother hurriedly grabbed her waist, trying to stop her from leaving. After several arguments, it took a lot of effort for her to finally stop Qingping.
He verbally apologized repeatedly, but inwardly he was filled with remorse. If he had known she could go back, would he have bothered to put her through all this trouble?
Upon hearing this, Zhi Mo, lying on the bed, perked up. She half-crawled, half-knelt, tugged at Qing Mei's sleeve, her voice trembling.
"My dear sister, are you telling the truth?"
Seeing her like this, Qingmei couldn't bear it, so she swallowed the words she wanted to use to mock her and nodded gently.
"Okay, okay! I'll get better soon and then I'll go back to work."
After saying that, she collapsed onto the bed, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to cry out loud, but she had no strength and could barely speak.
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