Ever since little Taole peed on Zhao Luochuan, his father has been so happy that he insisted that Taole was close to him and would talk about it to everyone he met.
Especially after little Taole was a hundred days old and had been breastfed for a long time, Zhao Luochuan went up the mountain to catch a ewe and brought back the lamb together.
The lambs were not very big and the ewe was in the lactation stage, so Zhao Luochuan left the ewe at home. Xiangping's child was sick, and she was extremely anxious and couldn't calm down. Yang Donghu didn't force her, and after settling the money, he let her go home.
Because Xiangping was hardworking and down-to-earth, Yang Donghu added some more to the price agreed upon before. Xiangping might be of use in the future. The child's illness cost a lot of money, so giving her more now would make Xiangping remember the favor and it would be easier for her to ask for help when she came to him again in the future.
As soon as she left, Yang Donghu realized how hard it was to take care of a child. It was his first time having a child, so he was still a little unfamiliar with the techniques. Before Xiang Ping left, she told Yang Donghu all about Xiao Taole's habits, so it was really troublesome for him to do it himself.
The freshly squeezed goat milk cannot be drunk directly. It needs to be boiled in water before it can be fed to the child. The child needs to be fed five or six times a day. It is okay during the day because Zhu Cuilan can help with feeding. But at night, Yang Donghu is alone. Not only does he have to get up every once in a while to feed the child, but he also has to wake up from time to time to check whether Xiao Taole is sleeping well.
Xiang Ping had only been gone for three days when Yang Donghu felt extremely tired. He felt sleepy as soon as the day came and had no choice but to leave the baby to Zhu Cuilan. He himself had also developed the habit of being a night owl, not sleeping at night and not waking up during the day. Not only could he not bear it mentally, but he also started to have stomach pains in the past few days.
Zhao Luochuan's time in the mountains became shorter and shorter. Once he came back, he would stay for ten days or half a month. With him around, it was much easier for the two of them to take turns feeding the child at night.
This is not a long-term solution. Yang Donghu's face has become pale and he has lost weight. Zhao Luochuan feels so distressed and thinks about finding someone who can take care of the child without having to feed him, so that he can help take care of the child at night and save himself the trouble.
However, this plan did not come to fruition in the end. Seeing that they could not take care of the child, Zhu Cuilan said that Taole should sleep with her at night. After all, she had experience in raising two children. In a few months, when the child was eight months old, she would not have to get up to feed him at night. It would be much easier to take care of him then, and she could let little Taole go back.
Although they already get along like a family, Yang Donghu felt somewhat embarrassed to trouble Zhu Cuilan. However, he did not dare to refuse. If he did, Zhu Cuilan would surely get angry again.
Yang Donghu agreed to her words and left Taole with Zhu Cuilan, while he took over all the housework. He had some experience in cooking and cleaning the house, which was much better than taking care of a baby.
This made him feel much more relaxed, and Zhao Luochuan could go to the mountain more often without worry. It was midsummer, and it rained from time to time. The small river behind the house rose in water, and toads and frogs would crawl along the wall into the yard.
It had just rained in the past two days, and it was very cool with a breeze in the evening. Every household was outside to enjoy the cool air. The Zhao family also moved stools to sit under a tree to enjoy the cool air. It was dark and Yang Donghu could not see clearly. A toad jumped over his feet, which scared him so much that he howled and jumped far away.
That night, Yang Donghu boiled water to wash his feet. The backs of his feet were covered with toads, and he couldn't get rid of the disgusting feeling. His pair of white little feet were rubbed red, and the hot water stung them, which made the pain even worse.
Toads are common in the village, but few people are as afraid of them as he is. Some people will inevitably say that he is being pretentious, but Zhao Luochuan can't stand it. Everyone is afraid of something, and it's normal to be afraid of toads because they are so ugly.
In the evening, he applied crushed Herba Coptidis on Yang Donghu's rubbed feet and once again remembered the idea of moving his family to the town.
They had saved up quite a bit of money over this period of time, so buying a yard in town wasn't a difficult matter financially, but choosing a location was difficult. This wasn't like buying meat or food, so they had to be extremely cautious.
Now that he had the idea, Zhao Luochuan planned to go back to the town to look for his acquaintances to see if there was any way.
But before that, Yang Donghu might have to live in fear for a while. Zhao Luochuan planned to buy some realgar powder tomorrow and sprinkle it on the base of the wall outside the yard. This thing can prevent the five poisons and it should be somewhat effective.
"Does it still hurt?" Zhao Luochuan pulled Yang Donghu's ankle and blew gently.
Yang Donghu shook his head. He couldn't think about the disgusting touch at all. When he thought about it, he couldn't help but want to scratch the back of his feet.
Zhao Luochuan saw what he was going to do and held Yang Donghu's hand first: "Don't grab it, it's already bleeding. I just applied the herbal medicine. I'll wash it off later."
"When we come down from the mountain again, let's go to town and look for a suitable yard. If there is one, we have enough money. The town is different from the village. Buying a yard will save you from being scared of toads."
He had said this last year, but Yang Donghu himself didn't take it too seriously. After all, the toad only came out frequently in the summer. He had felt comfortable living in this yard for a long time, and he was reluctant to move away. This winter, he wanted to build a snowman with Zhao Fangchu and Yang Anjin.
Zhao Luochuan could tell what he was thinking at a glance. He smiled and ruffled the ends of Yang Donghu's hair, saying, "This isn't something you can just pay for and buy right away. We have to be selective, right? If we can move out before next summer, that's fast. If it's slow, we don't know how long it will take. Anyway, we'll definitely be here for the New Year this year."
Yang Donghu nestled in his arms and nodded gently, temporarily forgetting the pain on the back of her feet.
Late at night, when everyone was asleep, Yang Donghu and Zhao Luochuan were cuddling in bed and didn't hear the suppressed coughs coming from the west room.
The old lady covered her mouth with a quilt as if she was afraid of being heard. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth after coughing a few times. It was difficult for her to sleep well at night as she got older. The pain in her joints was getting more and more severe. She could not bear the discomfort even on rainy days.
No one knows one's own body better than oneself. Ever since Yang Donghu took the old lady in, he has been taking her medicine all the time. At the beginning, it relieved her symptoms for a while, but after taking the medicine for a long time, she felt that it had little effect.
Yang Donghu changed several doctors for the old lady and changed the prescription several times. When he took the medicine for the last time, the doctor had already warned her not to increase the dosage, otherwise the old lady would not be able to bear it as she was old.
The old lady felt that she had caused Yang Donghu a lot of trouble, and she didn't want him to worry about her at this moment. She had been feeling very stuffy in her chest these past few days, and the pain was unbearable when it was serious. Seeing that Yang Donghu was exhausted both physically and mentally from taking care of Taole, the old lady had never mentioned this to him.
After the heartache subsided, the old lady kept her eyes open and did not feel sleepy until dawn, when she closed her eyes deeply. It was not known whether she fell asleep or fainted.
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