Gu Xi and Tian Congbao had lunch and took a nap, while Wang Xu went to give Xu Zhengrong, Wu Yao and secretary Zheng Huaijin a bottle of Moutai brought back from Shanghai.
They also gave vanishing cream to the female elder friends who were on good terms with Gu Xi, and prepared candies for the children in the school and biscuits for the elderly. These were all prepared by Gu Weiguo and Gu Chao, to thank the villagers for taking care of Gu Xi. The three of them really couldn't carry it all, and there were several more packages that had been sent and were still on the way.
When Wang Xu returned, Gu Xi was writing something on the table. When he walked closer, he saw that it was a house rental contract.
"Are you really going to collect rent? I just went to the village chief and he told me that Jia Xin's father had another woman outside and had a five-year-old boy. After knowing that Jia Xin was disabled, he wanted to divorce his mother and marry the woman outside.
His father gave them 2,000 yuan as a settlement allowance after the divorce, but they never contacted each other again. Jia Xin's mother was so sad that she disappeared. Now Jia Xin and Tian Wangdi only have 2,000 yuan and no jobs, so they have spent all their savings."
Gu Xi was still writing and revising, but stopped writing after hearing this: "So Jia Xin's father has been out there for a long time and he is confused. Now they have nothing and are so poor that they only have 2,000 yuan left?"
Gu Xi had just gotten up and was not wearing much. Wang Xu went over and touched her hand. Fortunately, she was not cold. He made her a hot cup of malted milk and said, "Well, don't make trouble with them. We should spend this energy on ourselves. Anyway, the house next door is theirs and Cong Bao will not live there. Let them do what they want. It's fine as long as we don't interfere with each other."
Gu Xi sighed, "I didn't mean to make a scene, it's just that I was upset by what you said just now, what a sparrow turning into a phoenix, they just live a good life and don't care about their sister, it's so sour. Forget about it, ignore them, they are living a miserable life themselves. What did you do?"
Wang Xu pinched her angry face and said, "I went to give gifts and brought back so many things. I gave away a batch first, and will give away more when the things sent by mail arrive. Tian Congbao is still asleep? Why are you sitting in the yard, writing something without even going inside? It's so cold outside."
Gu Xi looked at Cong Bao's room and said, "I don't know if he's awake yet. There's no movement. It's spring now, it's not that cold. Sit outside to get some fresh air. You can't stay in the house all the time. You have no resistance anymore."
Wang Xu got up strangely and knocked on Tian Congbao's door, but there was no response: "He went out?"
Gu Xi shook her head: "I don't know. I've been in the yard for a long time and didn't see him go out. Push the door and take a look."
Wang Xu gently pushed the door open and saw Tian Congbao curled up in the quilt with his head not even showing. Wang Xu called out again, but seeing that he didn't respond, he quickly went into the room, pulled back the quilt and took a look.
Tian Congbao's face was flushed, his eyes were closed and his brows were frowned, as if he was having a nightmare. Wang Xu touched his forehead with his hand and found it was burning hot, obviously he had a fever.
"Gu Xi, he has a fever, bring the thermometer over here, and bring some medicine."
Gu Xi quickly got up and gathered all the things. When she went into the house to feed him medicine, Tian Congbao opened his eyes slightly: "Brother, I feel a little cold."
Wang Xu motioned to Gu Xi to come over and help feed the medicine, while he went to fill a hot water bottle and heat the kang in the room.
Gu Xi couldn't hold on to him, so she let him lean on her shoulder: "Come and take the medicine, drink more water, and sweat more to reduce the fever. Your fever is quite high."
Tian Congbao leaned weakly on Gu Xi's shoulder and swallowed the medicine, but he held Gu Xi tightly and refused to let go. He kept yelling "Mom" and crying, and it was obvious that he was confused due to the fever.
Gu Xi wrapped Tian Congbao tightly with a blanket, then hugged him and comforted him softly, "It's okay, it's just a fever. Maybe you're tired from traveling, or you caught a cold from the unfamiliar climate. Fever also occurs when you grow up. It will be fine once the fever goes away. Where does it hurt?"
Tian Congbao closed his eyes and didn't say anything. He just leaned on Gu Xi, calling her mother sometimes and big brother sometimes.
Gu Xi asked Wang Xu to come in and accompany Tian Congbao: "He called you, you accompany him, he must have missed his mother after seeing Tian Wangdi today, I will go to make some porridge, we can drink some porridge in the evening, it's light, we go back home and eat a lot of fish and meat every day, it's better to cleanse the intestines."
Wang Xu nodded: "Be careful not to get burned."
Wang Xu sat aside and looked at Tian Congbao. Tian Congbao was sleeping in a daze. After opening his eyes and seeing Wang Xu, he continued to sleep peacefully.
Until Tian Congbao fell asleep and his breathing became smooth, he walked out of the house and went to the kitchen. Seeing that Gu Xi was not there, he opened the lid of the pot and stirred the porridge with a spoon. It was the shredded chicken porridge cooked by Gu Xi.
After a while, Gu Xi came back with a few pieces of ginger in her hand and saw Wang Xu in the kitchen: "Why are you in the kitchen? Are you worried about my cooking skills? I still know how to cook porridge."
Wang Xu held the person in his arms: "You fell asleep, I came out to help you, did you go to borrow some ginger?"
Gu Xi nodded and said, "Leave it to you. I'm a little afraid of the smell of ginger. By the way, I went to Aunt Chen's house to borrow some ginger. Lin Ling was not at home. She went to see Wu Yue. Aunt Chen said that Ye Xinchen had come to see Lin Ling during the New Year, but was chased away by Lin Ling. When he left, he left a lot of things behind. Lin Ling also chased him to the village entrance to return them to him. In short, it didn't end well. After Lin Ling came back, she was like nothing happened. I don't know what she was thinking."
Wang Xu hummed, but did not comment: "I still say the same thing, take care of yourself. In your words, they are all adults, and they have their own judgment and decision-making ability."
Gu Xi pouted and leaned on Wang Xu's shoulder: "Ah. Is this the price of growing up? How come the originally simple people and things have become so complicated? I think Lin Ling has changed too. She used to tell me everything, but now she keeps it in her heart and tells no one."
Wang Xu processed the ginger and squeezed some ginger juice to make ginger milk. Ginger milk was the only thing Gu Xi was willing to drink.
"No one will remain unchanged. All you have to do is let nature take its course. Everything in the world will eventually separate after a long period of coming together, and will eventually come together after a long period of separation. Except for my love for you, it will never change."
Gu Xi smiled and hit him, then hugged Wang Xu's waist from behind and rested her face on Wang Xu's back. Gu Xi loved this action very much, as she felt that no matter what happened, Wang Xu's shoulders and back were there to support her. Mainly, this position was also suitable for touching the abdominal muscles.
Later that day, Tian Wangdi came to find Gu Xi and said, "Gu Zhiqing, I said something wrong this afternoon. Our family is in trouble now and we have no money to pay the rent."
Gu Xi admired her for her flexibility, but also felt uncomfortable. No one is born to please others: "Okay, I get it. I won't charge you rent. Let's all take a step back and live a good life."
After she finished speaking, she wanted to close the door, but Tian Wangdi stretched out her hand to block her. Gu Xi looked at her in confusion: "Anything else?"
Tian Wangdi didn't know how to start, but after three seconds of silence, she finally spoke: "Can you help Jia Xin find a job in the village? He doesn't know how to farm and can't do rough labor. Can he become a teacher?"
Gu Xi refused without a second thought: "We all know what's wrong with Jia Xin. There's no need to make many things too obvious. He's not suitable for children. I don't even want him to live next door to us. But this is also your home. I have no right to interfere. You can live your own lives. Don't ask us to solve problems all the time. We have no obligation to do so."
Tian Wangdi took a step back, turned around and went back to the house without saying another word to Gu Xi.
Gu Xi looked at her angry back and could only shake her head: "It seems that the peaceful days will never come back. This family has to rely on Wang Xu."
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