Only then did everyone notice that Li Damin was barefoot, and Grandpa Cui told him to wash the mud off his feet first.
After cleaning, it was discovered that his right foot had a long cut from a pebble.
Grandpa Cui asked, "Young man, such a long wound, doesn't it hurt?"
Li Damin chuckled and scratched his head, saying, "I don't feel anything."
Grandpa Cui said, "The wound is deep and has been soaked in muddy water, so it needs to be disinfected."
Bai Xiaoyue heard the noise and came out of the house to ask:
"Grandpa, we only have baijiu (Chinese liquor) at home, is that alright?"
Grandpa Cui nodded.
Bai Xiaoyue found a set of Yan Ci's clothes and handed them to Li Damin:
"Li Zhiqing, change your clothes first, then bandage your wound."
She took out the liquor and found a clean cloth.
Cui Jinxiu took the items, bandaged Li Damin's wound, and said to him, "We have limited resources, so this is the only way."
Li Damin waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, just a minor injury."
Li Mingyue helped Grandma He out.
Chang Le and Ru Yi then brought ginger soup to Grandma He, Li Damin, and Xiang Zhennan.
Grandma He finished her drink in a few gulps and hurriedly said to Grandpa Cui:
"Old Cui, please take a look at my Panpan."
Grandpa Cui was busy checking Grandma He's baby again:
"Sister-in-law, the child is fine. Just take good care of him."
Bai Xiaoyue was very puzzled. How could there be a baby in Grandma He's house?
She didn't have time to ask any more questions.
She told everyone to sit down and rest while she spun around like a top preparing food for so many people!
Chang Le and Ru Yi both came to help, and Li Mingyue also brought Ping'er along.
Bai Xiaoyue asked Li Mingyue, "Mingyue, what do you want to cook?"
Li Mingyue said, "Cook some porridge, steam a few baskets of buns, prepare more, if we can't finish them, we can eat them tomorrow."
Bai Xiaoyue prepared a large bowl of mixed dough and cooked a large pot of millet porridge.
I smashed a cucumber and stir-fried some shredded potatoes.
Yan Ci and Cui Yunchen returned after she had finished steaming all the buns.
Yan Ci was soaked to the bone, his pants were covered in mud, and Bai Xiaoyue felt terrible for him.
Tell him to change his clothes quickly, and I'm busy getting a towel to dry his hair.
After Yan Ci finished tidying up, Bai Xiaoyue brought him ginger soup.
She whispered, "Aci, drink it quickly. Only your bowl has brown sugar in it; no one else has any."
Yan Ci picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp, then said with a beaming smile, "It's delicious."
He patted his wife's head and said:
“Daughter-in-law, your uncle said that more than a dozen houses in the village have collapsed, and there are many people who need to be relocated.”
Let these people stay in our house for a few days.
Bai Xiaoyue nodded: "Okay, let the three children sleep with us."
Grandpa Cui, Uncle Cui, and Uncle Xiang slept in Xiaobai's room.
Grandma He and the child, Aunt Wen, and Aunt Cui, they all stayed in Chang Le's room.
Yan Ci nodded.
Wang Weiguo came to pick up Li Mingyue and the child, and Bai Xiaoyue invited him to stay for a meal before he went back.
Li Damin wanted to leave, but Bai Xiaoyue wouldn't let him:
"Li Zhiqing, your foot has just been bandaged. Eat first, and go back when the rain subsides a bit."
There were many people, so no one paid attention to etiquette. Everyone sat around the table, while the elderly sat and the young people stood.
Everyone happily ate their bowls of porridge, some vegetables, and steamed buns.
After dinner, Bai Xiaoyue arranged the rooms for everyone to sleep in:
"That's the arrangement. Men share a room, women share a room, we'll have to make do for a few days."
Grandpa Cui said, "Little Bai, this is very good."
Yan Ci escorted Li Damin home, then returned home to wash up and go to bed.
The two daughters slept on the right, Bai Xiaoyue slept in the middle, Xiaobai was on the right, and a spot was left for Yan Ci on the far side.
Little White was very excited, snuggling up to her mother: "Great! I can sleep next to Mommy!"
Chang Le also said, "Mom, it's been so long since I've slept next to you."
Ruyi lay quietly, feeling that this kind of life was truly wonderful.
Bai Xiaoyue said with a laugh, "It's only because it's been raining these past few days that it's been a bit cooler, otherwise you guys would be dying of heat, and you still like to squeeze together to sleep."
Yan Ci felt aggrieved that he couldn't be near his wife, and his eyes were filled with sorrow. He remained motionless for a long time.
Bai Xiaoyue sighed and said, "Aci, go to sleep. It's only for a few days."
Thank God, the rain finally stopped after four days of heavy rain.
Uncle Bai and Ye Jianguo then began the cleanup work.
Organize all the labor force to rebuild the collapsed houses.
Only Ruyi stayed at home to take care of Grandma He and the children.
Everyone else went to help; some people took apart the adobe bricks, and others dismantled the old house beams and rafters.
It's still usable. We need to carry it to the river to wash it clean, let it dry, and keep it for later use.
Bai Xiaoyue, Li Mingyue, and Wen Tong went to the river to wash themselves.
This job looks easy, but after a day of work, I was so tired that I could barely straighten my back.
Bai Xiaomei also came to work with her two daughters.
The older daughter, who is a little older than Xiaobai, helped her with the work, while the younger daughter played over there.
A neighbor asked her, "Xiaomei, why did you bring the child along? It would be better if Linhua looked after him at home."
Bai Xiaomei said, "Lin Hua wants to see the younger one."
Bai Xiaoyue looked at the little girl's clothes; the patches were so numerous that the original colors were indistinguishable, suggesting that Bai Xiaomei's family wasn't doing very well.
It was two months later when all the collapsed courtyards were rebuilt.
Grandpa Cui and his family thanked them repeatedly and moved back to their own courtyard.
Grandma He's foot has long since healed, and she spends all her time holding her baby.
They were truly treated with utmost care, as if afraid of dropping them if held in their hands, or melting them if kept in their mouths.
Grandma He knew everyone was curious, so she explained:
“This is the child of my maternal relatives. He was born in March of this year, and his parents have both passed away.”
My relative thought I was lonely, so she brought her to me.
I thought it would be good for her to keep me company, so I decided to keep her as my daughter.
This is my granddaughter, her name is He Panpan.
Grandma He treats her granddaughter like her own precious treasure. When grinding rice porridge for her granddaughter, she strictly follows the proportions of rice, peanuts, and soybeans.
Seeing Grandma He's strict attitude, Bai Xiaoyue felt that she was not qualified at all in raising Xiaobai.
He Panpan stayed here for two months and then suddenly moved away, which Bai Xiaoyue found a little hard to get used to.
Xiao Bai went home and looked around, but didn't see Panpan, so she asked, "Mommy, where's Panpan?"
Bai Xiaoyue: "Panpan has gone back to her own home."
Xiaobai: "Oh, she doesn't live at our house!"
"Yes, she is Grandma He's granddaughter, so she has to go back to the He family."
"Mom, please give me a little sister!"
"What, having an older sister isn't enough, you also want a younger sister."
"My little sister is so cute. Whenever I tease her, she smiles at me."
Bai Xiaoyue rubbed her son's head and said:
"Xiaobai, I'm sorry, Mommy is too old to have a little sister for you."
Xiaobai: "Mom, there's nothing to apologize for. I was just asking casually, and I don't really want it."
That evening, Bai Xiaoyue said to Yan Ci:
"Today, Xiaobai said she wanted a little sister. Look at the mess you've made! Otherwise, we could have another daughter."
Yan Ci quickly hugged his wife: "Let's have the baby now."
Bai Xiaoyue punched Yan Ci a few times: "I'm telling you something serious."
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