The next day.
Jiang Sanlang came back from his second brother's house and said to his wife with joy, "My second brother slept very soundly last night and didn't cough much. His fever has subsided this morning."
"Really? Oh, that's great." Chun Niang was pleasantly surprised. "Second brother is getting better soon, right?"
"That should be it." Jiang Sanlang smiled, "The medicine I prescribed yesterday is effective. I feel better after taking it."
"It's just too expensive, alas." Jiang Sanlang shook his head and sighed, "One dose costs more than one guan."
Chunniang didn't respond. She thought to herself that the one string of money she took out yesterday wasn't enough. If she continued to spend like this in the future, she wouldn't be able to make ends meet.
But I have to take it, oh, it really makes me worried.
Yingbao is also very worried.
My second uncle has a lung disease which is difficult to treat, so he cannot stop taking the medicine and must complete three courses of treatment.
Three courses of treatment take about forty-five days. If you take one dose of medicine every five days, it would cost ten taels of silver.
Ten taels, that's ten thousand coins. Even if all the money of my uncle, grandparents and my father were added together, it might not be enough to make ten taels.
So, where does the money for this medicine come from
Or, should she feed some Wudingzhi to Second Uncle so that he can get better quickly
Although we don't know if that thing can cure lung disease, my second uncle's condition has obviously improved, which means that Wudingzhi should be effective.
Thinking of this, Yingbao ran to the west room and entered the cave in an instant.
One fifth of the Wudingzhi in the cracks of the rock wall has disappeared, but the cave ceiling seems to have grown a lot.
But that place was too high, and no matter how hard Yingbao tried, she just couldn't get up.
Forget it, let’s ignore it for now. I’ll think of a solution after I’ve used up all the stuff on the rock wall.
Yingbao carefully plucked the leaves of the Wudingzhi plant one by one and placed them in a clean ceramic bowl, stopping when she had plucked thirty leaves.
I picked up a rolling pin and pounded them into a paste. I added some pond water and stirred it. Half a bowl of transparent medicine paste was successfully created.
At noon, Jiang Sanlang was boiling medicine in a medicine pot in his second brother's yard. He saw his little girl running towards him and asked, "Has Bao'er eaten yet?"
"Yeah." Yingbao squatted on the ground, staring at the bubbling medicine jar, and said, "Mother asked you to go home for dinner too."
Leng would not prepare meals for her third uncle. She was even unwilling to make medicine for her husband, let alone enter the room where her husband was.
I guess they were afraid of infection, because Doctor Li said that people who serve closely need to cover their mouths and noses with a cloth.
Of course, Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Dalang were also worried about her taking care of it.
After all, this woman is cold-hearted. It would be bad if she secretly hid the ginseng slices and donkey-hide gelatin in the medicine. She has done such things before.
A few years ago, when Jiang Erlang fell ill, she picked out the ginseng slices from the medicine bag, and secretly hid them under the bed along with some money and other things. Later, Jiang Liushi accidentally discovered them and was so angry that she wanted to divorce her on the spot.
If it weren't for the fact that Erni was still young and pregnant, and if it weren't for Jiang Erlang's desperate protection, Jiang Liu would definitely have sent her second daughter-in-law back to her parents' home.
It was at that time that the three brothers of the Jiang family separated.
Yingbao learned all these things from eavesdropping on her parents' conversations.
"Dad will go home after your second uncle finishes drinking the medicine." Jiang Sanlang said, holding a piece of linen to pad his hands, he opened the lid of the medicine jar and took a look. When he saw that it was almost ready, he removed the charcoal fire and took a large ceramic bowl to hold the medicine.
The medicine was poured into a ceramic bowl, filling up half of the bowl with a strong bitter taste.
Seeing that his little girl was staring at the medicine bowl, Jiang Sanlang was afraid that she would make trouble again, so he said, "Bao'er, go back first. Dad will be back soon."
Yingbao blinked and said, "I'll wait for Dad."
Jiang Sanlang had no choice but to pick up the medicine bowl and go to the west room, admonishing: "Then you are not allowed to be naughty."
"Bao'er is not naughty. Bao'er wants to visit his second uncle."
Yingbao jumped and followed her father and ran into the west room where her second uncle lived.
In the west room, Erni was standing by the kang, talking to her father with a worried look on her face.
The little girl seemed to have grown up all of a sudden, and she explained to her father in a soft voice why her mother was not at home.
"Dad, mom took my brother to my uncle's house. She said grandma is not feeling well and she'll be back soon after she goes to take a look."
Jiang Erlang, who was lying on the kang, half-closed his eyes, his expression was unrecognizable. He just clenched his hands weakly and said in a hoarse voice, "I know."
Yingbao was surprised.
Second aunt Leng actually brought Hu Zi back to her parents' home at this time.
Her husband is sick. What is this woman thinking
No wonder I didn’t see Hu Zi, it turns out he was taken away by his mother.
"Second brother, it's time to take the medicine." Jiang Sanlang placed the medicine bowl on the small table, turned around and glared at his little girl, warning her with his eyes not to touch the medicine bowl, and then went to help his second brother up.
Yingbao: ...
She hasn't done anything yet.
When he turned around and saw Sister Erni, she was also looking at him, and he couldn't help scratching his head.
"Second Sister Ni, can we go to Uncle's house to find Big Sister Ni?"
Yingbao knew that it was impossible to secretly add Wudingzhi into the medicine bowl now, so she had to settle for the second best and invite Erni to find Dani.
Erni shook her head: "No, I want to take care of Daddy."
When mom is not at home, it is inconvenient for dad to drink water, so she has to stay at home to watch over him.
Yingbao pouted and walked out of the house unhappily.
After Jiang Sanlang fed his second brother the medicine, he helped him lie down and said, "Second brother, you take a nap first. I'll be right back."
"Yeah." Jiang Erlang nodded and closed his eyes.
Jiang Sanlang came out and saw his daughter looking like a wilted vegetable leaf. He couldn't help but smile and squatted down to clap his hands: "Bao'er, come here and go home with Daddy."
Yingbao didn't want to go home, but it seemed useless for her to stay here, so she opened her arms and asked her father to hold her, and asked persistently: "Dad, has Second Uncle eaten yet? Should we send him food?"
"We've already had breakfast." Jiang Sanlang carried his daughter home. "Your aunt will cook porridge and send it over at noon, so we don't need to send it."
"Oh." Yingbao was even more disappointed.
When she got home and saw her father going into the house to eat, she ran to her uncle's house.
As soon as I arrived at my uncle's house, I saw Yuanbao holding a stone ball in his arms and about to go to the threshing ground to play ball with a few boys.
When Yuanbao saw his little cousin coming over, he thought she was here to read books like before, so he said, "Yingbao, the books are on the table, go read them yourself, I have to go play football."
He has been addicted to football games recently, and even Yoyo has fallen out of favor.
Yingbao blinked: "Where's sister Dani?"
"Making a fire in the kitchen." As he said this, Yuanbao ran away.
In the kitchen, Sister Dani was indeed making porridge on a fire, and the sweet aroma of rice filled the air with the hot steam.
Yingbao smiled and asked, "Sister Dani, are you cooking porridge?"
"Yeah." Dani nodded and explained, "I cooked it for my second uncle."
"Oh." Yingbao was even happier and asked quickly, "Are you going to send it to Uncle Er later?"
"I'll send it to you when it's cooked." Dani thought her little cousin wanted to eat it, so she whispered, "I'll save some for you later."
Yingbao shook her head: "No, I'm full."
After a pause, he said, "Can I help you serve the porridge?"
Dani didn't understand why her little cousin wanted to help her serve the porridge, but she nodded: "Okay, then be careful not to spill it."
"It won't spill." Yingbao stood on tiptoe excitedly to look at the steaming pot, gestured, and saw that she couldn't reach the stove, so she quickly moved a stool to the side of the stove.
After a while, the porridge was cooked. Dani turned off the fire, took a pot, a large bamboo spoon, and opened the pot.
A white vapor with a rich rice aroma blew towards me.
Yingbao was afraid that Dani would go back on her word, so she immediately grabbed the bamboo spoon and stood on the stool.
Dani: ...
Yingbao avoided Dani's strange look and scooped the porridge with a bamboo spoon and poured it into the pot.