Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Sending Porridge_1
Translator: 549690339
The next day.
Jiang Sanlang came back from his second brother’s house with a face full of joy, telling his wife, “Last night, the second brother slept deeply, hardly coughing at all. This morning, his fever miraculously subsided.”
“Really? Oh, that’s fantastic,” Chunniang said with a mix of surprise and joy. “It seems that the second brother is getting better.”
“He should be,” Jiang Sanlang smiled. “The medicine we got yesterday seemed to work. He got better after just one dose.”
“But it’s so expensive,” Jiang Sanlang shook his head with a sigh. “One dose costs more than one coin.”
Chunniang didn’t respond, thinking, that means the coin she spent yesterday was not enough. If it’s going to continue like this, they won’t have enough for their daily expenses.
But not spending is not an option. The situation is enough to give anyone a headache.
Yingbao was also worried.
His uncle had a lung disease, which was not easy to treat, so medication couldn’t be stopped. He had to complete three full courses of the medication.
Three courses would roughly last for forty-five days. If a new dose is needed every five days, that would total ten taels of silver.
Ten taels! That was equal to ten thousand coins. With the money from her father, grandfather, grandmother, and uncle all combined, they might still not have ten taels.
So, where would the money for the medicine come from?
Or, should she feed her uncle with some Five Tripod Ganoderma to help him recover faster?
Although she wasn’t sure if it could cure his lung disease, her uncle had already significantly improved, which suggested that the Five Tripod Ganoderma should be effective.
With that thought, Yingbao rushed to the west room and instantly entered the cave.
One-fifth of the Five Tripod Ganoderma in the crevices of the rock wall was gone, but it seemed like more had grown on the top of the cave.
But that place was too high, and no matter how hard Yingbao tried, she couldn’t reach it.
Well, she would let it be for now and figure something out once the Ganoderma on the wall was used up.
Yingbao carefully plucked the leaves of the Five Tripod Ganoderma one by one and placed them in a clean pottery bowl. When she had thirty leaves, she stopped.
She grabbed a rolling pin and smashed the leaves into a paste. She then added some water from the pond and stirred it until half a bowl of transparent medicine paste was formed.
At noon, Jiang Sanlang was boiling medicine in his second brother’s yard. Seeing his youngest daughter jumping around, he asked, “Has Baobao eaten yet?”
“Yes.” Yingbao squatted on the ground, staring at the bubbling medicine pot, and said, “Mother asked you to come back home for lunch.”
Leng’s house wouldn’t prepare lunch for Jiang Sanlang, and she was even reluctant to boil medicine for her husband, let alone enter the room where he stayed.
She was probably afraid of getting infected, because Doctor Li had said that those who are looking after a patient should cover their mouth and nose with a cloth.
Of course, Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Dalang didn’t have faith in Leng to prepare the medicine either.
After all, this woman was cold-hearted. If she were to steal the ginseng slices and donkey hide gelatin from the medicine, that would be unacceptable, and it wouldn’t be the first time she did something like this.
A few years ago, when Jiang Erlang was ill, she had picked out the ginseng slices from the Herbal packages and, together with money and goods, hidden them under the bed. She was later unintentionally discovered by Jiang Liu. Out of rage, He almost divorced her on the spot.
If it wasn’t for the sake of Dani who was young at the time, and the fact that she was already pregnant with another child, and Jiang Erlang’s hard defense, Jiang Liu would have definitely sent Leng back to her family that time.
It was after this incident that the three Jiang brothers decided to split up their households.
Yingbao overheard her parents discussing this incident.
“I’ll come back home as soon as your uncle finishes drinking this medicine,” Jiang Sanlang said, using a cloth to lift the pot lid to take a peek. Seeing that it was about done, he removed the charcoal fire and fetched a large pottery bowl to contain the medicine.
The medicine was poured into the bowl, filling it halfway with a dark and bitter concoction.
Seeing his youngest daughter staring intently at the bowl of medicine, he didn’t want her to make a mess and said, “Baobao, you should go back first. I’ll be back soon.”
Yingbao blinked her eyes, “I’ll wait and go with Father.”
Jiang Sanlang was helpless, carrying the bowl of medicine and heading to the west room, he cautioned her, “Then you must behave.”
“Baobao will be good. Baobao wants to see her second uncle.”
Yingbao hopped behind her father into the west room where her uncle was staying.
Inside the west room, Dani was standing by the bed, talking to her father with a worried face.
The little girl seemed to have grown up all of a sudden as she softly and gently explained to her father why her mother wasn’t at home.
“Father, Mother took my little brother to my uncle’s house. She said my external grandmother wasn’t feeling well and will be back soon after checking on her.”
Half-closed eyes of Jiang Erlang who’s lying on the kang couldn’t reveal any expression, his hand feebly tightened for a moment and he whispered hoarselv, “Got it.”
Yingbao was surprised.
How could Leng Family’s Erlang’s wife take Huzi to her parental home under such circumstances?
Her husband was ill, what was she thinking?
No wonder she hadn’t seen Huzi, turns out his mother had taken him away.
“Brother, it’s time for your medicine.” Jiang Sanlang placed the medicine bowl on the small table, and turned his head to glare at his little girl, warning her with his eyes not to touch the medicine bowl. He then helped Erlang sit up.
Yingbao: …
She hadn’t done anything yet.
Turning her head, she saw Sister Dani looking at her, could not help but scratch her head.
“Sister Dani, shall we go to Uncle’s house to find Sister Dani?”
Yingbao knew there was no way she could sneak the Five Dingzhi into the medicine bowl now, so she had to settle for the next best thing, inviting Dani to find Dani.
Dani shook her head: “No, I have to take care of dad.’
With mom not home, dad would have difficulty even if he wanted to drink water, she must stay at home to keep an eye on things.
Yingbao pouted, and walked out of the room sulking.
Jiang Sanlang helped his brother to drink the medicine, and helped him lie down again, saying, “Brother, you sleep for a while, and I’ll be back soon.” “Um.” Jiang Erlang nodded and closed his eyes.
After Jiang Sanlang went out, he saw his daughter looking like a wilted leaf in the sun, and couldn’t help but laugh, squatting down and clapping his hands: “Baobao, come, back home with dad.”
Yingbao didn’t want to go home, but it didn’t seem useful for her to stay here either, so she reached out for her dad to hold her, and couldn’t help but ask: “Dad, has Uncle eaten yet? Shall we bring him some food?”
“He’s already had breakfast.” Jiang Sanlang carried his daughter and started walking home. “Your aunt will bring porridge over for lunch, we don’t need to deliver.”
“Oh.” Yingbao was even more disappointed.
After reaching home, she saw her dad going into the house for food, and she quickly went towards her Uncle’s house.
As soon as she reached the doorstep of her uncle’s house, she saw Yuanbao holding a stone ball, preparing to kick the ball with a few boys at the threshing ground.
Seeing his little cousin coming over, Yuanbao thought she was here to read books as usual, so he said: “Yingbao, the books are on the table, go and read them, I’m going to play football.”
He had been obsessed with football lately, even Youyou was out of favor.
Yingbao blinked her eves: “Where’s Sister Dani?”
“She’s cooking in the kitchen.” Saying this, Yuanbao had already run far away. In the kitchen, Sister Dani was indeed cooking porridge, the sweet smell of rice wafting with the heat.
Yingbao pursed her mouth and smiled, asking, “Sister Dani, are you making porridge?”
“Yes.” Dani nodded, specifically saying, “It’s for Uncle.”
“Oh.” Yingbao was even more delighted, and hurriedly asked, “Are you going to bring it to Uncle later?”
“I will deliver it as soon as it’s ready.” Dani thought her little cousin wanted some, and quietly said: “I’ll save some for you later.”
Yingbao shook her head: “No need, I’m full.”
Pausing for a moment, she added: “Can I help you serve the porridge?”
Dani didn’t understand why her little cousin wanted to help her serve the porridge, but still nodded: “Okay, but be careful not to spill.”
“I won’t spill.” Yingbao excitedly stood on her tiptoes to see the steaming pot, measured with her hand, and saw that she could not reach the stove at all, so she quickly moved a stool next to the stove.
Not long after, the porridge was ready, and Dani took out the fire, fetched a jar, and also got a big bamboo spoon, and opened the pot.
A surge of steam carrying the strong fragrance of rice came to face.
Yingbao was afraid that Dani would change her mind, so she quickly snatched the bamboo spoon in her hand and stood on the stool.
Dani: …
Avoiding Dani’s strange look, Yingbao used the bamboo spoon to scoop the porridge and pour it into the jar..
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