At home, with a fierce wife who was not to be trifled with, the old great-grandfather was thoroughly intimidated. Trying to appease her, he spoke up with a fawning tone:

“Calm down, old woman. After all, I’m still the local land deity. Give me a little face, will you?”

The old matriarch of the Song family knew her husband valued his dignity. She cast a glance at Song Wanyue, who was sleeping peacefully and sighed,

“With Heaven watching over us, Wanyue, who is blessed with great fortune, will have divine protection. There’s no point in us staying here. Let’s return to the Land Temple, there’s plenty of work to be done there.”

Hearing this, the great-grandfather’s heart ached for his little great-granddaughter. He quietly comforted his wife. Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the ward.

The elderly couple quickly disappeared and with a gust of cold wind, the room was empty again.

A young nurse, wearing a white cap, peeked into the room from the doorway. She glanced around and seeing the room was quiet, mumbled to herself in confusion,

“Huh? What’s going on? I was sure I heard people talking in here just a moment ago. How could there be no one?”

The nurse muttered a few more words, closed the door and left.

The quiet room was filled only with the sound of the summer breeze rustling through the open window, making the white curtains flutter.

The young girl had been asleep for two days now. During this time, the doctors at the county health clinic had thoroughly examined Song Wanyue but couldn’t find anything wrong with her.

Chen Juhua, along with the rest of the Song family, anxiously waited at the clinic. As soon as the doctor came out of the ward, the entire family rushed over.

“Doctor, what’s wrong with our little girl?” the elderly woman asked urgently.

Zhao Xiuying and Song Xiangdong, the girl’s parents, were equally tense, waiting for the doctor to speak.

Over the past two days, Song Xiangdong and his wife had been so worried about their daughter that they couldn’t eat or sleep. Song Xiangdong looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his face, while Zhao Xiuying’s eyes were swollen and red from crying, clutching her clothes as she awaited the doctor’s words.

Seeing the state of the Song family, the attending doctor could only speak frankly.

“We’ve conducted a detailed and comprehensive examination on the patient. Given the current medical conditions, we haven’t found any physical ailments. Based on the situation, we suspect that the patient may have suffered a severe head injury, leading to a brain hemorrhage, which has caused her to fall into a coma.”

“A brain hemorrhage? What… what can we do? When will my little girl wake up?” Chen Juhua asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

The attending doctor sighed and shook his head.

“We’ve discussed this among ourselves. Right now, it’s hard to say when the patient will regain consciousness. It all depends on when the hemorrhage in her brain clears up.”

Hearing this, Zhao Xiuying almost collapsed but Song Xiangdong caught her just in time. She couldn’t hold back her tears, which began to flow once more.

“Doctor, does this mean my little girl won’t wake up? Isn’t there anything that can be done? Doctor, I beg you, please save my little girl!” Chen Juhua pleaded, her eyes red, gripping the doctor’s hand tightly.

The attending doctor, being a father himself, felt deeply empathetic. He knew how painful this situation was and gently reassured her:

“Don’t worry, ma’am. We will do everything we can to help the patient. You should try not to worry too much. Keep your spirits up and prepare some nourishing soups to feed her. If the child’s nutrition is well-maintained, there’s a chance she might wake up sooner.”

“Yes, you’re right, Doctor! We must stay strong. Our little girl is counting on us,” Chen Juhua said, wiping away her tears and thanking the doctor.

After the doctor left, Chen Juhua glanced at Zhao Xiuying and Lin Yuehong, who were still wiping their tears and sighed,

“Enough. Both of you, stop crying. Didn’t you hear what the doctor said? We need to keep our spirits up and make sure our little girl gets plenty of nourishing soup. We don’t have any rare delicacies in our rural home but the two of you should go back and slaughter one of our old hens to make chicken soup. Once it’s ready, bring it to the clinic quickly. Our little girl only had half a bowl of rice soup earlier, so she must be hungry by now.”

“Yes, Mother. We’ll go home and slaughter the hen to make chicken soup for Wanyue,” Lin Yuehong said, urging Zhao Xiuying to hurry back home.

Although Zhao Xiuying was still worried about her daughter, she knew that staying in the ward wouldn’t do any good. It was better to go home and prepare the chicken to help her daughter recover.

The two women set off for the Dahe Mountain production team, escorted by Wang Jiefang, who was driving the village’s tractor.

At this time, most of the villagers were working on the riverbank, so the village was quiet.

Zhao Xiuying and Lin Yuehong quickly returned to the Song family home. The small courtyard had a few fallen leaves scattered around and the five or six plump chickens and the pigs in the pen were all hungry, crying out because no one had fed them.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they heard the animals’ cries. Lin Yuehong clapped her hands and quickly went to feed them. After washing her hands, she helped Zhao Xiuying catch a chicken from the coop.

The Song family’s chickens were well cared for, raised on insects and were all plump and shiny. The two women selected an old hen and efficiently slaughtered it.

While Zhao Xiuying boiled water in a large pot, Lin Yuehong plucked the chicken in the courtyard. As she plucked the feathers from the plump old hen, she felt comforted, thinking that once Wanyue had some of this chicken soup, she might get better. She wanted to say something to her sister-in-law, but when she looked up, she saw Zhao Xiuying adding water to the pot while wiping away her tears.

Lin Yuehong couldn’t hold back her words any longer and began to comfort her:

“Sister-in-law, don’t cry. Wanyue is blessed with great fortune. She might wake up tomorrow. If you cry yourself sick, what will we do?”

The water in the large pot began to boil, bubbling away. Zhao Xiuying poured in the hot water and together with Lin Yuehong, they cooked the chicken. Only then did she speak in a hoarse voice:

“I’ll listen to my sister-in-law.”

Lin Yuehong smiled at these words and the two of them quickly prepared the fragrant chicken soup. They poured the soup, along with the meat, into a lunchbox, wrapped it in a clean towel and hurried out the door.

By the time they arrived at the clinic, it was already evening. The summer heat was stifling. In the ward, Chen Juhua had just wrung out a towel and was gently wiping her granddaughter’s body. After finishing, a nurse came in to say that the doctor needed to speak with them.

Chen Juhua quickly gathered the family and rushed to see the doctor.

The young girl continued to sleep soundly on the hospital bed, her delicate, rosy cheeks slightly flushed.

The two women entered the ward carrying the lunchbox, only to find Liu Hongmei sitting on a bench in the hallway, dozing off with drool dripping from her mouth.

Liu Hongmei was in the middle of her nap when the aroma of chicken soup filled the air, waking her up. She jumped up and saw the chicken soup in Zhao Xiuying’s hands. Grinning, she asked,

“Sister-in-law, this chicken soup smells amazing! Can I have a bowl?”

As soon as Liu Hongmei spoke, the young girl on the bed fluttered her eyelashes slightly.

In her dream, Song Wanyue saw her loving mother and second aunt preparing a bowl of fragrant chicken soup for her. The little girl, who was starving, was overjoyed. Just as she was about to take the bowl and gulp down the soup, her third aunt suddenly jumped out, snatched the soup from her hands and drank it all down in one go. After finishing, she arrogantly placed her hands on her hips and sneered,

“Humph! A little girl like you doesn’t deserve to drink chicken soup!”

In her dream, the little girl was so angry that her face scrunched up.

Back in reality, Liu Hongmei, seeing that Zhao Xiuying wasn’t responding, pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. She reached out to grab the lunchbox, muttering under her breath,

“This is chicken soup, after all. Why should a little girl like her get to drink it?”

Suddenly, there was a loud crash of thunder and a bolt of lightning struck right in front of Liu Hongmei.

Liu Hongmei, now charred and smoking, stood there in shock.

*What the hell just happened?!*