Chapterr 58.2

Chuchu, feeling miserable all over, instantly brightened at the thought of the sweet honey water. His eyes lit up, and he looked at Qin Qingman’s retreating figure with renewed energy.

Qin Qingman smiled, then left the west room.

She first took care of herself, washing up and getting ready, before returning to the west room with the prepared honey water.

“Big Sis, it… it doesn’t hurt that much anymore!”

Chuchu was now sitting up against the bedhead, gently pinching his arms and legs with his little hands. It seemed like he really was beginning to feel the difference—his body wasn’t aching as much as it had when he first woke up.

“See? I didn’t lie to you.” Qin Qingman said, handing him the honey water.

“Hehehe…” Chuchu laughed foolishly, then quickly grabbed the honey water and drank it. After lying on the hot kang for so long, he was already very thirsty. If it weren’t for feeling so uncomfortable, he would have gotten up to drink water a long time ago.

“Get up, I’ll go cook.”

Qin Qingman took the enamel cup that Chuchu had finished drinking from and went out to the west room.

“Big Sis, I know.” Chuchu responded and quickly got out of bed. Although he could still feel discomfort in his body, his bloated stomach reminded him that he needed to urinate quickly, or he would end up drawing a map like last time.

Wei Ling had returned to the military camp. If he did anything bad now, there would be no one to help him.

The temperature outside was very low. Chuchu didn’t plan to go outside to use the toilet. Instead, he reached into the corner, grabbed a covered clay jar, and opened the lid to relieve himself.

His family had not bought a special spittoon, but the sturdy clay jar was very useful.

After relieving himself, Chuchu officially got up.

After washing up, he wrapped himself tightly before taking the clay jar to the toilet to dispose of it.

Once he emptied the jar and cleaned it, Chuchu returned to the main hall.

He placed the clay jar far away, washed his hands, took off his cotton jacket, and after stretching his limbs, he prepared to squat in a horse stance.

This was a task assigned to him by Wei Ling, his brother-in-law.

“Chuchu, go practice in the west room. I’m going to stir-fry, so be careful not to get any oil on your clothes.” While stirring the corn porridge with a bamboo spatula, Qin Qingman reminded the child.

“Okay, I’ll go to the west room.” Chuchu replied, glanced at Qin Qingman, and went to the west room.

The west room had a steel stove burning coal, making it even warmer than the main hall.

Returning to the west room, Chuchu took off his sweater, then slowly twisted his arms and legs for a while before standing not far from the stove to begin his horse stance.

As soon as he squatted down into the correct position, the child lost his balance and fell into a sitting squat.

His limbs were sore, and he certainly had no strength. Moreover, anyone who had practiced the horse stance knew how uncomfortable it was at the beginning. Very few people could hold the stance for three minutes the first time.

Some people couldn’t even last a minute.

After falling, the child only rested for a few seconds on the ground before getting back up to try again, but once again, he fell.

Again and again, he fell, then got back up.

By the time he fell for the last time, Chuchu could hold the stance for several seconds.

“Chuchu, that’s enough.” Qin Qingman, who had finished cooking, called out as she stood at the door and saw Chuchu fall the last time.

Chuchu, who was now determined to continue with the horse stance, seemed not to hear Qin Qingman’s words. Slowly, he climbed back up and prepared to try again.

At this moment, his face was flushed, and his body was covered in sweat.

“Qin Yunchu.” Seeing the child’s condition, Qin Qingman called his full name as she walked toward him.

“Here.”

Perhaps because of what Wei Ling had said the previous day, Chuchu remembered it clearly. Upon hearing his full name, he reflexively answered in a low voice, and his gaze slowly focused, recognizing Qin Qingman. “Big Sis.”

“Mm.” Qin Qingman, seeing how exhausted Chuchu was, gently picked him up and softly said, “That’s enough for today.”

“Enough?” Chuchu didn’t know how long he had been practicing. He didn’t have a sense of time.

“Yes, enough. You’re still young, and it’s your first time practicing. Ten minutes is enough. As the saying goes, ‘Haste makes waste.’ We need to take it slowly.” Qin Qingman gently wiped the sweat off his forehead and face with a handkerchief.

Although Chuchu didn’t understand what “Haste makes waste” meant, he knew he could rest now. His body went limp, and his head leaned on Qin Qingman’s shoulder. At that moment, he felt like his body wasn’t his own.

Qin Qingman carefully wiped the sweat off his body with a towel. When Chuchu stopped sweating, she placed him back onto the kang.

The kang in her house had been burning all day.

“Big Sis, I’m hungry.” As soon as Chuchu lay down on the kang, he felt an intense hunger, his stomach burning with hunger.

“Drink some water to replenish your fluids first. I’ll wring out a towel to wipe off the sweat from your body. After that, we’ll change you into clean clothes and have our meal.” As she spoke, Qin Qingman brought a cup of honey water to Chuchu.

Having sweated a lot, Chuchu was extremely thirsty and gulped down nearly half of the cup.

After drinking, he let out a big belch.

“Lie back down. I’ll wring out the towel for you, it’ll be quick.” Qin Qingman instructed Chuchu.

“Big Sis, I can’t lift my arms. How am I going to eat?” When Chuchu realized he was struggling to raise his arms, he immediately called out to Qin Qingman, his large eyes full of longing.

“I’ll feed you.” Qin Qingman had cooked corn porridge, fried a plate of dumplings—filled with meat—that could serve as both a dish and a main course, and stir-fried some bean sprouts, all of which were Chuchu’s favorites.

“Mm.” Hearing that Qin Qingman would feed him, Chuchu felt reassured.

Qin Qingman moved quickly. No matter which kettle she used, there was always hot water. After mixing the water, she quickly wiped Chuchu’s whole body clean and then changed him into fresh underclothes.

The clean underclothes were a soft shade of yellow.

Chuchu felt guilty as he put on the underclothes and didn’t dare to look at Qin Qingman.

Seeing the child act so shy, Qin Qingman, of course, didn’t tease him. Instead, she set up a small table on the kang.

In the Northeast, every household has a small, low table, and families eat on the kang during the winter.

Once the bedding was folded up, the straw mat was spread over the kang. Even if some food spilled onto it, it could be easily wiped clean.

“Do you want to eat fried dumplings or porridge first?”

Qin Qingman asked Chuchu, who was now sitting against her in her arms.

“Fried dumplings, Big Sis, let’s eat fried dumplings first.” Chuchu eagerly spoke, his eyes fixed on the sizzling fried dumplings on the small table.

“Alright, then we’ll eat the fried dumplings first.” Qin Qingman picked up a fried dumpling, blew on it to cool it, and then fed it to Chuchu.

These dumplings were specially made to fit the size of the child’s small mouth, so he could eat one in a single bite.

“Mm-hmm.” With food in his mouth, Chuchu still thought about Qin Qingman. While chewing, he gently nudged Qin Qingman’s arm, signaling for her to eat as well.

“You eat first. I’m not hungry yet.”

Qin Qingman didn’t want to bother switching chopsticks, so she planned to feed Chuchu first before eating herself.

Chuchu felt bad for Big Sis and, struggling, stretched out his trembling little hand toward the small bowl on the table. The bowl held his corn porridge.

“Be careful not to knock over the bowl.”

Qin Qingman reminded Chuchu to not waste any food.

Chuchu’s little hand froze in mid-air, and even his chewing stopped.

“I really’m not hungry yet. You eat first, and I’ll eat after.” Qin Qingman, knowing that Chuchu was worried about her being hungry, had to explain again, “The food at home has been good lately; we’ve been eating meat every day, so it’s not easy to get hungry.”

Chuchu was somewhat unconvinced. Why was he so hungry today?

Qin Qingman noticed the look on his face and smiled. “There are two reasons you’re hungry. I’m an adult, but you’re still growing, so you need to eat more to fuel your body. The second reason is that you just exercised, and exercise consumes a lot of energy from your body. When that energy runs out, you feel hungry.”

“Really?”

Chuchu finally finished chewing and swallowed the food before asking.

“Of course. Look at Ah Ling. He’s not fat or strong, but look at how much he eats compared to you and your comrades?” Qin Qingman guided Chuchu to think about it.

Scenes of Wei Ling and Du Hongyi eating flashed through Chuchu’s mind.

He then nodded seriously. “Brother-in-law and the others can eat a lot.”

“They can eat so much because they train a lot, much more than the little exercise you did today.”

“Big Sis, I understand now.”

Chuchu understood what Qin Qingman meant.

“Mm, eat well, and I’ll eat after you finish.” Qin Qingman said, seeing that the child was reassured. She continued feeding him.

“Big Sis, you’re so kind.”

Chuchu gently placed his little hand on Qin Qingman’s arm, his face full of contentment.

“You’re my little brother. If I’m not good to you, who else would I be good to?” Qin Qingman knew the child was still young and wouldn’t understand some of the more advanced theories, so the way things were now was just right.

“Big Sis, when I grow up, I’ll definitely be good to you and Brother-in-law.”

Chuchu was fifteen years younger than Qin Qingman, so by age, they could almost be considered from two different generations.

Qin Qingman didn’t tease him but instead smiled and replied, “Alright, Ah Ling and I will be waiting for you to be good to us.”

“Mm-hmm, I’ll grow up quickly.” Chuchu eagerly ate his food.

After feeding Chuchu, Qin Qingman waited for about ten minutes. The room was warm, and while the food on the table wasn’t exactly cold, she still moved it to the round plate on the steel stove to reheat it.

Once the child had eaten, he quickly regained his energy.

While he wasn’t yet bouncing off the walls, he could take care of himself without any problem.

Lying on the kang, Chuchu watched Qin Qingman eat, talking to her about whatever came to his mind.

“By the way, Big Sis, tomorrow is Uncle’s birthday. Should we go?”

Chuchu suddenly remembered this important matter.

Qin Qingman’s hand, which was holding her chopsticks, paused slightly. After their parents had passed away, her aunt had coaxed the original owner into giving their work quota to her cousin. Since then, her uncle’s family had never come to visit, not even on the anniversary of their parents’ death.

So, celebrating her uncle’s birthday was out of the question.

“Big Sis, I remember my cousin was transferred to Hongqi Farm. I heard he’s doing well there.” Chuchu added. It wasn’t clear where he had gotten the information, but he was very quick to catch onto news.

Qin Qingman’s expression darkened. She was not the original owner, and there was no way she would let those who had taken advantage of her family go unpunished. Tomorrow, she would go to Hongqi Farm to find her “cousin.”