Chapter 60: Pufferfish Poisoning

Qian Xiaolan returned home, before she could even boil water to take a bath, she was attracted by the noise and crying from next door. “Wuwuwu, you bad woman, why did you let Jiefang eat the pufferfish first?” “You quickly take money and take Jiefang to the hospital, otherwise I’ll ask Dad to beat you to death! Wuwuwu, Jiefang, hold on! Brother will take you to the hospital!” “What hospital? Just vomit it out. Who hasn’t eaten a few pufferfish? Didn’t I live to this age?”

Qian Xiaolan heard this, kicked open the door next door, “Changzheng, quickly put your sister down, I’ll take a look.” Gao Changzheng, who was at a loss, heard Qian Xiaolan’s voice and said excitedly, “Auntie, you’re finally back, Jiefang has been vomiting non-stop, wuwuwu, is she going to be killed by the bad woman? Wuwuwu, Auntie, you can save her, right? You can definitely save her, right?”

Qian Xiaolan didn’t say anything, she took little Jiefang from Gao Changzheng’s back and placed her on the table in the main room. She first flipped her eyelids, then checked her nose and mouth, and then looked at her hands. Then she said to Gao Changzheng, who was wiping away tears, “Go to Auntie’s house.” Then she said to Zhang Xiaoqin, who was standing aside and rolling her eyes, “Jiefang is seriously poisoned, if she doesn’t get rescued today, you’ll be spending the rest of your life in prison.” After saying this, she hurriedly picked up Gao Jiefang and ran home.

She put little Jiefang on the bed in the side room, went to wash her hands, and took out her needle bag. She took a silver needle and pricked her Tian Tu, Dan Zhong, Zhong Wan, He Gu, Nei Guan, Feng Long, Zu San Li, and other acupoints. “Changzheng, quickly bring the basin from the yard.” Gao Changzheng, who had just reached the door, immediately turned around and brought the basin into the room. Qian Xiaolan took it, lifted Jiefang up, and the next moment, she heard a “wa” sound, Jiefang vomited into the basin. Gao Changzheng was terrified, the tears he had finally stopped flowed again. Qian Xiaolan sighed and comforted him, “Sister is fine now that she’s vomited. Where’s your brother? Isn’t it the weekend today? Why isn’t he at home?”

Gao Changzheng sobbed, “He was driven away by the bad woman to gather firewood. It’s all my fault, if I hadn’t gone fishing and stayed home to watch over my sister, she wouldn’t have eaten the pufferfish cooked by the bad woman. But, if I hadn’t gone fishing, and brother hadn’t gone to gather firewood, we wouldn’t have had any food to eat, wuwuwu…”

Zhang Xiaoqin was really not a good person! The two brothers, one ten years old and the other only eight years old! Qian Xiaolan was very angry when she heard this, but she still suppressed her anger and said to him, “You go to your Aunt Yufeng’s house now, and ask her to take you to the base to find your father.”

Looking at Gao Jiefang, whose face was as pale as paper, Gao Changzheng hesitated, “Auntie, my sister…?”

Qian Xiaolan assured him, “Auntie is here, your sister will be fine, you quickly go and call your father back to deal with that woman.”

Gao Jiefang then ran out. Qian Xiaolan waited for him to leave, put the little girl on the bed and laid her down, then ran to the kitchen and brewed a bowl of light salt water to feed her slowly. Seeing that her complexion had improved, she went back to the kitchen to start a fire and boil rice porridge. The whole time, that woman Zhang Xiaoqin didn’t come over to take a look. Qian Xiaolan looked down on her even more, in her opinion, even if Gao Yingchang really got promoted, what would it matter? With Zhang Xiaoqin, a woman like that, as long as she wanted to be malicious, she could bring him down in a minute.

Just as Qian Xiaolan was about to finish boiling the rice porridge, Gao Yingchang ran back in a panic. “Jiefang, Jiefang…” Qian Xiaolan heard the sound, walked out of the kitchen, and was about to tell him to keep his voice down, when she saw him trip over the threshold of the courtyard gate and fall to the ground. She silently retreated back to the kitchen, and when she saw him get up, she came out, “The little girl is lying in the side room, she’s already detoxified and asleep now, Gao Yingchang, keep your voice down.”

“Thank you, thank you, sister-in-law! Thank you, thank you…” Gao Yingchang, with red eyes, squatted in front of the bed and looked at his daughter, constantly thanking Qian Xiaolan.

“Don’t thank me, it’s just that the little girl’s life wasn’t meant to end.” Qian Xiaolan saw his appearance, she could tell that he cared about his children, so she said directly, “Gao Yingchang, do you know that if I had come back even a little later today, the little girl would have been dead? Zhang Xiaoqin knew that the pufferfish wasn’t cooked properly and was poisonous, yet she still let the little girl eat it first, she was letting her taste the poison. I know for you men, your career is important. But, if the little girl hadn’t been saved today, even if you really got promoted in the future, would you really feel good about it? Would the Red Army and Changzheng brothers hate you for life?”

Gu Yanqing came back and heard his wife’s words, he smiled helplessly and said to Gao Yingchang, “Old Gao, don’t mind, my wife doesn’t mean to blame you, she’s just heartbroken for the little girl’s suffering.”

Gao Yingchang laughed bitterly, “I know, sister-in-law is right, before I was always thinking about staying in the army and getting promoted easily, so that I could give my children a better life. But, I didn’t expect that woman to be so bad, I ignored the children’s difficulties time and time again.”

The little girl was sleeping lightly, and when she heard her father’s voice, she opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him, “Dad, you’re back!” Her soft and sweet voice caused Gao Yingchang’s tears to roll down instantly. He touched his daughter’s face, looked up at Gu Yanqing, and said, “I can’t wait any longer, I must divorce that woman today, even if I have to leave the army because of it, I accept it. Seeing Jiefang so lifeless, my heart aches, I’m sorry for her, I’m sorry for my two sons, wuwuwu…”

A man in his late thirties, squatted on the ground and held his daughter’s hands, crying. Little Jiefang was startled and quickly asked, “Dad, are you also having a stomachache like me? Dad, don’t be afraid, let Auntie give you a needle, and you’ll feel better after you vomit.”

Hearing this, Gao Yingchang felt even more heartbroken, he couldn’t control his emotions and burst into tears. Qian Xiaolan listened to his crying, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had been too harsh? Gu Yanqing seemed to know her thoughts, he quietly squeezed her hand and shook his head at her. Qian Xiaolan shrugged, turned around and went back to the kitchen to serve porridge.

After feeding Jiefang, Gao Yingchang asked Qian Xiaolan to watch over her for a while, he had to deal with that woman. Gu Yanqing was afraid that he would act rashly, so he quickly followed him. But they had just left, and the little girl looked at Qian Xiaolan with bright eyes, “Auntie, can I go and see how Dad deals with that bad woman?”

Qian Xiaolan shook her head, “Your body still needs to rest, you can’t go and join the fun.”

“Okay, then can you go and take a look, and tell me when you come back?”

Qian Xiaolan shook her head again, “I have to stay here and watch over you. But don’t worry, I just saw your second brother following behind your dad, I’ll ask him to tell you later.”

As they were talking, they saw Gao Hongjun running over with a pale face, “Auntie, my sister, she… woo… she she… woo”…” The young boy clenched his fists, his face was both restrained and painful, he couldn’t finish his words, and he was already sobbing.