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Yun Cuihe smiled helplessly.
“I hope so. With my health, I don’t know if I can get better. Right now, you are all still young, and I really can’t put my mind at ease.”
Hearing this, Chu Yue felt a bit upset.
“Mother, there’s no need to say such things. You’re still young, and your health will get better sooner or later, so don’t overthink it.”
She didn’t mention the visit to Doctor Zhu in town today; otherwise, the thought of spending money might make her mother feel distressed again.
Yun Cuihe thought Chu Yue was just trying to comfort her and smiled lovingly. “Alright, Mother won’t overthink. I’ll try to live a few more years. I want to see you all live better and better.”
…
For dinner, Chu Yue did the cooking, Lu Xing’an was in charge of starting the fire, and Lu Xingping was responsible for picking and washing the vegetables.
“Big brother, we only have enough wild vegetables for one meal. The wild vegetables near here have all been dug up. Tomorrow, we’ll have to go further into the mountains to dig.”
There were no other vegetables to eat at home. If they didn’t go digging for wild vegetables, they would only be able to drink rice porridge every day.
Lu Xinghe, who had just put down the bucket, wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“It’s not safe further in. I’ll go alone tomorrow.”
Yun Cuihe, who was sewing in the house, stopped her work immediately. “If we really have nothing to eat, we’ll just make do with rice porridge for a while. I heard there are tigers in the deep mountains. A few years ago, your Aunt Lin’s son, Dazhuang, went into the deep mountains and never came back. If anything happens to you, Mother’s body won’t be able to take it.”
Lu Xingping, hearing how dangerous the mountains were, quickly agreed. “Mother’s right. We still have rice porridge at home. Let’s hold on for a while. When it rains, we can plant some vegetables ourselves.”
Lu Xing’an also stuck his head out from behind the stove. “Tomorrow, Xingping and I will go around the nearby mountains again. If we find wild vegetables, we’ll dig them up and bring them back. If we don’t, we’ll just make do with rice porridge. Big brother, don’t take any risks going into the deep mountains. You should save time to read books at home.”
“That’s right. Big brother is our hope. If big brother is okay, we can be okay.” Lu Xingping said, then laughed foolishly, and worked even more enthusiastically.
His two younger brothers’ words warmed Lu Xinghe’s heart.
Although life had been hard these past few years, whenever he saw his family together, he felt it was worth it.
In the kitchen, Chu Yue, hearing their conversation, felt troubled.
If they kept going like this, they wouldn’t even have enough water to drink.
It was good that they were in the mountains. If they really ran out of water, they could find some on the mountain. Life in Niutou Village was probably even harder than here. I wonder how Xiaotao is doing?
She was still so young. If anything happened to her, the Chu family wouldn’t treat her like a human being.
If they lived closer, she could sneak over and take a look.
Now that she was married so far away, she couldn’t do anything about it.
After the porridge was cooked, Chu Yue ladled it out. She warmed up the meat dish she had brought back for lunch, stir-fried some wild vegetables, and then they could eat.
Because the vegetables at home were almost gone, everyone, as if they had made a pact, didn’t dare to eat a lot of meat. Each person picked out two or three pieces from their bowl and ate them with the rice porridge and wild vegetables.
After dinner, they went back to the house. Chu Yue sat on the kang and looked at Lu Xinghe, who was reading by the window.
“Husband, should we buy some more rice when we build the house?”
Lu Xinghe looked away from his book.
“Yes, it might be difficult to find aged rice in town. We’ll buy some brown rice then. We’ll all eat brown rice during the construction. We’ll save the aged rice for when we move.”
Chu Yue nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. The salted vegetables that Xing’an pickled in the cellar will be ready soon. If we run out of vegetables during the construction, we’ll just have salted vegetables with porridge.”
Lu Xinghe hummed in agreement. “In this year, it’s good to have a bowl of food. My uncles aren’t picky eaters.”
…
The last time Chu Yue went to Chen’s Pharmacy to find Doctor Zhu, he wasn’t there. On the fifth day, Doctor Zhu had some time and came to Banpo Village.
He led a donkey, carrying his medicine box, to the village entrance. He stood outside the gate of the first household and called out, “Is anyone home?”
The one who came out to see was Lu Xinghe’s aunt, Tian Chunyan. Seeing the doctor carrying a medicine box outside the gate, she quickly glanced at the few houses.
“Did anyone in the family call for a doctor?”
Doctor Zhu quickly explained, “Sister, I’m just asking for directions. Do you know where the Lu family lives?”
“The Lu family?” Tian Chunyan stepped forward and opened the gate. “It’s a coincidence! This is the Lu family.”
Doctor Zhu tugged at his beard. At that time, the girl had told Manager Chen that her mother-in-law was not well. This older sister in front of him was full of energy, with a loud voice. She didn’t look like someone who was sick.
“Isn’t there another Lu family?”
Tian Chunyan raised an eyebrow.
“Our old Lu family is the one with the most Lu family members in this village. There are quite a few Lu families in Banpo Village. Is there anything else about the family you’re looking for, doctor?”
Doctor Zhu thought for a moment and immediately said, “That girl only said that her mother-in-law was sick. I can’t remember her name. I only remember that she lives in Banpo Village and her husband’s surname is Lu.”
Doctor Zhu’s description was unclear, and Tian Chunyan couldn’t guess for a while.
Moreover, she didn’t even think of Chu Yue. After all, with the conditions of the third son’s family, it was simply impossible for them to hire a doctor to come to their house for a consultation.
Not to mention the high consultation fee, unless they were related, ordinary doctors wouldn’t easily go to someone’s house to see a patient.
Furthermore, in her impression, Chu Yue didn’t seem like a kind-hearted person.
“Doctor, you’re making it hard for me to guess. The elderly people in our village all have some health problems. How about I have my son take you to a few Lu families in the village and ask around?”
Hearing this, Doctor Zhu immediately frowned.
He was a doctor. Going door-to-door to ask people if they needed to see a doctor, if it was a family that didn’t mind, it would be fine. But if it was a family that had reservations, wouldn’t they just scold him and chase him away?
Just then, Lu Yufang also came to the front gate.
“The person the doctor is looking for, did they go to the pharmacy to sell herbs a few days ago?”
When Doctor Zhu was talking, she was standing at the door of her house and heard everything clearly.
The first person that came to her mind was Chu Yue, after all, Chu Yue had just gone to town to sell herbs a few days ago, and she also completely matched the description of the family the doctor was looking for.
“Sell herbs?” Doctor Zhu’s eyes lit up. “Yes, yes, that girl sold herbs to Chen’s Pharmacy. She said her mother-in-law wasn’t well, so I came to see her. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have come.”
Lu Yufang smiled. “That’s right. I’ll take you to my third aunt’s house.”
“Thank you, young lady.” Doctor Zhu quickly pulled his stubborn donkey and followed Lu Yufang towards Lu Xinghe’s house. Seeing that Lu Yufang was walking slowly and waiting for him, he said a little embarrassed, “Young lady, you go ahead. I’ll follow. My donkey doesn’t know why it suddenly got a temper. It’s being very stubborn right now.”
Lu Yufang covered her mouth and laughed, turning around and walking slowly ahead.