This woman with the sallow skin, young but plain-looking, must be her eldest sister-in-law, Peng Zhaodi.
Peng Zhaodi was grinding her teeth, wishing she could tear her apart.
Before Shen Jiaqi had even come to her senses, Qiao Huilan rolled up her sleeves, stepped forward, grabbed Peng Zhaodi by the hair and slapped her twice across the face.
“Peng Zhaodi, I’ve given you too much face, daring to curse my daughter!”
“And you dare raise your hand… do you really think I’m dead?”
Qiao Huilan was a famous shrew in the village. When she said she’d beat her sons and daughters-in-law, she beat them, and never went easy.
Peng Zhaodi was struck until her eyes went dark, and instantly turned obedient.
“Mom, Mom… I was wrong, but wasn’t I just desperate?”
“Xiaobao is burning with a high fever, and she gave all the money to that pretty boy. She’s your daughter, so isn’t Xiaobao your own grandson?”
At the mention of Xiaobao, Shen Jiaqi’s heart lurched.
If she remembered right, it was this very fever that burned Xiaobao into an idiot, and from then on the eldest sister-in-law bore a grudge against her and threatened to kill herself all day long.
That was also why, later, when Ye Zhaozhao gave her a few small favors, she bought the eldest sister-in-law over and made her into her informant.
Not only did she report the Shen family, she also tormented and abused the original owner when she was down.
At the thought, Shen Jiaqi ignored the pain in her leg and limped over. “Mom, stop, don’t hit her. Xiaobao is still sick, treating him comes first.”
Qiao Huilan changed her face at once and held her up tenderly. “My precious daughter, you’re hurt yourself and you’re still worrying about other people?”
“Xiaobao is only running a fever. What child doesn’t get a headache or a temperature? That’s a growing fever, it means his body is growing.”
In the original book, when Xiaobao’s fever gave him convulsions and the eldest sister-in-law knelt on the ground begging Qiao Huilan for a little money to see a doctor, this was exactly how Qiao Huilan fobbed her off.
Later, when Xiaobao’s fever left him an idiot, Qiao Huilan blamed herself terribly. Her hair went white overnight, her mind went wrong, and she hid in her room crying every day, regretting that she hadn’t sent her eldest grandson to the hospital in time.
While there was still time for everything, Shen Jiaqi shook off her mother’s hand and, following her memories, hopped on one foot into Xiaobao’s room.
Both Qiao Huilan and Peng Zhaodi were dumbfounded, and only came to their senses after a long moment.
“You… what do you want to do to Xiaobao? If you’ve got something, come at me, don’t touch my child…”
Peng Zhaodi dashed into the room and grabbed a broom on the way, ready for a fight, only to see Shen Jiaqi sitting at the edge of the bed with her wrist pressed against Xiaobao’s forehead.
That scalding temperature made her fair, delicate little face crumple up, and the anxiety in her eyes didn’t look faked…
Under her hand, Xiaobao’s eyes had rolled back and his hands and feet were curled up, the situation was extremely critical.
“Xiaobao!” Peng Zhaodi threw down the broom and flung herself over, utterly panicked. “Bao’er, don’t frighten Mom, wake up, wake up now…”
“Stop shouting. He’s practically on fire and you’ve still got him bundled up, the heat can’t escape, and now he’s got febrile convulsions!”
Shen Jiaqi pushed her aside anxiously, threw off the quilt with one hand, and started stripping off Xiaobao’s clothes.
“You… what are you doing? With a fever you’re supposed to bundle them up to sweat it out. Once they sweat all over they get better. What would a sack of straw like you know?”
Peng Zhaodi reached out to stop her, but was shoved away with one arm.
“Get off!”
Shen Jiaqi may never have eaten pork, but hadn’t she at least seen a pig run?
She had helped her best friend look after her kid before, how could she not know this much common sense?
Without any more argument, Shen Jiaqi stripped off Xiaobao’s shirt and outer trousers, leaving only a patched pair of little underpants.
Tsk tsk, how thin this child was!
Nothing but skin and bone all over, his skin burned pink, and he had long since fallen unconscious, with only his hands and feet still twitching without stopping.
In a situation like this it was best to get him to a doctor at once.
But Daxing Village was up in the mountains, and by this hour the tractor had already gone into town. Going to the hospital would probably be too late. The urgent thing was to bring Xiaobao’s temperature down first!
Shen Jiaqi made up her mind on the spot and turned the child over so he lay flat, face down.
Seeing that stripping the child bare wasn’t enough for her, that she meant to knock him about too, Peng Zhaodi went completely wild. “What on earth are you trying to do? Hasn’t Xiaobao suffered enough for you?”
Shen Jiaqi was nearly frantic. She whipped her head around, her gaze sharp, her presence overwhelming. “If you don’t want your son to die, then shut your mouth for me, go get some sesame oil, and bring a basin of cold water!”
This was not a discussion, it was an order!
Peng Zhaodi was cowed on the spot. She looked at Xiaobao convulsing on the bed, then caught a threatening glare from Qiao Huilan, and turned and ran out unwillingly.
The moment she left, Qiao Huilan came closer. “Qiqi, this isn’t something to play around with. If it comes to it, let me go to the next village and fetch the barefoot doctor…”
Shen Jiaqi said irritably, “Mom, this is a matter of life and death. Would I mess around?”
“The next village and back takes twenty-some minutes at the fastest. By the time the barefoot doctor gets here, it’ll all be over.”
“Xiaobao is in a very dangerous state right now. If it isn’t dealt with in time, the fever could very likely leave him an idiot. Just let me try!”
Other people might not know what her own daughter was worth, but did Qiao Huilan not know?
She’d scraped through with a middle-school diploma, but she barely knew a character.
She ate and slept and slept and ate all day, and her head wasn’t too bright either.
Otherwise, how would that little brat Jiang Shiyan have her so completely wrapped around his finger?
Normally Qiqi hated Xiaobao most of all. Today she really had changed her nature, not only was she concerned about the eldest son’s household, she was even bringing Xiaobao’s fever down with her own hands.
Since her daughter rarely showed such a heart, let her fuss if she wanted to fuss.
At worst she would pick up the pieces afterward and pay to send Xiaobao to the hospital…
A moment later Peng Zhaodi came in carrying a basin of water and a towel, with half a bottle of sesame oil tucked under her armpit, staring at Shen Jiaqi with a complicated look.
Her little sister-in-law must have taken the wrong medicine today, actually meddling in the affairs of her room and knocking Xiaobao about in all sorts of ways.
She didn’t believe for a second that her little sister-in-law had suddenly changed her nature. She was probably brewing up something rotten.
Once before, Xiaobao had gotten greedy and secretly eaten her little sister-in-law’s boiled egg. Her little sister-in-law had beaten Xiaobao on the spot, and had said viciously that she wanted Xiaobao to disappear from this world entirely.
Could it be that she wanted to use this chance to kill Xiaobao?
At the thought, Peng Zhaodi set the basin down with a thud and knelt in front of Shen Jiaqi.
“Little sister, all the wrong, every bit of it, is my fault. If you’re angry, then hit me. I’m begging you, spare Xiaobao…”
“I, Peng Zhaodi, have only this one son. He is my life. Even if you won’t think of me, think of your eldest brother. He loves you most of all, can you bear to cut off his line?”
Seeing that she paid her no attention, Peng Zhaodi turned to Qiao Huilan.
“Mom… save Xiaobao! Your daughter-in-law is begging you…”
She was crying a complete mess. The moment the words left her mouth, two fingers pinched her lips and pulled them up into a long duck’s beak.
“Shh… close that little mouth!”
Shen Jiaqi was about to be deafened, her head buzzing.
The original owner’s vicious character wouldn’t even spare a four-year-old child. No wonder the eldest sister-in-law misunderstood her.
There was no use saying more right now, saving the boy came first.
Shen Jiaqi handed the eldest sister-in-law over to Qiao Huilan. “Mom, keep an eye on her for me. Don’t let her come and interfere.”
Qiao Huilan found it awkward too, but since her daughter had given the order she could only hold the woman down first. “Eldest son’s wife, say a few words less, don’t force me to raise my hand…”
Peng Zhaodi had experienced the power of this wicked mother-in-law before, her face was still burning with pain.
These two black-hearted women, mother and daughter, were dead set on killing her son today…
She was in utter despair. If something really happened to Xiaobao, then she… she wouldn’t live either, and before she died she’d drag the whole Shen family down with her!
Amid all the shouting and clamor, Shen Jiaqi’s hands hadn’t stopped for a moment.
First she wet the towel and laid it on Xiaobao’s forehead, under his arms, and on his chest.
Then she quickly poured a little sesame oil into her palm.
This move nearly broke the old woman’s heart.
In these famine years the family was so poor they were about to eat dirt, normally this oil was put out one drop at a time.
And she just went and poured out a whole handful of oil, and rubbed it on Xiaobao’s spine, too.
If she weren’t her own daughter, she would have beaten her to death today.
Under Qiao Huilan and Peng Zhaodi’s shocked stares, Shen Jiaqi spread out her palm and rubbed up and down along Xiaobao’s spine.
This was a folk remedy taught to her by an old Chinese-medicine doctor: when a child has a high fever, use oil to rub back and forth along the spine until it turns slightly red, then rub the hands and press a few acupoints, and the temperature will come down quickly.
Watching grain after grain of blood-colored rash rise on her child’s tender skin, Peng Zhaodi could bear it no longer.
“Shen Jiaqi, even if it kills me today, I’m going to fight you!”