Aunt Peng was completely helpless against her and could only nod in agreement. Now that winter was approaching, most of the farm work was finished. There weren’t many work points to earn in a day, so she had plenty of free time to help make clothes. Looking at the materials outside, a smile naturally appeared on Aunt Peng’s face. Seeing her grandson busily working outdoors, she fell into thought. The clothes Aiguo was wearing had gotten quite small, and there was hardly any intact fabric left to patch them up. It was time to make a couple of new outfits for him, too.
After putting the items away, Bai Jiu asked Aunt Peng if she needed any help. Aunt Peng shook her head and told her to go home first, adding that she would have Aiguo call for her in a few days when the clothes were ready. It was getting late, and there were two children at home. She couldn’t leave them alone for too long without worrying. Seeing that Aunt Peng truly didn’t need any assistance, Bai Jiu didn’t stand on ceremony and headed straight back. With only the two children at home, she was indeed a bit uneasy.
By the time she returned home, the sky had completely darkened, and the kerosene lamp inside the house was already lit.
KNOCK KNOCK. "Zhengyang, open the door for Mom. Mom is back." She had pushed the door first but found it wouldn’t budge, knowing Zhengyang had locked it. She was quite satisfied with the children’s vigilance.
"Mom!" Hearing his mother’s voice, Zhengyang hopped off the bed, slipped on his new shoes, and ran over. "Mom, come in quickly!" he urged. The moment the door opened, a gust of cold wind hit him.
"Did anyone come to our house?" Bai Jiu asked, patting her son’s head with concern as she walked inside.
"No."
Xiuxiu also poked her head out to greet her mother, but right after, she brought up something she had heard earlier. "Mom, no one came over, but there’s an old man coughing next door. He’s coughing really badly."
Growing up in the village, Xiuxiu and Zhengyang naturally knew what kind of people lived next door. The villagers all said they were bad people. However, she had bumped into the older couple over there before; they weren’t bad and had even offered her candy, though she hadn’t dared to take it. But she remembered the gesture. Now that her mother had asked, she shared what she knew, something she hadn’t dared to tell her before.
Bai Jiu froze for a moment. Thinking of the people next door, she shook her head. Forget it, she would treat it as repaying the kindness of that piece of candy for Xiuxiu. "Mom is going out for a bit," she instructed. "You two stay on the heated bed and don’t come down. It’s freezing outside."
Initially, she hadn’t wanted to make contact with the people over there too early. But hearing Xiuxiu’s words, she feared someone there had fallen seriously ill. These people were future pillars of the nation. If she hadn’t encountered this, it would be one thing, but since she had, she might as well help if she could. She retrieved some medicine from her space, carefully removing the original packaging.
Seeing his mother leave, Zhengyang stepped forward and closed the door again.
When Bai Jiu walked over, she heard the coughing Xiuxiu had mentioned. It sounded agonizing, as if the person were going to cough up their lungs.
KNOCK KNOCK. Bai Jiu went up and tapped on the dilapidated door. "Is anyone home?" Though it was technically a door, wind leaked through the top and bottom. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could live inside. It was known that all these exiled laborers were crammed together. Although she didn’t know exactly how many people there were, the area was close to the village’s cowshed, and the smell was far from pleasant.
"Who is it?" a voice inside immediately asked upon hearing the knock. Even the coughing stopped abruptly. The person seemed to be holding it back with great difficulty, panting heavily.
"I just moved in next door. I heard someone coughing. Is someone sick?" Bai Jiu knew it was hard for these people to let their guard down, and she understood that showing up at their door like this would invite suspicion. "I have some medicine here. Do you need it?" Not one to beat around the bush, she directly stated her purpose. If they refused her goodwill, so be it; she wasn’t desperate to curry favor with anyone.
The people inside fell dead silent when they heard she had medicine.
After a moment, someone approached to open the door. The person who answered was none other than Zhou Lan. Opening the door to see Bai Jiu standing outside, she took a deep breath and stepped aside. "Come in first. It’s not good if anyone sees you."
Regardless of Bai Jiu’s intentions, things couldn’t possibly get any worse than they already were. They were just a bunch of old bones with nothing worth scheming over.
"Thank you," Bai Jiu replied and walked inside.
Upon entering, she found that the room didn’t have the awful smell she had imagined. However, a fire was burning inside, filling the air with thick smoke. No wonder the person was coughing so badly.
"Who’s sick? Can you tell me the symptoms? You can’t just take medicine blindly," Bai Jiu said straightforwardly, not wanting to linger for too long.
The few people in the room exchanged glances before turning to look at the ailing Old Li. Old Li’s full name was Li Gao Yi. He used to be an agronomist, but due to certain circumstances, he had been reported and ultimately exiled here.