Bai Lu sat down next to Wen Nuan and took her water cup, adding two bottles of glucose water to it. She didn’t dare do the same for Gao Chen; she wasn’t familiar with him and feared he might misunderstand her actions as “poisoning” him.
The next morning, before eight o’clock, Bai Lu and Wen Nuan were awakened by a commotion. They didn’t continue resting but instead splashed their faces with cold water to wake themselves up before diving back into the busy medical work.
With the supplies Bai Lu had quietly left out the night before, everyone had something to eat today. Around eight o’clock, the villagers responsible for cooking brought buckets of broken rice porridge into the tent. Those who were physically able swarmed toward them all at once.
“Everyone, please line up. Each person gets one bowl of egg and broken rice porridge.” There weren’t enough eggs to go around, so they had been beaten into a liquid and mixed into the porridge so that everyone could get some nutrition.
Hearing the villagers’ words, everyone lined up obediently. No one dared to cause trouble, as food was hard to come by, and since no one knew if there would be a next meal, they all cherished it deeply.
Two villagers served the food simultaneously, and soon, everyone held a bowl of fragrant egg and broken rice porridge. The porridge wasn’t scalding hot; people began eating rapidly as soon as they received it. Some even poured it straight into their mouths—these were the ones who were truly starving.
Bai Lu brought a bowl of porridge to the woman who had given birth the night before, making sure she ate first before going to have her own breakfast. In times like these, having a bowl of egg and broken rice porridge was a true blessing.
“Comrade, do you know how many people are in this area in total?” Wounded patients and new mothers needed extra nutrition, but Bai Lu didn’t know the exact headcount or how much “donated” supplies would be appropriate.
The weather was hot; “donating” too much would lead to spoilage. “Donating” too little wouldn’t be enough for everyone. She couldn’t let some people eat while others went hungry. That would make things difficult for the cooking villagers, and people might even suspect them of embezzling the supplies.
“We used over nine hundred bowls this morning, so that should be the approximate headcount for now,” the villager said.
Once everyone finished breakfast and returned their empty bowls, the villagers left with them. The bowls weren’t greasy, so they could be used again after a quick wash.
After all, this was the countryside, and the population wasn’t as dense as in the city. Moreover, most people who were uninjured were at the victim relocation centers rather than the aid stations, so there were relatively fewer people here.
The woman who had given birth the night before still had no breast milk, and the baby was wailing from hunger. Bai Lu mixed a bowl of brown sugar water and fed the infant a few spoonfuls. She then said to the mother, “Comrade, get some rest and don’t worry. When the kitchen is cooking later, I’ll have them bring a bowl of rice water for the baby. Once you’ve rested well, your milk will surely come in.”
“Thank you,” the mother said tiredly. “Nurse Bai, you delivered my daughter. Could I trouble you to give her a name?”
“A name? I’m not very good at that!” Bai Lu felt a bit embarrassed. She was terrible at naming; in her previous life, her son’s name had been chosen by Jin Qiu, and her grandson’s name had been chosen by her daughter-in-law.
The relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law has been a difficult puzzle since ancient times. Even as good a mother-in-law as Bai Lu was, she hadn’t ended up with a good daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law was always contradicting her behind her back.
If it hadn’t been for Jin Qiu passing away early and all her money going toward raising her son—leaving her with no savings—Bai Lu would certainly have bought a house and moved out. Living with young people created many conflicts, especially since some people just liked looking for trouble out of nowhere.
“Nurse Bai, you’re highly educated and cultured. I’m sure any name you pick will sound lovely,” the mother continued. “If we were to name her, it would just be Da Ya or Xiao Ya. I don’t want my daughter to spend her whole life with such a vulgar name.”
Bai Lu smiled and said, “I really am no good at naming. If I were to pick, it would be names like Sheng Xia, Xin Xi, or Xin Wang. Obviously, Xin Wang doesn’t suit a girl. Xin Xi and Sheng Xia are both alright. You can think about it some more, or perhaps ask a respected elder in the village for a suggestion.”
“Xin Xi is a very nice name,” the mother said with a smile.
“Xin Xi means ‘New Hope.’ If you like it, use it for the child. If she grows up and doesn’t like it, she can change it then.” In the coming decades, changing a name wouldn’t be difficult; as long as one brought the proper documentation, it could be done.
Bai Lu fed the child a small amount of brown sugar water, and once the crying stopped, she handed the baby back to the mother. Then she went to the cooking area and asked them to save a bowl of rice water to feed the newborn.
In these difficult conditions, everyone was understanding. They naturally agreed to the simple request, especially since a member of the rescue team was there supervising them—they had no reason to refuse.
When she returned, Bai Lu brought the mother a bowl of lactation soup. It looked like a liquid traditional Chinese medicine—the kind you just open and drink. In reality, she had gone to a secluded corner, bought it from the “Myriad Realms Mall,” and poured it into a disposable bowl.
Back in the tent, Bai Lu handed the soup to the mother. “Comrade, this is lactation soup. Drink it and see if it helps.”
Lactation soup is usually effective but doesn’t work instantly. However, since this was from the “Myriad Realms Mall,” its effectiveness remained to be seen. The mother finished the bowl, and in less than two hours, she felt a swelling sensation in her chest. She picked up her daughter to try, and to her surprise, the baby was actually able to feed.
The rice water sent from the “kitchen” was no longer needed, so Bai Lu had the mother drink it instead.
For lunch, everyone had white radish and broken rice porridge. The radishes were diced into small cubes about the size of beans and mixed into the porridge, giving it a faint, sweet flavor.
Bai Lu and Wen Nuan sat together for lunch. As she ate, Wen Nuan said, “Bai Lu, my skin is so itchy and uncomfortable. How about you?”
After working for two days in such heat without being able to bathe, it would be strange not to feel miserable.
“I feel alright,” Bai Lu nodded. “When it’s our turn to rest tonight, I’ll take you to the river to wash up. You’ll feel much better after a bath.”
Wen Nuan was surprised. “You know where there’s a river?”
“I went to wash clothes last night, so I know where it is. I’ll take you.” They were wearing summer clothes underneath and nursing uniforms on top. In such high temperatures, wearing so many layers made it incredibly hot.
The smell of sweat was quite strong. If they continued like this, they would likely start to stink and be covered in bacteria—how could they care for others then?
They would have to go to the river for a simple wash. As for going to a guesthouse in the city to bathe, that was unrealistic; the guesthouses had long since been reduced to rubble and all needed to be rebuilt.