“Uncle Tie Niu, go call Qingyi over now. He’s going to town with your father.”
“Alright!” Tie Niu said, and he shot off like an arrow. Not long after, the two children came running back, panting heavily.
Liu Qingyan pulled Qingyi over and carefully instructed him:
“Qingyi, you’re going to town with Uncle Wang later. Buy twenty jin of coarse rice and twenty jin of coarse flour. Also buy two jin of pork fat.”
“Buy a cooking spatula, two bowls and plates, and three basins—two for washing vegetables and one for washing faces.”
“Also get a small pot and one jin of salt. Oh, and a hoe for digging soil. Aunt Wang, can you buy mung beans in our village?”
“Mung beans? Yes, you can. Almost every household grows a bit, but not much. Why do you need them? You can’t really use them as staple food.”
“Aunt Wang, I have my uses. They’re not for eating as a main food.”
“Qingyi, also buy a piece of white cotton cloth, just big enough to cover a wooden basin.”
Liu Qingyan handed him one tael of silver.
“Take this with you. Follow Uncle Wang. If you don’t know how to buy things, just watch and learn. You’ll be in charge of paying, and also pay for Uncle Wang’s carriage fee together.”
“Got it, sister,” Qingyi replied.
At that moment, Tie Niu shouted anxiously from the side, “Mother, I want to go too! I want to go with Qingyi!”
“Alright, just this once. No next time,” his mother agreed.
Uncle Wang also said, “Let’s go, Erhu—no, Qingyi. I’m still not used to the new name. We should hurry, or we’ll miss the ox cart.”
Seeing the envious look in Qingyou’s eyes, Liu Qingyan gently patted her head.
“Qingyou, we’ll have plenty of chances to go to town in the future. Once sister’s body recovers, I’ll take you all myself.”
Qingyou immediately smiled, showing her bright white teeth. “Okay! I’ll listen to sister.”
Just then, a voice called from their straw hut.
“Daya, are Erhu and Sanya home?”
Liu Qingyan quickly responded, “Doctor Song, I’m here! At Aunt Wang’s house. You’re here to change my dressing, right? I’ll come back right away.”
“Aunt Wang, Qingyou and I are going back first. I’ll come back later to talk about the mung beans.”
“Alright. Qingyou, help support your sister and walk slowly.”
“Xiaoyu, we’re heading back now.”
“I’ll come with you. I also want to see how your injury is healing,” Xiaoyu said, quickly following them.
After Doctor Song entered the house, he carefully removed the bandage on Liu Qingyan’s head and examined the wound.
He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
“Daya, your recovery is surprisingly fast. The wound looks almost healed already.”
“I was even worried you might develop a fever last night. Take this medicine—boil it and drink it twice a day for two days first, and then we’ll see how it goes.”
He quickly finished changing her dressing and rewrapped it.
“Thank you, Doctor Song. Maybe the heavens saw how pitiful our siblings are and gave us strong bodies, so we recover quickly,” Liu Qingyan said, brushing off the explanation.
After all, she would be drinking spirit spring water in the future—her recovery would only get faster.
“Doctor Song, we’ve changed our names. We won’t be called Daya, Erhu, and Sanya anymore.”
“My mother gave us proper names when we were born, but Old Madam Liu wouldn’t allow us to use them, saying ugly names are easier to raise.”
“My name is Liu Qingyan, my second brother is Liu Qingyi, and my younger sister is Liu Qingyou. Since we’ve severed ties with the old household, we want to use our real names.”
“Oh my, those are such beautiful names!” Doctor Song praised. “Your mother must have come from a noble family to choose names like these. Alright, I’ll take my leave now.”
“I’ll see you out, Doctor Song,” Qingyou said as she walked in from outside.
After seeing Doctor Song off, Qingyou began preparing to boil the medicine.
But when she was about to start, she realized there wasn’t even a proper medicine pot at home. The only small pot they had was a chipped clay one someone had given them. There was no choice but to use it.
Liu Qingyan was still very weak and could only lie in bed to rest.
Xiaoyu saw she was tired and left after a while.
Meanwhile, Qingyi had already set off for town with Uncle Wang on the village ox cart.
Old Grandpa Wang was the only person in the village who used an ox cart to travel to and from town, like a taxi in modern times. The fare was two wen per person.
Qingyi took out six wen and handed it to Grandpa Wang.
Uncle Wang quickly stopped him. “How can I let a child pay for both of us? Just pay your own fare. When your life gets better in the future, you can help me pay then.”
Qingyi had no choice but to pay only his own two wen.
Meanwhile, Qingyou quickly finished boiling the medicine.
Liu Qingyan took a sip and nearly spat it out immediately.
She had never taken traditional Chinese herbal medicine before in her past life—when she was sick, she usually took Western medicine or easy-to-swallow herbal tablets. But this decoction was unbearably bitter.
“Qingyou, quickly bring me a bowl of water. I need to rinse my mouth.”
Seeing her sister’s pained expression after drinking the medicine, Qingyou couldn’t help but laugh.
“Sis is afraid of bitterness too! Haha!”
Feeling teased by a child, Liu Qingyan became a little stubborn. With a determined expression, she said, “Watch closely—your sister isn’t afraid of bitterness at all!”
She pinched her nose and gulped down the rest of the bowl in one breath. Even after finishing, she still felt like vomiting but forced it down and calmly rinsed her mouth with water.
“Big sister, you’re amazing!” Qingyou said admiringly.
“Good medicine is bitter,” Liu Qingyan replied. “Qingyou, sister is a bit tired. I want to lie down for a while.”
“Okay, sister. I’ll go gather some firewood.”
Liu Qingyan felt a bit helpless. Even her younger siblings were working hard, while she alone was lying in bed—it made her feel a little embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Liu Qingyi and Wang Tieniu sat on the ox cart, chatting nonstop with excitement.
Tieniu had been to town before, but only a few times, so he was just as excited.
When they arrived at the town, Wang Dafu led the two children to buy supplies.
The streets were lined with shops, and the market was bustling with crowds.
For Liu Qingyi, it was his first time in town. Everything felt fresh and overwhelming.
Tieniu acted like a little adult, explaining things to him as they went. There were quite a lot of items to buy.
They walked around the market repeatedly, picking and choosing carefully. By the time they finished, all three of them were carrying bundles of goods.
Thankfully, Tieniu had come along—otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to carry everything.
They headed toward the town gate, preparing to catch Grandpa Wang’s ox cart back.
Two people were already sitting on the cart: Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhang.
Seeing them, they greeted warmly, “Oh my, you’re back too? You bought quite a lot of things!”