——————
At past two in the afternoon, Zhou Xiuhua woke up.
Upon waking, she felt much lighter. Hearing sounds from the courtyard outside, she realized she was still at Da Niu’s house.
It turned out that the little kids had woken up an hour earlier when Zhang Shanni had just finished making a chicken coop. Coincidentally, a peddler selling chicks was calling out door to door, and Xie Tiesheng immediately bought six.
The chicklings were only a few cents each, but still more expensive than the rural prices. Buying six and taking good care of them was enough if none died of illness. Besides, the peddler would come around every ten to fifteen days, so they could always buy more if needed.
When the little kids came together, they heard the chirping "chirp chirp chirp" of the chicks in the yard, happily pecking around the vegetable patch, delighting them immensely.
Xiao Liu, being the oldest among the kids, knew that the chicks loved eating earthworms the most, and he particularly enjoyed gathering earthworms. With him leading, the four kids had a blast, forgetting the scare they had that morning.
Xiao Liu was also the most sensible one. From time to time, he would look up at the main house, clearly remembering that grandma was ill and sleeping inside.
Now, as Zhou Xiuhua appeared at the entrance of the main house, Xiao Liu was the first to notice.
"Grandma!" As soon as Xiao Liu looked up, he saw Zhou Xiuhua slowly walking to the doorway. He joyfully dropped the earthworms in his hand, leaped up, and dashed toward grandma!
Zhang Shanni was the second to react. Had she not been discreetly using her spiritual power to make sure the old lady’s steps were steady, she would have rushed back to assist her.
Fortunately, with the right medication and the effects of the Spirit Core Water, Zhou Xiuhua, having slept and woken up, was much more lively than when she got up in the morning.
These medications, of course, were exchanged by her into the Space. After all, Zhou Xiuhua was under her care. Managing her medicine was only logical, and she switched all the medicines while everyone’s attention was elsewhere.
Nobody in the family had seen the original pills anyway, making it convenient for her to ’do the deed’.
"Mom, are you feeling better?" Xie Jinghong was the third person to notice, reacting instantly to Xiao Liu’s shouts and also rushing towards the main house doorway.
"Xiao Liu, you mustn’t rush into grandma like that, you could hurt her easily!" Zhang Shanni, seeing her mother-in-law supported by her sister, wisely stopped Xiao Liu who was on the verge of crying for grandma. Seeing Xiao Liu’s teary red eyes, she quickly comforted him:
"Xiao Liu, be good. Grandma is already fine, see, she is up now. Be nice, and grandma will recover even faster~~"
Xiao Liu obediently nodded. Seeing grandpa and elder aunt surrounding grandma, he somewhat understood that grandma was indeed fine.
Zhou Xiuhua felt much better, not only did the adults heave a sigh of relief, but the little kids also sensibly understood that ’grandma’ was fine now, which was truly great.
Xie Jinghong intended to have his mother stay a few more days in the county town for convenience of follow-up visits.
However, Zhou Xiuhua wouldn’t agree no matter what. Knowing her own family matters, how could she stay in her son-in-law’s house and trouble outsiders while aware of her declining health? She also had sons, and if she really stayed, the Old Devout Woman, who already felt guilty towards their family, might come back and reprimand the Old Xie Family!
When they returned home, Xiao San, Xiao Yi, Xiao’er, along with Xiao Wu were all already at home. The older ones were gathered, either doing homework or reciting lessons. Xiao Wu, still young, sat obediently on the threshold alone, and when he saw Grandpa and grandma coming, a big smile bloomed on his little face, like flowers blossoming!
Seeing her little niece not throwing any tantrum and even lifting a sweet smile to greet them, Zhang Shanni felt a bit of pity and took out candies from her pocket candy stash, distributing two pieces to each of the little nieces and nephews.
These simple candies made the half-grown nieces and nephews extremely joyful.
Dinner was nothing special; if anything could be mentioned, it was the addition of a dish of steamed pumpkin with salted pork. She had added a drop of Spirit Core Water, and the family cleaned up the dish completely; Xiao Liu even licked the sauce on the bottom of the plate clean with a small wooden spoon.
Although Xiao Liu had a short nap with several little cousins at noon, he was still shocked today, so during the bath time in the evening, Xiuhua bathed him while teaching Zhang Shanni how to calm a child after a fright, leaving Zhang Shanni somewhat stunned—
But, really, does this stuff actually work?
However, the old lady didn’t care what she thought. She felt that this daughter-in-law, despite being good, would eventually leave here with her son. Thus, it was necessary for her to teach all she knew to her, for the benefit of either her son or her grandson someday; the old lady was quite shrewd.
With this incident, for several days, both Zhang Shanni and Xie Tiesheng restricted the old lady from going out, even setting up formidable restrictions.
And, as soon as the Dad heard that his wife wanted to go out, he would uncontrollably tense up.
Zhang Shanni wasn’t foolish; she immediately put things together and knew that there might be bad rumors in the village concerning their family, fearing the mother-in-law might get agitated upon hearing them.
To cooperate with Grandpa, Zhang Shanni used candies to bribe Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu, the two little troublemakers, to always stick with Granny Zhang and ’watch over’ grandma—
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