As Xu Mingxuan’s comrades had lost their appetite for drinking during their lunch break due to his sudden departure on an urgent mission, their midday meal was quickly finished without much enthusiasm. After bidding farewell to Uncle Fu and Uncle De, the women stayed to help with the cleanup while the men took the children and elders home.
Here, the mother-in-law was comforting Cui Mama. Chen Lan handed the twins to Mama Liu to watch and, with her two younger brothers, helped her mother upstairs to their room.
Chen Lan sat on the bed, hugging her mother and gently patting her back. Her mother continued to sob in Chen Lan’s arms.
Looking at her mother’s red and swollen eyes, Chen Lan thought this wouldn't do; she worried her mother might fall ill again from excessive grief.
While comforting her mother, she mentally opened the system and purchased a Traditional Chinese Medicine called Zishen Ningshen Wan, which had the effects of tonifying qi and nourishing the liver, replenishing qi and blood, and benefiting intellect and calming the spirit.
She asked her younger brother Wen Kai to pour a glass of warm water and coaxed her mother into taking the medicine. In a short while, her mother closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Chen Lan asked her two younger brothers to stay with their mother and rest.
Their eyes were red as they shook their heads. Wen Qi, fighting back tears that threatened to fall, asked with a choked voice, “Big Sister, will Mother be alright? And Brother-in-law, he’ll be alright too, right? Brother-in-law won’t leave and never return like Eldest Brother, will he?”
Wen Kai also gazed at Chen Lan with his red eyes, anxiously awaiting her answer.
Chen Lan smiled wryly, gently stroked their heads, and said with utmost sincerity, “Don’t worry! With Big Sister here, Mother will be fine, and your brother-in-law will definitely come back! Everyone will be fine! You two children shouldn’t worry so much; just grow up quickly and well.”
Wen Qi wiped away the impending tears with his hand and said with immediate joy, “That’s great! Second Brother, Brother Xiang was right! He said Big Sister is a little fairy, and with Big Sister protecting everyone in the valley. Big Sister said Brother-in-law can return, and he definitely will come home. Right? Second Brother.”
Hearing his elder sister and Wen Qi, Wen Kai also breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Lan looked at her brothers with confusion and asked, “Wen Kai, Wen Qi, what exactly has Brother Xiang been talking nonsense to you about? Little fairy? Protection? What kind of gibberish is this?”
Wen Qi realized he had let slip something he shouldn’t have! He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and refused to speak further. Wen Kai also lowered his head, afraid to meet Chen Lan’s eyes.
Seeing their reaction, Chen Lan didn’t press them further.
She didn’t need to ask; she could guess what Xiang Xi had probably said. It was nothing more than words to comfort the two brothers and put their minds at ease.
Chen Lan again asked her brothers to rest with their mother. This time, they didn’t refuse and lay down beside their mother, one on each side. Chen Lan covered them with quilts and waited for a while.
With their heavy hearts lifted, the two brothers soon fell asleep.
Chen Lan hurried downstairs. The twins were due for their nap and were likely starting to fuss. As soon as she reached the ground floor, she saw her mother-in-law and Mama Liu each holding one of the children and trying to soothe them.
The twins rubbed their eyes and cried, their small hands still in their eyes. Mama Liu, holding Jiahui, was struggling to manage, and her mother-in-law, holding Jiayao, was also flustered.
Both were in distress, and upon seeing Chen Lan descend, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Her mother-in-law said with lingering fear, “Oh, my goodness! These two little ones are harder to handle as they get older. It’s truly not easy for our relative to bring up two children alone every day! Little Lan, is the other relative alright?”
Chen Lan took Jiayao from her mother-in-law’s arms, patted his back, and coaxed him, saying, “She’s fine! I gave her some calming pills, and she’s already asleep. She should sleep for a while. She’ll likely be fine when she wakes up.”
Then, taking the crying Jiahui from Mama Liu’s arms, she told her mother-in-law and Mama Liu, “Mother-in-law, Mama Liu, the twins are fussy. I’ll take them upstairs to sleep now.”
Her mother-in-law immediately said, “Hurry and go up, hurry and go up.”
As Chen Lan went upstairs, she could still hear her mother-in-law complaining to Mama Liu: “Oh, my aching back! I’m almost worn out. These two little ones have stubborn tempers, just like their father when he was young. When they get stubborn, they’re like mules; no amount of coaxing works! You can’t sit, you can’t stand; they just keep crying. But when they’re good, they’re so lovable!”
Chen Lan couldn’t help but chuckle wryly, wondering what her mother-in-law was trying to express. Sudan Novel Network.
As dinner approached in the evening, only her two younger brothers came downstairs. Her mother had not yet woken up, and Chen Lan felt something was amiss.
So, she again entrusted the twins to her mother-in-law and Mama Liu. After waking up, the twins were very well-behaved and obedient, sitting on the sofa playing with their favorite toys.
Chen Lan went to her mother’s room and saw her still in a deep sleep. Feeling uneasy, she reached out and touched her mother’s forehead. My heavens! It was burning hot.
The thing Chen Lan had worried about had happened; her mother had fallen ill. She couldn’t worry about anything else now.
She mentally opened the system and purchased fever-reducing medicine, Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San, and a thermometer.
Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San has the effect of soothing the liver, regulating qi, dispelling depression, and purging heat.
She poured a glass of warm water, woke her groggy mother, and had her take the fever-reducing medicine first, followed by a bowl of dilute salt water. Then, she went to the bathroom and prepared a basin of warm water to wipe her mother’s forehead and body.
Before long, her mother fell into a drowsy sleep again. Chen Lan quickly took her temperature: 38°C. She then went to the bathroom and filled another basin with warm water to wipe her mother’s entire body. She kept changing the towel on her forehead.
After about half an hour, she took her mother’s temperature again. The fever had finally dropped to 37.3°C, but she still had a slight fever. So, she gave her mother another bowl of dilute salt water and Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San.
At this moment, her mother-in-law, worried, followed Wen Kai and Wen Qi upstairs to check. Seeing the basin and towels in the room, she quickly asked, “Little Lan, how is our relative?”
Chen Lan quickly explained, “She has a slight fever. I’ve given her fever-reducing pills, and the fever has subsided. She should wake up after sleeping a bit longer.
Mother-in-law, please watch her for me. My mother hasn’t eaten lunch or dinner. I’ll go down and make her a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed porridge.”
Her mother-in-law quickly agreed, “Hurry and go! Don’t worry, I’ll stay here and watch your mother.”
Chen Lan gave her mother-in-law some instructions and told her brothers, “Don’t worry, Mother will be fine!” Then, she rushed downstairs.
Upon reaching the ground floor, she didn’t even have time to look at the twins before heading straight into the kitchen.