Falling Ill
This was the first time Mǎn Bǎo had been punished by Lǎo Zhōu. Previously, any mistakes she made were punished by Qián Shì, while Lǎo Zhōu was responsible for pleading on her behalf.
But this time, Lǎo Zhōu was furious. He did not wait for Qián Shì to act; instead, he punished Mǎn Bǎo himself.
Qián Shì would not, of course, intercede for them. She simply brought out a chair and sat at the door, watching the four of them with a stern expression.
The four of them were disheartened, but they felt guilty and did not dare to argue back. So, they had to kneel and listen to Lǎo Bà's scolding, accepting their punishment obediently.
Life is always full of surprises, and Mǎn Bǎo found Kē Kē's words to be sensible.
For example, yesterday they thought they had escaped unscathed, only to be exposed today.
This whole situation was all because of Liu Ge.
Zhōu Liùláng also knew it was his fault, so he bowed his head lower than the other three and hunched his back.
But Lǎo Zhōu clearly did not see it that way. He mainly scolded Zhou Silang, "Your siblings are young, but are you still young?" They are all of marriageable age, and yet you left your sister in the mountains. Thank goodness she's safe. "If she had gotten lost in the mountains and couldn't find her way back, or worse, been taken by a wolf..."
Lǎo Zhōu's words made his chest ache just thinking about it. He was so angry that he kicked Zhōu Sìláng, sending him flying and gasping for breath, as he asked, "How can I face you..."
"Enough," Qián Shì interrupted him, her face stern. "All four of you will receive ten strokes." Yes, you are the oldest. "You will not be allowed to eat tonight; you will kneel here!"
Zhōu Sìláng hung his head and did not dare to argue.
Mǎn Bǎo was frightened, not expecting her parents to be so angry.
Zhōu Èrláng brought out a bamboo stick and lightly struck Mǎn Bǎo's buttocks as a punishment, causing her to experience pain. But when he punished the other three, he did not hold back, leaving marks on their bodies.
Clearly, he was also very angry.
Mǎn Bǎo was so scared that she climbed up to plead with Lǎo Zhōu, "Father, I know I was wrong." Please don't punish my brothers.
Lǎo Zhōu snorted at her and said, "Mǎn Bǎo, you're not young anymore." You're almost seven years old. You should know better than to run around in the mountains. There are wolves there. Can you just run around carelessly?
Lǎo Zhōu continued, "If you were taken by a wolf, you would never see your parents and siblings again. It would bite off your hands and feet, gnaw on them, and then eat your head."
Lǎo Zhōu's terrifying words left Mǎn Bǎo stunned, and she forgot to plead for her three brothers.
Lǎo Zhōu reached out and pulled her up, saying, "None of them are allowed to eat tonight."
Mǎn Bǎo felt a pang of guilt, and even the first meal of the day did not taste good.
Because it was winter, Lǎo Zhōu didn't want them to get sick and have to spend money on medicine, so he didn't make them kneel for long. As soon as it got dark, he sent them back to their rooms to sleep.
The three brothers, feeling hungry, went to the kitchen to drink some water before returning to their rooms to sleep.
Mǎn Bǎo was constantly watched by Lǎo Zhōu and couldn't even sneak a couple of candies to her brothers. In the end, she fell asleep sobbing.
While she slept, Lǎo Zhōu did not sleep. He went to find his three sons.
Zhōu Sìláng stood with his two younger brothers in front of the bed, continuing to be scolded.
"You are the only hope for your younger uncle," Lǎo Zhōu said in a low voice. "From a young age, we put in a lot of effort to keep her alive." I always told you to protect her and avoid dangerous places. But you still left her in the mountains. "Are you trying to kill me and your mother?"
Zhōu Sìláng wiped away his tears and remained silent, while Zhōu Wǔláng and Zhōu Liùláng dared not move.
Lǎo Zhōu saw this and finally let out a sigh of relief. He thought about how Zhou Silang had cried so much the day before and realized that he must have been terrified.
After thinking about it, his anger dissipated somewhat. He took a puff of his cigarette, and after a moment of silence, said, "You are not allowed to do something like this again." "Now, go to the kitchen and boil some water for yourself."
Zhōu Sìláng was surprised by his father's final words and looked up in astonishment.
Lǎo Zhōu glared at him and said, "Tomorrow, you will go to the grave and pull out the weeds to atone for your mistake."
Zhōu Sìláng lowered his head in response.
Once their father left, the three brothers sneaked into the kitchen to look for something to eat. Zhōu Liùláng found three black buns hidden in the back of the stove, knowing that they were left for them by their sister-in-law. They heated the food and ate together in the kitchen.
They thought the matter had passed, but in the middle of the night, Mǎn Bǎo developed a fever.
Qián Shì was the first to notice that Mǎn Bǎo was crying in her sleep. She got up to comfort her and was shocked to find her forehead burning up. She quickly woke up Lǎo Zhōu and complained, "The child was fine, but you scared her with your words."
Lǎo Zhōu also regretted it, "She's always been brave." How was I supposed to know she would be scared?
Then he couldn't help but blame Zhōu Liùláng, "It's all because of you. You kept it a secret, and now I know about it."
Zhōu Liùláng: ... Is it wrong to keep a secret, and is it also wrong not to keep it a secret now?
The Zhou family had many children, and experiencing a fever was a common occurrence. They were familiar with the typical methods for reducing a fever, such as drinking hot water and sweating under blankets. Additionally, they had medicinal herbs readily available for reducing fever.
Text: ### When they found that giving Mǎn Bǎo water and making her sweat didn't work, and her temperature continued to rise, Qián Shì had little Qián Shì take the herbs to brew some medicine. ###
But even as the sun was about to rise, Mǎn Bǎo still hadn't sweated at all, and her temperature hadn't gone down.
Qián Shì couldn't help but cry. A high fever could be fatal, especially for a child like Mǎn Bǎo, who was over six years old and in great danger.
She said to Zhōu Dàláng, "Go and fetch the doctor. If her fever doesn't go down by the time the sun comes up, we'll take her to the county."
Zhōu Dàláng hurriedly agreed and ran to Dàlí Village.
Mǎn Bǎo had been taking less medicine in the past two years, but before that, she had been constantly taking medication. The doctor in Dàlí Village was very familiar with her, and when he saw how anxious Zhōu Dàláng was, he didn't mind being woken up before dawn.
He quickly packed up his medicine box and went with him.
When they arrived at the Zhou family's home, he saw that the child's face was red with fever, and Qian Shi was constantly wiping her forehead and palms with a warm towel.
The doctor took a look and asked, "Is the fever getting worse?"
Qián Shì nodded, her eyes red. "It wasn't this hot before." I followed your advice and gave her warm water to drink, but her temperature kept rising. "I didn't dare to use a cold towel, so I kept wiping her with warm water."
The doctor nodded, examined Mǎn Bǎo's eyes and tongue, and then took her pulse. He couldn't help but frown. "This is wind-evil entering the body, exacerbated by fear."
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