Consolation
Not entirely sure, she asked the other three, "Do you hear that?" "Is he crying?"
Dafu nodded, "Yes, he is." My grandmother said, "He's hungry."
With that, he fetched a lukewarm bowl of rice soup from the nearby table and delicately dabbed a bit on the child's lips. Despite seeing his lips move, the child barely drank any water, causing tears to well up again.
Glancing at his mother, who had tightly shut eyes, he whispered to Manbao, "My grandmother said my mother has no milk, and my little brother has nothing to eat." We can only manage with some rice soup. Originally, if my little brother were well, he could have had some rice porridge, or we could have ground the rice to make it softer, or even gone to another village to beg for some milk. That might have saved his life. But my little brother can't even drink much rice soup, let alone eat rice porridge. "And going to beg for milk, he might not survive the journey…"
So, the Zhouhuo family had actually given up on this child.
Yet, Manbao felt an overwhelming pang of sorrow. Since childhood, her family had constantly reminded her of how challenging her own survival had been. When she was very young, her mother had no milk, so they had to rely entirely on rationed grain.
Clutching her fists, she took the bowl from Dafu's hands and said, "Let me feed him."
After taking a sip herself, she commented disdainfully, "It's cold." It should be warmed.
Immediately, Dafu responded, "I'll get another bowl."
Manbao crouched beside the child, and Baishanbao, who was also watching, thought he didn't look particularly ugly anymore. He then asked, "If there's no milk, can't you hire a wet nurse?"
Without hesitation, Manbao replied, "We definitely can't afford that."
Manbao pondered and asked Keke, "In the future, if people do not give birth themselves, will they still breastfeed their children?"
"Will there be nutritional liquids and formula available for children?"
Manbao's eyes gleamed as she inquired, "Are they expensive?"
Expensive they certainly were. Infant food has always been expensive, regardless of the era.
In the future, there will be no "most expensive," only "more expensive."
Even though the entire star system provided the best benefits for children, including free formula and nutritional liquids every week, parents always seemed dissatisfied with what was distributed by the system, opting to spend more money on alternative formulas. Therefore, the nutritional liquids and formulas available in the marketplace were not inexpensive.
Manbao quietly searched and found that the required points were indeed expensive.
She sighed and hesitated about whether to buy but couldn't make up her mind, "What is formula made of?" Is it human milk too?
Keke: "...No, it's milk from other mammals." In fact, hosts can source it locally. I found in the encyclopedia that in ancient times, formula was mostly made from cow's and goat's milk.
"Ancient times?"
"Yes, the information in the encyclopedia can be traced back to the 17th century AD on Earth; there's nothing earlier." Keke scanned the child lying on the bed and felt that he looked much worse than the host. However, as a system created by humans, its chip contained a program that generated favorable feelings toward humans. Therefore, it didn't hesitate to suggest, "Goat's milk is more suitable for infants than cow's milk, but it has a stronger smell." "It is recommended for the host to use a small amount of green tea or jasmine tea to brew the tea, as it can help eliminate the smell."
Manbao nodded.
Baishanbao had been chattering on the side, and when Manbao nodded, he asked, "Do you agree with what I said?"
Manbao looked at him, feeling embarrassed to admit that she had just been distracted. Instead, she asked, "Why hasn't Dafu come back yet?"
Before she finished speaking, Dafu entered with a bowl of hot rice soup.
The two children immediately stopped talking to make room for him.
Manbao scooped up a spoonful of rice soup, blew gently on it, and cautiously placed it on the child's lips, allowing a little to trickle in.
The child drank a little, then weakly cried and spat out the rice soup.
Manbao was stunned, "Why won't he drink?"
"He's already had milk, so of course he doesn't want rice soup," a weak voice came from somewhere. Manbao looked up to see Chenshi, who had opened her eyes at some point, looking at them sideways.
Manbao was delighted and asked, "Then, Sister Huo, can you feed him again?"
"I have no milk." Yesterday, at the pharmacy, your sister-in-law took him to ask for a few sips of milk. Despite her words, she still found it difficult to raise her hand to unbutton her clothes and feed the child.
Qian noticed the situation and quickly stepped forward to hold her hand, saying, "Don't move." "No means no. You've lost so much blood." How could you have any milk?
In Qian's view, milk was considered as condensed blood.
She lowered her head and glanced at the child with tightly closed eyes, sighing faintly. She reached out to pick him up, took the spoon from Manbao's hand, and said, "Let me do it."
Mother Chen also noticed, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward. She saw Qian gently patting the child and spooning a drop of rice soup into his mouth each time. Initially, he didn't swallow and continued to spit it out.
But Qian didn't mind. If he didn't eat once, she would feed him twice; if he didn't eat twice, she would feed him three times. Her movements were calm and deliberate, persistently guiding a drop or two of rice soup into his lips.
Because the child was so young, she didn't force the soup into his mouth but allowed him to suck it in if he could, or let it spill out if he couldn't.
After some time, perhaps feeling tired or genuinely hungry, or maybe after tasting the rice soup, he finally stopped spitting it out and began to consume it.
Qian sighed with relief. Noticing that he was drinking quickly, she quickened her pace.
As the child suckled, he even made a soft humming sound.
Both Mother Chen and Chenshi were amazed.
Qian fed him the entire bowl of rice soup and then said to Chenshi on the bed, "The child still wants to live."
Upon hearing those words, Chenshi instantly burst into tears. She grabbed Qian's hand, and tears fell like raindrops onto it. "Auntie, Auntie, I also want to live." I want him to live too. But what can we do? "What can we do..."
The room fell silent, and no one spoke.
Qian let her cry for a while before consoling her, "Enough, you can't cry all the time during confinement, or you'll hurt your eyes."
"If you want to live, then live." "Look at me, I've been sick for so many years, but I'm still alive," Qian said. "Many times, I almost lost my life, but I managed to hold on."
Chenshi, with tears in her eyes, raised her head and looked at Qian, then at Manbao. Her expression became more resolute.
When Chenshi married into the family, Manbao had not arrived yet, but of course, she knew who Manbao was. Back then, Qian was seriously ill, and Zhou Yin only slightly improved when he returned. However, after he was carried back, she collapsed, leaving only a breath.
Finally, she managed to hold onto her breath.
She hadn't quite understood before because he was her nephew, not her own son.
But now she vaguely understood a little.