Rebirth: Regaining Joyful Moments
Chapter 65 - 065 Bringing Home (Part 1)

Chapter 65: Chapter 065 Bringing Home (Part 1)

"What’s going on here?"

After Ji Ying saw Xu Qinghu out, she always felt something was off.

In just three days, Xu Qinghu had come over twice, each time sitting at home and chatting with Ji Ying about household matters without discussing anything else. When she left, she always did so with a smile.

What was she really selling in her gourd?

Full of doubts, Ji Ying went off to get busy. It was the chili pepper season, and each year the Xu family would grow a lot of chilies. Some were dried to make dried chilies, while others were simply turned into chili sauce.

Sometimes, when there was not much else to eat, chili sauce was a real treat; just mixing it with rice could help one consume two bowls of it.

"Mom, we are back." Xu Nianhua and Xu Nian’an, the siblings, had sold out all the Mung Bean Jelly and also bought some spare ribs.

"You’re back."

Ji Ying was making chili sauce, chopping up all the chilies—although it wasn’t difficult, the sheer quantity made it a laborious chore.

"Did you sell everything today?" Ji Ying asked, looking at the bucket they brought back, filled with the spare ribs she had bought.

Now, thanks to the money that Xu Nianhua and her brother were earning, the family’s meals had greatly improved from before. Although they did not eat meat every day, they could have it every few days.

"Yes, I bought the spare ribs since brother is coming back today. It’s perfect to nourish him," Xu Nianhua remembered clearly. Every month on this day, her big brother would come back.

As soon as Xu Nianhua arrived home, she got busy in the kitchen, first stewing the spare ribs. There were fresh snap beans at home, which, after being blanched, were stewed with the spare ribs to create a delicious flavor.

Because her big brother was coming home, Xu Nianhua didn’t buy pipe bones but chose spare ribs instead, and she also purposefully bought a pound of spare ribs and a pound of pork belly. The spare ribs were for the soup, and the pork belly was intended for making braised pork.

Her brother worked at a brick factory, doing physically demanding labor, and their father too worked hard as a carpenter outside.

Xu Nian’an put down the purchases and went to chop wood on the hill behind their house. There was too little firewood at home, and even though Xu Nian’an managed to chop some every day, it was barely enough.

At night, Xu Qinghe, who worked outside, returned home, and Xu Nian’an, who had been chopping wood on the mountain, also came back. On the stove, stewed aromatic spare ribs simmered, their fragrance and meaty aroma filling the air.

"One of these days, we really should go thank Doctor Du properly. His medicine is indeed effective," Ji Ying said, looking at her daughter who seemed rounder than before.

In the past, Xu Nianhua was so skinny that she seemed almost like a stick, her face so gaunt that she looked as if she was all bones and could topple over with a gust of wind.

In just a few days, she had visibly gained some weight.

"Doctor Du is really good, it’s just that the medicine is a bit bitter," Xu Nianhua knew her body was weaker than normal, exacerbated by an accident in which she had fallen into water when she was younger. Every time her period came, she’d be in so much pain that she couldn’t get out of bed. Doctor Du’s medicine was to nourish her body, and she believed it would make her feel better after taking it.

"Good medicine tastes bitter," Ji Ying said, looking somewhat guilty, "I should have taken you to the doctor sooner."

Previously, in the Xu family, every penny they earned had to be handed over. They had no spare money, and although Ji Ying wanted to take Xu Nianhua to see a doctor, Liu Sanmei had said that women just had to get through these things naturally. Taking medicine without necessity could harm a perfectly healthy body.

Not just Xu Nianhua, Ji Ying herself had experienced pain before, though not as severely, and thus hadn’t taken it seriously.