Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 47 - 047: Falling Ill

Chapter 47: Chapter 047: Falling Ill

More than a month later, in Central State, Yuchang Prefecture, a dilapidated temple on the outskirts was filled with emaciated refugees.

Now it’s mid-October, and winter has arrived in Central State Yuchang Prefecture. Although there is no snow, the temperature is very low in the mornings and evenings, and there is a kind of frost that looks like snow.

A bout of this frost can make people feel cold to the bone.

The refugees had nothing to protect themselves from the cold, so they huddled together in the temple, lighting fires to keep warm.

In a straw shed at the base of the temple wall, Gu Jinli’s family took refuge to keep warm.

After passing Yongtai Prefecture and turning south on the expressway, they headed to Central State, but half of Central State was suffering from drought and was likewise hit by disaster.

The disaster area was so vast, half of Great Chu was affected by famine, and the court’s relief efforts were too weak, the grain for disaster relief was far from enough.

Central State Six Prefectures were unable to care for themselves, let alone dare to provide relief to the refugees fleeing famine from the Northwest. They closed their city gates, with guard soldiers setting up barricades on the roads, preventing the refugees from entering the cities.

They had no choice but to spend the night outside Yuchang Prefecture.

But as they fled along the way and encountered a sudden drop in temperature, many refugees caught colds.

Among Gu Jinli’s group, Third Grandma, Old Mrs. Yan, Brother Cheng, Tian Xiaohua, the youngest son of Gu Dalin, Gu Qingxi, and Gu Dewang from Gu Dagui’s family, all caught colds and developed high fevers.

Gu Jinli had gathered many medicinal herbs for treating colds along the way, and now they were all being decocted.

"Mom, Aunt Tian, Aunt Gui, Aunt Damu, the medicine is ready, come and get it," Gu Jinli said while pouring the decocted medicine into prepared wooden bowls, calling out to the women in the straw shed.

"Is it ready?" Mrs. Chen was the first to rush out, grabbing a bowl of medicine that Gu Jinli had not yet finished pouring, carefully guarding the bowl and running into the straw shed. She helped the faint Gu Dewang sit up, slightly cooled the medicine in the bowl, and then fed him sip by sip.

Mrs. Cui, Ms. Yan, Aunt Tian also hurried out, carrying the medicine into the straw shed to feed it to their family members.

"Hui Niang, continue decocting the medicine, after it’s done, let everyone drink a bowl to prevent colds."

After their long journey, coupled with insufficient food and clothing, everyone’s health was poor, and it was necessary to drink medicine to prevent colds, otherwise many would fall ill.

"Okay," Luo Huiniang continued to decoct the medicine following the method taught by Gu Jinli.

Gu Jinli brought the last bowl of medicine to Third Grandma and said to Gu Jinxiu, who was taking care of Third Grandma, "Sister, help Third Grandma sit up, I’ll feed her the medicine."

"Okay." Gu Jinxiu helped Third Grandma sit up, supporting her back with one hand and stabilizing her head with the other, working together with Gu Jinli to successfully administer the medicine to Third Grandma.

After taking the medicine, the sick family members still remained unconscious. Mrs. Chen was exceedingly anxious and said to Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, is this medicine effective? Don’t let it harm our Brother Wang."

Gu Jinli chuckled and responded, "If Aunt Gui is worried, take Brother Wang to the city prefecture to see a doctor now. The doctors in the city are skilled, and they can surely wake Brother Wang up immediately."

There were guard soldiers outside Yuchang Prefecture preventing refugees from entering, and even if they could enter, Mrs. Chen had no money to pay for a doctor for Brother Wang.

Mrs. Chen choked, her face became embarrassed, but she had always been thick-skinned and adaptable, quickly saying, "Worry? How can I not worry? Aunt trusts you the most."

Gu Dagui was tying the branches and dried grass they had collected into makeshift wooden boards with several men, intending to use these boards to encircle the wall base to shield everyone from the cold wind. Hearing what Mrs. Chen said, he gasped, "Take good care of Brother Wang and don’t go looking for trouble unnecessarily."

On this journey, this woman was the least sociable. How much had the Dashan family helped them, yet she couldn’t even say a few kind words?

Mrs. Chen knew Gu Dagui’s temper and dared not speak again.

Gu Jinxiu glanced at Third Grandma and then at Brother Cheng, who was also in a deep sleep. She felt worried and asked Gu Jinli in a low voice, "Xiao Yu, how long before Third Grandma and the others recover?"

Gu Jinli said, "After they take their medicine, sweat it out, and have a good sleep, they should be better."

What worried her was if they couldn’t sweat it out and the high fever didn’t subside, then things would be bad.

And there was Brother Cheng, who was not yet four years old. They couldn’t let him continue with the fever; it could damage his brain.

"Sister, you take good care of Third Grandma," Gu Jinli told Gu Jinxiu before going to Brother Cheng’s side. She touched his forehead with the back of her hand and felt it searing hot. Then she rolled up his sleeves and pant legs, starting to massage several acupoints on his hands and feet.

For children under ten, continuously massaging certain acupoints on the hands and feet can help reduce a fever.

Gu Jinli repeatedly performed the action, massaging the acupoints on Brother Cheng’s hands and feet until they were bright red, then continuing until the surrounded skin showed purplish-red spots before she stopped.

Soon after, she felt his forehead again, and his fever had reduced considerably.

Gu Jinli breathed a sigh of relief, then looked outside the straw hut. There were many such huts around, all filled with refugees. Some didn’t even have a hut and were squeezed next to others, unable to be driven away.

There were also refugees who tried to squeeze into their hut, but with many people and youths like Qin Er Lang, Gu Jin’an, and Luo Wu guarding along the wall, those refugees couldn’t get in.

As for Qin San Lang, he followed Elder Qin, Third Grandpa, and Father Luo to nearby houses to buy things.

There were many villages outside the prefecture, and these villages, afraid of trouble from the refugees, wouldn’t let them in, yet would sell things to them, but at prices several times higher than usual.

But there was no choice, many of their people were sick, and if they didn’t spend the silver to buy things, they might all die from the illness.

As it was nearing dark, Qin San Lang and three others finally returned each carrying a load, with a pile of old clothes on top.

The surrounding refugees, seeing them carrying goods back, all had greedy looks in their eyes, and quite a few were thinking of grabbing the goods.

Qin Er Lang, carrying a machete, rushed forward and stood beside Elder Qin. His fierce eyes surveyed the surrounding refugees as he sneered, "Those not afraid of death, come over!"

Those who had managed to escape to Yuchang Prefecture without dying on the way were toughened by experience. Seeing Qin Er Lang’s demeanor, they knew he had seen blood, so the refugees who wanted to grab the goods immediately withdrew.

Third Grandpa and the others quickly returned to the straw hut beneath the wall, where they laid down the four loads. All the families gathered around, with Mrs. Chen acting the quickest and immediately grabbing three old cotton clothes.

Third Grandpa watched her coldly and said, "An old cotton cloth costs five hundred large money, and for these three, your family needs to add another two taels of silver."

Five hundred large money was half a tael of silver. Mrs. Chen, always scrimping, had only given half tael of silver when they had gone to the nearby farmers to buy things.

"What? Five hundred money for one old cotton cloth, this is robbery!" Mrs. Chen screamed, but wasn’t willing to let go of the old cotton clothes in her hands.

Third Grandpa said, "You’re right, the nearby farmers are robbing us. But can we not buy? Without buying, we’d freeze, get sick, or die from the cold."