Chapter 41

The Meng mother and daughter were, of course, unable to speak, as their tonsils were now as swollen as walnuts. Meng Sijing had inherited her mother’s allergy to peaches. The bedding from yesterday hadn’t just contained cotton fibers used by smallpox patients; it had been packed full of peach fuzz. Cheng Nuo and the young boy she had brought back had spent all their effort scraping that fuzz off with small knives, little by little. To accomplish this, she had even wasted a chance to use the mall interface, having spent several meals eating peaches with He Guixiang’s family. The young boy’s smallpox had mostly cleared up. Judging by his behavior, he didn’t seem dim-witted, nor did he appear to have amnesia. He seemed more like a rebellious runaway who refused, under any circumstances, to say where his home was. Whenever Cheng Nuo asked about his background, he would pout, his eyes would well up with tears, and if she pressed further, the golden droplets would fall.