"Let's go eat." Without even looking at Li Aihua, Hu Xiaoyi lifted his feet and left the room to join Hu Guangjie in the main hall for dinner.
Li Aihua tucked the quilt around Hu Lin, her hands trembling with excitement, her eyes slightly red.
For half her life, she had never known what it felt like to have someone stand up for her.
As soon as Li Aihua went out, Hu Lin opened her eyes and, with a disgusted frown, pulled away the quilt that had been tucked up to her chin.
It smelled faintly of mold.
The house was not soundproof, and she had faintly heard what Hu Chunsheng said in the living room.
Thanks to the Fourth Branch daughter-in-law's words earlier, all the eggs given by the Yang Family would now belong to her.
The Fourth Branch seemed the only normal one in the whole family, and in her memories, they had never oppressed Jianya. She could observe them further in the future; perhaps cooperation was possible.
Hu Lin slowly ate the egg custard.
Though lacking in oil, eggs from this era were delicious. Even with just a little salt added, they had a unique flavor.
Hu Xiaoyi, returning to the room after dinner, was stunned to see that Jianya was awake and the bowl of egg custard on the small table on the kang had been eaten.
Seeing Hu Xiaoyi's expression, Hu Lin knew he must think she had truly fainted earlier.
"Dad, I was so hungry that I woke up when I smelled the egg custard. Did you bring it in?"
"Ah, no, your Second Uncle brought it in." Recovering his wits, Hu Xiaoyi moved toward the kang. "As long as you're awake. There's food left for you in the kitchen, go eat."
With that, Hu Xiaoyi took off his straw sandals and got onto the kang to take a nap.
Seeing the mud splatters on his trouser cuffs, Hu Lin felt a wave of disgust.
He was truly unhygienic!
"I'll go in a little bit, my head is still a bit dizzy." If she went out now and ran into the old lady and the Second Branch, wouldn't it just be another chaotic mess?
Hu Xiaoyi really had no brains at all.When Li Aihua finished washing the dishes and tidying the kitchen, she returned to the room to find Hu Lin awake. She repeated more or less the same words as Hu Xiaoyi, then climbed onto the kang for her own nap.
Hu Lin: "..."
Hadn't Hu Chunsheng said he would take her to the clinic as soon as she woke up?
It seemed that for this couple, the only requirement they had for her was that she stay alive.
Hu Lin climbed off the kang at a snail’s pace and carried the porcelain bowl that had held the egg custard to the kitchen. Her meal had been covered with an enamel basin. When she lifted it, she saw two greyish, dusty-looking corn buns, and she froze.
This was all they were feeding her?
Was this even edible?
Hu Lin skeptically picked up one of the rock-hard buns and took a tentative bite.
Good heavens! It was like a brick! This thing would ruin her teeth! Still, it smelled quite fragrant, with the genuine aroma of coarse grains.
After the afternoon nap, Hu Xiaoyi carried Hu Lin to the clinic.
Doctor Zhao already knew that Hu Lin's medical expenses were being charged to the village head’s account. He set up an IV drip for her, explaining it was for inflammation; as the weather was starting to warm up, the wound wouldn't heal easily without it.
Doctor Zhao told Hu Xiaoyi to go home if he had things to take care of, promising to keep an eye on her himself. Seeing this, Hu Xiaoyi headed back.
Once Hu Xiaoyi had left, Hu Lin finally asked, "Doctor Zhao, why did you shave off all my hair?"
Doctor Zhao, who was busy writing medical records at his desk, looked up in surprise. "What, do you think you look ugly?"
"Of course! I’ve always worn my hair in long braids. Now that it’s all gone, Grandma said people would make fun of me."
Hu Lin tried her best to mimic the tone of a five-year-old, dragging the old lady into the conversation to make her words sound more authentic."Let them laugh, it's better than losing my life." Doctor Zhao patiently explained to Hu Lin, "When your dad brought you here, you were soaked to the bone. He told me you had a head injury, and since your hair was all tangled and the situation was so urgent, I had no choice but to shave it all off. You don't blame me, do you, little girl?"
"Of course not." Her hair must have been blown out by the lightning and then soaked in the rain.
"Doctor Zhao, do you have any nutritional supplements here?" The food at home was hopeless; if she wanted to recover her health, she had to look for outside help.
"Why are you asking about that?"
"The village chief said he wants to adopt me as his goddaughter, and I want to get better soon." She needed a healthy body to practice martial arts.
"We don't use those things in our village. Nutritional supplements are only available in the county town."
"I need them right now, don't I?" Hu Lin hinted to Doctor Zhao.
Doctor Zhao smiled. "You're acting like a totally different person. Little girl, you've really woken up, haven't you?"
"Then can Doctor Zhao help?"
"Nutritional supplements are very expensive," Doctor Zhao politely refused.
Although Hu Lin's medical expenses were charged to the village chief's household, they might not be willing to spend that much money on Jianya.
When his own family members got sick, they only came to the clinic when they simply couldn't drag it out any longer.
If he agreed to Jianya's request today and the village chief refused to acknowledge the debt when settling accounts later, who would pay this money? And the Hu Family was notoriously stingy; they definitely wouldn't pay.
In the end, it would come out of his own pocket, and he couldn't afford to play the fool.
"The village chief said he would cover all my expenses until I'm fully recovered."
"You're still young and don't understand many things. Look, if you can get the village chief or your grandfather to come and tell me in person, the next time I go to the county town to pick up medicine, I'll get you some nutritional supplements."
Sigh, doing things in this tiny body was such a hassle.
Even if she made any promises, nobody would believe her!
"Doctor Zhao, how about we make a bet?"
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"Let's bet that when accounts are settled at the end of the year, the village chief will acknowledge all the expenses I've run up. How about that?"
"If I lose, I'll get you sent back to the city. How does that sound?" Getting something for nothing—this tactic was tailor-made for Doctor Zhao.
Doctor Zhao had been in Xiaohe Village for many years. Nobody knew why he came here; they only knew he used to be a city person.
Doctor Zhao put down his pen. "The way you talk makes me suspect whether you're even Jianya anymore."
Her previous remarks could be dismissed as her suddenly wising up, but what she was saying now was certainly not something a child of this age could utter.
Hu Lin knew this risked exposing her, but she had no choice.
Right now, she was isolated, helpless, and dragging around a sickly body; she urgently needed to find an ally.
"Of course I am who I am. You also know what happened to me. I don't know if you've ever heard the saying that those who survive a desperate situation are bound to encounter miracles."
"Doctor Zhao, care to guess what my miracle is?"
Making big promises! The more mystical, the better. She didn't believe Doctor Zhao wouldn't take the bait.
"You say you can get me back to the city, but do you even know how I ended up in the countryside?"
Doctor Zhao was an intellectual, too. Though he was somewhat tempted, he hadn't completely lost his reason.
"I don't know, and I don't need to know. I always keep my word."
"Arrogant!"
"Why on earth should I trust a little kid like you? You don't even know why I came here, yet you claim you can get me back to the city. Isn't that just a pipe dream?"
Doctor Zhao was provoked into anger by Hu Lin's arrogant attitude, simply because her current demeanor bore such a striking resemblance to his own when he was young.