Chapter 53 - 53 Dividing the Pork

Xu Ying returned home and lay down on her bed right away. Her pale little face made Mrs. Xu’s heart ache terribly, “Why is it so severe this time?”

“It might be because I fell into the river before!” Xu Ying said.

Mrs. Xu was full of concern; a girl’s health is the most important thing, especially for childbirth. Her daughter’s period was so severe this time, could it have damaged her at the root?

If that was the case, she might not be able to have children in the future.

Mrs. Xu sighed but quickly recovered her spirits. If her daughter couldn’t have children, then so be it. If no one wanted to marry their family’s daughter, she would support her for a lifetime.

Yet, seeing her daughter in such pain, Mrs. Xu felt heartbroken, “You rest at home. I’ll go find a doctor to discreetly get you some medicine.”

This time, Xu Ying didn’t dare to be pretentious and quickly nodded her head.

She was truly in too much pain.

Mrs. Xu didn’t take long to bring the village’s old doctor to their house.

The old doctor entered the room, adjusted his glasses, and asked Xu Ying to extend her hand so he could take her pulse.

“Cold has entered the body, and you’ve caught a chill. Drink some medicine and you’ll be fine. It won’t have much of an impact.”

“It won’t affect future fertility, right?” Mrs. Xu asked, still worried.

Xu Ying was relieved to hear this; she had never planned to get married or even date in this lifetime.

Thinking back on the tragic experiences from her past life, she had no desire to pursue romance.

Sometimes a person’s facade is so strong that you simply can’t see through it.

The old doctor prescribed the medicine and left.

After paying him and seeing him off, Mrs. Xu hurried to cook the medicine for her daughter to drink.

Eldest Sister-in-law Xu finished her work and returned home to prepare lunch.

She was waiting for her father-in-law and the men to divide the meat. Processing the wild boar meat was troublesome, and she estimated that it would only be ready by the time she finished cooking.

She arrived just in time to register for the wild boar meat distribution.

“Mother, what are you doing? Let me help!” said Eldest Sister-in-law Xu as she entered the kitchen.

Mrs. Xu told her to quickly cook, “Your younger sister isn’t feeling well, so I’m making her some medicine to drink. I can handle it. You go ahead and prepare the meal. They’ll divide the meat soon, and you’ll be busy!”

Eldest Sister-in-law Xu was also eager to cook and didn’t linger.

At home, they had wild chicken meat brought back by Xu Ying. However, Eldest Sister-in-law Xu, fearing it might be too showy, chose not to cook it and instead quickly stir-fried some mushrooms and served them with a garlic sauce.

Lunch was ready: noodles topped with diced mushroom sauce and a spoonful of garlic sauce—delicious.

“Mother, it’s time to eat,” Eldest Sister-in-law Xu called out.

Mrs. Xu’s voice came from Xu Ying’s room, “You eat first, then take some food to your father and the others. Go on with your chores, and later I’ll also go to the wheat field.”

Eldest Sister-in-law Xu responded and hurriedly served herself a bowl of food, eating voraciously.

“Shitou, Hu Zi, come and eat. After eating, stay well-behaved at home, understood?”

“Got it, Mom,” Shitou said, devouring his bowl of noodles with relish.

Hu Zi was able to eat by himself now and had a small bowl in front of him, fumbling with his chopsticks.

After eating in a rush, Eldest Sister-in-law Xu said a quick word and took a basket to deliver the food.

Mrs. Xu watched her daughter drink the medicine inside the house.

Xu Ying frowned, took a sip of the herbal concoction, and the bitterness almost made her vomit out her breakfast. She stuck out her tongue; not that she didn’t want to drink it, but it was truly too bitter.

Just the smell of it was enough to make one nauseous.

“Mother, can I drink less?” Xu Ying asked, her face contorted with discomfort.@@novelbin@@

Mrs. Xu, feeling sympathetic but firm, replied, “No, you won’t feel better without the medicine. What if it leaves a lingering illness? Hurry up and finish it all.”

Xu Ying grimaced in agony, pinched her nose, and forcefully gulped it down, nearly vomiting.

Mrs. Xu quickly pulled out a piece of malt candy from somewhere and stuffed it into Xu Ying’s mouth.

Xu Ying finally recovered a bit, fanning her mouth; goodness, that was almost the end of her.

Chinese medicine might be effective, but it’s just so bitter!

Once Xu Ying had settled a little after taking the medicine, Mrs. Xu asked about what happened that day, “How did you end up with that wolf cub, and what’s this about the wild boar?”

Xu Ying recounted the whole story from beginning to end. Mrs. Xu’s face filled with fear; had it not been for the wolf cub, her daughter might have lost her life.

She patted her chest, feeling an intense discomfort, “Oh my, my poor daughter, how could you, Heavenly Father, be so cruel.”

First her daughter fell into the river, then she almost got hurt by a wild boar, Mrs. Xu felt terrible, crying messily.

Xu Ying stood there in shock, it wasn’t like that, she hadn’t met with an accident.

“Mom, don’t cry, I’m alright.”

Only then did Mrs. Xu stop crying.

“Mom, later on, could you also take some medicine to Eldest Sister-in-law Xu? She jumped into the river to save me, I figure she might also feel unwell.”

It was then that Mrs. Xu remembered this matter and quickly took several packs of medicine to the Lu Family.

Shitou and Hu Zi lay prostrate at Xu Ying’s window, the two looking worried but not wanting to enter and disturb her.

Grandma had said, the little aunt needs to rest.

Xu Ying looked at her two nephews staring at her with such endearing, worried expressions.

“Come over!” Xu Ying waved them over.

Shitou, leading his younger brother into the room, asked with a scrunched-up little face, “Little aunt, are you feeling better now? Does it still hurt?”

He had just thought about his little aunt drinking that bitter herbal medicine, and his heart ached for her.

He had tried it once before; that stuff was absolutely brutal.

“I’m fine, they’re dividing up the wild boar meat at the market, why didn’t you two go!” In the countryside, there weren’t many forms of entertainment, and dividing up a wild boar was an exciting event, under normal circumstances the two boys would surely have joined their friends to watch.

Shitou shook his head, “I was worried you might feel unwell, aunt, so I didn’t want to go.”

Hu Zi, the little kid, also shook his head, “Unhappy, auntie, hurts.”

Xu Ying felt a warm feeling in her heart.

At that moment, she didn’t know if it was because of the medicine she had taken, or because the medicine was warm, but she felt her stomachache easing.

She wouldn’t have remembered the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill if she hadn’t seen Old Hui today.

She wondered if she could take it while on her period, but thinking about the pain after taking the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill, she decided against it.

She didn’t want to end up killing herself by taking it.

On the way back from delivering the medicine, Mrs. Xu passed by the wheat field.

The wheat field was now surrounded by a crowd of people, and even the members of the Youth Corps had arrived.

Even Dong Wenzhong, who had fainted that morning, had run over, afraid of missing out on the meat distribution.

Mrs. Xu shot Dong Wenzhong a fierce glare when she saw him.

Dong Wenzhong was so startled that he quickly kept his distance from her, and when he glanced around, he realized that Xu Ying was nowhere to be seen.

He had actually been hoping to get more meat by finding Xu Ying.

Mrs. Xu looked for the menfolk and found Mr. Xu busy directing the meat division.

The wild boar had just been cleaned and its hair removed, and now Huo Chen had cut the meat into pieces and arranged them on large platters.

He held a knife in his hand, gleaming from sharpening.

“Eldest Son Xu’s Wife, come here to register,” Mr. Xu called out, waving her over.

Eldest Son Xu’s Wife, holding a notebook, hurried over.

The official division of the wild boar meat began.

“Xu Guang’s family of five, five pounds of wild boar meat,” people who arrived to claim their share said.

Eldest Son Xu’s Wife quickly noted it down.

Huo Chen wielded the knife expertly; the weights were spot on as he placed the meat on the scale.

This process went on for hours until at last, three wild boars had been distributed.

Since the wild boar had been hunted by Huo Chen, fifty pounds were allocated to him and his grandchild.

They were also credited with work points.

Mr. Xu didn’t buy any wild boar meat, mainly because it was tough and not very tasty, and since the family had been eating meat frequently at home, they didn’t care much for it.

As Mr. Xu was about to take their share of the wild boar meat and leave, Mrs. Xu stopped him.