The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Deep in the winter, at the tail end of the year, the weather was particularly chilly.

Yingbao had run a dozen or so laps in the threshing field with Youyou before returning home with Dani and her sister.

This was her daily exercise routine, which also served to train the deer to be more docile and obedient, so that one day it could serve as her mount.

Leng Family’s third son, who was cooking in the kitchen, stuck his head out when he saw his daughter come home: “Your uncles have given you three hundred coins, Dad put them on your bed table. Hurry up and put them away.” “Oh.” Yingbao put Youyou in the hay shed, filled the stone trough with fodder, and then ran off to the west room.

Three hundred copper coins were threaded on a fine linen rope, fifty coins per string, and when piled together they formed a small pile that was pleasing to the eye.

As soon as she had enough for two strings of coins, she would go to town and order a leather saddle for Youyou so she could ride it further.

Overjoyed, Yingbao gathered up the copper coins and added them to her previous stash, then ran into the east room to check on her little brother. Their mother was sitting on the bed, spinning thread, while the two infant boys lay next to her, fast asleep.

“Baobao, are you cold?” her spring mother asked.

“No.” Yingbao ate a handful of Wudingzhi every day before going out; her body was warm and she wasn’t afraid of the cold at all.

Spring mother smiled at her daughter’s response, “Mother thinks you’ve grown taller.”

“Really?” Yingbao ran over to the wall, standing feet together, hands comparing her height to the previous mark.

“Wow, I really have grown taller.” She squinted with laughter.

Growing tall was great, the taller she was, the stronger she would become, and the less likely anyone would dare to bully her.

“No wonder your cotton jacket’s sleeves look a bit short, my Baobao is growing up so fast.” Spring mother put down her handwork and stepped forward, “Let me see. Should I let out the sleeves a bit?”

Yingbao immediately shook her head, “No need to let them out, they’re perfect as they are.” The sleeves were a bit long before and always got in the way when she was doing things, but now they were just right.

After saying this, she spun around and ran out of the room, “I’m going to help

Dad with the fire.’

Upon arriving at the kitchen, her father had already finished cooking the meal.

Fish soup, pork fat cakes, rice porridge, a bowl of pickles, two boiled eggs.

Such a dinner was quite lavish by village standards.

Yingbao helped her father carry the food to the east room, placing it on the heated bed table.

After the family of three finished dinner, their father went off to wash the pots, rinse the dishes, and heat the water for washing. He did not stop until it was dark.

Yingbao, lying on the heated bed, began to slowly peel off the black scab on her wrist.

The burn on her wrist had completely healed. The skin was smooth, with only a faint pink hue remaining. She believed that in no time at all, this pinkness would return to its normal color.

The original plum blossom birthmark was gone, but a small red mole the size of a needle tip remained.

Yingbao furrowed her brow, not entirely satisfied.

The last time she burned so deeply, the birthmark was not completely removed. Would she have to burn it again?

Remembering the pain of that day, she shrugged her shoulders.

Forget it, let it be for now. After all, there were still several years to go.

Moreover, she had not seen the Han family recently, let alone her two daughters who seemed to have vanished and not come into her sight again.

However, Yingbao could not let her guard down.

She had to keep her wrist wrapped up, and, yes, she should borrow a brush from her little cousin. Better yet, she should obtain some cinnabar clay to paint a picture of a turtle on her wrist, just in case.

Because even if she didn’t have a birthmark on her wrist, the Han family would still target her.

What that woman wanted was never a daughter, but a son.

She blew out the oil lamp and entered the cave.

The wheat and rice in the cave had ripened. The heavy ears were full, which was a beautiful sight.

Yingbao picked up a sickle and decided to start harvesting the rice.

Two hours later, only a quarter of the rice had been harvested, but Yingbao’s palm was scraped with two big blisters that hurt so much she gnashed her teeth.

Gasping for breath, Yingbao, with teary eyes, scraped a bit of Wudingzhi from the rock wall, crushed it, and rubbed it on the blisters on her palm before going to bed.

When she woke up the next day, the blisters on her palm had disappeared.

Yingbao was very pleased. She eagerly went back to the cave, ate a handful of Wudingzhi, and continued cutting for a while, charging on with her replenished energy.

Alas, she was still physically insufficient. With such a large field of rice, wheat, and soybeans, when would she be able to collect them all?

She got dressed, got off the kang bed, went to the kitchen to fetch water to wash up, and then ran to the chicken coop to collect eggs, before taking Youyou outside to frolic about.

“Third Uncle, Third Uncle!” Jiang Quan from Uncle’s house rushed into the hall in a hurry.

Jiang Sanlang poked his head out from the kitchen, “What’s up?”

Jiang Quan then rushed to the kitchen, huffing and puffing, “Third Uncle, you better take a look. Second Uncle has a persistent fever and coughed up blood this morning.”

Jiang Sanlang was startled. He quickly put down the soup spoon in his hand and went outside. “What do you mean he coughed up blood all of a sudden?

Didn’t he look alright yesterday?”

A patient coughing up blood was not a good sign. If his second brother got tuberculosis, then it could be bad news. His son Huzi was only three years old, and Dani was only six.

“I don’t know.” Jiang Quan said, “Yesterday, I heard my second aunt arguing with my second uncle. They didn’t cook dinner at their house last night, and Dani and Huzi both ate at our house.”

Jiang Sanlang frowned, feeling some displeasure in his heart.

This second sister-in-law really didn’t understand things. His second brother was still sick, yet she didn’t even cook.

If she didn’t cook, then she probably didn’t make the medicine either. He wondered if his second brother took his medicine yesterday.

Jiang’s second brother’s house was not far from the two brothers’ house, only separated by a few houses.

The uncle and nephew hadn’t arrived yet, but they could already hear the Leng family’s crying.

Jiang Sanlang furrowed his brow in thought, and asked his nephew, “How is your dad doing?”

“My father felt better after taking the medicine yesterday. He’s still coughing, but he had two big bowls of rice porridge this morning,” said Jiang Quan.

Jiang Sanlang let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed that the medicine he brought back was effective.

However, his second brother has always been more physically weak than his older brother. He had overlooked this and assumed that since they had caught a cold together, their symptoms should be similar. Yet to his surprise, his second brother coughed up blood.

Jiang Sanlang was frustrated. As he entered the yard, he saw Leng’s wife were crying hysterically on the ground while holding Dahuzi.

Dani was also teary-eyed, standing beside to them, lost. A few villagers were watching the spectacle, standing outside the fence with their bowls in hand.

“Second sister-in-law, it’s cold outside, you should go back inside quickly, don’t let the child catch a cold,” Jiang Sanlang said sternly.

Upon seeing Jiang Sanlang, Leng’s wife cried even harder. As she cried, she complained about how unfortunate she was to marry a useless man, bringing misery to their children.

Jiang Sanlang couldn’t stand her nonsensical talk anymore, and entered the house in an irritated huff. He saw that his parents and older sister-in-law, from the Zhou family, were already there.

“Sanlang, later on, take your second brother to town to see a doctor,” said old man Jiang. “Your older nephew has already gone to borrow a donkey cart.”

“Hmm.” Jiang Sanlang nodded, went to the kang bed, and tested his second brother’s forehead.

His temperature was very high; he was burning up with fever.

“How are you feeling, second brother?” Jiang Sanlang asked.

Jiang Erlang’s face was flushed red, and he kept coughing incessantly, looking extremely weak, “My chest hurts, cough, cough, cough… I’m… out of…

strength…’

Zhou Family’s wife brought a bowl of porridge over and handed it to the third brother, “Feed your second brother some porridge. He had been hungry all night. How could he have any strength? Ah, I am really done with your second sister-in-law.”

Seeing that things were serious, Jiang Erlang nodded in fear, barely managing to eat half a bowl of rice porridge.

Seeing that things were serious, Jiang Erlang nodded in fear, barely managing to eat half a bowl of rice porridge.

Shortly afterwards, Jiang Cheng, his oldest nephew, arrived at the door with a donkey cart. Jiang Sanlang picked up his second brother and put him on the cart, wrapping him with a cotton quilt.

Jiang Liu came chasing after them and gave a roll of coins to the third son. She said quietly, “Take it; use this money for your second brother’s medical treatment.”

Without declining, Jiang Sanlang took it, put it in his pocket, got on the cart, waved the whip, and set off..