RYEY – Chapter 214 A Debt of Gratitude

The next day at noon, Zhao Guoliang went out without even eating, carrying a large back basket on his back. Yuan Mengzhi frowned. Yesterday Zhao Guoliang had been out for nearly two hours, yet hadn’t gathered even half a basket of firewood.

Judging by Zhao Guoliang’s temperament, he shouldn’t have gone out again today. After all, their doorway was already piled high with firewood, and they really weren’t short of it for this winter.

But Xiao Aiqin had coughed all night last night. He was probably going out to look for medicinal herbs. In this icy, snowbound weather, with heavy snow sealing off the mountains long ago, where could he possibly find herbs?

Could he be going to see Doctor Ye? But Doctor Ye was staying at the village chief’s house. Zhao Guoliang probably wouldn’t dare go there—otherwise he’d surely get scolded.

Getting scolded would serve him right. Who told them to start off by flattering the cowherd as soon as they arrived? Just because she knew how to make clothes and helped the cowherd sew two outfits, they thought they could get cocky.

“Old Zhu, why don’t you also take a basket and go find some firewood? We don’t have much left at home. I don’t even dare take a bath,” Yuan Mengzhi said.

“Take what bath? It’s freezing out there. Don’t freeze yourself sick,” Zhu Qingde replied.

He was clearly unwilling to go out. At least there was a heated kang at home; going outside meant freezing. They were already not getting enough to eat—if he caught a chill on top of that, he might as well drop dead.

“How can you be so stupid?” Yuan Mengzhi snapped. “I want you to go see where Zhao Guoliang went. I always feel like he’s up to no good.”

“Why are you so annoying? What he does is his own business. Why do you care so much?”

“You… I knew it. Now that I’ve fallen on hard times and have no money, you look down on me. Dog eyes that judge people by their status. When will these days ever end? I don’t want to live anymore!”

Yuan Mengzhi burst into tears at once. She knew Zhu Qingde was most afraid of her crying. Sure enough, Zhu Qingde frowned and stood up.

“Alright, alright… I’ll go take a look, okay?”

With no choice, Zhu Qingde slung a basket over his back. Since he was going out anyway, he might as well gather something—no point making the trip for nothing. He followed Zhao Guoliang’s footprints, but just as he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw Zhao Guoliang already heading back.

“Old Zhao, did you find anything today?”

“What could I find?” Zhao Guoliang replied. “Just scraped around in the snow and picked up some dry branches. My wife’s health isn’t good—the kang needs to be kept hotter, or it’ll be troublesome come spring.”

Zhu Qingde nodded. In spring they’d have to reclaim land, plow fields, raise pigs, and shovel pig manure. Taking advantage of this relatively idle time to build up their health was the most important thing.

“Old Zhao, if you need any help, just say the word. I… sigh.”

Zhu Qingde couldn’t go on. He knew he had medicine for coughs at home and had even suggested giving some to Zhao Guoliang, but Yuan Mengzhi had flatly refused.

But thinking it over, it made sense. There was only so much medicine. If they gave it away and then he himself fell sick from the cold, who would help them? So all they could do was listen to the coughing coming nonstop from next door, stuffing rags into their ears.

“Thank you, Old Zhu. I understand. Don’t take it to heart,” Zhao Guoliang said. “My wife says if you cough enough, you’ll eventually stop. Once immunity builds up, the illness will naturally get better.”

Zhu Qingde nodded and walked toward the mountain foot himself, hoping to scrape around and see if he could gather some firewood to bring home.

Xiao Aiqin went to the kitchen to boil a kettle of hot water, then poured it into a thermos. This thermos had been sent over by Cowherd Brother at her son Xiaobao’s request. Thinking that she was using it while her son no longer had one, her heart ached.

Seeing the thermos in Xiao Aiqin’s hands, Yuan Mengzhi rolled her eyes inwardly. Quite capable, huh—able to get even that.

Xiao Aiqin didn’t even glance at Yuan Mengzhi. Knowing full well the other woman was hostile toward her, why go over and make herself a licking dog? She had no interest in rushing to be humiliated.

As soon as the door closed, Zhao Guoliang came back. Carrying the basket, he went straight into the room. Yuan Mengzhi frowned. Usually when Zhao Guoliang brought back firewood, he would pile it by the door and leave the basket in the kitchen before entering the room.

Today he went straight inside. Had he found something good? But she couldn’t just barge into their room to look—that would truly tear things apart.

She hurried back into her own room, pressed her ear to the wall, and listened carefully to the sounds next door. First came Xiao Aiqin’s voice: “Didn’t gather much firewood today either, right?”

Zhao Guoliang raised a finger to his lips, pointed toward the neighboring wall, then pointed at the basket, signaling her not to speak. Xiao Aiqin’s eyes lit up. She quickly stood up and looked toward the basket.

“Aiqin, today I only scraped up a few dry branches, so I brought them straight in to burn. Saves the trouble of running in and out.”

The dry branches were tossed into the kang stove, and the fire flared up at once, raising the room’s temperature a bit more. But Xiao Aiqin just stared at the basket, speechless.

Inside were two dark-blue padded vests. Only when she held them did she realize they weren’t cotton at all, but down. There was also a large bag of walnut crisps, a large bag of sponge cake, and a big packet of milk powder.

There was also a wooden box. Opening it revealed several packets of powdered medicine and a bottle of liquid medicine. The liquid was cough syrup; the packets were labeled anti-inflammatory powder and fever-reducing tablets.

Zhao Guoliang had already picked up a pen and begun writing in a notebook. The sentences were very brief: Cheng Liguo came. Cheng Qiao is Cheng Liguo’s daughter. The medicine, snacks, and clothes were all given by Cheng Qiao.

Xiao Aiqin had never met Cheng Qiao. Ever since Zhao Min left, they had lost contact with him. So she looked at Zhao Guoliang with questioning eyes—could there be some mistake?

Zhao Guoliang smiled and added another sentence on the paper. In fact, I, Zhao Hui, and Zhao Guodong had gone to see Zhao Min back then—specifically when Zhao Min gave birth to Cheng Qiao.

Xiao Aiqin smiled. Indeed, no matter what you do, you should always leave some leeway. If back then they had been like Zhao Chen, completely ignoring Zhao Min, Cheng Liguo surely wouldn’t have acknowledged them now.

“Have you eaten? I’ll go cook you some porridge,” she said.

“No need. We don’t have much grain left—we need to ration it carefully.”

Even as she said they had to be careful with food, Xiao Aiqin stuffed a piece of sponge cake into Zhao Guoliang’s mouth and took one herself. Zhao Guoliang smiled, took out an enamel mug, scooped in several spoonfuls of milk powder, and dissolved it with hot water.

Eating sponge cake and drinking milk, the two of them suddenly felt life had become easier. Only after Xiao Aiqin felt a slight sense of fullness did she take the anti-inflammatory powder and fever-reducing tablets.

Yuan Mengzhi, having listened in vain, felt only frustration. Seeing Zhu Qingde return empty-handed, she used it as an excuse to scold him a few times. Zhu Qingde was furious inside—life was already going badly, and now he had to take abuse for nothing. Who could stand that?

But Zhu Qingde was extremely deep-minded. Even if he was unhappy, he showed nothing on his face. This was his low point; once he turned things around, he planned to leave far behind. After all, he still had a stash of money hidden back in his hometown.

That very night, Xiao Aiqin’s coughing eased by half. Two days later, she felt much lighter overall. She hadn’t expected the medicine Cheng Qiao gave her to work so well. This debt of kindness was one she would engrave deep in her heart—when she had the ability, she would surely repay it.