The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

Darong followed Aunt Liu's instructions and pried open Xiaoying's mouth, then poured half a bowl of sour soup into her mouth, but Xiaoying still didn't react.

While Darong was hesitating whether to stop Aunt Liu, Xiaoying suddenly began to vomit violently. As the vomit increased, Xiaoying finally opened her eyes and called out "Sister" very weakly.

"Okay, okay, okay. As long as the person can wake up, there is hope." Aunt Liu breathed a sigh of relief as she helped Xiaoying smooth her back.

By the time Darong's father came back, Xiaoying was already able to lean on her sister's arms and talk.

Darong's father was still worried, so he and Darong's mother picked up Xiaoying and went to the hospital.

After everyone in the yard had left, Darong discovered that Xizi was lying in the corner gasping for breath. It seemed that Xizi was also in the room when Xiaoying was poisoned by the gas.

"Drink it, Xizi."

Darong actually didn't know the principle behind Aunt Liu's secret recipe, but when she saw that Xiaoying woke up after drinking the sour soup, and seeing that Xizi was in a bad condition, she brought the remaining half bowl of sour soup to Xizi.

Xizi raised his head and smelled it with great effort, then looked at Darong with embarrassment.

"If you don't drink it yourself, I will force you to drink it. Look at how you are now, don't you feel very uncomfortable?" Darong held Xizi in her arms and said to it, pointing at the half bowl of sour soup on the ground.

Xizi was really a dog who understood human language. He endured the discomfort and began to lick the sour soup in the bowl mouthful by mouthful.

After drinking two or three sips, Xizi also vomited like Xiaoying.

After vomiting, Xizi walked to the kitchen with his tail between his legs and lay down to rest.

After Darong opened the window and door of the house, she began to clean up the mess in the yard.

"Sister, I'm back. What happened?" Sibei walked into the yard alone and looked at the dirt that his sister had filled the yard with, not knowing what was going on.

"Xiaoying and Xizi defaulted on the gas at home, and they vomited all over the floor. I'll put some dirt on the floor so it'll be easier to clean up later." While cleaning up, Darong told Sibei what had just happened.

"Oh no, sister. It must be that Huazi was suffocating on the stove before going out." After hearing what his sister said, Sibei slapped his thigh and said with a frown.

The third brother was originally worried that if he and the fourth brother were out for the whole morning, the stove at home would fall down and Xiaoying would have to freeze because she didn't know how to light the stove. He didn't expect that his good intentions would lead to bad consequences. If Darong's mother knew about this, she would definitely beat him again.

What Darong and Sibei fear most is that Huazi will get into trouble. He is different from Sibei. When Darong's mother beats him, he will never change his mind and insists on figuring out who is right and who is wrong.

But when Darong's mother is angry, she will beat you until you give in. No matter what is right or wrong, she will classify it all as stubbornness.

Because of this, I walked with a limp for a week after being beaten by Darong’s mother, and two brooms in the house were broken.

"Don't say that. Our mother has that kind of temper. When she's angry, she has to beat her. She won't listen to any arguments whether she's right or wrong." Darong frowned and advised Sibei'er.

"Go find Huazi and tell him not to tell our mother about this. As long as Xiaoying is fine, don't mention it again."

"Okay, after I look for him, I'll go to the hospital and not come home yet." Sibei followed his sister's instructions and went out to look for Huazi.

Darong turned on the stove, lit the fire again and went back to the kitchen to cook. She was concerned that Xiaoying couldn't eat hard food, so she made a big pot of noodle soup.

He found lunch boxes from the cupboard, filled two large lunch boxes with food, wrapped them in towels, put them inside his cotton-padded jacket, locked the gate, and walked towards the hospital.

"Mom, my sister said Xiaoying was poisoned by gas. I looked for you for a long time and finally found you." Sibeier finally saw his parents and Xiaoying in the emergency observation room.

"It's okay. The doctor said Xiaoying was fumigated. She just needs some intravenous fluid to heal slowly." Darong's mother sat beside Xiaoying's bed with a grim look on her face.

"How did Xiaoying get poisoned by the gas? Did you touch the stove when you went out?" Darong's mother asked Sibei who was approaching.

Normally, Darong's father and mother would repeatedly remind them not to touch the stove unless necessary, as they were worried that the children would be smoked by the gas when the adults were not at home.

"No, I don't know."

Sibei felt a little guilty and didn't even dare to look up at Darong's mother. Instead, he moved closer to Xiaoying and looked at her expression.

"Are you still feeling uncomfortable?" Sibei hurriedly talked to Xiaoying, distracting my mother's attention.

"I feel uncomfortable, dizzy and nauseous." Xiaoying said with a frown while lying on the hospital bed.

"It's okay, you'll be fine after the infusion, just lie down and rest."

It would be useless for Sibei to stay here, and he was not someone who could take care of others, so Darong's mother sent him home to call Darong and ask her to accompany Xiaoying so that Darong's mother and father could go back to work in the afternoon. After all, a lot of money would be deducted for taking a day off.

As soon as Sibei was discharged from the hospital, he met Darong who was holding a lunch box.

"Sister, mom asked me to go to your house to find you." Sibei took the lunch box from Darong.

"Hold it well, don't spill it, there's noodle soup in it." Darong put the lunch box in Sibei'er's hand and instructed.

"Mom, Dad, is Xiaoying okay?" After entering the observation room, Darong greeted her parents and went to the front of the bed.

"It's okay. The doctor said just two days of intravenous drip will be enough." Darong's father also leaned in to take a look.

"The lunch box contains the noodle soup I just made. You and my mother can have some first. I will stay with her in the afternoon. I will take her home after the infusion is finished."

Darong opened the lunch box wrapped in her cotton coat and took a box for her parents.

"Sibei, don't go anywhere this afternoon. Stay here and help your sister." Darong's father instructed Sibei who was standing aside.

For Darong's father, as he is the eldest son in four generations, he should act like the eldest son and take on responsibilities.

"Well, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Sibei nodded in response.

It was around two o'clock in the afternoon when Xiaoying's infusion was finished. However, because she was young and weak, she felt dizzy and weak after the infusion. Darong then carried Xiaoying on her back, planning to take turns with Sibei to carry Xiaoying home.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital gate, Pei Bin, who was accompanying his father to see a doctor, saw Da Rong carrying Xiao Ying on her back.

"Da Rong? What's wrong?" Pei Bin came up to Da Rong and asked with concern.

"Master Pei, my sister is not feeling well. She just finished the IV drip. I am going to take her home."

Darong looked up and saw that it was Pei Bin. She did not mention Xiaoying's gas poisoning. She just greeted her perfunctorily and wanted to carry Xiaoying home as soon as possible. After all, Xiaoying was not feeling well and needed to go back and have a good rest.

"Let me take you there. I have a bicycle."

Pei Bin left his father behind without even looking back and ran to push the cart, leaving Pei Bin's father staring at his son's windy back with confused eyes.

Of course, Pei Bin's father didn't have a big problem. He just felt a lot of pain in the corns on his feet, so he urged Pei Bin to stay at home so that he wouldn't have to walk over. Unexpectedly, this filial son forgot his father's difficulties when he saw the girl's difficulties.

Pei Bin is 21 now, and it is indeed time for him to find a partner. Pei Bin's father could only smile bitterly and shook his head, then limped to the second floor to check his corns.