Chapter Thirteen: Borrowing Lodging

  "Really, sis. Tonight we can finally get a good sleep, let's hurry up."

  Zhen'er saw Hu Zi running with such energy and also followed suit, sprinting forward with all her might.

  This was a small village with only a few households. Qizhen looked around for a long time and found one that looked relatively clean and tidy, then knocked on the door.

  "Who's there?" It was an old woman who opened the door.

  Qī Zhēn ér saw that it was an old person's home, and she was very happy. She had also heard many stories about kidnapping and selling children before, so she still had some worries in her heart. But seeing the old woman's advanced age and kind face, she felt much more at ease.

  The old lady's home only had her and her husband, they didn't have any children. After hearing about Zhen'er's brother's life experience, they felt very sympathetic. Of course, Zhen'er added some embellishments to the story, she only said that their parents had passed away and now they were going to a village ahead to seek refuge with their uncle. As for other things, she didn't say anything else, after all, it's better to be cautious when outside.

  "There's nothing good at home, you'll have to make do." Grandfather brought out two bowls of wild vegetable soup, saying apologetically to Qizhen and her siblings.

  Qizhen'er smiled and thanked them. They couldn't be picky about these things now, could they? It had been two days since they'd eaten a hot meal, and she and Huzi would get excited just from drinking some hot water. She could also see that her father-in-law's family wasn't wealthy, the house was very old and shabby, the furniture was simple, the table they ate at wobbled, and the bowls were chipped. She was already grateful that they had taken in her and her brother with such kindness.

  Hutou thanked and couldn't wait to pick up the bowl and start drinking, but accidentally got scalded, put down the bowl and stuck out his tongue.

  Grandpa and grandma as well as Zhen'er couldn't help but laugh so hard that their stomachs hurt.

  After dinner, Zhen'er was helping her mother-in-law wash dishes. Her father-in-law rushed into the kitchen and said, "Zhen'er, Hu Zi doesn't know what's wrong with him, he keeps saying his stomach hurts."

  Zhen'er's heart was in a hurry, her mind went blank, and she threw down the bowl and ran into the room.

  Huzi was holding his stomach and crying out in pain. Zhen'er hugged Huzi into her arms, anxiously asking: "Huzi, why does your stomach hurt?" As she spoke, tears fell down.

  The old lady was originally feeding the chickens, and when she heard the noise, she also ran in. Seeing that Zhen'er had not found a solution, she asked: "What did you eat? Why do I think Tiger looks like he has symptoms of poisoning?"

  The old lady's question suddenly awakened Zhen'er. After thinking for a moment, she said: "We had some mantou and mountain mushrooms before."

  "This time of year Wowaotou should be fine, could it be that he ate poisonous mushrooms?" Grandfather guessed by looking at Huzi's appearance.

  Zhen Er shook her head, "It's not poisonous mushrooms, we've eaten them before. However," Zhen Er looked up at her grandparents and said, "We ate them raw."

  The grandma patted her leg and said, "How can you eat wild mushrooms? Zhen'er, you're too careless."

  Her father-in-law looked at her and said, "This is not the time for complaints, let's think about what to do first."

  Listening to the painful cries of Hu Zi, Zhen Er's heart was like a knife twisting in her chest. She didn't notice that her mother-in-law's tone was off either. She also felt that it was because she hadn't taken good care of Hu Zi that he had suffered so much at such a young age.

  "You haven't eaten for long, now letting Hu Zi induce vomiting should be fine." The old lady still had some experience and made a reasonable suggestion.

  Her father-in-law also thought it was feasible after hearing it. Zhen'er didn't know what to do now, and could only pin her hopes on her mother-in-law's method.

  Grandfather fed the tiger some strong tea, then used chopsticks to stimulate the tiger's throat. At first, the tiger cried and hid, but was held down by Grandfather and Grandma. Zhen'er felt sorry for him, but also knew that this was to save him, so she steeled herself and let Grandfather and Grandma do it.

  After several rounds, Tuzi finally vomited everything out and his face color returned to normal, and Zhen'er's heart was finally at ease.

  The old couple was exhausted from putting things down, and they took out an egg that they usually couldn't bear to part with and made a bowl of egg drop soup for Tiger. They told Zhen'er to take good care of Tiger and then went to rest. The elderly can't withstand such exhaustion.

  Zhen'er also knew that now was not the time to care about those empty courtesies, and sent her father-in-law and mother-in-law back to their room to rest. At night, she couldn't help but worry, so Zhen'er held Hu Zi in her arms, and didn't dare sleep too soundly, occasionally feeding him some water.

  Fortunately, Hu Zi recovered the next day and Zhen Er finally put her mind at ease. Originally, she wanted to hurry on the road, but was detained by her grandparents. Hu Zi had just suffered a punishment, so she didn't dare take risks and agreed to stay here for another day.

  The tiger cub was lying on the bed resting, and Zhen'er helped her mother-in-law plant vegetables, water them, and cook. She had done all these before, and her movements were very skilled. The vegetable garden and home were also tidy and neat. Her mother-in-law liked her very much in this way.

  After dinner, after coaxing Hu Zi to sleep, his mother-in-law entered the room where Zhen Er and her brother slept, and called out Zhen Er saying that there was something to discuss.

  Zhen'er covered Hu Zi's quilt and followed him out.

  "Zhen'er, I and your mother-in-law want to adopt Hu Zi, what do you think?" Although he knew it was a difficult topic to bring up, his father-in-law still forced himself to say it, after all, both of the old couple liked Hu Zi.

  Qī Zhēn ér was shocked as she looked at them, she had never thought that they would tell her something like this.

  "Zhen'er, you're still just a child, how can you take good care of Hu zi? We old couple don't have children, but we're still young, only in our 40s, and we can still do things for Hu zi for several years. You can see that we really like Hu zi." The mother-in-law said with a choked voice, her tone sorrowful: "In the past, we also had a child, he was four years old when he got a severe cold, and didn't get rescued in time, so he died young. When I look at Hu zi, it's just like looking at my own child."

  The old man put his arm around the old lady's shoulder and comforted her. His expression was equally sorrowful!

  "You said you'd go to your uncle's house, but who would care for a child without parents? Your uncle's family must also have children, and if the tiger cub goes there, wouldn't it be a nuisance?" The old man saw that Zhen'er hadn't spoken for half a day and was afraid she would refuse, so he quickly analyzed the pros and cons for her.

  Zhen'er thought that because of her own carelessness, Hu-zi had eaten raw mushrooms and got a stomachache. She felt very guilty in her heart. Looking at the expressions of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, they were also truly worried about Hu-zi. But she didn't know where tomorrow would be, and for a moment, she didn't know what to do.

  Under the eager gaze of her grandparents, Zhen'er finally spoke up.

  The next day, after packing up her luggage, Zhen'er helped Hu Zi put on his clothes and shoes. Hu Zi looked at her, with tears shining in his eyes.

  Zhen'er rubbed his head and led him out of the house.

  Today's breakfast was sumptuous, of course, relative to Grandma and Grandpa's usual life. On the table were stir-fried amaranth, mushroom soup, wotou, garlic shoots stir-fried bacon, and a large bowl of egg custard. The bacon should have been leftover from New Year's, but the elderly didn't want to eat it, yet brought it out today.

  Zi Zhen'er knew that this meal was already a rare treat for the elderly living in the deep mountains.

  After finishing breakfast together, Zhen'er pulled Hu Zi to thank Grandpa and Grandma before leaving with tears in her eyes.

  The tiger cub took three steps back and looked back, waving its paws from time to time. Qizhen knew that her grandparents were standing at the door, watching them with reluctance in their eyes, even though she didn't turn around.

  Last night they asked Jane if she was willing to leave Hu Zi behind, and Jane struggled for a long time. Hu Zi is still young now, and following her will definitely not live a good life, let alone that she doesn't even know where to go now, when the future is uncertain, someone is willing to give Hu Zi a home, give him love, she should be very happy, but she has her own plans.

  Yī lái hǔ zǐ shì tāmen jiā de nán dīng, shì dǐng mén hù de. Tā bǎ hǔ zǐ diū zài zhè lǐ, yǐ hòu yǒu gè shén me shìguò sàn le, tā nǎ er yǒu liǎn jiàn diē niáng?

  Translation:

  As the only son of the family, Hu Zi is the pillar that holds up the household. If she were to lose him and something happened to him later on, how would she have the face to see her parents again?

  Secondly, she had left Qijiazhuang for Hu Zi in the first place. They had gone through thick and thin to get here, there was no reason to abandon Hu Zi now. But what her father-in-law and mother-in-law meant was that they were not capable of raising her.

  Three days later, Hu Zi had to decide whether to stay and get married or leave the deep mountains. Grandpa and grandma lived in the deep mountains, and there were only a few households on the farm, all of whom were not young anymore. With so few people and being isolated from the world, how could Hu Zi have good prospects here? Moreover, grandpa and grandma were also old, and it was uncertain whether they could take care of Hu Zi until he grew up.

  After thinking clearly about it, Zhen'er refused their kindness. At night when sleeping, Zhen'er still asked Hu Zi's thoughts, unexpectedly Hu Zi burst into tears as soon as he heard that Zhen'er was going to abandon him. It wasn't until later when Zhen'er repeatedly promised not to abandon him and take care of him that he finally put his mind at ease.

  But after staying here for two days, Tuzi and his grandparents still developed feelings for each other, a warmth they hadn't felt since their father's passing. Although Tuzi was young, he also knew who truly cared about him. Last night, he slept with his grandparents, and late at night, Zhen'er could still hear the joyful laughter coming from their side. Thinking to herself, it's good this way!