CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 75: I WON’T LEARN

This wait lasted over half an hour, and finally, the medicine was ready.

Yi Chichi divided the medicine into six portions, five for the adults, and half a portion for Qin Jiu.

There was a problem when drinking the medicine; the taste was too strong and overwhelming. The elders held their breath and downed it in one go, their faces scrunched up like a ball.

Little Qin Jiu was full of disdain and refused to drink, and the urging from the adults in the room was useless.

Yi Chichi was at a loss and took out a White Rabbit candy to entice him.

"Jiujiu, if you drink it obediently, I’ll give you some candy, okay?"

She negotiated gently, and the child’s eyes were clearly tantalized.

Before the Qin Family’s incident, Qin Jiu had plenty of snacks, and White Rabbit candies were always available.

He ate them every day.

After the incident with the Qin Family, there was no more embellishment, only a lot of hardships.

Qin Jiu couldn’t even get enough food to eat, let alone snacks.

A child who has never suffered before experienced partings for the first time and understood what hunger and cold felt like.

Now, suddenly seeing his favorite White Rabbit candy, no matter how sensible a child he was, he couldn’t control his craving.

He swallowed and reached out his little hand for the medicine bowl.

"Sister, I’ll drink it, I don’t need the candy, you keep it for yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gulped down the bowl in one go.

After drinking, he opened his mouth to let out a breath, his little face puckered up.

Yi Chichi laughed, "Jiujiu, you’re great. Wait, I’ll go make sugar water for you."

The team leader didn’t understand why she had to make sugar water, and said directly, "Just give it to him straight away."

"To prevent him from choking, it’s better to dissolve it in water."

She truly didn’t want to resort to the Heimlich maneuver; it’s better to prevent it whenever possible.

The team leader suddenly realized and understood why she would dissolve candy for Niu Niu and the others to drink sugar water before.

Turns out, it was to prevent the children from choking.

Thinking about choking, he couldn’t help but recall someone who choked to death in the neighboring Red Flag Commune and hesitated, "Can choking be saved?"

"Yes, just need to remove the foreign object."

Yi Chichi skillfully tossed the White Rabbit into hot water and then handed the bowl to Qin Jiu, "No refusing, quickly drink it to suppress the taste."

The child’s palate is mild, and traditional Chinese medicine is much better for nourishing the body compared to western medicine.

However, traditional Chinese medicine has one fatal flaw, which is its unpleasant taste.

Drinking too much of it can easily spoil the appetite.

It affects one’s appetite.

Qin Jiu looked at the elder, and seeing him nod, he politely accepted the bowl with both hands, "Thank you, sister!"

"You’re welcome!"

Watching the child drink half the bowl of milk sugar water, Yi Chichi let out a long sigh of relief and stood up to say, "Get some rest first, don’t think about anything today, just get a good night’s sleep."

After thinking about it, she still felt uneasy and reminded them, "There might be sweating halfway through, so don’t rush to take a bath. Just use a hot towel to wipe your body and change into clean clothes."

The party secretary immediately handed over a package, "The clothes are all here. They’re not great, just make do with them for now."

"Thank you so much!"

The elders instinctively reached for their clothes, but came up empty, and they looked embarrassed for a moment; everything they hid had been confiscated, and they had nothing to give in gratitude.

They could only express their gratitude orally.

The team leader smiled, "You all rest well, we’re leaving now."

"Alright!"

The elders got up and sent the people off, then returned inside. Looking at this house they did not know how long they would stay in, they fell silent for a long time before sighing.

This is the way things are; stay alive.

Only by staying alive can there be hope, can there be a future.

Then, the five began to assign rooms and distribute the supplies provided by the party secretary and the others.

At this time, after bidding farewell to the team leader and the others, Yi Chichi and Bai Chen first went to the team infirmary to put away the medicine box before returning to the Youth Corps Courtyard.

From a distance, they saw Wang Nan and the others standing like guardians at the door.

Seeing them return, Zhou Qiuyu immediately came up. Just as he was about to ask what they went to do, he sensitively smelled the medicine and immediately perked up like a small dog, saying, "Is someone sick?"

"Ah!"

On the way back, the team leader and the others specifically instructed that if possible, they shouldn’t mention the elders’ matters.

Therefore, Yi Chichi directly agreed with Zhou Qiuyu’s words.

She changed the subject, "What did you all do today?"

"The usual."

Looking at the sky, Wu Yongfei asked, "Have you all eaten?"

"No!"

They all spoke in unison, three voices sounded as one.

His mouth twitched slightly. My goodness, going to the commune and not knowing to eat at the state-run restaurant.

"Shall I cook?"

"You must."

He’s the best at cooking, and they all rely on him.

Wu Yongfei sighed, "I see it now, my role in your eyes is just a cook."

Though complaining with his words, his legs honestly moved towards the kitchen.

Yi Chichi happily ran into the room, "I’ll get the rice."

She wanted to eat plain white rice.

Pure white rice, not mixed rice, and she didn’t want to eat coarse grain rice either.

It’s too harsh on the throat, eating it was really uncomfortable.

Of course, rice alone wouldn’t do; she needed vegetables too.

After all, Wu Yongfei wasn’t cooking for her for free.

So, finally, she took out the meat sauce that Wu Yongfei helped make as an accompaniment.

Bai Chen and the others all contributed some meat, dry string beans, dried mushrooms, and so on.

A big pot of stew, coupled with the meat sauce and the main dish, filled them all up.

Once full and adequately hydrated, there was still time left, and they couldn’t fall asleep. So, they placed a mud basin in the hall, set it with firewood to keep warm, and started doing crafts.

Yi Chichi was sewing a waistband with a strip of cloth. The red piece of fabric needed to be made into a long trench coat, and it was almost done.

There were only details left to finish.

If all went well, it would be completed in three days.

Then, she could focus on doing embroidery work for the clothes for Yu Ritang.

Zhou Qiuyu watched her deftly maneuver the needle and thread, the originally frayed cloth was perfectly hemmed, and couldn’t help but ask, "Chichi, why is it that your stitching is invisible?"

"It’s hidden."

"How do you hide it?"

"I’ll show you."

"No, I don’t want to learn!"

Zhou Qiuyu felt his scalp tingle as he heard her offer and refused very decisively.

Bai Chen and the others weren’t any better.

When it came to sewing, Yi Chichi and they were on two different levels.

If they followed her method, they wouldn’t do well.

The demand for dense stitches was too high, too much testing of patience, agility, and dexterity.

It was just not something they could handle.

Yi Chichi looked puzzled, "Sewing isn’t hard, why are you unwilling to learn?"

"It’s not hard for you, but for us, it’s very difficult."

Zhou Qiuyu grumbled, "With the same distance, we can finish it with five to sixty stitches. You insist on over a hundred stitches, even denser than a sewing machine."

Even the thread ends were perfectly hidden by her.

The clothes Yi Chichi made showed no thread ends, the workmanship was truly superb.

But for them, no matter what, they couldn’t reach that level.

Bai Chen and the others nodded in agreement. Yi Chichi had no response; this matter was actually just a habitual issue.

When it came to manual work, she was used to making top-notch items. Her consistent principle has been to either not do it or do it the best, brooking no sloppiness nor seeing any shirking.

Therefore, when she taught them, she subconsciously demanded from Zhou Qiuyu and the others to meet her standards of fine craftsmanship.