CHAPTER 72: CHAPTER 72: HIGH FEVER

The three brothers were all a bit tipsy, and Bai Daliang insisted on drinking until he was totally wasted. In the end, Bai Ruxue brought another bottle out for them to keep drinking.

Ultimately, Bai Daliang passed out once again; lately, he’s been doing that a lot, but fortunately, he doesn’t get rowdy when drunk—he just falls asleep.

The other two weren’t much better, needing their wives’ help to get home.

On the table, the dishes were all empty, and Li Guihua finished off the last of the food, not even leaving a drop of sauce in the plates.

Bai Ruyun and her sister washed the dishes while complaining, "Third Aunt really went all out, almost took a chunk out of the plate!" Bai Ruxia scrubbed hard because she saw Third Aunt licking her fingers after eating.

"Xiao Xia, be gentle! Don’t break them!" Bai Ruyun softly reminded.

"You two finish up and get to bed, Big Sis is going to sleep first! Can’t take it anymore!" Bai Ruxue yawned as she walked away. They hadn’t had dinner because the three brothers kept drinking past five o’clock, so they skipped it altogether, and Zhang Yuan didn’t come either.

"Got it, Big Sis! Hurry and sleep! Look how worn out you are!" Bai Ruxia waved her hand and continued scrubbing the dish with a washcloth.

Bai Ruxue shook her head, went back to the room, and saw her mom, Wang Cuihua, breastfeeding. As soon as she entered, she heard Xiao Feng choke on the milk.

"Mom, let me burp him; you feed Xiao Cai!" Bai Ruxue volunteered, holding back her exhaustion to pick up her brother and pat his back.

"I don’t understand what’s wrong with him; he keeps choking these days. Xiao Cai doesn’t have this problem!" Wang Cuihua said worriedly, picking up Bai Rucai from the kang to feed her.

"Maybe his throat is too narrow?" Bai Ruxue had no clue about babies, so she guessed blindly.

"Probably not. He didn’t choke on milk before; lately, he’s been throwing up, and his throat sounds congested with phlegm he can’t cough up." Wang Cuihua looked at her son in Bai Ruxue’s arms.

Bai Ruxue rarely helped to hold the babies, being unfamiliar with it due to lack of time. She carefully held him and pressed her ear close to his chest, listening intently.

Sure enough, his throat was making wheezing sounds! Could it be inflammation? Not checking with a doctor might be risky!

"Mom, why don’t we take Xiao Feng to see a doctor tomorrow? Illness can’t be delayed!" Bai Ruxue suggested.

"But during the New Year, will the clinic be open?" Wang Cuihua, hearing her eldest daughter’s concern, grew even more worried.

"There should be someone on duty!" Bai Ruxue knew, even in later years, there were people who went to see doctors on New Year’s Day; hospitals don’t stop for the holiday when it’s your turn to work.

But whether doctors worked during the New Year in these times was uncertain.

"Alright, we’ll take Xiao Feng for a checkup tomorrow! I’m just scared he might have pneumonia! Pneumonia..." Wang Cuihua couldn’t continue, covering her mouth and crying.

Bai Ruxue didn’t understand why she was crying; if Xiao Feng had pneumonia, he could just be treated, why cry?

What she didn’t know was that in this era, poor medical conditions combined with difficult living conditions meant that most infants couldn’t be cured and ended up dying prematurely...

If pneumonia worsened, blisters could form in the mouth and on the tongue, making it impossible to ingest milk, putting the baby through agony.

"Mom, why are you crying? We have money. If Xiao Feng really has pneumonia, we’ll take him for treatment! Stop crying! I’m here! Don’t worry!" Bai Ruxue comforted Wang Cuihua while holding Bai Rufeng.

Bai Daliang was sleeping like a log, impossible to wake up.

"Alright, I won’t cry. Our Little Feng will be fine! He will be fine..."

Bai Ruxue helped put both babies to sleep alongside her mom before returning to the northern kang. Her two sisters had prepared the bedding for her by then.

Once she lay down, she fell into a deep sleep; the New Year was indeed exhausting—she was worn out and very sleepy.

Half asleep, she seemed to hear Wang Cuihua crying mixed with the baby’s cries, and then she felt someone shaking her.

"Big Sis, wake up! Xiao Feng has a fever!" Bai Ruyun, who slept next to her, woke up first, shaking her.

"What? Xiao Feng has a fever?" As soon as Bai Ruxue heard that, she quickly opened her eyes and sat up.

"Big Sis, Xiao Feng has been crying since halfway through the night. Mom just touched his forehead, it’s burning hot! He’s got a fever!" Bai Ruyun explained.

Bai Ruxue quickly checked the time; it was just past six a.m. Fever in infants is not to be underestimated, particularly in those not yet a month old, as it could lead to brain damage.

She hurriedly got out of bed, put on her shoes, and went to check.

Sure enough, the little one was extremely hot, and without any thermometer, no one knew how high the fever was. She quickly instructed Bai Ruxia to get a wet towel.

"Mom! Put this wet towel on Xiao Feng’s forehead! I’ll go get some alcohol!" Bai Ruxue handed over the towel and walked out.

She knew a physical cooling method, which was to rub alcohol or liquor on the baby’s palms, soles, and underarms to help lower his temperature.

"Mom, stop crying, let’s cool down Xiao Feng first. I’ll have Little Chuan fetch Zhang Yuan, and we’ll take Xiao Feng to the clinic right away!" Bai Ruxia comforted Wang Cuihua while cooling down Bai Rufeng.

"Xiao Xue, the child might have pneumonia. I heard from your Third Granny, children with pneumonia first choke on milk, vomit, with throats rattling like Xiao Feng. I’ve always suspected pneumonia, and now the fever..." Wang Cuihua sobbed, touching her son’s face.

"Mom, why didn’t you say so earlier? If we said it earlier, the treatment would’ve started earlier!" Bai Ruxue was upset; her mom had suspected but kept quiet, leaving her in the dark! With only one boyfriend across two lifetimes, beyond holding hands, she’s never progressed further, how would she know about babies!

"That’s right! Cuihua, you suspected pneumonia in Xiao Feng, why not tell me earlier? Now it’s this serious, and...," Bai Daliang also looked worried. He woke up mid-night, sobering from the alcohol, and had endured Xiao Feng’s fussing for over two hours. Seeing the situation worsen, he woke his eldest daughter.

"Enough of the blame; it’s useless. Little Chuan, hurry and fetch your brother-in-law. I’ll take Xiao Feng to the clinic!" Bai Ruxue stopped the blaming and quickly organized.

"Xiao Xue, I’ll take him!" Wang Cuihua said while dressing Xiao Feng.

"Mom, you’re still in your postpartum period, and you need to take care of Xiao Cai too. Stay home, nothing should happen to Xiao Cai later! Zhang Yuan and I will take Xiao Feng."

"Xiao Xue, Dad will come too! With a small child..."

"Dad, do you know how to ride a bicycle?! It’s quicker for us to go by bike!" Bai Ruxue asked.

She could sit on Zhang Yuan’s bicycle, and there was another bicycle at home, if her dad knew how to ride, he could take it.

"Your Uncle Quanzi can, I’ll have him take me!" Bai Daliang remembered An Quanzi mentioning he could ride a bike.

"Great! Then quickly call Uncle Quanzi!" Bai Ruxue knew that if Bai Daliang didn’t go, he’d be even more worried, and if the town clinic didn’t cut it, they’d have to head to Chenxi County Hospital. Having someone to return home for the news would be helpful.

"Alright, Dad, take all the money!" Bai Daliang said as he hurriedly packed the remaining eighty yuan and handed it to Bai Ruxue before rushing out to put on shoes and went to the east yard to call someone.

"Big Sis, take my one yuan too! Just in case the money runs out!" Bai Rushan offered his New Year’s money to her.

"And mine! Give it to Big Sis!" Bai Ruyun also put forth her one yuan for Bai Ruxue.

"And..."

"Alright, alright! Keep it, short of two or three yuan isn’t a big deal!" Bai Ruxue stopped Bai Ruxia and others from taking out their money.