CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 73: IT’S NOT EASY FOR A YOUNG COUPLE

Zhang Yuan rushed over quickly, and Bai Ruxue was already dressed. Seeing Zhang Yuan coming, she hurriedly picked up Bai Rufeng. The little guy was wrapped in a thick layer of blankets, making it almost impossible for Bai Ruxue to hold him.

"Xiao Xue, why don’t you use a rope to tie Xiao Feng to yourself? Otherwise, what will you do if he falls and gets bumped on the road?" Zhang Yuan said, noticing Bai Ruxue’s arms seemed too short.

"Xiao Xue, let your dad carry the child!" Wang Cuihua said tearfully, looking at her son with a high fever and a face full of despair.

She had heard too many stories about children not surviving pneumonia, and looking at her son’s face, she was afraid that this farewell might be forever.

"Alright! Mom, don’t worry! Brother will be fine! Take good care of Xiao Cai at home!" Bai Ruxue comforted her mother.

"Big sister..." Bai Ruyun cried along with her mom, her eyes red.

"You guys take good care of Mom and your sister, alright? Xiao Xia, Little Chuan, you two come out with Big Sister!" Bai Ruxue instructed and then called Bai Ruxia and Bai Ruchuan outside.

"Big Sister, what’s the matter?" The two followed her out of the house and asked with confusion.

Bai Ruxue opened the cupboard and, taking cover, took out ten pounds of rice and ten pounds of cornmeal from the supermarket, putting them all into a large sack and then bringing the sack out.

"There’s food here, and vegetables! There’s meat in the jar outside, dumplings—you two have to watch over them well! If anyone from the old house comes over, you must hide everything; don’t let them see!" Bai Ruxue showed the contents of the sack to the two.

These were things she brought out before the New Year: candies, cookies, sunflower seeds, peanuts, apples, and oranges. There was even an unused large candle, dried string beans, and under the cupboard, there were two cabbages, several carrots, ten pounds of potatoes, and dried wood ear mushrooms.

Outside in the jar, there were leftover dumplings and pork, bones, and two chickens.

Finally, she even carefully filled the salt jar; two pounds of salt were enough for them to eat for a month.

"Don’t worry, Big Sister! The two of us will definitely take good care of Mom and little sister and protect all the food at home. Don’t worry about the house!" Bai Ruxia said very seriously.

"If anyone dares to come and rob us, I’ll chop them with a kitchen knife!" Bai Ruchuan said fiercely.

"Little Chuan! You can’t do that! If it really can’t be resolved, go find the team leader! Let him step in to solve it! You mustn’t hit anyone or chop anyone; it’s illegal! Understand?" Bai Ruxue said sternly.

Seeing Big Sister so serious, Bai Ruchuan nodded, "Got it, Big Sister!"

"Also, listen to Xiao Shan more! The most important thing: don’t be impulsive!"

"Understood!" They both nodded simultaneously.

Bai Ruxue chose the two of them instead of the other two because these two were tougher and not as weak as the other two.

"Alright! Hide everything well!" Bai Ruxue instructed the two.

Just as the two of them had hidden everything in what they considered a safe place, Bai Daliang and An Quan came over not long after.

An Quan was originally going to his father-in-law’s house, but Bai Daliang spoke up, and Sun Hong immediately told him to come over, saying she would take the kids home herself, letting him come over to take the child to the clinic was more important.

"Dad, you hold Xiao Feng, sit behind Zhang Yuan!" Bai Ruxue didn’t know if Uncle Quanzi could ride a bike, so she asked her dad to sit behind Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan was about 1.8 meters tall, not fat or thin, very robust, even taller than Bai Daliang, so he should be okay carrying him.

On the way, Bai Ruxue was very relieved about her decision, because just after leaving the village, both she and An Quanzi had a fall as An Quanzi was a bit unfamiliar with a bicycle, didn’t steady it well, and slipped.

Originally, he could only ride, and there was no bicycle at home, so it was normal to be unfamiliar.

Fortunately, it was just a bicycle. The two fell, and apart from being a bit sore, it wasn’t much of a problem.

Finally, Bai Ruxue rode the bike and carried Uncle Quanzi. She rode quite fast.

As for how Bai Daliang and An Quanzi would return, she wasn’t worried; two grown men could push the bicycle back without a problem.

When they arrived at the clinic, it was already daylight, and there weren’t many people at the clinic. Bai Ruxue went in first to look around—a single person was on duty.

"Comrade, we’re here for a checkup. My brother was born half a month ago, and he’s now running a high fever!" Bai Ruxue approached the person on duty and said.

Bai Daliang held the child closely beside his daughter.

"Well... there aren’t many people here at the clinic! The doctors are on holiday! Bring the child in, let me take a look!" The person on duty seemed to be a doctor, leading Bai Daliang and the child into the duty room.

When the blanket was opened, Xiao Feng was hot all over, not a bit cold, wrapped too thickly and seemed to be overheating, his little face flushed.

"The child has a very high fever. I’ll take his temperature and give him an antipyretic injection. You’d best take the child to a major hospital in the county!" The doctor said, turning to find a thermometer and placed it under the child’s arm, then went to prepare the antipyretic injection.

"Xiao Xue..." Zhang Yuan said, looking at Bai Ruxue in deep thought.

"Zhang Yuan, is the county bus running yet?" Bai Ruxue asked Zhang Yuan as he followed her in.

"It probably isn’t yet! I’ll go inquire! You want to take Xiao Feng to Chenxi County Hospital, right?" Zhang Yuan asked.

"Yes! Xiao Feng has pneumonia! He can’t be treated here; he must go to a major hospital!" Bai Ruxue didn’t dare to take chances. A careless mistake could cost the child’s life—in this era, there’s nothing worse than having a disease, because it’s hard to get cured.

"But Xiao Xue, Chenxi County is so far from here; how do we get there? Even by bicycle, it takes seven to eight hours; the bus takes five hours.

"We must go! Xiao Feng has pneumonia! We can’t delay! Life is at stake!" Bai Ruxue said heavily.

In the damn future, this time could have brought him to the Capital City for treatment. But, to go to the county, there are all sorts of obstacles, no wonder pneumonia can take a child’s life.

Bai Daliang’s face turned white, and he stepped back a step, pale-faced, not having heard Wang Cuihua when he went to find An Quanzi. Upon hearing now that his youngest son had pneumonia, he was scared.

"What... what should we do? What now?" He was just a mud-legged farmer who knew nothing but digging the soil, panicked in the face of trouble.

"Daliang, calm down! The child must be sent to the major hospital! Quickly think of a way! The bus surely hasn’t started yet. Think of how to get the child to the county hospital! Or, I can go back and borrow an ox cart!" An Quanzi proposed.

"Uncle Quanzi, returning to the village to borrow an ox cart would take almost two days to get to the county, and it’s so cold, we’ll freeze to death on the road!" Bai Ruxue said worriedly.

"Xiao Xue! You wait here; I’ll go see!" Zhang Yuan said and ran out.

"Come on, expose the child’s bottom; let’s give the little one a fever-reducing injection. The child has a fever of thirty-nine point two degrees!" The doctor came over with a needle and withdrew the thermometer from under Xiao Feng’s arm, frowned, and said.

"Doctor, after this injection, how long will it take for the fever to subside?" Bai Ruxue asked while assisting the doctor in administering the shot.

"It’s hard to say! Try combining it with physical methods to lower the fever and give the child more water!" The doctor replied.