CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: SELF-HEATING HOTPOT

"No experience and don’t really get it! That’s why it got delayed!" Bai Ruxue answered awkwardly.

"Babies shouldn’t be overheated, especially boys, absolutely not! Have you always let the child sleep on the heated kang?" The doctor asked Bai Rufeng seriously while maintaining a very good attitude as he examined him.

"Yes... I thought just keeping warm would be fine!" Bai Ruxue didn’t bother to explain that she was the sister, not the mother, of the child.

The two of them were dressed fashionably. During the New Year, Zhang Yuan also wore that trench coat, a whole new outfit. The fabric Bai Ruxue was wearing looked good, and the style was new; along with her high ponytail, her temperament and appearance were impeccable, so there was no hint that she was from the countryside.

The doctor unconsciously regarded the two of them more highly, and with the five kilograms of rice Zhang Yuan gifted when he sought her out, her attitude unconsciously became exceptionally good.

"When you go back, don’t let the child sleep on the kang again! Let the child sleep in the cradle or put more padding underneath!" The doctor said as she started prescribing medicine.

At this moment, Bai Ruxue finally felt relieved. The doctor’s professional demeanor during the examination set her mind at ease.

The doctor’s name is Liu Ronghua, 52 years old, who has practiced medicine all her life, serving as the director of pediatrics at Chenxi County Hospital. She has seen countless children over the years and dismissed Bai Rufeng’s pneumonia with confidence, prescribing medicine and instructing the young nurse on its use before heading home.

It wasn’t until now that Bai Ruxue turned her mind back around. Bai Rufeng had taken his medicine, received an injection, drank the formula, and fallen asleep again.

"Zhang Yuan, are you hungry?" Bai Ruxue asked.

"Hungry!" Zhang Yuan nodded.

The two of them had only eaten a single cold steamed bun all day, how could they not be hungry?

"Lock the door!" Bai Ruxue instructed him.

Seeing her acting like this, Zhang Yuan immediately understood, walked over, and locked the hospital room door. Ensuring everything was secure, the two of them entered the supermarket space.

"Zhang Yuan, go to the kitchenware section and bring over a table!" Bai Ruxue instructed before heading elsewhere.

By the time Xiao Xue returned with things, Zhang Yuan had also brought back a round table and set it up.

It was placed right in the open space in front of the checkout counter.

Bai Xue set down the two self-heating pots she brought over, then went to get a bottle of mineral water.

"Today we’re having hotpot!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan couldn’t believe it and watched Bai Ruxue start operating. He didn’t ask too many questions.

Bai Ruxue first opened the self-heating pot, placed all the ingredients inside, poured in the water, and covered it. While the self-heating pot was cooking, she went to the deli section, grabbed two chicken legs, and picked up two bottles of Coke.

After a while, the self-heating pot was ready to eat! When Bai Ruxue lifted the lid, Zhang Yuan couldn’t take his eyes off the self-heating pot, amazed.

"This is called a self-heating pot. It can cook food without fire because it contains a heating packet with materials like charcoal powder, activated carbon, salt, and quicklime. When it touches water, it heats up within 3-5 seconds, reaching temperatures above 150°C, with steam temperatures reaching 200°C! So it can fully cook the food in under fifteen minutes!" Bai Ruxue explained it carefully to Zhang Yuan.

"So, all it needs is water, right?" Zhang Yuan examined the self-heating pot for a long time. "If they sold this on long-distance trains, it would definitely be a hit!"

Bai Ruxue raised her head and looked at Zhang Yuan, then nodded, "Yes! And not only this, there’s something called instant noodles! It has seasonings in it, and you just soak it in hot water to eat! Even more convenient than this!"

By then, just opening an instant noodle factory could let her earn a bucket-load of money.

"Hurry and try it! I bet it tastes great!" Bai Ruxue handed the chopsticks to Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan thoughtfully took the chopsticks, and after taking one bite, then a second and third, he couldn’t stop anymore.

"There are chicken legs here too!" Bai Ruxue reminded.

Zhang Yuan continued to eat his self-heating pot.

"Drink some Coke while you eat! It’s even more delicious!" Bai Ruxue handed a bottle of Coke to Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan took it, opened it, took a sip, and then continued eating.

Bai Ruxue watched Zhang Yuan, who liked the self-heating pot so much, with great amusement.

"Eat slowly! Be careful not to burn your mouth!"

"This hotpot tastes better than any hotpot I’ve ever had!" Zhang Yuan said contentedly.

"If you ever want to eat it again, you can always come in here! If I’m not around, you can make it yourself! You just learned how to do it, right?" Bai Ruxue laughed as she looked at Zhang Yuan, who, gluttonous as he was, did not match his usually aloof demeanor!

Then again, she should have realized, when has Zhang Yuan ever been aloof in front of her?

The two of them ate one self-heating pot each, plus a big chicken leg, and drank a bottle of Coke, feeling full and satisfied, patting their stomachs.

"Let’s get out quickly! We’ve been in here for quite a while. What if a nurse comes by or Xiao Feng wakes up?" Bai Ruxue stood up, ready and waiting for Zhang Yuan. Then, they both exited the supermarket space.

Bai Ruxue promptly headed over to check on her brother.

The little guy was asleep, his cheeks a bit red, and when she touched his forehead, it still felt warm. The fever hadn’t completely gone down yet.

"Don’t worry, the doctor said it’ll be fine, so just relax!" Zhang Yuan also took a look. Although the fever hadn’t subsided, they were at the hospital, the doctor had checked him and administered medication, so there shouldn’t be any problems!

"Yeah! I know! It’s just that the hospital is so cold, I’m afraid Xiao Feng might catch a cold again or have a secondary infection! If only he could sleep there! The hospital ward is too cold, and unfortunately, there’s no way for Xiao Feng to go in." Bai Ruxue tucked in the blanket for her brother and said, "Who knows how many days it’ll take before we can go back!"

Though we shouldn’t keep the child too warm, the hospital is much colder compared to home. Coming out from such a warm place to this cold ward is hard to bear, not just for Xiao Feng, but for the two of them as well.

"I asked the doctor, and it will take about half a month to fully recover. But the doctor said once the child stabilizes, he can go home to take medicine and get injections!" Zhang Yuan informed Bai Ruxue about what he asked while escorting the doctor out.

"The poor child is going through so much!" Bai Ruxue said, feeling sorry as she stroked her brother’s small face, "I’m scared that if he relapses when we go back without a full recovery, we’d have to come back again. It’d be better to thoroughly treat him here before going back! But the conditions here..."

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as Bai Ruxue was speaking with a troubled expression, there was a knock at the door.

"Open the door, I’m the nurse! Here to take the child’s temperature!" It was the voice of the young nurse from the nurse’s station.

Bai Ruxue walked over to open the door, letting her in to take the temperature.

Earlier, Bai Ruxue told her that Zhang Yuan was Xiao Feng’s brother-in-law, so the nurse mistakenly thought the two were already married. Therefore, she wasn’t overly surprised by the locked door.

In fact, Bai Ruxue intentionally wanted her to misunderstand. This way, it was more convenient for them! Otherwise, an unmarried man and woman taking a child to see a doctor would make others speculate unnecessarily.

"The child still has a bit of a fever, so make sure to watch over him well at night, don’t be too careless! If there’s anything, just go to the nurse’s station and call for help! I’m off my shift! But the night nurse is very nice, so no worries!" The nurse Xiao Lan, who had received a fragrance from them, was also efficient at her job.

"Thank you, nurse!" Bai Ruxue thanked her.

Zhang Yuan, who was often aloof with others, couldn’t possibly respond to this, so only Bai Ruxue spoke to the nurse and saw her out.