Rebirth: The Courtyard Bride Is Cool and Radiant

Chapter 242: Chapter 242 It Seems That I Was Right to Suspect

After taking the pulse, she also flipped the child’s eyelid. The little boy muttered, ”Cold, cold.”

Hearing his grandson’s words, the old man hurriedly covered the child with several tattered clothes from the head of the kang. ”Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Grandpa will hold you soon, and you won’t be cold anymore.”

Yunyi hadn’t expected this grandfather and grandson to be living such a hard life. Besides the worn-out quilt on the child, they had no other bedding. They were lying on straw, and the sight made Yunyi’s eyes sting.

Her voice even choked up as she spoke, but she quickly composed herself. ”What did you eat tonight?”

The old man hurriedly picked up a chipped clay pot from the side of the kang.

Yunyi went over and took a sniff, frowning deeply. ”Where do you usually cook?”

The old man pointed behind the house. ”On the stove we’ve set up at the back.”

After speaking, he walked outside.

Yunyi followed him out and went behind the house.

Seeing the scene there, her heart ached even more. They had made a roof out of cornstalks, with walls of stone piled half a person high.

This might work for cooking in the summer, but in the winter, it would freeze someone to death.

Not bothering to say anything, she examined the area.

As expected, she found some white powdery substance on the stove. She touched a bit to her fingertip and smelled it, confirming her suspicion.

Looking at the thinly dressed old man, she said, ”Come, let’s go back inside and talk.”

As soon as they entered the room, the old man asked anxiously, ”Miss, have you found the cause? What’s wrong with my Zining?”

Yunyi was taking medicine out of the medical kit while replying, ”When cooking outside in the future, it’s best not to leave it unattended. Someone drugged your food tonight.”

The old man was clearly startled by Yunyi’s words. ”What?”

As soon as he spoke, he realized something. ”That’s just despicable! How could they resort to such vile tactics?”

His face was wracked with pain. ”It’s all my fault. Zining is still so young.”

Yunyi wrapped the medicine in clean parchment paper, then crushed it into powder with a broken bowl from the head of the kang, before asking, ”Do you have a spoon?”

The old man hastily searched through a broken wooden box on the kang, finding a very crude spoon carved out of wood. ”This one, will this do?”

Yunyi took it and said, ”Help the boy sit up. I’ll feed him the medicine first and then give him a few acupuncture needles. It won’t be long before his symptoms alleviate.”

This child is too weak. To fully recover, he’ll likely need several more acupuncture sessions, she sighed inwardly.

The old man quickly stepped forward, holding the child in his arms. ”Zining, be good. Once we take the medicine, you won’t feel bad anymore.”

The child was obedient and cooperative but kept saying, ”Cold, Grandpa, so cold.”

Yunyi’s heart ached as if it were being clutched tightly.

She used the unattractive wooden spoon to feed the medicine to the child first, then let the old man lay the child down, covering him everywhere except where the needles would go with the worn quilt and clothes.

Yunyi worked quickly and, in no time, had all the needles inserted.

After tidying up a bit, she said, ”Watch him and make sure he doesn’t knock out the needles. I’ll be back shortly.”

The old man, focused entirely on his grandson, didn’t think too much and replied, ”Okay.”

As soon as Yunyi left the house, she quickly ran back, reaching her own small courtyard in just a few minutes. She didn’t even bother with the key but leaped over the fence and into the yard.

Back in her room, she retrieved a quilt from her storage space—a semi-new one she had acquired in Beijing. She also took out a small bag of coarse grains and an unopened can of Malt Essence. Next, she found one of her own lightly used blue padded jackets and a pair of blue trousers, which she tucked into the quilt with the food. Finally, she located a piece of oilcloth and wrapped the entire bundle securely.

Only then did she leave the house, scaling the wall to rush toward the grass shed in the south.

Her timing was perfect; it was just about time to remove the acupuncture needles. The old man heard the door being pushed open and saw Yunyi enter with a bundle. ”Miss, you... what is this?” he asked.

”The child mustn’t get any colder,” Yunyi said. ”I happened to have a quilt I wasn’t using.”

The old man had not cried when he was framed and sent here, nor had he shed tears when there was no news from his family. But now, he could no longer hold back. Looking at his grandson lying there, constantly saying, ”Cold,” he was overwhelmed with tears.