Opening his eyes, he looked at Si Nian and suddenly burst into tears, “Mom, my tooth hurts.”
Si Nian gasped softly and asked him to open his mouth. Sure enough, his gums were red and swollen with inflammation.
Hearing the crying, Zhou Zedong was immediately awakened. He quickly sat up in bed, his face turning pale as he listened to his younger brother crying in pain.
“Mom, what’s wrong with Xiao Han?”
Si Nian hastily dressed Zhou Zehan in a jacket, then picked him up and stood. “Xiao Han has a fever. Zedong, stay home and take care of your sister. Mom will take him to the first team’s clinic to have a look.”
There was a small clinic at the first team — not big, staffed by only an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor.
But everyone in Happy Village went there when they got sick.
Si Nian strapped a flashlight to the front of her bicycle, cradled the child, and comforted him, “Xiao Han, be good. The pain will stop soon.”
The cold wind blew on Zhou Zehan, and he finally stopped crying. He looked up at Si Nian and said, “Mom, I didn’t mean to lie to you. It didn’t hurt during the day.”
Si Nian sighed. Such a silly child.
At a time like this, would he still worry that she would blame him just because he said it didn’t hurt during the day?
She wiped the sweat from his forehead. Though he had gained some weight, he still looked skinny and small, even smaller than other kids his age.
“Mom believes you. But if you ever feel unwell, remember to tell Mom early. Don’t try to endure it by yourself, okay?”
Zhou Zehan struggled to keep his eyes open and nodded.
Worried he might fall asleep and hurt himself, Si Nian rode the bicycle while trying to make conversation. “Guess what good things Mom bought for you today.”
Sure enough, the little guy, weak and drowsy, suddenly perked up. Leaning against her back, he asked eagerly, “Mom, did you buy me something?”
“Of course. Mom bought you some English books. You asked me what kind of books those were, right? Mom got a few for you and your brother. I’ll teach you both later…”
Hearing this, the little one’s eyes brightened. “Mom, really? Then can we start learning tomorrow?”
Si Nian nodded and said, “Yes, once your teeth are better, I’ll teach you.”
The little boy nodded vigorously. “Mom, I’ll study really hard.”
Actually, Si Nian was quite afraid of traveling at night, especially on these rural roads where not even a single star could be seen, and mountains surrounded them.
Normally, she would be terrified.
But hearing the innocent voice of her little boy, she somehow felt it wasn’t so scary after all.
When Zhou Yueshen returned home, it was already very late.
Normally, by this time, everyone would be asleep.
But today, from afar, he saw the lights in the house were still on.
He frowned and quickened his pace toward home.
Sure enough, as soon as he arrived, he saw his eldest son sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression.
He could tell at a glance that something was wrong.
Zhou Yueshen frowned and asked, “Zedong, what’s going on?”
Zhou Zedong snapped out of his daze when he saw his father and quickly stood up, wiping his tears. “Dad, little brother is sick. Mom took him to the first team’s clinic. You should go check on him.”
Zhou Yueshen’s expression changed abruptly. He immediately turned and headed toward the front door. After taking just a couple of steps, he glanced back at his son, who was following anxiously. He stopped and reassured him, “Don’t be afraid. Zehan will be fine. You get some rest first; Dad is going to check on him.”
Zhou Zedong shook his head vigorously and grabbed onto his father’s pant leg. “Dad, I want to go too.”
It was all his fault. If only he had realized how serious things were during the day and hadn’t let his little brother’s words slide, Zehan wouldn’t have gotten sick.
And now, their mother had to take his little brother to the hospital late at night.
Zhou Zedong was drowning in deep guilt.
Zhou Yueshen glanced at his son’s remorseful little face, paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Yaoyao usually slept soundly and rarely woke up at night.
If he didn’t go check on the kids, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep all night.
Zhou Yueshen scooped him up and climbed onto the motorcycle. The roar of the engine was especially clear in the stillness of the night.
In just ten minutes, the two of them arrived at the small clinic.
The clinic’s lights were on.
In this village, it wasn’t uncommon for kids to get fevers in the middle of the night, so the old doctor was already used to it.
When they walked in, Zhou Zehan was sitting there with tears streaming down his cheeks, pouting as he got a shot.
Si Nian was holding him, a faint smile in her eyes. All in all, the situation wasn’t too bad.
Zhou Yueshen’s tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. Looking at Si Nian’s profile, a flicker of emotion passed through his eyes.
Si Nian heard the noise and turned her head to glance over.
She saw the father and son, both dusty and worn from travel.
“You’re back,” Si Nian greeted first, without blame or complaint—just a normal, casual hello.
Zhou Yueshen was silent for a moment, then stepped forward. He looked at her, noticing her thin clothes and slippers, and gently touched her head. His voice was low and hoarse: “Thank you for your hard work.”
Si Nian shook her head and looked over at Zhou Zedong, whose eyes were red-rimmed.
Zhou Zedong didn’t dare meet her gaze. He was afraid she would blame him for not listening and watching over his little sister properly at home, for stubbornly insisting on coming along with his father.
When Si Nian reached out her hand, he instinctively closed his eyes.
But the next second, he felt her warm hand rest on his head, and her uniquely gentle voice sounded: “Don’t worry, your little brother is fine.”
He opened his eyes and met Si Nian’s tender gaze.
His eyes reddened again without him realizing it.
He blinked hard.
“Uncle Wang, how’s the child?” Zhou Yueshen withdrew his gaze and asked the old doctor.
Uncle Wang adjusted his reading glasses, pulled out the needle, pressed a cotton swab on the spot, and said, “The little guy is losing his baby teeth. He probably kept touching his gums with his hands, causing inflammation and a fever. Just give him some anti-inflammatory medicine, and he’ll be fine. Make sure he doesn’t touch or poke with his tongue. The new teeth will come in a few days.”
Losing teeth?
Zhou Yueshen glanced at his younger son’s guilty little face, then looked away and nodded.
After getting the medicine, the family of four left the clinic.
The way back was uphill all the way. Si Nian definitely couldn’t pedal a bike so late at night.
So the four of them squeezed together on the motorcycle and headed home.
Because of the delay, it was almost four in the morning by the time they got back.
Usually, the two kids had to get up by five to get ready.
Zhou Yueshen decided to let the eldest son take a couple of days off to care for his little brother, waiting until the teeth healed before going back to school.
Little Lao Er didn’t have to go to class today. Bored at home and with half his face swollen, he still insisted on learning English.
He declared that he would quietly work hard and amaze everyone.
Seeing his strong desire to study, Si Nian taught him the 26 English letters and even taught him the alphabet song.
Little Lao Er was very interested in this. Even with a toothache, he kept mumbling the letters throughout the day.
When Zhou Zedong came back, he pulled him over and, with unclear speech, said, “Bro, I’m going to sing you a song you’ve definitely never heard before.”
Zhou Zedong was a bit puzzled, but seeing that his younger brother’s swelling had gone down, he let him be.
Then he stood up straight, bobbing his head as he sang: “A, B, C, D, E, F, G...”
After finishing, he pulled out a notebook and showed Zhou Zedong his crooked, messy alphabet chart. Pointing to the uppercase and lowercase letters, he said, “Bro, look at this. This one doesn’t get pronounced like that~ This one is ‘A.’ Didn’t expect that, right? Mom taught me this—it’s different from what the teacher said…”
“If you don’t know it, don’t worry, I’ll teach you. Come on, repeat after me: A~”
Zhou Zedong: “.....”
