Baozi Xishi's Struggle

It seemed that Shen Yu had just fallen asleep not long ago when Li dragged her out of bed in a daze. She urged her to put on her clothes, stuffed a small bag into her hand, and then dragged her out of the door.

Shen Yu was very sleepy and just let Li pull him away in a daze.

It was not until she stood at the door of Doctor Sun's house and saw Li raising her hand to knock on the door that Shen Yu's mind cleared up. She quickly pulled Li and whispered, "Mom, it's not dawn yet. Let's wait a while. Doctor Sun walked a long way up the mountain to collect herbs yesterday. He probably hasn't woken up yet. It would be bad if someone heard us knocking on the door so hard."

Li thought about it and pulled Shen Yu to hide by the willow tree at the door. Shen Yu urged Li to go back: "Mom, you should go home quickly. I will knock on the door when Doctor Sun wakes up. Doctor Sun is a good friend of Dad. He will take me in for a day for Dad's sake. If the village chief brings people home again and you are not at home, how can Yu Tao and Yu Cheng handle it? If they are scared and let the cat out of the bag and find us here, it will be even worse if Doctor Sun is implicated!"

After hearing this, Li clapped her hands anxiously and said, "I just wanted you to hide quickly, but I forgot to tell them not to tell them where you went. Then you stay here and eat the cakes in your bag when you are hungry. When Doctor Sun gets up, go to his house quickly. Don't come out and be caught by others. I have to go home first. Yucheng is too honest. He was coaxed away by a few words. I will come to see you in the evening."

Without waiting for Shen Yu to answer, Li left like a gust of wind.

Shen Yu smiled helplessly, and had to carry the small bag given by Li, hide behind the willow tree, and listen to the movements around him.

Bored of waiting, she touched the small bundle with her hand. There was something round inside. She opened it and pinched it with her hand. There were a few coarse flour pancakes, still slightly warm. She didn't know when Li got up to bake them. There was only so much coarse flour at home. Did she use all of it to make pancakes for her?

Shen Yu held the pancake in his hand, and his heart became more determined to take this family out of the village and work hard to live a good life.

Just as she was daydreaming, she heard some movement in the yard. Shen Yu hurried over and gently knocked on the door knocker, calling out softly, "Doctor Sun, I'm Yuzhi, please open the door!"

The yard was quiet for a while, and then there was the sound of footsteps. Doctor Sun, wearing a coat, opened the door and let Shen Yu into the yard. He asked in surprise, "Yuzhi girl, what happened? It's not even daybreak yet, why are you here?"

Shen Yu closed the gate and briefly told Doctor Sun the reason why he wanted to hide there. Doctor Sun was so angry that his beard twitched and he kept stroking it with his hand.

Seeing that he was just stroking his beard out of anger but didn't say anything, Shen Yu began to worry. He wondered if Doctor Sun was also afraid of the disaster and was afraid of implicating him, so he refused to take him in.

Seeing Shen Yu looking at him eagerly, Doctor Sun seemed to realize something. "Don't take such nonsense to heart. It's just hateful that the villagers are ignorant. Now that your father is gone, everyone is pushing the wall down. You just stay in my house without worry. When the herbs are prepared, I will take you to the town tomorrow morning. And ask Manager Fan if he has a place to stay. Don't come back to the village for the time being. After it rains, the rumor will be gone."

Shen Yu was finally relieved and thought, if they don't take me in, I can only try my luck in the town by myself.

During that day, Shen Yu helped Doctor Sun prepare herbs, cook, and clean. She was quick and smart, and knew what to do very quickly, which saved Doctor Sun a lot of effort. Doctor Sun smiled and praised her all the time, and liked Shen Yu even more.

At night, Li took advantage of the darkness to come and take Shen Yu back. She thanked Doctor Sun again and again. Unexpectedly, Doctor Sun said directly: "Sister-in-law of the Shen family, Brother Shen and I hit it off when we first met and had a great time talking. But I didn't expect that he passed away early after knowing each other for more than a year. Although it is inconvenient for me to have contact with your family, I actually regard Yuzhi and her brothers and sisters as my own children and nephews. If you don't mind me, you can call me uncle in the future."

Li was overjoyed and immediately asked Shen Yu to perform the ceremony again.

Although Shen Yu was somewhat surprised that Dr. Sun liked her, she felt very happy to have another uncle, as it would be good for this family without a pillar.

Shen Yu knelt down and saluted like the ancients, calling him uncle.

Doctor Sun responded with a smile and gave her a light support to help her get up.

He took a small cloth bag that had been prepared long ago and handed it to Shen Yu: "Since you call me uncle, then we are family. When I was young, by chance, I got a pill recipe. This medicine is called 'Qingfeng Pills'. It is made into pills and worn on the body to refresh the mind. Mosquitoes and insects will not invade, snakes and ants will not come near. Although it is not expensive, it is also good to use in summer. The cost of medicinal materials is limited, and one pill can be used for more than a year. Now I will give one pill to each of you three siblings, and you can wear it close to your body."

Shen Yu thanked him quickly and, curious, opened the small cloth bag, which contained three round wooden boxes with hollow patterns.

The wooden box is simply carved, the natural texture of the wood is clear, it is polished very smoothly, the shape is simple and cute, and there is a buckle to open and close it.

When I smelled it up close, a refreshing scent came with it. When I opened it, I saw a black pill the size of a longan in the small box. The refreshing smell was even stronger.

Li saw it and knew it was a good thing, so she asked Shen Yu to take it and was very grateful to Doctor Sun.

Shen Yu also liked this gift very much. It was both practical and beautiful.

In modern times, she is a walking mosquito repellent.

It’s not that mosquitoes don’t bite her, but as long as she is around, mosquitoes will only bite her and not others. Colleagues jokingly call her the favorite mosquito repellent. When they go on business trips together in the summer, they love walking with her and say that they save on floral water.

But she suffers. She never dares to wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts outside in summer. Cologne and mosquito repellent spray are must-have items in her bag. With strict precautions, she avoids being bitten. If you ask her what she hates most in summer, it is probably mosquitoes.

After agreeing with Doctor Sun on the departure time for tomorrow, Li and Shen Yu did not even dare to light a torch and secretly took a small path to go home.

They groped their way home, one step deep and one step shallow. When they saw their front door, they relaxed. Yutao and Yucheng had been waiting behind the door. They knocked twice gently, and the door opened silently.

After entering the house, Li heaved a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said, "We are finally home, Yutao, quickly pour me a bowl of water."

Shen Yu then realized that his head was covered with beads of sweat. Once he sat on the wooden bench, he didn't want to move at all.