Siheyuan: Lou Xiao'e, Yu Li and the Savage Woman

Jia Zhang dragged Xiaodang to the west wing and placed the bowl of warm water with painkillers and sugar in front of her.

"My dear granddaughter, drink this sugar water quickly."

Jia Zhang had a kind face.

Xiaodang held the bowl with both hands and started drinking.

"Grandma, this syrup is a bit bitter..."

Jia Zhang said fiercely: "Why is it bitter? I have already put a spoonful of sugar in it. Hurry up and drink all the water in the bowl."

Xiaodang was so scared that he quickly drank all the water in the bowl.

Jia Zhang nodded with satisfaction.

Then, she sat quietly with Xiaodang in the west wing.

Soon, Xiaodang began to yawn: "Grandma, I want to go back to find mom, I'm sleepy, I want to sleep..."

"If you're tired, just sleep in this room!"

"Didn't you and your brother sleep in this room before?"

Jia Zhang carried Xiaodang to the kang in the room.

Although she didn't want to sleep in the west wing, Xiaodang didn't dare to say it out loud, for she was afraid of being beaten by Jia Zhang.

Just like that, Xiaodang lay on the kang in the room, while Jia Zhang lay beside her, patting her gently with her hands...

After a while, Xiaodang fell asleep...

"Granddaughter, get up. I'll give you something delicious to eat..."

Jia Zhang shook gently.

Xiaodang was sleeping soundly and was not woken up by the shaking.

"This painkiller can really make people fall asleep..."

"What a pity! I wasted five days of my time."

Jia Zhang talked to herself.

She takes painkillers almost constantly because of leg and back pain.

Every time she took the medicine, she felt very sleepy.

So Jia Zhang concluded that painkillers can make people fall into a coma and fall asleep...

Getting up from the kang and going outside, Jia Zhang looked at the central courtyard, then she looked towards the front yard to make sure there was no one there.

After returning to the house, Jia Zhang took out a cloth bag, which was filled with clothes that her eldest grandson used to wear.

Then, she found a piece of tattered sheet and quickly picked up Xiaodang from the kang.

She covered Xiaodang with a quilt, picked up the cloth bag, and walked out quickly.

After walking out of the gate of the courtyard and making sure that no one was paying attention, Jia Zhang carried Xiao Dang and quickly walked towards the public toilet in the west.

Jia Dongxu's aunt had been waiting by the toilet for a long time.

Jia Zhang directly handed the small gift in her arms to Jia Dongxu's aunt.

"You don't have to take too good care of me. There's no need to waste money. As long as I don't starve to death, that's enough..."

Jia Zhang said something, then took out 20 yuan from her pocket and handed it to Jia Dongxu's aunt.

The latter took the 20 yuan and the cloth bag, nodded, and hurried away holding Xiaodang.

After watching the two men walk away, Jia Zhang looked around and returned to the courtyard as if nothing had happened.

The reason why she did this today was mainly to prepare for both situations.

Jia Zhang believed that when Qin Huairu found out that Xiaodang was missing, she would definitely cherish the baby in her belly even more.

In addition, Jia Zhang was worried that if Qin Huairu gave birth to a boy, she would not want to give him up, so she could use Xiao Dang to replace him...

If it's a girl, then there's nothing to say and just raise Xiaodang.

So after careful consideration, Jia Zhang felt that she had to do this.

Back in the front yard of the courtyard, Jia Zhang first helped Yan Bugui change the wet bedding.

Then, she took all the bedding to the yard in the middle courtyard to dry them.

Then she washed clothes by the pool in the middle courtyard, deliberately making a lot of noise.

After a while, the door of the east wing opened and Qin Huairu walked out of the room.

Standing at the door, she pointed at Jia Zhang:

"Can you please keep the noise down when washing clothes? Can you let me sleep?"

Jia Zhang hurriedly smiled and said, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have disturbed your sleep."

She washed her hands and came to Qin Huairu.

"Huai Ru, I remember you loved eating hawthorn when you were pregnant with your baby. I bought this especially for you."

Jia Zhang took out a handful of bright red hawthorns from her pocket.

Qin Huairu said nothing and reached out to take the hawthorn.

She turned back to the house and closed the door.

Unknowingly, the time came to evening.

Sha Zhu returned to the courtyard from the steel mill carrying his lunch box.

Qin Huairu also got up from the bed and started preparing dinner.

Soon, dinner was ready.

Qin Huairu came to He Yushui's house and knocked on the door.

"Yushui, bring Xiaodang out so we can have dinner..."

He Yushui opened the door from inside the house: "Sister-in-law, Xiaodang is not in my room."

Qin Huairu said "oh" and walked towards the entrance of the courtyard.

But there was no trace of Xiaodang either in the front yard or outside the yard.

At this moment, Qin Huairu began to panic.

She recalled that it seemed like she hadn't seen her daughter Xiaodang since the afternoon.

Unable to find her daughter at the gate of the courtyard, Qin Huairu hurried back to her home in the middle courtyard.

"Silly Zhu, Xiao Dang seems to be missing..."

Qin Huairu shouted anxiously towards the east wing.

Sha Zhu and He Yu Shui ran out of the house.

Jia Zhang also came out from the west wing.

"Why is he gone? Did he go to play with other kids next door?"

Qin Huairu shook his head.

"After lunch, I lay down on the bed and took a nap. At that time, Xiaodang was playing in this yard..."

Suddenly she thought of something and asked hurriedly, "Auntie Jia, you were washing clothes by the pond in the middle courtyard. Did you see Xiaodang?"