Chapter 166
After retching in the corner for a while but not vomiting anything, Lu Gu gradually calmed down once he ran outside and could no longer smell the fishy odor of the duck meat. He straightened up and patted his chest, this wave of nausea had truly been unbearable.
Wei Lanxiang, after all, had been through such things before. Hearing the sound of retching after he ran out, she felt something was amiss. Wiping her hands on her apron, she hurried out of the kitchen.
"Guzi," she hesitated, glancing at the empty spot on the ground in the corner before asking, "What’s wrong with you?"
Lu Gu didn’t think too much of it and replied, "Nothing, it’s just that the duck smelled too fishy."
Compared to chicken, ducks swam in water all the time, so their watery, fishy smell was naturally stronger than that of chicken.
Fishy?
The moment Wei Lanxiang heard this, she grinned. No meat was free of a fishy smell before being cooked, but ordinary people wouldn’t feel nauseous or retch just from smelling it.
She looked at Lu Gu with sheer delight, so overjoyed that she couldn’t speak for a moment. Lu Gu’s heart pounded under her gaze, and he asked in confusion, "Mother, what’s wrong?"
Only then did Wei Lanxiang take his hand and say, "Nothing’s wrong with me, it’s you! Quick, drink a bowl of warm water first to soothe your throat. I’ll take you to call Erqing, and we’ll go to Lao Wang the barefoot doctor's house."
Overcome with happiness, she then called out to Shen Yan, who was sewing inside the house, "Shen Yan, come out quickly! Chop the duck. Your brother Guzi and I are going out. Remember to cook, steam a bowl of egg custard, understand?"
Country folks, having endured many days without enough to eat or drink, immediately thought of egg custard when it came to nourishing the body.
"Ah, got it, Mother," Shen Yan, who had been sitting on the bed, hastily put on her shoes and came out upon hearing the urgency in her voice.
Going to Lao Wang’s house?
Lu Gu was baffled. He had only retched, it wasn’t like he was actually sick. When Wei Lanxiang shoved a half-bowl of warm water into his hands, he drank it reflexively. As they walked toward the gate, he suddenly froze - his sister-in-law had often vomited for a period when she was pregnant.
Wei Lanxiang’s face was full of joy, but she only pursed her lips in a smile. Along the way, she didn’t mention anything else. When she saw village women, she merely greeted them and said she had matters to attend to before hurriedly leading Lu Gu away without stopping to chat. She was being cautious, she wanted to confirm things with the doctor first. If she blabbed prematurely and word got out that Lu Gu was pregnant, only for it to turn out he was just feeling unwell or sick, wouldn’t that be a joke?
Lu Gu’s mind was blank. He only knew to follow Wei Lanxiang. It wasn’t until they entered the new house and he heard Shen Xuanqing’s voice that he snapped back to reality.
Shen Xuanqing was washing his hands. Upon hearing Wei Lanxiang say she was taking Lu Gu to the barefoot doctor's house, he wiped his hands and asked, "Going to the doctor? What, is he sick?"
He saw that Lu Gu’s complexion didn’t look too good, he wasn’t even smiling. After putting down the cloth, he reached out to touch Lu Gu’s forehead and muttered, "No fever."
Wei Lanxiang angrily smacked her son’s hand away, exasperated by his denseness. How could a grown man be so clueless? Unable to hold back, she scolded, "Did I say he caught a cold? All you know how to do is eat, can’t even understand plain words! Just come with us and stop yapping. I’m coming too. Let’s go."
Having been inexplicably hit and scolded, Shen Xuanqing was still bewildered. Rubbing the back of his hand, he watched Wei Lanxiang march ahead while he and Lu Gu followed side by side. Glancing at his mother’s hurried back, he tugged Lu Gu’s sleeve, signaling him to slow down. Once they lagged a few steps behind, he whispered, "What’s really going on?"
Lu Gu opened his mouth, but the situation had come too abruptly, he didn’t know how to explain. Even Wei Lanxiang hadn’t outright said anything, so how could he phrase it? In the end, he only frowned and whispered, "I don’t know either. We’ll… find out when we get there."
His vague answer deepened Shen Xuanqing’s confusion. But seeing one person in a hurry and the other tight-lipped, he suppressed his doubts and followed them to the barefoot doctor's house.
Only three villages separated Anjia Village and Qingxi Village,it wasn’t far, so there was no need for a mule cart.
As for whether they might run into Lu Daxiang or Du Hehua in Anjia Village, Wei Lanxiang didn’t even consider it. She rushed into Old Wang’s house and, upon seeing Granny Wang, smiled and asked, "Granny, is Lao Wang home?"
Granny Wang knew most people from the nearby villages, let alone Lu Gu, they’d once lived in the same village. Hurriedly ushering them in, she said, "Bad timing. Master Liu from Yongning Village is sick, he’s bedridden at his age and can’t get up, so my husband went to treat him. Sit for a while, he’s been gone for some time and should be back soon."
Granny Wang brought out chairs for them. The weather was nice today, and the courtyard was pleasantly warm. Yongning Village was right next to Anjia Village, very close. Hearing this, Wei Lanxiang relaxed and waited. As long as the doctor hadn’t gone far to treat someone, it was fine.
Granny Wang was slightly older than Wei Lanxiang, but country women and fulangs loved to gossip about domestic affairs when they got together, chatting and laughing so much that others couldn’t get a word in.
Lu Gu smelled the herbal scents in the courtyard. Though bitter and astringent, they were far better than the fishy stench of duck meat, at least they didn’t make him nauseous.
Wei Lanxiang had something weighing on her mind, so she kept glancing toward the gate. But because it was happy news, her laughter was louder than usual, making Shen Xuanqing inwardly grumble. If Lu Gu were sick, why did his mother seem so delighted? But who visited a doctor when they weren’t sick? He couldn’t make sense of it.
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