"Cluck cluck cluck!" Xiao Dou screamed miserably as Jing Shu lifted her by the wings. When Jing Shu heard Grandma Jing's sobs over the phone, her heart clenched. Her first thought was that Grandpa Jing had met with some accident. Only after hearing that it was her third aunt Jing Lai and cousin Wu You'ai who had caught a cold did she finally relax. In her previous life, encountering such a thing meant leaving it to fate, but in this life she had the Spirit Spring!
"Go back to your nest and stay there. If you mess with the other chickens again, I'll stir-fry you into a big plate of chicken," Jing Shu said as she tossed the thirty-something jin (about 15 kg) hen four or five meters away. It landed neatly in front of the luxurious chicken coop Jing An had specially built for it, padded with comfortable dry hay.
Yes, at first they had kept Xiao Dou with the other chickens and ducks, but she lorded over them all, eating up all their feed, fighting with the pigs for food, and most outrageously even trying to drink cow's milk.
The whole chicken pen and cowshed had been thrown into chaos. Whenever Su Lanzhi and Jing An tried to catch Xiao Dou, she ran so fast that Su Lanzhi ended up chasing her around the entire yard with a broom and nearly fell into the fish pond. The perfect soundtrack for this scene would have been: "You can't catch me, I'm just this strong, hahahahaha!"
After Jing Shu finally caught Xiao Dou and taught her a lesson, Jing An made her an independent deluxe coop. Only then did Xiao Dou quiet down. She may have the body of a chicken, but she had the soul of a husky.
"Come on, let's go see what's happening." After finishing the call, Jing An threw on his protective suit, ready to rush out the door, clearly losing his composure.
Now, anyone who caught the viral cold was already stepping through the gates of death. With hospitals refusing patients and medicines unavailable, it was basically a death sentence.
"Dad, don't panic. Rub on some medicated oil first. Last time when I saved that family of three, I asked the doctor for extra doses of a special medicine. It worked well. I'll get some now." With that, Jing Shu fetched two regular cold tablets and rushed with Jing An toward Jing Lai's house in the city.
Jing Shu drove. Jing An's emotions were unstable. In his heart, of his three sisters, he felt most guilty toward Jing Lai. Caring for their parents had fallen to her for years. Of the three, her life was the hardest, which only deepened his regret.
Even though Jing Shu said she had special medicine, so many people were dying every day from this illness. Jing An was terrified of losing his family.
In Wu City, the temperature was still 47°C. Rumor had it that Chongqing and Wuhan had already hit 50°C, surpassing Turpan's old record of 49.6°C. People were still collapsing from heatstroke daily, but with no electricity and no air conditioning, they were gradually adapting.
Recently, CCTV had been promoting an African custom: smearing mud mixed with cow oil all over the body. It kept off heat and bugs, and was hygienic enough that one could go years without bathing. Some people had already started imitating it, swearing in their social circles that they would only wash the mud off once water returned.
When Jing Shu pushed open the door, a wave of heat hit her face. Grandpa Jing was pacing restlessly in the stifling room while Grandma Jing sobbed uncontrollably. On the sofa lay her wan third aunt, Jing Lai, who muttered irritably: "When Jing An comes, don't cry like I'm dying already. The hospital said they'd notify us once medicine arrived. Others have endured too, so we'll just drink more water. Fine, fine, I get it. We'll drink more."
Grandma Jing clutched her daughter's hand and wept bitterly. "Why are us old folks fine, but my poor daughter is suffering! How cruel, making the white-haired bury the black-haired!"
Wu You'ai lay sprawled on the divan, headphones on, absorbed in her manga, surrounded by snacks and bottled water, seemingly intent on finishing her treats before she died.
The arrival of Jing Shu and Jing An only made Grandma Jing cry harder. Elderly people are emotional; when sadness or fear struck, tears flowed freely. The thought of losing her daughter and granddaughter left her utterly helpless.
"Give them the special medicine first. If it doesn't work, I'll call in favors to get them into a hospital. There's always a way." Jing An stood in the living room, hands on his hips, his usual commanding posture when anxious.
"What special medicine?" Wu You'ai finally looked up, her attention caught.
"Medicine that cures illness. Hurry up and take it. Open your mouth." Jing Shu handed over the pills with some water.
As a child from a single-parent family, Wu You'ai had grown up withdrawn, with little interest in mingling with others. She preferred daydreaming about being the heroine of some fantasy world. Anime's reclusive, bespectacled shut-in girl archetype seemed made for her. Unlike most quiet introverts, when Wu You'ai did speak, she often couldn't stop. In her own mind, everyone was the protagonist of their own stage play.
When Jing Shu offered her the medicine, Wu You'ai flatly refused and exposed her: "This is just White Plus Black cold medicine. How is it special? For viral colds, people go on IV drips. Nobody just takes pills. Did you buy this from scalpers? Then we definitely shouldn't take it."
Jing Shu didn't bother to argue. She grabbed Wu You'ai, pinched her mouth open, shoved the pill in, and washed it down with a gulp of water laced with one drop of Spirit Spring. Jing Shu didn't even mention how distressed she felt wasting Spirit Spring like that, and Wu You'ai dared to refuse it.
Grandma Jing patted Wu You'ai's back. "Child, it's a life-saving medicine. Stop fussing and swallow."
Wu You'ai: "..." She felt as though she had been forced poison. Was this the setup for her to die and transmigrate? Still, that was better than just dying of illness.
Indeed, Wu You'ai wasn't afraid of death. In her mind, dying meant transmigrating like in novels and comics.
Within minutes of drinking Spirit Spring, both Jing Lai and Wu You'ai's stomachs growled, and they began devouring food like starved wolves. Grandma Jing cooked a huge pot of rice, opened a jar of pickled cucumbers, a small jar of dried beef, fried over a dozen eggs, and stir-fried mushrooms, wood ear, and cabbage. The two ate, ran to the toilet, and came back to keep eating.
"Your medicine's probably fake." Wu You'ai mumbled between bites.
The whole family felt a little uneasy.
"Then do you still feel like you have the cold?" Jing Shu asked. She had saved that child before with just a single drop of Spirit Spring.
"I feel full of strength." Wu You'ai clenched her fists and nodded firmly.
"My symptoms are gone too. I think I'm cured." Jing Lai's cheeks were already flushing with health.
"That's good. That's good. Maybe the medicine's just too strong and has side effects. Eat all you want, fill yourselves up." Grandma Jing quietly wiped her tears away, then bustled off to cook more. At this moment, she was brimming with joy, laughing even when she looked at Grandpa Jing. This was true relief after disaster, joy that made her whole body feel light.
Jing Shu also grabbed some food and calmly analyzed, "The Spirit Spring dose was too much. For critically ill patients, one drop is needed. For less severe cases like Aunt Jing Lai, half a drop would have been enough. The excess probably got diverted into speeding up digestion."
Jing An finally relaxed too, eating a few fried eggs. "Mom, why don't you and Third Sister come stay at my place for a while. It's too hot here. You don't have electricity for air conditioning, no water for toilets, no fresh food. And who knows when the Earth's Dark Days will end. You can come back after."