Xiao Qingya was only awake for a moment. The moment she felt her mother's safe embrace, she fell unconscious again. Zhou Anran hugged her for a while before she put her on the kang bed again.
She heaved a sigh of relief when she felt that her daughter's body temperature was warmer. It wasn't as terrifyingly cold as she was when she had just fished her out of the river.
Fortunately, Xiao Qingya's body was in the shallow water and not in an area with a strong current. Otherwise, if something happened to her daughter, Zhou Anran wouldn't know what she should do.
The whole matter was actually quite strange, but they were currently focusing on Xiao Qingya's well-being.
"Father, Physician Li is here!" Zhou Shiming announced before he went back, sitting on the straw mat, his face filled with impatience and displeasure.
Zhou Wenzhi greeted Physician Li and led him toward his granddaughter's place. "This way, Physician Li. My granddaughter has fallen into cold water."
"Jingran isn't home?"
"He is travelling with his master again."
Their voices faded as they entered another room. Zhou Siming scowled unhappily. "What is Second Sister doing? Letting the guests go hungry."
"Father too, making me go out in the cold night just to find a physician…" Of course, he only dared to complain when his father wasn't in the room.
Liu Hua nodded, frowning unhappily while their daughter, Zhou Wanrou, looked a little nervous. Only after Xiao Yuxi and her aunt finished cooking and gave them food did they finally shut up.
After Physician Li had checked Xiao Qingya and prescribed the medicine to her, he left. Zhou Wenzhi also didn't want to disturb his second daughter's family, so after they had some dinner, he brought them back home.
It was his wife who had insisted on having dinner at his second daughter's home today, bringing some ingredients they had picked from their garden.
Zhou Anran lived not far from her maternal family, but as the eldest son, Zhou Shiming's house was located exactly beside his parents' house.
Their son-in-law, Zhou Anran's husband, had insisted that they build the house in another location and not directly beside the parents' house. He had even bought the land with the money he earned himself, so they couldn't say anything.
Although Zhou Anran's husband was a responsible man, unfortunately, he was currently missing. His whereabouts were unknown. It had been two years since.
The next day, Xiao Qingya had just recovered from her fever. Her inner thoughts made Zhou Anran feel even more pity for her daughter.
After she pondered for the whole night while taking care of Xiao Qingya, she finally accepted that it must have been the mother-daughter special bond that allowed her to hear her daughter's inner thoughts.
[Water. I want water! But I feel too weak and uncomfortable to move or say anything]
Xiao Qingya let out a pitiful sob.
"Is Little Ya feeling thirsty?" Zhou Anran went to the kitchen to get some water. Xiao Qingya was still drinking with her baby bottle, although mostly, she only drank water now. Milk, very rarely.
[Wow, my mother can understand me!]
She took a few gulps of water from her baby bottle.
[Now, I don't feel thirsty anymore. Before I fall asleep again, I'd better check the plot for this reincarnation.]
Plot? Reincarnation? Zhou Anran's eyes went wide. Her daughter was reincarnated?! Then, it made sense that she was talking with so much fluency beyond her age.
[Wow, I will die young again. Not very creative, huh, author? Before I died in my previous reincarnations, the highest age I had ever reached was fourteen years old!] The voice had a hint of grumbling.
The little baby sighed. [Nevermind, what do I expect, anyway. I am just cannon fodder, so I have to know my place.]
Cannon fodder?
[So, this body is going to drown to death before I could reach the age of three… ]
The moment Xiao Yuxi entered the room, she heard a childish voice similar to her youngest sister. The content, however, shocked her so much that she tripped and fell.
The scented sachets fell everywhere.
"Xi'er, be careful!" Zhou Anran stood up and helped her daughter gather the scented sachets.
The Zhou family was a farming family. Besides taking care of their fields, sometimes, the twins would make and sell scented sachets. They learned the method from their eldest brother, allowing them to recognize suitable herbs to be made into scented sachets.
[Yes, sister, be careful! Although we won't be sisters for long in this life, you are still my sister. I remember you taking care of me since I was little.]
Xiao Qingya was still a baby, and they had no adult men in the family. As such, they needed to go to work in the field to make money. In the first year of their father's disappearance, they still had some savings. But they knew it wouldn't last long.
Sometimes, the sun was hot, or the temperature was too cold. They were also afraid of the flying dust getting to Xiao Qingya's sensitive eyes, so they kept her at home. They would have shifts about who would take care of her while the rest went to the field.
Even Xiao Jingran, their eldest brother, had to stop learning medicine from his master for a while to be able to help his struggling family.
Xiao Yuxi was a little dazed after she heard Xiao Qingya's thoughts. She had some lingering fears about what had happened to her little sister, but… something like that was going to happen again?
She glanced at her mother. Zhou Anran had a neutral look on her face as she busily picked up the scented sachets from the ground. Since she is so calm, her mother shouldn't have heard her little sister's words, right?
It was truly so strange. She hadn't seen her little sister's mouth move at all. Xiao Qingya was leaning against the wall now, so Xiao Yuxi could see her face.
"Mother, Yan'er and I made a scented sachet for Little Ya."
Zhou Anran smiled. "You two are so thoughtful. Hopefully, our Little Ya can sleep better with this scented sachet around."
All of a sudden, they heard Xiao Qingya's inner thoughts again.
[You are finally awake, stinky System]
[I am not a brat, don't call me a brat.] There was a brief pause. [Hiss, there is a plot happening today, System? My second brother and second sister are going to sell the scented sachets at the village market, but the first person who bought it got poisoned instead!]