Village Information Network

“Mother, Uncle is sleepy.”

Zhuang Zhuang handed the bowl to Xiaoguo. She washed it with warm water and put it away. “There’s a herb with calming properties in this medicinal soup. One will feel sleepy after taking it.”

“Oh, I see. I was wondering about it as Uncle is usually not so sleepy.”

Zhuang Zhuang followed behind Xiaoguo, going wherever she went.

“Mother, why are you still boiling water?”

Zhuang Zhuang asked Xiaoguo curiously. There was nothing left to wash or scrub.

Xiaoguo pushed Zhuang Zhuang’s head away from the stove and threw a handful of firewood into the fire pit. “Don’t you have to take a shower? Go back to the house and get your clothes. Then go wait in the bathroom.”

“Huh?” Zhuang Zhuang looked reluctant. “I just bathed the day before yesterday. I don’t want to bathe again…”

“Okay then. You just had tomato scrambled eggs the day before yesterday. You won’t be having it again tomorrow.”

Xiaoguo ignored Zhuang Zhuang’s words and continued adding firewood.

“Huh?”

Zhuang Zhuang’s plaintive voice echoed across the room. Xiaoguo glanced at Zhuang Zhuang, who was trying to cop out.

With just one look from her, Zhuang Zhuang shivered and immediately stood up. “Mother! I’ll execute it immediately!”

With that, he stomped his feet and left.

Xiaoguo looked at the little boy’s back and found it amusing. She didn’t know when Jiang Danhe had brought him to the military camp, but he seemed to be pretty well-trained.

The water was heated up to a moderate temperature before buckets of warm water were brought to the side of the bathtub.

Zhuang Zhuang had already taken off his clothes and was sitting inside the tub.

Xiaoguo poured a bucket of water in and asked Zhuang Zhuang if it was hot.

“It’s not hot.”

Zhuang Zhuang liked this temperature very much. He splashed in the tub as Xiaoguo added more water into the bucket. He looked like he was enjoying himself tremendously.

She added water until it reached Zhuang Zhuang’s chest. As for the remaining water in the pot, Xiaoguo added some cold water in before adding more firewood to heat it up.

“Come on. It’s bath time.”

Xiaoguo climbed onto a small stool. This made it easier for her to bend over and bathe Zhuang Zhuang.

Zhuang Zhuang sat on a small stool inside the tub and enjoyed Xiaoguo’s gentle scrubbing. Since Xiaoguo bathed him quite frequently, Zhuang Zhuang was not very dirty. In fact he was still pretty clean.

Xiaoguo couldn’t help but pinch Zhuang Zhuang’s round buttocks—this made him feel shy.

“Lift your head.”

Zhuang Zhuang obediently raised his head so that Xiaoguo could rinse his hair.

Although Zhuang Zhuang was young, he had a good amount of hair. When he was born, his baby hair was not shaved and left to grow. That was the reason why he has so much hair now.

With a ladle, Xiaoguo filled up a basin of water and watered Zhuang Zhuang’s hair from top to bottom.

As soon as the water touched his hair, Zhuang Zhuang immediately closed his eyes and waited for the water to stop flowing before he opened his eyes again.

Xiaoguo was about to soap him down when Zhuang Zhuang suddenly remembered something.

“Mother, didn’t we buy some soap from the capital?”

Zhuang Zhuang thought about the fragrant soap and looked at Xiaoguo expectantly.

Hearing his words, Xiaoguo remembered that she had kept them in the closet while cleaning up earlier.

“Then you have to wait a while. I’ll go get it.”

Xiaoguo got up and went to get the soap. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to close the door for Zhuang Zhuang.

Xiaoguo quickly went to pick out a piece of soap from the closet. There were still about five or six pieces left. During the time when she was shopping in the capital, she came across some soap for sale. She could detect a fragrance when she smelled them. Coincidentally, there was no more soap at home, so she decided to buy some to keep at home. It would save her the trouble of making them herself as they were time consuming to make. On top of that, those that she made at home were not scented. In the end, Jiang Danhe was the one who paid for them.

She had managed to bring back a lot of useful things during her trip to the capital.

Xiaoguo returned to the bathroom and was relieved to see that Zhuang Zhuang was sitting obediently in the water. She opened up the wrapper to reveal the yellow square inside.

“Mother, it smells so good…”

Zhuang Zhuang sniffed and took in the fragrance in the air.

“Nonsense.” Xiaoguo smiled at Zhuang Zhuang. “How can you smell it from there?”

“Really, I can smell it!”

Zhuang Zhuang nodded vigorously. This smell was so fragrant that he could smell it from afar.

Xiaoguo wet the soap before rubbing it on Zhuang Zhuang’s hair. There was quite a lot of foam created.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but Xiaoguo felt that when there was more foam, the cleaning would be more thorough.

Afraid that the water would get cold and Zhuang Zhuang would catch a cold, Xiaoguo quickened her pace and finished washing the boy in no time. When she carried him out of the hot water, he shivered when he came into contact with the cold air. Xiaoguo quickly took a towel and dried his body and hair. Then, she dressed him and held him tightly in her arms before heading into the room.

Before taking a bath herself, Xiaoguo made the bed and placed Zhuang Zhuang under the covers.

“Keep yourself bundled up. I’ll be back in a while.”

Xiaoguo tucked him in tightly so that only his head was visible. When she saw him nod, she took the clothes and left.

Xiaoguo liked to take baths, especially hot ones. She enjoyed soaking in a slightly higher temperature than what most people could accept, so she heated up the water according to her preference.

After pouring in the last bucket of water, Xiaoguo put down the bucket and tested the water temperature with her hands. When she felt that it was hot enough, she locked the door and undressed before entering the bathtub.

As soon as she stepped in, a wave of scorching heat engulfed her. Xiaoguo felt wonderful. Her entire body was immersed in the water, and she felt as if every pore of her body was greedily absorbing the hot water.

“It feels so good…”

Xiaoguo could not help but sigh.

When she was soaking in the tub, she did not forget to pay attention to the water temperature. Once water started to cool down, she began washing her hair.

Xiaoguo took baths frequently, so her hair was not dirty. She was done after a few quick rinses.

She took the candle and returned to the house. The candles in Qin Anming’s room had been blown out, so he was probably asleep. Xiaoguo tiptoed to her room.

When she entered the room, Zhuang Zhuang was almost asleep. He only opened his eyes slightly before closing them again completely.

Xiaoguo placed the candle on the table and tidied up the clothes she had changed out of. She set them aside for tomorrow’s laundry and got ready for bed.

_

The next morning, after Xiaoguo had fed all the animals, Mrs. Yang came by looking for her.

“Sister-in-law, why are you in such a hurry?”

The moment Mrs. Yang saw Xiaoguo, she dragged her out. Xiaoguo quickly put down the dustpan and followed behind her.

“Li Zhaodi has gone crazy again!”

Mrs. Yang looked around before whispering into Xiaoguo’s ear mysteriously.

“What do you mean, again?”

Xiaoguo raised her eyebrows, curious about what this “again” was about.

“Yesterday afternoon, my mother-in-law heard from others that Li Zhaodi had recovered. But this morning, when the village chief brought a few people to visit her, she went crazy again. Now, she’s shouting and tearing her clothes.”

Mrs. Yang told Xiaoguo about the gossip. Li Zhaodi’s misfortune had become her fortune.

After Mrs. Yang finished speaking, Xiaoguo laughed. However, she wasn’t laughing at Li Zhaodi. She was laughing at Mrs. Yang’s information network. How did Mrs. Yang know about everything in the village? Xiaoguo was really curious. She was only able to keep up with the gossip in the village because of Mrs. Yang.

The news spread by word of mouth was even faster than the modern internet. As soon as something happened, everyone knew about it.

“Let’s go. We need to find a good spot.”

Seeing that Xiaoguo was still taking her time, Mrs. Yang felt a little anxious. She wished that she could carry her and run.