The villagers also breathed a sigh of relief, and the village chief considerately said, "Changhai, hurry and take your daughter back home to change into dry clothes. Don't let her catch a cold and get a fever."
There was no medical facility in the village, so a child catching a cold and getting a fever was no small matter. In the neighboring village, there had even been a child who ended up mentally impaired because of a high fever.
Understanding her own son's character, Zhang Guihua quickly added, "Once you've changed her clothes, hurry back to work!"
"Right, and drink some ginger sugar water too," Jiang Changhai nodded, picking up his daughter and running quickly towards their home.
Zhang Guihua heard this and immediately became anxious, "Drink what ginger sugar water? Some ginger soup's enough!"
There was only a little brown sugar at home, which couldn't withstand the eldest's liberal use.
Jiang Changhai pretended not to hear and ran even faster.
Watching his eager, rushing figure, someone remarked, "Although Changhai usually seems careless and unfocused, he really does care about his daughter."
"Nonsense, she's his only daughter. Who else would he care about if not her?"
"True, but, in my opinion, even if he dotes on his daughter, he still needs a son to carry on the family line."
Although the villagers all knew that Jiang Changhai would likely seek a son-in-law in the future, the ideas ingrained in them from childhood made them unable to agree and even led to scorn and mockery.
When Zhang Guihua heard this stinging remark, her face immediately darkened, but the next second she retorted loudly, "What's wrong with having a daughter! Is any of your sons as smart as our San Ya? Can they recite so many poems and multiplication tables?"
The others immediately fell silent, almost forgetting that Changhai's daughter now possessed a bright mind.
Seeing this, Zhang Guihua felt incredibly refreshed and didn't mind the extra couple of yuan in school fees anymore.
As Jiang Changhai ran further, he pretended to let his daughter down, "Daughter, you've gotten heavy again. Come down and walk on your own."
"I won't!" Jiang Mianmian clung to his neck and refused to let go, "I'm not heavy!"
These days, without much fatty food, she couldn't gain weight even if she wanted to.
Then seeing her dad turn around, she asked, "Dad, aren't we going home?"
"We're picking up your mom," Jiang Changhai hadn't forgotten his wife.
Jiang Mianmian nodded in understanding. If her mom knew her husband and daughter had sneaked home to avoid work without calling her, she would definitely twist the ears of both father and daughter as punishment.
From a distance, seeing his wife relaxing in the shade of a tree, Jiang Changhai shouted, "Wife, our daughter fell into the water. Hurry home and boil some water."
Su Wanyu, upon hearing this, immediately dropped her rake and ran over, "What happened?"
"It's nothing, just that Mianmian fell into the water, and the villagers thought she choked and got scared," Jiang Changhai explained in a low voice, not wanting her to worry.
Jiang Mianmian also said softly, eyes sparkling, "Mom, let's go home and drink some brown sugar water."
Seeing her daughter looking spirited and fine, Su Wanyu was relieved and urged, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry!"
So, the family of three headed home and went straight to the kitchen, took the jar of brown sugar from the cupboard, and made three bowls of sweet water.
Each holding a bowl, they drank enthusiastically.
After finishing her bowl, Su Wanyu then remembered to ask, "Daughter, do you want some ginger?"
"No!" Jiang Mianmian shook her head. The ginger at home was too spicy.
Knowing her daughter was fine and not scared by the water, Su Wanyu didn't insist.
And since it was a hot day and the river water wasn't cold, their clothes had almost dried by the time they got home.
But Jiang Mianmian still changed into a clean set of clothes and then lay on the bed, letting out a satisfied sigh, "It's really more comfortable lying down!"