As soon as he entered the room, Lin Qiu looked at the clock on the box lid and asked, "Big brother! It's not even midday yet, why are you back so soon? I haven't even started cooking!"
Lin Chun pushed Lin Xia to the edge of the kang, "Get up there and lie down quickly!"
Lin Xia obediently smiled as she took off her shoes and climbed up to the head of the kang, but she didn't lie down. Instead, she sat there watching her big brother and sister talk, feeling truly content.
Lin Chun turned back to Lin Qiu and said, "I spoke with the workshop director to leave work early! Isn't it because I'm worried about whether your sister is better or not? If she isn't better, it'll be a good time for us to go to the hospital! We can't delay!"
"You two might not know about that old Wang Family's son from the front street, he got a fever so bad it damaged his brain!"
Lin Qiu and Lin Xia looked at each other, both thinking of the son from that old Wang Family.
Sitting sideways on the edge of the kang, Lin Chun looked at Lin Xia and asked, "Xiaoxia! Do you still feel unwell anywhere? If you're feeling unwell, just let me know, I know those few people aren't at home, so it's a good time to go to the hospital! Don't worry about the money, I've secretly saved a bit, it will definitely be enough for treatment!"
Lin Xia hadn't stopped smiling since Lin Chun returned, she shook her head vigorously, "I'm all better! Big brother! Xiaoqiu! Once I broke into a sweat from the fever, it was all good! Dongzi will be back by midday too, and I'll help Xiaoqiu with the cooking!"
In her heart, she was excitedly thinking, a reunion meal with all her siblings! How many years has it been!
Come evening when those people return, there won't be such a good time anymore!
"You might as well pull the other one! With the few of us here, we don't need a sick person! Get into bed and rest up! If you're still not feeling well tomorrow, then take another day off!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xia quickly got up from the kang and gestured to them, "I'm really fine! Look at my complexion, nothing's wrong with me! I'll do whatever I need to do, I'm not so delicate. Besides, big brother, don't you have to go back to work this afternoon? What time is it already!"
Lin Chun firmly disagreed, "Don't be a hero! Xiaoxia, last night you were so ill; you almost scared us to death! Now just lie down and rest! You can eat ready-made food later!"
Lin Xia still wanted to cherish this rare opportunity, knowing that with Qian Chunli and those people at home, there wouldn't be such a warm moment.
"I'm really fine! Besides, Xiaoqiu can cook, and I'll just help out on the side! It won't tire me out! Big brother! Please! Okay?"
Lin Qiu complained to Lin Chun dissatisfiedly, "Big brother! My sister is so stubborn! She kept insisting on getting up earlier; if I hadn't blocked her every which way, she might have even climbed up onto the roof to remove tiles!"
This statement made Lin Chun laugh out loud, and Lin Xia looked at her sister speechlessly. When had she ever been like what her sister described!
In the end, Lin Xia stopped insisting on the issue of cooking. Watching Lin Qiu head to the kitchen and her big brother sitting at the edge of the kang chatting with her, she felt immensely satisfied.
Lin Chun looked at Lin Xia, unable to suppress a chuckle, "Xiaoxia, what's with you today? Why do you keep staring at me? Do I have flowers growing on my face?"
Ever since his arrival, his sister's reaction had been different from usual.
Now that he had sat down for a while, Lin Xia's eyes never left him. He tried to get up several times to go to the courtyard to chop firewood, but his sister, insisting on following, stopped him every time.
Lin Xia, feeling a bit embarrassed, lowered her eyes and said softly, "I'm just happy to see you!"
Nothing could excite and thrill her more than having her living, breathing big brother right before her eyes, visibly and tangibly present.
Lin Chun moved in closer, "What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly!"
Knowing his older brother hadn't heard clearly, Lin Xia lifted his head and grinned at Lin Chun, "I said! I'm glad to see you happy! Big brother! We're all going to live well! Let's make something of ourselves to show mom!"
Lin Chun also laughed along, but there was a bitterness in his smile, "Yeah! Let's all make something of ourselves to show mom!"
At this point, Lin Chun sighed softly, "In the blink of an eye, mom's been gone for several years. In a little while, we should burn some extra paper money for mom when we visit her grave! Last night, while taking care of you, I was half asleep and dreamed of mom!"
Lin Xia's eyes widened, "Big brother! What did you dream about mom? Did she talk to you?"
She felt a little scared inside! Isn't it said that dreaming of the deceased...
But then she thought she might just be scaring herself for no reason, for it wasn't that time of the year just yet.
Lin Chun glanced at the ceiling, thought for a moment, and then, with pursed lips, looked at Lin Xia, "Mom seemed the same as before, unchanged, thin and toiling in the kitchen!
It looked like she was steaming buns, exhaling steam! Mom did talk to me! She told me to take good care of you all! I can't remember what she said after that. But I still remember the dream very clearly!"
After speaking, Lin Chun fell silent, his fingers digging into the edge of the kang bed.
In truth, he'd dreamed of more than that, but facing his younger sister, he didn't want to say too much.
Even though he knew it was just a dream, he couldn't stop the waves of fear...
Detecting his unease, Lin Xia quickly moved closer, "Big brother! This is mom sending us a dream! She wants us all to be well! Mom is definitely watching over us from heaven!"
Talking about mom, Lin Xia also felt a lump in her throat. Her mom had suffered all her life and had passed away without enjoying a single day of happiness.
Lin Chun, looking down, said, "Yeah! That's what I think too." He paused, then lifted his head to look at Lin Xia, "Xiaoxia, big brother is still useless! I'm already a grown man, yet I still can't take care of you properly! And I let those old women bully you!"
Lin Xia grabbed Lin Chun's hand, looked into his guilt-filled eyes, and said seriously, "Big brother! You're not the only grown man here, we're not as young as we used to be years ago! We've all grown up!
You're not useless! You're loyal and kindhearted! You didn't want to make dad worry!"
Big brother Lin Chun's temperament was a bit like their deceased mother's: kind-hearted and capable, a bit of a pushover. With such a nature, how could he possibly oppose his elders head-on?
Lin Xia was surprised that he had secretly saved up a bit of money.
In her previous life, she hadn't been sick this time, so she wasn't quite sure if big brother had really been able to save any money on the side.
Li Chun asked uncertainly, "Really? At first, I did want to stand up to them, but back then you were all so young, I was afraid that if I wasn't home, those people would make you suffer!
Now it's better, with both you and me working, our younger brother attending school, and Xiaoqiu temporarily taking care of things at home. Once I find her a suitable factory job, she'll work too.
When dad retires and I take over, I'll find a way to get Xiaoqiu a placement. Once your work is sorted, you can go from being youth to a worker. If our little brother does well in school and gets into university, all of us will surely get better and better..."
Kneeling on the kang bed, Lin Xia hung her head and quietly listened to her big brother's beautiful aspirations for the future. Despite the heated kang, made warm by Lin Qiu's cooking, it couldn't warm her thoroughly chilled body at all. None of the things big brother talked about came true in the future.