After four hours of such fussing, the little one's fever finally subsided. With an ear thermometer measurement, it was already 36.8 degrees. Lin Wanwan quickly crossed through time and threw the thermos back.
Returning once again to the Tang Dynasty, Lin Wanwan's heart was beating somewhat rapidly, and her chest felt a bit stuffy.
She noticed that each time she traveled through time, she would feel a bit fatigued, especially mentally, and her heart rate would increase. It seemed that the Space-Time Gate put some strain on the body, and she needed to be mindful of how frequently she traveled back and forth.
Outside, the sky already showed a hint of light. Lin Wanwan, exhausted from the night's work, fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Raising children is really tiring! Especially when they're sick!
Just before falling asleep, Lin Wanwan thought to herself that this was probably a sweet burden.
The next morning, Lin Wanwan was woken up by the laughter of children in the yard.
The little one was also awake, lying quietly on a small pillow, watching Lin Wanwan with open eyes. His spirits seemed good, showing no signs of last night's fever.
Lin Wanwan reached out to gently touch little Qingyu's forehead, which had returned to normal. However, she had read parenting books and knew that since the child had a startled fever, it wouldn't only last one day. It would probably recur tonight. But since little Qingyu was in a good mood and seemed energetic, she was reassured that it wasn't severe enough to require hospitalization.
She couldn't take little Qingyu through the Space-Time Gate, and she didn't trust the doctors of the Great Tang. It was better to read books herself and treat little Qingyu.
Hmm, it's necessary to buy a copy of the 'Barefoot Doctor Manual,' which was one of the essential Divine Books for those who time travel.
Lin Wanwan turned over and got out of bed, changed out of her short-sleeved nightgown, and put on long-sleeved ancient attire. Although it was a bit hot, she could barely endure it. She had a special constitution; she wasn't very afraid of the cold in winter or the heat in summer. The silk ruqun, an ancient attire, was quite cool too.
Fortunately, she time-traveled to the Tang Dynasty, where clothing was quite open and free. The court had a lot of half-sleeved outfits and many low-cut ones, with a lot of see-through gauze clothing that revealed shoulders. If she had traveled to the Ming and Qing dynasties, where women bound their feet, it would have been tragic; she would have been sweltered to death.
Today, little Qingyu was weak and didn't need to dress too warmly. If he got heatstroke, it wouldn't be worth it. He could wear a half-sleeved ruqun with a skirt reaching down to his calves.
Lin Wanwan had observed that in the Great Tang, many children like little Qingyu ran around without any clothes. No matter how she dressed little Qingyu, it wouldn't be inappropriate.
Holding little Qingyu, she pushed the door open and went out. Dayu was the first to hear the noise and quickly looked up, "Auntie, you're awake?"
Last night, during the family reunion, Lin Wanwan was recognized as Lin Mengbo's cousin, so naturally, Dayu was her niece and called her Auntie.
In the yard, there was one big and one small child. After Dayu called Lin Wanwan, there was a boy with wide eyes, looking her over curiously for a moment, seeming a bit shy but not greeting her.
Lin Mengbo and Lin Qinshi had a son and a daughter. Besides the five-year-old Dayu, they also had a seven-year-old son named Little Crab. A few days ago, when Lin Qinshi went to town to sell fish, it was Little Crab who caught them while playing in the large stream pit at the edge of the village.
Tang Dynasty people loved to eat fish, especially sashimi, so fish was the main source of income for fishermen. Shrimp, crabs, and shellfish were not as popular or valuable. Nowadays, the valuable crabs were lake crabs, not sea crabs.
Little Qingyu held a glass jar filled with colorful fruit-flavored dissolving beans, blinking his big eyes at Dayu and Little Crab.
Lin Qingyu placed her on the mat in the main room and said, "Little Yuer, Mother needs to wash up first. You can play with your brother and sister for a while, and share some dissolving beans with them, okay?"
Little Qingyu obediently nodded, softly replying, "Mother, I'll be good."
"Dissolving beans?"
The two little guys kept circling around Lin Wanwan, peering at the glass jar in little Qingyu's hands, their eyes shining brightly.
Little Qingyu wore a silk one-piece ruqun with the national style colors of Xizi blue and Sang Lei yellow as the main tones, half-sleeved, with heavy gold embroidery on the front, peach flower clusters embellished with Yingluo patterns, and the overall look was light and graceful, revealing a section of tender pink lotus arm.
Sitting cross-legged on the mat in Lin Mengbo's main room, like a little adult, she ordered, "Your little hands are dirty, you can't eat the dissolving beans! Mother said, only after washing your hands clean can you eat things and not get sick."
Dayu and Little Crab hesitated upon hearing this but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation. They turned around and went to the yard, scooping water from the water jar to wash their hands in mingled competition. After two washes, except for the dirt under their nails, everything else was clean.
Then the two hurried back to the main room, surrounding little Qingyu, reaching out for her inspection, like two little puppies waiting to be fed, eagerly watching the glass jar in her hand.
Little Qingyu counted the dissolving beans one by one and placed them in the palms of the other two little ones.
They contentedly put a pink dragon fruit yogurt dissolving bean in their mouths, feeling so blissful they might faint.
Back in the day, even during the Spring Festival, they might not get a single malt candy, let alone such beautiful, delicious dissolving beans.
Children's happiness is so simple.
Lin Wanwan went to the water jar, scooped out some water, and quickly washed up.
The two little fellows were very curious about the toothpaste and toothbrush Lin Wanwan took out for washing. Because they were young, their acceptance was high, and besides envy, they had no other thoughts.
Little Qingyu also obediently followed Lin Wanwan to wash up, then returned to the main room to continue being their leader.
"Dayu, Little Crab, where are your parents?" Lin Wanwan asked while mixing nutritional rice cereal with the hot water on the fire stove for little Qingyu's breakfast.
"Father and Mother have both gone to the fields to farm." Dayu mumbled with a dissolving bean in her mouth.
As for Little Crab, he was still a bit shy, although he was always following behind Lin Wanwan but said nothing.
Lin Wanwan prepared three bowls of nutritional rice cereal, one for each of the three little ones, who ate around the food table.
Lin Wanwan also gave little Qingyu a small porcelain bottle of First Defense Liquid brought from modern times. As for the most needed vitamin C, it was easiest to get it from fruit.
These were the oranges, kiwis, and pears Lin Wanwan bought when she went back to the modern era last night. Lin Wanwan had learned from reading that these fruits were best for children who were sick, and it just so happened that they were not uncommon in the Tang Dynasty, making it less conspicuous.
She quickly washed two oranges and a pear, cut them, and placed them on a plate for the three little ones on the food table.
Dayu and Little Crab looked enviously at little Qingyu, whispering, "Your mother really loves you; do you eat such delicious things every day?"
Little Qingyu proudly puffed out his small tummy, "Yes! Mother loves me the most."