Transmigrated to a Period Novel as the Genius Antagonist's Birth Mother

Chapter 4: Is It Sweet?

Chu Xia took out a packet of medicinal powder, pointed at his mouth, and said, "Don't you feel pain? It was so burned just now; let me see."

Cen Huai'an and Chu Xia were at an awkward standoff.

Seeing that he still wasn't opening his mouth, Chu Xia said, "If you don't open your mouth, I'll make you open it..." Before she could finish her sentence, Cen Huai'an had already closed his eyes, held his head high, and stubbornly opened his mouth with a look of forced determination on his face, making Chu Xia almost burst into laughter.

However, she quickly examined the condition of his tongue, and sure enough, the tongue was overly red from the scalding.

She opened the medicine bag and gently sprinkled the light yellow medicinal powder on it to treat the burn.

Cen Huai'an felt a sudden coldness on his tongue in his mouth, and his tongue suddenly stopped hurting.

He secretly opened his eyes and saw the face of his mom, who lowered her head very close to him. He froze and looked straight at her face.

He hadn't seen his mom like this; in his limited memories, she was always frowning, crying, or sighing.

But his mom wasn't like that now; he didn't know what it was; he just had a vague feeling that it wasn't the same as his old mom.

"What are you stunned for? It's fine now; don't use your tongue."

Chu Xia put away the medicine bag and then pulled Cen Huai'an to continue walking.

She was carrying three large bags of Chinese medical materials, and with the doctor's consultation fee, she spent over twenty yuan.

This was considered expensive at this time. As a textile worker, her monthly salary was only 32.5 yuan.

It was mainly because Chu Xia bought medicine for two people, and she bought a lot more for herself; otherwise, she wouldn't have spent so much.

Commonly used herbs were not considered expensive at the time.

Moreover, the medicines Li Guanzhong prescribed for her were all cheap herbs, which was also the norm for good Chinese medicine practitioners at this time.

Her grandfather had told her that in the past, people lived in poverty, so they prioritized affordable herbs to treat illnesses. This way, patients could afford the treatment.

Even as people's living standards improved, her grandfather maintained this practice.

After leaving the hospital, Chu Xia didn't go straight home but took Cen Huai'an to a nearby department store.

Cen Huai'an's clothes were torn, small, and dirty, and he was wearing a pair of rag shoes with worn-out soles.

And the clothes on Chu Xia were still her work clothes; the original owner didn't have many clothes at all.

The clothes her husband had bought for her when they got married had been taken away by her mother. Later, when she was struggling to make ends meet, she didn't have the money or the desire to care about her clothing and appearance.

The salespeople in department stores were as condescending as rumored.

But the quality of the clothes was good, but the style was not novel enough. Chu Xia couldn't find any styles she liked, and she didn't know how to make them herself.

Now that the economy is opening up, there are clothes brought back from Guangzhou that were secretly sold outside. Chu Xia planned to buy clothes there.

The leather shoes looked nice. Chu Xia asked the salesperson for their and Cen Huai'an's shoe sizes.

Cen Huai'an had never been to a department store before, and everything here seemed new and exciting to him.

He watched his mother talk to the salesperson about buying shoes, and his little mind couldn't quite comprehend it. His mother had never been to a place like this before.

Did his mother really want to buy shoes for him?

Grandma said that children don't need shoes, so there is no need to buy them; just wear straw sandals. When they grew up, they could buy them so as not to waste money.

Cen Huai'an didn't believe his mother would be willing to buy shoes for him. But seeing his mother ask the salesperson to bring out the shoes, he didn't move.

Chu Xia asked Cen Huai'an to take off his shoes: "Try to see if they fit?"

Seeing that Cen Huai'an didn't move, she crouched down to help him. As soon as she touched his ankle, Cen Huai'an's body trembled, and he twitched his foot backward.

Chu Xia firmly held his foot and said, "Don't move; hold on to me to stand steady."

Cen Huai'an didn't move again, but he didn't hold onto her either. He just let her take off his shoes.

His feet were dark, dirty, and thin, and the salesperson complained, "How can we sell these shoes after you've made them so dirty by trying them on?"

Cen Huai'an's feet shrank back, his face turned aside, and his thin black face flushed a little red.

Chu Xia didn't even look at her and put the shoes on Cen Huai'an's feet, not caring if his feet were dirty or not.

"You have an attitude problem. Shoes are meant to be worn, and I am buying them anyway. Leather shoes can be cleaned if they get dirty, and it's not like cloth shoes that need washing."

The sales clerk sees that Chu Xia is not to be messed with, and with a taut face, she doesn't say anything else.

Only then did Chu Xia look at Cen Huai'an: "Walk around and see if it fits?"

Cen Huai'an has never worn such comfortable and soft leather shoes before; he doesn't know how to put his foot down.

He carefully took two steps with the same hand and foot, his body tensing up.

"Are they comfortable?" Chu Xia asked.

Cen Huai'an looked at her face and couldn't tell if she really intended to buy them.

He lowered his head to look at the leather shoes. His face, so thin that it only highlighted his eyes, remained expressionless, and he softly uttered, "Mm."

In his heart, he didn't believe that his mother would buy it for him.

But if his mother did buy him shoes, he would definitely not let his grandma take them away and give them to his cousin, even if she pinched him.

"Okay, let's wear this pair and get a brown pair of the same size."

Cen Huai'an suddenly raised his head to look at Chu Xia, unable to believe that she had actually bought him leather shoes, let alone two pairs.

He pursed his lips and felt that his palms were a little sweaty.

He watches as Chu Xia pays for the shoes and shoves them into his arms for him to hold himself, and his little head goes completely blank, unable to think straight.

Chu Xia bought a pair of black leather sandals with a slight heel for herself and put them on immediately.

Cen Huai'an's rag shoes and her patched shoes were thrown away.

Cen Huai'an carefully held the leather shoes in his arms, and Chu Xia pulled him to a counter selling malted milk, then she bought a can of malted milk and several pieces of white rabbit milk candy.

He licked his lips unconsciously, hugged the shoes even tighter, and kept his eyes on the box of candy in Chu Xia's hand.

Chu Xia peeled a piece of white rabbit milk candy and put it in his mouth.

Smiling, she asked, "Is it sweet?"