I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 185 Returning Home
When Zhou Damei heard the familiar voice, her body trembled. She turned around abruptly and looked at the father and son of the Zhou family.

Both Zhou's father and son waved to Zhou Damei.

Zhou Damei looked at the two strange people timidly. She had just heard her eldest brother's voice, but seeing that they were wearing strange clothes, carrying large and small bags, and their faces looked familiar yet strange, she thought for a moment that she had heard wrongly.

"Big girl, what are you standing there for? Come here quickly!" Zhou Laosan also said with a smile.

Zhou Damei's eyes were filled with even more confusion. The voices were very familiar, but she didn't dare to recognize them, because these two people were much stronger than her father and brother, and their temperaments were also very different. People who were so strong were not ordinary people.
Yes, her father and brother went to perform corvée labor. In the past, when her father went to perform corvée labor, he always came back in a state of extreme dejection, as if he was half dead. He had to rest for a while at home before he could recover. It was impossible that he looked like the two people in front of him.

So she must have missed her father and brother so much that she hallucinated hearing their voices.
At this moment, Zhou Damei suddenly realized that the two strangers were getting closer to her. She was shocked and turned around and ran away. Before running away, Zhou Damei did not forget to take the sickle away.

"Big sister, why are you running?" Zhou Abao shouted in surprise.

This shout made Zhou Damei run even faster. She thought that the two men must be peddlers. Peddlers who went from village to village these days were not good people. Moreover, there were no villagers around, and she was just a weak woman, which made her feel dangerous.

As she ran, she accidentally tripped and fell to the ground.
When Zhou Abao saw this, he quickly took a few steps forward and went forward to help Zhou Damei.

Zhou Damei looked at the two approaching people with despair in her heart. She remembered that a woman in the village had been kidnapped before. She was afraid that she would not be able to escape this time.
"Big sister, big sister! Why are you in a daze? I am your elder brother!" Zhou Abao carefully helped Zhou Damei up. He held his sister's arm and felt that it was very thin.

"Yes, big girl, why are you running away after seeing your father and your brother?" Zhou Laosan also came over.

Hearing these familiar voices and their concerned expressions, Zhou Damei finally came to her senses.

"Are you really my father and big brother?" Zhou Damei observed them carefully from a close distance. The more she looked, the more familiar they seemed, and the more surprise appeared in her eyes.

"Yes! Dad and I are back!" Zhou Abao said loudly.

Zhou Damei's tears flowed out like a river bursting its dam, making Zhou Laosan and Zhou Abao panic.

"What's the matter? Are you crying because you were happy to see your father come back? You will be even happier when you see the gifts your father brings back for you!" Zhou Laosan laughed.

Zhou Damei was still crying, not at all happy about the gift Zhou Laosan mentioned. She tried her best to suppress her emotions, grabbed Zhou Abao and said with sobs: "Dad! Big brother! Go see mom quickly."

"What's wrong with Mom?" Zhou Abao was suddenly startled. Zhou Laosan's face also changed and he stared at Zhou Damei.

"My queen, she is sick and she won't eat." Zhou Damei cried bitterly.

Zhou Abao's face changed immediately. Seeing Zhou Damei crying bitterly, he knew that his mother's illness must be serious.

"Mom..." Zhou Abao stood up suddenly and wailed, then rushed home. Zhou Laosan saw this and pulled Zhou Damei up and walked home quickly.
Zhou Abao kicked the wooden door open, threw the things on his back under the eaves, and rushed into the inner room.

He found that the door of the inner room was locked from the inside. He knocked on the door hard, but there was no response from inside, which made him even more anxious. He slammed the door hard, and the door was broken directly, and he also crashed into the inner room.
When he entered the inner room, he saw Zhou's mother lying quietly on the worn-out bed, looking haggard and dying.
"Mom! What happened to you?" Zhou Abao suddenly knelt down in front of the bed, "My father and I are back safely."

At this time, Zhou Xiaobao and Zhou Xiaomei, who stayed at home, also rushed in. They were a little confused when they saw the people in front of them. Then Zhou Laosan and Zhou Damei also returned home. The family of six gathered neatly in the inner room.

Zhou Abao and Zhou Laosan also found out from the other three children why their mother fell ill.

To put it bluntly, it's tiring. Without strong labor in the family, all the work on the 20 acres of land has to be done by Zhou's mother and her three children.

There was a lot of farm work to do during these three months, and Zhou's mother gritted her teeth and persevered under the scorching sun. At the same time, the family's food was planned for consumption. Zhou's mother loved her children and would share some of her food with them.

Due to fatigue, high temperature and hunger, Zhou's mother collapsed.
Zhou Abao felt very sad when listening to his brothers and sisters' stories. "What do you guys do for food? Let mom eat more! And just now, eldest sister, you said mom doesn't want to eat?"

"Yes, we cooked porridge for Mother, but she kept saying that she had no appetite and couldn't drink it for two days. So I thought of cutting some locust flowers for her to eat, but I was useless. It took me a lot of effort to cut just a little." Zhou Damei's tears started to flow again as she spoke.

Zhou Abao looked at his three dark and thin brothers and sisters with heartache and couldn't bear to scold them anymore.

"Where's the porridge? If mother can't drink it, just force her to drink it. How can she not eat?" Zhou Abao said anxiously.

"Here it is!" Zhou Laosan walked in holding a coarse porcelain bowl, his face also looking sad.

"Abao, Abao, you are back." An extremely weak voice sounded in the room.

The people in the room looked at the bed with ecstasy, only to see Zhou's mother open her eyes and look at them weakly.

"Yes, my father and I are back safely." Zhou Abao said quickly.

"You're back. It's good that you're back. I've finally waited for you and the rest of you. I can finally rest in peace and take good care of your brothers and sisters," said Zhou's mother with a weak smile.

"Mom, what unlucky words are you saying? Mom, you will definitely get better. Come and drink the porridge first." Zhou Abao said cautiously, and then carefully handed the bowl of porridge to Zhou's mother's mouth.

"Mom, drink it. I can't drink it. Give it to you. Your brothers and sisters can drink it." Zhou's mother turned her head with difficulty and moved away from the bowl of porridge.

Although Zhou's mother said so, Zhou Abao on the side clearly saw Zhou's mother swallowing her saliva.
This made him think of a lot of things.
"Mom, you're not unable to eat, you just want to save food, right? Right!" Zhou Abao stared at his mother in a daze, and said with sudden enlightenment.

Zhou's mother knew that she didn't have much time left, so she stopped eating and left the precious food for her children.
(End of this chapter)