That night, Chen Caozhi did not sleep at all. His good friends Gu Kaizhi and Xu Miao both kept him company in the outer room of his Mother Chen Lady Li's bedchamber. Zongzhi and Run'er refused to go to bed, standing numbly beside their grandmother's bed and watching her drift between sleep and waking. The two children were so frightened that their hands and feet turned cold, and hazy memories of their father Chen Qingzhi's death stirred within them.
Chen Caozhi told Xiao Chan and Qingzhi to take Zongzhi and Run'er upstairs to rest, but the children pulled their hands free and refused to leave. They wanted to stay with their grandmother, hoping she would soon get better.
Chen Caozhi enclosed his nephew's and niece's small hands in his palms to warm them. "Uncle Chou is here. Don't worry too much. You two must get up early as usual tomorrow-no sleeping in. Be good."
Uncle Chou's hands were warm and strong. The children looked into his eyes, which were calm and gentle, then exchanged a glance and nodded together. Obediently, they followed Xiao Chan and Qingzhi upstairs.
Around the fourth watch, during the hour of the ox, Lai De came upstairs and said, "Young master, the ox cart is ready. Let's set off."
There were no renowned physicians in Qiantang. Even Doctor Qin, who drew a salary from the Shaofu, was only a shaman-healer, his medical skills scarcely better than Chen Caozhi's. With no other recourse, Chen Caozhi could only follow Fourth Uncle's advice and invite Du Jiong, Du Zigong, to compose a ritual petition and administer talisman water for his mother, to see whether he could ease her illness. Since human effort and medicine could do nothing, prayers to spirits and gods were the only choice. After all, Du