Chapter 28 Coexistence

Oh, this, this, this.

Zhuang Dongqing politely declined, saying, "Isn't that inappropriate?!"

Guard: "Then how about I ask Liufu to wash and change the master's clothes?"

Seeing Zhuang Dongqing's reluctance, the guard did not continue to plead, but instead took a step back.

Zhuang Dongqing nodded.

The guards went inside, and Zhuang Dongqing listened at the door. After a short while, Cen Yan's weak voice came out, "Just change your clothes."

Zhuang Dongqing: "..."

Guard: "But you..."

"Go out."

Zhuang Dongqing: "…………"

The guards came out and looked at Zhuang Dongqing in bewilderment.

I really want to refuse, but I'm so afraid the patient will get a fever. I really want to refuse; a fever would make things so complicated. I really want to refuse, ugh! But the patient has been in the river; they're full of bacteria. If I don't clean their skin, it will infect the wound... But I really want to refuse...

"Okay."

Unable to withstand the pleading looks from the guards, Zhuang Dongqing gave in.

He was quite adept at nursing care, having taken care of his aunt before. Although they were also hiring a caregiver, Zhuang Dongqing would do whatever he could.

He was afraid the caregiver wouldn't be attentive enough.

Having studied medicine, he accumulated a wealth of nursing knowledge over the course of more than six months.

See, it's coming in handy now.

Although he was not particularly keen on using this skill.

Guard: "Then I'll go in..."

Zhuang Dongqing: "No need, I'll just bring the water in later."

“If he doesn’t have the strength to struggle, I’ll at least hold him down and clean the skin around his wound again.”

That's the limit; his conscience has reached its limit.

Perhaps Zhuang Dongqing's eyes were too pitiful, because the guard choked up and did not continue to "plead".

Thankfully, the ultimate situation of both sides begging each other didn't happen.

After washing Cen Yan's arrow wound with the strong liquor they brought, there was very little left. Zhuang Dongqing asked the guards to inquire whether they could buy some homemade liquor from the villagers and then cook some porridge for him.

The guards left, and the remaining half of the silver hairpin was exchanged for two large jars of strong liquor.

It wasn't the family they were staying at; it was the neighboring hunter's family. But the guard had checked it and confirmed it was indeed strong liquor. Zhuang Dongqing also smelled it and nodded.

Liu Fu and the guards ate some dry rations to fill their stomachs, and Zhuang Dongqing also ate some.

Cen Yan... guessed he couldn't eat, and the guard asked him once, and sure enough, he didn't want to.

Zhuang Dongqing wasn't actually that dirty, just sweaty. She first washed her hands with hot water, then wiped herself down, changed into clean clothes, and asked the guards and Liufu to continue boiling water. After sitting quietly for a while to prepare herself mentally, Zhuang Dongqing took a basin of hot water to find Cen Yan.

The family had prepared these items for their wedding and didn't really want to borrow them. The guard pretended to haggle with them for a long time, and "reluctantly" paid more money, enough to buy another set of these items, to gain the right to use them.

Zhuang Dongqing felt that the place they were staying at was definitely not the one where the male protagonist, Li Yang, had ended up.

However, having gotten this far thanks to the protagonist's cheat ability, it's already good enough that things have stabilized. What more could you ask for?

Zhuang Dongqing stopped thinking about those things.

The Prince's mansion is not short of money. The guards are stingy and calculating because they are afraid of being targeted by peasant families for their money. They simply pretend that they are not so wealthy. Zhuang Dongqing understands the reasoning behind this.

Carrying hot water into the room, Zhuang Dongqing soaked a clean cloth, squatted down next to Cen Yan, and seeing that he was still unconscious, wiped his hands first.

When he looked up again, Cen Yan opened his eyes.

Zhuang Dongqing felt a little embarrassed, but forced herself to say, "You're awake. Let's wipe yourself down and change your clothes."

Cen Yan stared intently at him, and Zhuang Dongqing felt his ears burning from her gaze. Cen Yan asked, "Are you coming?"

Thud, my face exploded.

Zhuang Dongqing pretended to be calm and nodded, "Yes, I'll do it."

She counted on her fingers, saying, "The river water is very dirty. It's full of invisible filth," such as bacteria, viruses, and parasite eggs. "It's not good for your skin to get stuck in it. Oh right, even if you take your hair out, you have to rinse it with water first, and then change into clean clothes. It will heal faster, otherwise..."

Cen Yan took it: "Otherwise, you'll get a fever, right?"

This was a running joke, and Zhuang Dongqing glared at him: "...Yes!"

Cen Yan: "You're blushing."

Bang! His face was completely destroyed once again.

Zhuang Dongqing: "...Oh."

Cen Yan laughed, but her voice was still weak. "I was just kidding. Actually, only my ears turned red."

Zhuang Dongqing: "..." He's not doing this job anymore. Let whoever wants to do it do it!

Cen Yan: "Then I'll trouble you."

Huh?

Huh?!

Zhuang Dongqing paused, her eyes darting around, "Aren't you going to refuse?"

"Didn't you say at the door that if I didn't have the strength to struggle, you would force yourself on me?"

Oh, this.

Cen Yan closed his eyes. "I really don't have the strength, so I won't trouble you to call someone to hold me down later. Come on."

No, is your hearing that good?

That's too much!

Zhuang Dongqing really felt her face getting hot.

Swallowing back her refusal, Zhuang Dongqing said, "Let me take your hair down first, then wash it, and I'll dry it while I wipe you down, okay?"

After a pause, Zhuang Dongqing said, "Can you call Liu Fu the hairdresser? He's more skilled at wringing hair than I am."

Cen Yan probably really felt like he was being forced, so he hummed in agreement and cooperated fully.

"..." Help! He really didn't mean that.

Zhuang Dongqing tried to ignore the rest of the conversation and called Liu Fu in. The two of them worked together to wash Cen Yan's hair.

The high ponytail was easy to untangle. After taking it apart and soaking it in water, Liu Fu, being strong, was afraid that Zhuang Dongqing would get into trouble with this man and be blamed. So he washed his own hair. As the saying goes, he was very skilled at hair care, but he really didn't want to use this skill.

After washing, Liu Fu wrung out Cen Yan's hair. When it was half-dry, he wrapped it in a towel and handed it all over to Zhuang Dongqing.

The candlelight flickered. Zhuang Dongqing swallowed a few times, then mustered her courage and asked, "Can...you move your hand?"

Cen Yan: "Okay, the hand on this side of the shoulder is fine."

After estimating Cen Yan's arm length, Zhuang Dongqing suggested, "Well, you can do that part yourself. As for the rest, if you want to clean it, clean what you can reach yourself. I'll clean the rest for you. What do you think?"

Cen Yan opened his eyes and stared at Zhuang Dongqing, his pupils light in color, like two pieces of amber.

Zhuang Dongqing kept reminding herself to stay calm, but it was no use; her left hand still couldn't help but scratch her right hand.

Yes, yes, yes.

Please, please, don't say anything more.

Whether he heard his prayer or not, Cen Yan finally gave a faint "hmm" in agreement.

Zhuang Dongqing took their blankets and put them aside, then steeled herself and started to undress Cen Yan.

Cen Yan, who had been keeping his eyes closed, opened them again during this time.

Zhuang Dongqing felt the gaze was like needles, pricking him uncomfortably. He took off his outer garment and was about to take it off to his inner clothes when he couldn't stand being stared at anymore. He whispered, "I won't take advantage of you, don't stare like that, like..."

It's like guarding against a pervert.

"I'm not a bad person," he muttered softly.

"uneasy?"

It was rare to hear a normal question from Cen Yan.

Zhuang Dongqing nodded vigorously.

Cen Yan: "Then tie my eyes shut with a hairband."

"ah?"

Cen Yan stared at Zhuang Dongqing, his gaze gentle, whether from exhaustion or something else.

Zhuang Dongqing: "Is...is it okay?"

Cen Yan: "If you feel more comfortable."

Zhuang Dongqing really did cover Cen Yan's eyes with a hairband. As soon as the eyes were covered, sure enough, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After covering your face, he hesitated again, "I want to wipe your back first, so you can lie down on the bed and wipe the front, um, this..."

It's difficult to work on a haystack.

Fortunately, Cen Yan understood his meaning. Seeing that he was in a dilemma, Cen Yan offered a suggestion: "How about wiping it while standing?"

Can you stand up?

"You can stand against the wall for a while, but you have to hurry."

"good."

The moment Zhuang Dongqing covered his eyes, he immediately treated Cen Yan as a body he had seen in anatomy class, regardless of gender, just material. He took off his clothes, took off his pants, and thought, "Hmm, not bad proportions." Ugh, don't focus on these things, let's get down to business. He's a professional!

"Let me help you up; try to stand up."

"good."

With support, he stood up, but Cen Yan's calf had been bitten by a snake, so he swayed. Zhuang Dongqing lost her balance and the other man pressed tightly against her.

The body heat quickly seeped through the clothes, and Zhuang Dongqing screamed inwardly.

Cen Yan: "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's nothing."

Zhuang Dongqing helped Cen Yan up and said, "Take a few steps forward, yes, yes, can you touch the wall? Yes, yes, turn around, I'll rub your back for you."

"wait……"

Before he could finish speaking, Cen Yan turned away first.

What a beautiful waistline.

No, he can't be obsessed with men; he's a professional!

Zhuang Dongqing inwardly cried, quickly averting her eyes to get a blanket for Cen Yan, wrapping it around his waist, and guiding him to grasp it with one hand: "Grab it!"

Fortunately, Cen Yan was very cooperative.

Zhuang Dongqing wrung out a handkerchief and began to wipe Cen Yan's back.

Once the caregiver becomes skilled, they can clean quickly and effectively.

Good back muscles.

He had some old wounds on his body, probably from fighting.

Those legs are so long.

Fortunately, there were no knife or sword wounds on my back, so I can sleep better tonight.

Cen Yan thought he would have to wait a long time, but Zhuang Dongqing had her own method and was quick, yet she took care of all the corners. After wiping it once, before he could even speak, Zhuang Dongqing went to the door to change the water and continued wiping it a second time. Cen Yan felt a little better.

By the time Zhuang Dongqing wiped it for the third time, Cen Yan no longer felt that his back was dirty, even though he hadn't taken a bath.

Zhuang Dongqing: "Um, could you wipe the area behind the fence yourself?"

He probably wouldn't touch areas like the gluteus maximus; rubbing it would be really perverted.

Fortunately, Cen Yan didn't make things difficult for him, and simply said, "I'll give it a try."

"good."

Zhuang Dongqing looked up, took the blanket, and turned her head away. "Let me know when you're done drying, and I'll wring the towel out for you."

After a rustling sound, Zhuang Dongqing realized what Cen Yan was doing, and her face flushed slightly.

"All done." It didn't take long at all.

After twisting the handkerchief three times, Zhuang Dongqing helped Cen Yan to the bed. As soon as he lay down, Cen Yan felt his hair being pressed down. Before he could speak, a hand gently pulled his hair away and placed it aside. Cen Yan then shut his mouth.

"I'm going out to change the water."

Cen Yan: "Thank you for your help."

They've become much easier to talk to.

The water had been boiled long ago, and Liu Fuli replaced it with a new one for Zhuang Dongqing, who continued.

Uh... front view.

"Look up."

Cen Yan complied, but Zhuang Dongqing, with her eyes that had seen enough of the play, suddenly had a terrible thought in mind.

Stop... it's impossible to stop it...

Oh well, that's it. He likes men, what can he do?

This is a test he cannot overcome.

He has pectoral muscles.

He has abdominal muscles.

Damn it, I asked this guy what he didn't have, no wonder his face turned yellow, even cadres can't withstand this kind of test!

After wiping it three times with great difficulty, Zhuang Dongqing's nose was covered in a fine layer of sweat.

Wiping yourself down is easy, but controlling your chaotic thoughts is difficult.

The area around the wound was disinfected again with strong liquor. Cen Yan gasped, sounding like he was panting.

Ugh, what a terrible scene!

After the cleanup was finished, Cen Yan spoke first, as if chatting casually: "I thought that since Master Zhao didn't come out, we could avoid this, but as you know, it turns out..."

Zhuang Dongqing was surprised, "Would Master Zhao do that too?"

"Well, I, Hao San and Xu Si, don't even want to go through his hands when I'm injured." He paused, then admitted, "But I do recover quickly."

The miracle doctor really did have something; by this time, their awareness of hygiene was already ahead of the West.

Zhuang Dongqing wiped his sweat and changed the last basin of water.

After wiping Cen Yan's front and back, all the parts he could touch, one last time, Zhuang Dongqing handed him a wrung-out handkerchief and told him to wipe the last spot himself.

This time, it took a little longer.

Zhuang Dongqing tried to ignore the subtle sounds, but her ears still felt a burning sensation.

"alright."

With the sound, Zhuang Dongqing took the dirty handkerchief, and the thought of where it had just been wiped made her feel extremely hot.

Zhuang Dongqing was washing her handkerchief when Cen Yan asked, "Can we take off the hairband now?"

"no!"

Feeling a little excited after speaking, Zhuang Dongqing cleared her throat and said in a feigned serious tone, "Well, um, just wipe it off if you feel it, there's no need to keep an eye on it, is there?"

"Yes, right?"

Cen Yan was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Speaking of which, you..."

"?"

"Is your face completely red now?"

"..."

Damn it, he guessed it!

Before Zhuang Dongqing could speak, she saw Cen Yan raise his hand and slightly loosen his hair ribbon.

With everything clear before his eyes, and their gazes meeting, Cen Yan fell silent.

"Heh." Cen Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhuang Dongqing's face, which was already very red, gradually flushed even more amidst Cen Yan's laughter, turning a shade darker.