Chapter 14 Onset of Illness

Aman held her breath and focused intently on discerning the source of the sound. She slowly approached the house to the east, tiptoeing and turning sideways to listen.

It was eventually discovered that the sound came from the east-facing room where Fu Yunxiu lived.

"..." Aman suspected she might have misheard, so she tiptoed to the window and pressed her ear against it.

Sure enough, the groans became clearer, accompanied by heavy breathing, each sound drilling into her ears.

What's wrong, young master?

Aman was puzzled and was wondering whether to ask when he suddenly heard something fall inside the house with a "thud," which startled him.

She shrank back abruptly, but heard the breathing inside getting heavier. Aman sensed something was wrong and headed towards the east-facing room.

The door to the east-facing room was never bolted, so that Fu Yunxiu could easily go in and check if there was an emergency.

Aman pushed open the door and entered. The man's suppressed breathing filled her ears, accompanied by the sound of fabric rubbing together, which was particularly clear in the darkness.

"Young Master?" Aman hesitated to step forward and could only call out softly.

As soon as she finished speaking, a weak, cold voice came from inside the room: "Get out."

Hearing that Fu Yunxiu's voice sounded a bit off, Aman didn't listen to him. Instead, she groped her way to the table, found a tinderbox, and lit a lamp.

As the candlelight flickered on, Aman, carrying a candlestick, went around the screen and entered the inner room. She saw Fu Yunxiu with half his body on the floor, his legs dragging weakly as he struggled to climb onto the bed.

His legs seemed to lack strength, and he could only exert force through his arms, so his whole body was bent in an extremely twisted posture, which looked extremely eerie in the dark night.

"Young Master?" Aman's heart skipped a beat with fright, and she called out in a flustered manner.

Fu Yunxiu was surprised that Aman would defy his orders and come in. He tightened his grip on the edge of the bed and said sternly, "Get out."

Aman thought he was unwilling to let her serve him, so she turned around and was about to call Mantou, saying, "Then I'll go call Mantou over."

"You're not allowed to go." Fu Yunxiu scolded her, his voice barely a whisper. "If you're not allowed to go, you go out too, and don't worry about me."

"Young Master?" Aman stopped and looked back at Fu Yunxiu, unsure of what to do.

Is it really true, as he said, that we shouldn't care about him?

Aman looked at Fu Yunxiu. He was clearly in extreme pain. In February, he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water. The veins on his exposed arms were bulging, and his hands gripping the edge of the bed were white.

How could she possibly ignore this?

Without thinking twice, Aman quickly placed the candlestick on a low table and reached out to help Fu Yunxiu, who had fallen to the ground.

However, Fu Yunxiu was unwilling to ask her for help. He used almost all his strength to push her hand away, saying, "Get away, I don't need your help. Get out."

“Young master, don’t be stubborn at a time like this.” Aman almost completely ignored his little strength. As she spoke, she bent down and put her arm around Fu Yunxiu’s shoulder, and with her other hand around his waist, she pulled him up from the ground.

Although Fu Yunxiu was thin, he was still a seven-foot-tall man with some weight, but for Aman, who carried pig feed all year round, it was nothing.

Smoothing out the slightly messy sheets, Aman deftly laid Fu Yunxiu down on the bed, then quickly lifted his feet, which were still hanging off the edge, and shook out the quilt that had been crumpled at the foot of the bed to cover him.

The movements were so fluid and seamless that before Fu Yunxiu could even understand what was happening, he was already lying in bed.

Although Aman's face showed no expression, Fu Yunxiu couldn't get over this hurdle. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the pain swept over him again, and Fu Yunxiu immediately bent over in pain.

Veins bulged on his forehead, cold sweat poured down his face, his handsome brows were furrowed, and he looked extremely pained.

Aman heard him grinding his teeth so hard that the hairs on his body stood on end. Seeing him curled up, she disregarded all propriety between men and women, reached out and lifted the blanket to see Fu Yunxiu hugging his legs with both hands clenched into fists, clearly in extreme pain.

"Young master, what's going on?" Aman wanted to help, but didn't know where to start. She was completely helpless and almost cried.

Fu Yunxiu didn't want to tell her the truth, so he endured the pain and stubbornly said, "It's okay, go to sleep, don't worry about me."

Aman knew, of course, that Fu Yunxiu wasn't telling the truth; after all, his facial expressions didn't lie. But right now, she really didn't know what to do.

Just as Aman was pacing anxiously, she suddenly remembered what Aunt Yuxiang had told her about the young master's dietary restrictions that afternoon.

She remembered Aunt Yuxiang saying that the young master's legs had developed a chronic condition due to the toxins, and would always ache when exposed to wind, rain, or cold. Therefore, he must never catch a cold.

She initially thought it wouldn't be a big problem, but she never expected it to hurt this much.

If it's cold...

Aman thought about how people in the village with rheumatism used to stick their legs into the kang (heated brick bed) to expel the cold air, and perhaps...

"Young master, please wait for me a moment." After saying this, Aman took the candlestick and went out.

Aman first went to the kitchen to start a fire and boil water, then went to the west side of the house that had been pushed down due to a fire, and picked up a few clods of soil of suitable size.

After warming the clods of earth in the stove, Aman returned to his room and found the fabrics he had sorted out while cleaning the house.

Although the fabric was a bit old, it was still of good quality. It took Aman a lot of effort to finally tear it into the size he wanted.

After finishing these tasks, the water in the pot had boiled. Aman poured the boiling water into the teapot, then picked out the heated clods of earth and carefully wrapped them in a cloth.

Carrying five clods of dirt and a pot of hot water, Aman huffed and puffed as he returned to Fu Yunxiu's room.

In just a short while, the bed that Aman had just tidied up was all twisted up again, but she didn't bother to fix it. She put the teapot aside, lifted Fu Yunxiu's quilt, and placed two clods of dirt on Fu Yunxiu's knees, one in front and one behind. She then placed two more on his calves and feet. Aman stuffed the last one into Fu Yunxiu's arms.

With the pain subsiding, Fu Yunxiu was completely exhausted and lay limp on the bed with his eyes closed.

Noticing that Aman had pulled back his blanket, he opened his eyes groggily and felt a warm sensation wash over him from the covers.

"What is this?" he asked weakly.

"I picked up some clods of dirt outside and heated the cloth bag in the stove." There were no hot water bottles in Wutong Garden, so this was the only option. Moreover, compared to hot water bottles, Aman thought that clods of dirt would be better, as they dissipate heat quickly, stay dry, and absorb moisture.

She accidentally touched the young master's leg when she was putting down the cloth bag; it was as cold as ice.

Fu Yunxiu didn't speak. He was so exhausted that even opening his eyes was difficult. He glanced at Aman weakly, then closed them again.

Seeing that her condition was better than before, Aman felt a little relieved. She carefully tucked the quilt in, and then turned her head and saw the cup that had fallen on the ground.

I suppose that sound came from the cup falling to the ground.

The cup was too dirty to use, so Aman picked it up and put it aside. She then went to the outer room, got a new cup, poured some water, and asked Fu Yunxiu, "Young Master, would you like some water?"

Fu Yunxiu was too lazy to open his eyes, so he just shook his head slightly and told Aman, "I'm much better, you go to sleep."

His tone was very calm. If Aman hadn't seen him gripping the blanket tightly with his right hand and his brow furrowed, she would have been fooled.

“It’s alright, young master. I slept during the day and I’m not sleepy now,” Aman said.

"Then go back to your own room." Fu Yunxiu had never seen a maid less obedient than Aman. Even though he was the master, she always went against him.

Unfortunately, he was weak and his words had little power, so Aman was even less afraid. "But my room is haunted, I dare not go there."

Strangely enough, she went in and out just now, and even looked for clods of dirt in the ruins, but she didn't think about being afraid of ghosts at all.

"..." Fu Yunxiu was so angry that he had to open his eyes and clarify, "There was no ghost in that room. I had Mantou lie to you."

“But you said, young master, that someone did die in that room.” Aman’s words silenced him.

Fu Yunxiu then realized what it meant to lift a stone only to drop it on one's own foot, but he was unwilling to argue any further and could only close his eyes and pretend not to see it.

Seeing that he had given his consent, Aman went to the soft couch next to her, took a quilt, wrapped herself up like a dumpling, and then plopped down on the footstool next to Fu Yunxiu's bed. "Young master, if you can't sleep, how about I tell you a story? I'm good at telling stories!"

A note from the author:

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I just can't get this right no matter how I try, I'm so frustrated, waaaaah!