Chapter 28
When Shen Wangyou heard Lu Ling's words, he paused, and then said: "A Ling, I asked Aunt Zhao today, and the school can be repaired, but it still has to wait until after the rainy season."
After the rainy season?
Lu Ling didn't know if he could stay in this village for so long.
"Okay, then let's wait until the rainy season is over." Lu Ling did not tell Shen Wangyou about his concerns.
As night fell, Lu Ling put down the needlework in her hands and prepared to go to bed.
"Oh no, there's a fire!"
"The fire is happening!"
"The fire is happening!"
Voices came from outside.
Lu Ling pushed open the door and looked outside.
Shen Wangyou was lying on the bed reading a book. When he heard the shouting outside, he quickly stood up and looked outside.
When they walked into the yard, they saw Aunt Zhao carrying a bucket of water and heading towards the water source.
Jiang Yun also came over. Several people found some things that could hold water and rushed to the place where the water leaked.
The flames shot up into the sky, the smoke continued to rise, and the flames swam and spread quickly like a snake, lighting up the originally dark night.
Lu Ling, Shen Wangyou and others were choked and retreated as soon as they reached the fire.
Lu Ling coughed a few times, and Shen Wangyou patted her back and said anxiously: "A Ling, are you okay? If it really doesn't work, please move away. We will put out the fire."
Lu Ling slapped Shen Wangyou's hand away and gave him a look, and Shen Wangyou shut up obediently.
"Go and save him quickly, who of you can go and save him? My old man is still in there!"
An old woman sat down on the ground, screaming loudly, and someone next to her was trying to support her.
Lu Ling was thinking about how to get into the fire scene, only to see Shen Wangyou snatch the bucket from Aunt Zhao's hand, pour it on himself, say "wait for me" to Lu Ling, and run into the fire scene.
The man's dark clothes were soaked, appearing even darker. Lu Ling looked at Shen Wangyou's back, and his heart sank a little bit.
"Miss Aling, let's go get some water to put out the fire." Aunt Zhao reminded Lu Ling.
Lu Ling just came back to his senses, nodded, and followed Aunt Zhao to fetch water.
Lu Ling ran back and forth more than ten times, and the fire gradually got smaller.
She didn't know how she ran more than ten times, as if her feet were no longer her own. There was only one voice urging her - to put out the fire.
Shen Wangyou was still not coming out, so Lu Ling stopped to fetch water, his eyes were empty, and his heart dropped to the bottom.
Seeing Jiang Yun coming over with water, Lu Ling stopped him and reached out to take the water from Jiang Yun's hand.
"Let go!" Lu Ling's hand was grabbed by Jiang Yun and he couldn't move.
"Miss, no, we don't know what's going on inside. If..."
"I have martial arts skills and good physical strength. I will be able to get out. Besides, the fire has gotten smaller now. I can get out safely." Lu Ling spoke faster and faster, and gradually his voice began to tremble unconsciously.
Lu Ling was extremely anxious. She knew that Shen Wangyou had walked so fast just now because he was afraid that she would run into the fire before him.
As the two were arguing, they heard the woman who had just fallen to the ground say, "It's out! It's out!"
Lu Ling looked over and saw that Shen Wangyou's clothes were torn, his sleeves were burnt, the white plum on his collar was gone, his hair was messy, and his face was covered in dust.
Shen Wangyou walked to the woman, put the person on her back down, and then slowly walked towards Lu Ling.
The man's foot seemed to be injured, he was limping and walking very slowly.
Lu Ling's eyes were red, tears swirled in them, slowly increasing, and finally could not be contained anymore and flowed down from his eyes.
The man finally walked up to Lu Ling and gently wiped the woman's tears, but his hands were so dirty that they stained the woman's originally fair face.
The man spoke awkwardly, "A Ling, don't cry, I'm back safely."
Shen Wangyou lowered his head, looked into Lu Ling's eyes, and continued: "I really want to hug you now, but I'm too dirty, you don't like it..."
Before Shen Wangyou could finish his words, Lu Ling hugged him.
Lu Ling buried his head in Shen Wangyou's neck, not saying a word, but occasionally sobbing.
"Don't be so reckless next time."
Don't leave me alone next time.
Shen Wangyou raised his hand, gently stroked Lu Ling, and said in a hoarse voice: “Okay.”
As if they had a telepathic connection, Shen Wangyou added, “I won’t leave you alone behind.”
Tears burst out again, and Lu Ling hugged Shen Wangyou tightly, as if he would disappear in the next moment.
"I'm sorry." Shen Wangyou stroked Lu Ling's hair, "I tore the clothes you made."
Lu Ling didn't say anything, just shook his head in Shen Wangyou's arms.
The fire had been put out. The village doctor had been putting out the fire and was now examining the old scholar's injuries.
The man that Shen Wangyou rescued was named Dong Shen, one of the only two scholars in the village. The woman who just shouted for help was his wife, named Qu Lan.
The village doctor examined Dong Shen and found that he was not seriously injured, but had smoked a lot and needed to rest for a few days.
Lu Ling saw the village doctor glance towards him, then walked up to the two of them. The village doctor bowed before speaking, "Sir, please extend your hand so I can feel your pulse."
Shen Wangyou nodded and stretched out his hand.
At first, Lu Ling was puzzled as to why the village doctor had to take Shen Wangyou's pulse when it was clearly his feet that were injured. Later, he thought that perhaps the village doctor was being cautious and fearing that there might be other problems.
"Young master, there's nothing serious." The village doctor looked at Shen Wangyou's legs again.
"Something hit me, nothing serious."
“Village doctor, take a look at his injury.” Lu Ling pointed at Shen Wangyou’s leg.
The village doctor glanced at Shen Wangyou, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, “Okay…”
As soon as Shen Wangyou finished speaking, Lu Ling took him to sit on a stone nearby.
His trouser legs were pulled up, revealing a bloody mess on his calf, and further up, there was a bruise on his knee.
Lu Ling was so anxious at the time that he didn't see that Shen Wangyou's trouser legs were burnt.
Tears surged again, but this time Lu Ling didn't let them flow. He just looked at Shen Wangyou with red eyes and choked, "Does it hurt?"
Shen Wangyou shook his head and said, “It doesn’t hurt.”
The village doctor examined Shen Wangyou's wound and said that it was nothing serious and that the burn would be fine after applying some medicine.
Dong Shen's house had been burned down, and the couple had no children. It just so happened that Aunt Zhao's house had an extra room. As the village chief, Aunt Zhao had to be responsible for the safety of the villagers, so the Dong couple moved in with her.
——
"Does it hurt?"
The man sitting on the bed was pale, with beads of sweat on his forehead, but he still said stubbornly, "It doesn't hurt."
This medicine was brought by the village doctor early this morning. Lu Ling took the bottle and hurried to help Shen Wangyou apply the medicine.
I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child, and I have suffered some injuries, big and small, but nothing as horrific as Shen Wangyou's. Shen Wangyou is just a scholar, how could he have seen such a wound? Lu Ling thought.
Shen Wangyou looked at Lu Ling's frown and found it a little funny, but at the same time he felt a little painful in his heart.
"Don't worry, A Ling, I can bear it." Shen Wangyou looked at Lu Ling's shaking head, reached out and touched Lu Ling's hair, and comforted him.
After applying the medicine, Lu Ling pulled down Shen Wangyou's trouser legs. After putting the medicine away, Lu Ling sat next to Shen Wangyou with a sincere look in his eyes.
"You said...was the fire yesterday...a natural disaster? Or a man-made disaster?" Lu Ling deliberately spoke slowly, as if he was trying to seduce Shen Wangyou.
Lu Ling moved closer and closer, while Shen Wangyou leaned back further and further, until his whole body was tilted.
"Ah...A Ling, what are you doing?" Shen Wangyou felt a chill on his spine and sweat on his palms.
Lu Ling curled his lips and smiled, and his index finger moved from Shen Wangyou's brow to his lips. The words he said seemed to have the effect of bewitching people.
"What am I going to do? Of course..."
Lu Ling moved his gaze downwards, and his index finger followed his gaze, stopping at the strap on Shen Wangyou's chest.
Shen Wangyou grabbed Lu Ling’s hand and said with restraint: “A Ling! No, hiss.”
Lu Ling broke free from Shen Wangyou's hand, touched Shen Wangyou's chest, and then stood up.
"Chen Wangyou! What do you think I'm going to do?" Lu Ling said angrily.
Shen Wangyou sat up straight and hesitated, "I... I thought you..."
“I didn’t know you wanted to see the wound.” Shen Wangyou said finally.
"If I don't look, will you not let me know about your injury?" Lu Ling said hatefully.
She really didn't know that Shen Wangyou was also injured in the chest last night. If Dong Shen hadn't gotten up early this morning and told Lu Ling that Shen Wangyou was hit in the chest by a table that didn't catch fire last night, Lu Ling would still be kept in the dark.
Shen Wangyou touched his nose, lowered his head and dared not speak.
After a long time, Shen Wangyou felt that Lu Ling's anger had subsided a little, so he pulled Lu Ling's sleeve and spoke angrily.
"A Ling, I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just didn't want to make you worry."
Lu Ling moved outward, away from Shen Wangyou, and Shen Wangyou had nothing in his hands.
Lu Ling ignored Shen Wangyou and left with a dashing back view.
"A Ling!"
"A Ling!"
"Where are you going?"
Shen Wangyou stretched out his hand and shouted. But Lu Ling seemed not to hear him and had already left the room.
"Miss Aling, where are you going?" Aunt Zhao asked Lu Ling when she saw her rushing down from upstairs.
Lu Ling turned to look at Aunt Zhao, his brows curved, and said, "I'm going to buy some poison."
When Aunt Zhao heard this, she knew that the young couple was just joking around because of their quarrel, so she just smiled and didn't say anything.
When Shen Wangyou heard Lu Ling say outside that he was going to buy poison, he did not rush, but just lay on the bed obediently, waiting for Lu Ling to buy the poison and "poison" him.
Lu Ling went to the village doctor and got some medicine for internal injuries. She took a look at Shen Wangyou's chest today and saw no obvious wounds, so the injury must have been internal.
It was already sunset when he returned to Aunt Zhao's house. Lu Ling was not busy making medicine for Shen Wangyou, but sat next to Aunt Zhao and helped pick vegetables. Zhao Zhenzhen, Dong Shen and Qu Lan were also sitting next to him.
"I would like to thank you for yesterday. We will put those things away in two days and then rebuild the house. However, it will take a long time to build a house, so I have to bother you here for a while." Dong Shen said.
Aunt Zhao, still holding the dishes in her hands, quickly waved her hands and said, "Brother Dong, you're being distant. Back then, Huairen and you had the best relationship, and you and Sister Qu helped us a lot. Now that you're in trouble, it's only natural for me to help."
Dong Shen felt sad when he heard this. "Alas, this is all karma. If Huairen hadn't gone to school for me that day, he wouldn't have..."
As Dong Shen spoke, two lines of tears flowed down his face.
"Everyone has their own destiny. Brother Dong, don't think like that." Aunt Zhao comforted.
Zhao Zhenzhen also walked to Dong Shen's side and wiped the tears from his eyes, "Uncle Dong, don't cry."
Qu Lan on the side didn't say anything, just lowered her head and picked vegetables.
"By the way, Uncle Dong, who was the one who started the fire yesterday?" Lu Ling changed the subject.
She wondered how such a big fire could have been discovered so late.
Speaking of this, Qu Lan began to speak, "We went to bed early yesterday and put out the candles early. He and I were both deep in sleep and didn't know there was a fire. When we discovered it, there was already a circle of fire next to us."
Qu Lan's eyes moistened as she spoke. Looking at Dong Shen, she continued, "He looked around and thought he could escape, so he pushed me outside. He could have escaped with me, but the wood from the beam fell down, blocking the way."
"So you two were asleep when the fire broke out?" Lu Ling grasped the key point.
"Yes." Dong Shen slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
——
Because of his leg injury, Shen Wangyou did not come down to eat with Dong Shen and the others, so Lu Ling brought the meal to him.
While Shen Wangyou was eating, Lu Ling started embroidering clothes on the side.
Shen Wangyou's clothes were burned beyond recognition and needed to be remade.
"Why doesn't A Ling eat with me?" Shen Wangyou asked knowingly.
Lu Ling was still angry and ignored Shen Wangyou. He moved his body and continued with the action at hand.
After finishing his meal, Shen Wangyou walked to the bedside and reached out to pull Lu Ling's sleeve.
"A Ling, I'm sorry." Shen Wangyou lowered his head, looking aggrieved. "I will never lie to you again. Will you forgive me?"
No one paid any attention.
The dishes on the table had not been cleared away yet. Seeing that Lu Ling ignored him, Shen Wangyou walked to the table, put away the dishes, and then walked out the door.
Lu Ling ignored him the whole time, and only looked towards the table when he felt the people next to him had left.
As soon as his eyes met Shen Wangyou, he heard a "ouch", followed by the sound of a bowl falling to the ground.
Lu Ling quickly put down what he was holding and walked quickly to Shen Wangyou's side. He saw the man lying on the ground. Because the broken pieces of the bowl were close to him, a cut had appeared on his palm, and it was bleeding.
Lu Ling was shocked when she first saw it, but when she heard Shen Wangyou sneer, she realized that she had been fooled.
Although he knew he was being fooled, the blood was real after all, so Lu Ling still helped Shen Wangyou stand up.
“Don’t be so stubborn if you can’t move.” Lu Ling helped Shen Wangyou walk to the bed and said.
“Okay.” Shen Wangyou looked at Lu Ling with a worthless look and said with a smile.
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