Chapter 15: Inseparable
Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo were having dinner with Old Lady Feng when Feng Zhang's loud voice rang out outside the door.
"Mom, Doctor You is here."
Old Madam Feng put down her chopsticks and said to Shen Yuexi, "You two eat first. I'll go talk to Doctor You."
Xiao Zhuo stood up and said, "No problem, let's go together."
Seeing Xiao Zhuo stand up, Shen Yuexi quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, put down the bowl, stood up and said to Xiao Zhuo, "I'll help you over."
Although he was only half full, Xiao Zhuo's matter was more important.
The three of them went to the outer room and found Feng Zhang walking into the room with an old man carrying a medicine box on his back. The old man looked to be about sixty years old, with a beard under his chin, and was wearing a short jacket with a double-breasted front.
"Doctor You, this is Mr. Pei." Feng Zhang introduced Xiao Zhuo to Doctor You.
In order to avoid being discovered by the people who were chasing them, Shen Yuexi and Xiao Zhuo had already decided not to use their real names. Xiao Zhuo used the queen's surname, which was Pei. Now Xiao Zhuo is Pei Zhuo, and Shen Yuexi changed her name to Ming Yuexi.
Doctor You glanced at the two of them with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi were both strikingly handsome, clearly not ordinary villagers. Feng Zhang had already explained their circumstances on the way. Without further ado, he invited Xiao Zhuo to an empty room for treatment while Old Lady Feng and Feng Zhang went off to eat.
Shen Yuexi followed and took off Xiao Zhuo's clothes on his right shoulder, exposing the wound. Then she took a lamp and used it to illuminate Doctor You.
Doctor You stroked his beard, stepped forward to take a look, then turned to Shen Yuexi and asked, "Is this an arrow wound?"
Shen Yuexi was prepared and said with a worried look on her face, "That's right. When my husband and I were robbed by bandits, my husband fought with them and was hit by an arrow."
Doctor You frowned and said nothing. He took out a cotton swab from the medicine box and probed deep into the wound.
Xiao Zhuo's body trembled slightly.
Shen Yuexi knew that he must be feeling pain, so she gently held his hand. Xiao Zhuo closed his eyes and said nothing.
Doctor You removed the cotton swab and examined it under the light. Shen Yuexi tilted her head to look and saw that the white cotton swab was covered in pus and blood. Her heart tightened. The wound had festered.
"Mr. Pei's arrow wound has been there for several days and has worsened," Doctor You said, opening the medicine box. "It will be difficult to treat."
At this time, Feng Zhang had finished his meal and walked in, just in time to hear Doctor You being evasive.
He was a straightforward person who could not bear to beating around the bush. He grabbed Doctor You's sleeve and said in a gruff voice, "Doctor, can you cure it? Give me a definite answer."
"I can't cure it. You'd better go to the county town to ask for a doctor as soon as possible. The young man's injury cannot be delayed any longer. Otherwise, his life will be in danger." Doctor You spoke the truth and stood up to say goodbye.
Just then, Mrs. Feng came into the room carrying a bowl of chicken soup. Seeing Doctor You hurriedly leave, the three people in the room looked heavy-hearted and asked hurriedly, "Zhang Zi, why did Doctor You leave?"
"Mother," Feng Zhang grabbed his hair, a worried look on his face, "Doctor You said he can't cure Master Pei's injury. If he doesn't treat it, I'm afraid..."
"You're so confused! Then hurry up and go to the city to find a doctor," Old Madam Feng urged. "Why are you still standing here in a daze?"
Shen Yuexi saw Feng Zhang's troubled expression and knew that he had something to hide.
Looking around the Feng family's house, there were three adobe houses, and the paper-pasted windows had several holes torn in them. When the summer night wind blew, the windows made a rustling sound.
The vegetables and tofu on the table just now were not very oily, and the chicken soup just brought in only had a few chicken bones in it...
"Brother Feng," she asked, thinking of the two tiger skins, "can the county doctor buy on credit?"
It was getting late, and the market in the city must have closed. At daybreak, she and Feng Zhang could go to the county town and sell the tiger skin, which would be enough to pay the doctor's fees and buy some food and clothing.
Feng Zhang sighed, "No doctor in the county would accept credit unless he was someone powerful and influential in the county."
After hearing this, Shen Yuexi also frowned.
Doctors will give credit to people based on their needs. As for the poor, don’t even think about it.
Everyone fell silent.
Xiao Zhuo sat upright at the table, his expression stern. He listened to the conversation between the three people and said, "Yuexi, come here."
Shen Yuexi walked over to him and saw him pull out a jade pendant from his waist. It was round and smooth, with a fine color, and it was obvious that it was a piece of top-quality white jade.
"Take this jade pendant to the doctor."
Shen Yuexi was surprised.
On this road of exile, I didn't expect that Xiao Zhuo was hiding such a valuable thing on him.
Anything that he keeps close to him must be something he treasures. It would not be good to mortgage such a valuable thing to others.
As if he saw her concerns, Xiao Zhuo said calmly: "Things outside the body are not important."
But the more Xiao Zhuo downplayed it, the more Shen Yuexi felt that this thing was different.
"Go quickly and come back quickly."
No chance of rejection at all.
Shen Yuexi: “…”
But there was no time to lose, Xiao Zhuo's injury could not wait any longer. She picked up the jade pendant and was about to walk out the door, but was stopped by Xiao Zhuo again.
Xiao Zhuo held her back and turned to Old Madam Feng and said, "I wonder if you have any clean men's clothes."
Old Madam Feng thought Xiao Zhuo wanted to change into a new set of clothes, so she took out a half-new set of clothes from the inner room and said, "This is what I wore at our wedding. My mistress wore it once and never wore it again. If you don't mind, you can use it for now. It's just that Zhangzi's father is not as tall as you."
Xiao Zhuo took it, thanked Old Lady Feng, and handed it to Shen Yuexi: "Come, wear this men's suit."
Shen Yuexi knew what Xiao Zhuo meant. It was inconvenient for a woman to walk outside at night, and she looked like a beauty who could bring disaster, which made it even more unsafe.
She took it and said, "Okay, I'll go change it right away."
Only then did Old Lady Feng realize that Master Pei had worn the clothes for his wife.
Come to think of it, it's not very safe to rush into the city at night. Plus, Miss Pei is really beautiful, so I'm afraid she will be targeted by bad guys.
After changing clothes in the inner room with Old Lady Feng, Shen Yuexi rolled up the long sleeves and trouser legs, tied up her hair, and walked to the outer room, appearing in front of Xiao Zhuo and Feng Zhang like a handsome young man.
Feng Zhang saw it, scratched his head and smiled innocently, "I didn't expect Madam Pei to look so good in men's clothes."
Shen Yuexi knew that he was a rough man, but she didn't take it seriously. She looked at Xiao Zhuo, wanting to know how he would evaluate her.
Xiao Zhuo looked her up and down, nodded, and said nothing more.
"If Madam Pei were a man, he would also be a handsome young man," Old Lady Feng urged the two of them with a smile, "You should go together and come back quickly."
Before leaving, Old Lady Feng gave Shen Yuexi another fifty copper coins.
Xiao Zhuo stood at the door, watching Shen Yuexi and Feng Zhang leave with the tiger skin, and did not return to the house for a long time.
Old Mrs. Feng came over and said with a smile, "You two just got married, right?"
Xiao Zhuo nodded: "Exactly."
"That's it. When Zhangzi's father and I first got married, we were inseparable. I would follow him whenever he went to work in the fields. Your wife is a capable person. Go back to the house and rest first. Don't let your wife worry."
As Old Lady Feng spoke, she called out to Xiao Zhuo, "Come in quickly and drink the chicken soup first, or it will get cold."
Xiao Zhuo's face turned slightly red in the dark night after being interrupted by Old Lady Feng.
He murmured softly: Inseparable? Is this what a couple is like?
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