Chapter 108: Night Run A Shu, It's Not a Dream
It was already late at night. Outside, dark clouds covered the moon, the sky was dim, and the windows were closed. Not a single light could penetrate the room. However, Zhou Ye's gaze, like that of a wild beast, fell accurately on the figure on the other side of the bed.
Lin Xiaopu had already stepped aside, looking anxiously at the elder sister who was obviously haunted by a nightmare.
Zhou Ye leaned over and easily grabbed Lin Shu's waving hands. With just one hand, he clamped both of her wrists, and the other hand reached towards her forehead.
This probe was so hot that Zhou Ye's palm trembled slightly.
His brows knitted together. "It's so hot. When did you notice?"
"Just now, my sister started talking in her sleep and moving around. I sensed something was wrong and wanted to touch her forehead, but she wouldn't let me. I then touched her body, and it felt incredibly hot. I knew she had a fever!"
In her dream, Lin Shu's hands were tied, and zombies were right in front of her. She was powerless to resist. She looked terrified and struggled even harder, shouting, "Don't come over here! I'll kill you with one punch, I'll kick you to death..."
"Ashu, Ashu!"
Zhou Ye called her twice, but seeing that she didn't wake up, he hesitated for a moment before letting go of her struggling hands, then helped her up and held her in his arms.
Lin Shu immediately punched him on the back with both fists like heavy rain, with such great force that it made a 'dong dong dong' sound, which was painful just to hear.
Zhou Ye held her still, letting her beat him recklessly. One hand held her waist, the other hand gently stroked her back, and whispered to her: "Don't be afraid, Shu, it's okay, it's okay, it's all fake in the dream..."
Perhaps the comfort worked, Lin Shu's struggling movements gradually subsided, but she was still mumbling something.
Seeing her calm down, Zhou Ye put her back on the bed and prepared to fetch a basin of warm water. Just then, He Guixiang heard the noise and rushed over, lighting an oil lamp. As for Lin Dashan, he was still fast asleep, feeling quite sleepy.
"Aunt, you've come just in time. Please keep an eye on Ah Shu. I'll go boil some water. Ah Shu has a fever and needs to be wiped with warm water to dissipate the heat."
When He Guixiang heard this, her expression suddenly changed. "What? Ah Shu has a fever?"
She quickly put the oil lamp aside, leaned forward to touch her daughter's forehead, and exclaimed, "Oh my God, why is it so hot!"
The villagers are not afraid of headaches or fevers, but they are afraid of a sudden high fever, especially a high fever that does not go away, which is the most dangerous!
Zhou Ye didn't have time to say much. He left He Guixiang and Lin Xiaopu to look after the place while he went to the main room and lit a fire in the small stove. The warm water used for wiping only needed to be slightly higher than body temperature. Boiling half a pot of hot water was enough.
The water is the clean mountain spring water in the kitchen. The bamboo water pipe in the yard draws spring water from the mountain, but the rainwater has long fallen into the bamboo tube that draws water, and the water quality is not clean. Fortunately, less water was used yesterday, and there is still a lot left in the small water jar in the kitchen.
Zhou Ye didn't dare to delay for a moment. After the water in the pot was slightly heated, he took some out, just enough to soak the handkerchief, and continued to burn the remaining water with firewood.
As soon as the water was brought into the house, Lin Xiaopu hurriedly handed him a handkerchief, "This is what my sister uses every day."
Zhou Ye took the handkerchief, soaked it in warm water, wrung it half dry, and handed it to He Guixiang, "Auntie, wipe Ah Shu's forehead and body, avoiding areas like her chest and stomach. Wipe every place you can, especially her armpits and the sides of her neck. Once the handkerchief is dry, give it to me and I'll soak it in warm water. Xiao Pu, take a clean handkerchief too and wipe together with Auntie."
He Guixiang and Lin Xiaopu nodded quickly and took off Lin Shu's clothes together, leaving her in only a small shirt to make it easier to wipe her.
Zhou Ye didn't bother to be shy. The water in the basin cooled down quickly, so he had to change it to a basin of warm water from time to time, and then take turns soaking the handkerchiefs for He Guixiang and Lin Xiaopu and handing them to them.
After wiping it once, Lin Shu's forehead was still very hot.
He Guixiang could only grit her teeth and wipe it again.
After wiping it several times, He Guixiang's hand holding the handkerchief began to tremble slightly, "Why is it still so hot, Ah Ye, this is not working, this is not working at all, what should I do..."
Zhou Ye pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "Aunt, Grandpa Zhao likes to drink. I'll go to the Zhao family and ask if they have any wine. I'll borrow some to wipe my body."
The grandpa of the Zhao family was referring to Zhao Laosan's father. Zhao Laosan had just caused a family split, and Grandpa Zhao must have been resentful of Zhou Ye and others who came forward to speak for Zhao Laosan and his wife, but Zhou Ye couldn't care less about that now.
"Okay, okay, go soon and come back soon!" He Guixiang nodded quickly.
The rain outside stopped for a while, and Zhou Ye came and went in a hurry. When he came back, he actually borrowed half a jar of rice wine.
He Guixiang was delighted and quickly switched to rubbing her body with yellow wine, as she knew it was more effective.
After rubbing with rice wine, Lin Shu's temperature indeed cooled down.
However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, less than a quarter of an hour later, Lin Shu's forehead and body became extremely hot again.
He Guixiang panicked and started crying, "How could this happen? It still doesn't work, it still doesn't work..."
There was a lot of noise here, and Lin Dashan woke up even though he was very sleepy. He hurried over to ask what was going on.
When He Guixiang saw him, she couldn't hold back any longer and started crying louder. "His father, Ah Shu has a high fever. No matter how I wipe her, it doesn't work. Warm water doesn't work, and rice wine doesn't work either. What do you think we should do?"
She thought of Old Man Liao's child, who had died of a high fever. Although Ah Shu was not young, it was not unheard of for young adults and the elderly to die from high fevers. She was terrified, terrified that something bad would happen to Ah Shu. She was still so young, and she hadn't had a good life since coming to Tianshui Village for even a few days...
Upon learning that Lin Shu's high fever wouldn't subside, Lin Dashan also panicked. For a moment, he didn't know what to do except to worry along with He Guixiang.
There was no doctor in the village, so we had to rush to the town overnight, but the town gate was closed and we couldn't get in!
Lin Xiaopu looked around and pursed her lips to comfort He Guixiang, "Mom, my sister will be fine. I was often sick when I was a child, but I was fine in the end. My sister will definitely be fine too." But she couldn't help choking up when she said this.
Everyone drank the ginger soup, including my sister, but why was everyone else fine except my sister who had a fever?
She didn't care. Sister was fine, fine. Such a good person would definitely be fine and would definitely live a long life...
Lin Xiaopu held Lin Shu's burning hand and couldn't help wiping away tears.
Everyone in the room was panicking and crying, but Zhou Ye was the calmest.
He frowned, then passed by the flustered He Guixiang and strode forward. He gathered Lin Shu's clothes and went to the main hall to fetch a straw raincoat and put it on her. Although the rain had stopped outside, the clouds had not yet completely dispersed, so there was no guarantee that it wouldn't drizzle again. He wore the straw raincoat just in case. The bamboo hat was difficult to wear, so he hung it on his body and carried it with him.
After a series of actions, everyone in the room was stunned.
He Guixiang: "Aye, what are you doing..."
"There's an old bell doctor in Daoxiang Village. I'll take Ah Shu to see him. Aunt Lao, get me a hundred bucks."
"What? You're taking Ah Shu to Daoxiang Village?" He Guixiang was stunned. "Daoxiang Village is more than 20 miles away from our Tianshui Village. It just rained heavily outside, and the roads are muddy and slippery. How are you going to get there, Ah Ye?"
Zhou Ye's face was calm and steady, and he said concisely, "I can walk fast and carry Ah Shu on my back. Uncle and aunt, don't worry, I won't let Ah Shu fall."
Without waiting for He Guixiang to ask any more questions, Zhou Ye carried Lin Shu on his back and left.
"Aye, uncle will go with you! We can take turns carrying you on the road." Lin Dashan came to his senses and hurriedly followed.
Zhou Ye said, "No need, uncle. I'm much faster than you and can go and come back earlier. I'm also very strong. Ah Shu's weight is very light to me. You can't catch up with me even if you follow me. I can go alone."
"But...it's dark at night. I can get a torch to light the way for you!"
"I can walk the distance from Tianshui Village to the town with my eyes closed, without a torch. As for the second half of the road to Daoxiang Village, although I am not familiar with it, I have walked it once or twice. By the end of the road, the clouds will have almost dispersed, and the stars and the moon will be visible in the sky, and I will be able to see the road clearly."
Zhou Ye was right no matter what he said, and Lin Dashan hesitated and finally didn't follow him.
He Guixiang hurried into the house, took out a hundred yuan and stuffed it into Zhou Ye's arms. With red eyes, she warned him, "Aye, be careful on the road."
"Don't worry, uncle and aunt, I will bring Ah Shu back tomorrow morning."
Zhou Ye said the last sentence and strode out with Lin Shu on his back.
Several people followed him out of the courtyard gate and saw that he was just as he said, walking very fast in the dark. Not long after, Zhou Ye's figure carrying Lin Shu on his back had blended into the night and could no longer be seen.
Lin Dashan walked in holding Lin Xiaopu's hand with his other hand on He Guixiang's shoulder, and sighed, "Let's go back. Even if we can't sleep, we can wait in the house. Don't let Ah Shu be fine while you two fall ill again."
He Guixiang's eyes were blank. After she sat down on the bench in the main hall, she asked in a daze, "Did Ah Ye really carry Ah Shu to Daoxiang Village?"
"Brother Aye said it himself," Lin Xiaopu replied, then curiously asked He Guixiang, "Mother, I remember Daoxiang Village is quite far from our village. How long does it take to walk there?"
He Guixiang said blankly, "It's twenty-five or twenty-six miles. It would take an ordinary person two hours to walk. It's dark and the road is slippery, so it will take even longer. If you're not careful, you might fall and bump into something... Boss Miao fell from a slope and injured his leg yesterday. And Ah Ye... We should have stopped Ah Ye, why did we just watch him go..."
Lin Xiaopu was also afraid, but seeing that her mother had almost lost her soul, she comforted her, "Don't think too much, mother. Brother Aye took the main road out of the village and didn't take those steep roads. Uncle Miao fell down the steep road because he took a shortcut. Once Brother Aye finds the old doctor, my sister will be fine."
Lin Dashan also said, "I know the old doctor in Daoxiang Village. He's very skilled and can cure anything. I heard he also knows acupuncture. Ah Shu's fever will definitely go away. It's still a while before dawn. You and Xiao Pu should go back to sleep. I'll wait here. I'll call you when Ah Ye comes back."
After hearing what the two said, He Guixiang finally relaxed her breath. "How can I sleep? But you still have to go to the fields tomorrow, so you should go and rest."
"I can't sleep either. Oh, I shouldn't have listened to that brat, Ah Ye. I'll just walk slower. If I go along, I can have someone to look after me. By the way, does Ah Ye know where Doctor Lao Ling's home is? I don't even know. Daoxiang Village is a big village, much bigger than our Tianshui Village. It might take us half a day just to find someone."
"Do you think Ah Ye is as quiet as you? He is a man of few words, but he is not stupid. He knows how to ask for directions."
Lin Xiaopu snuggled in He Guixiang's arms, not wanting to sleep, wanting to wait for news from her elder sister. But she was young and sleepy, and her eyelids began to feel heavy as she leaned against him.
He Guixiang held her in her arms and whispered, "Go to sleep, go to sleep, your mother is here. Ah Shu will be fine, she will definitely be fine..."
After several hours of heavy rain, the road was already muddy, with puddles every now and then.
Zhou Ye didn't avoid the puddle, but waded through it, walking straight ahead without stopping. Occasionally his feet slipped, but he could quickly steady himself, and he walked very steadily all the way.
Lin Shu was so feverish she was dazed. Her heavy eyelids finally pried open a little, only to see a dark shadow. She didn't know where she was, only that someone was carrying her, walking, walking.
"Aye?" she muttered.
Zhou Ye heard her voice and quickly responded: "Ashu, it's me, how do you feel?"
Lin Shu whimpered, "I feel so uncomfortable... Woo, I feel like I've been bitten by a zombie and I'm going to die... Woo... I don't want to die..."
Zhou Ye didn't understand her nonsense, but her aggrieved sobs struck his heart hard, and he felt extremely distressed.
"Ashu won't die. I'm here and nothing will happen to you."
"Aye, I'm really dying. Please leave me alone. I don't want to bite you..."
Zhou Ye listened to her non-stop nonsense and soothed her softly, "Ashu will be fine. She will live a long life. She just has a fever. She will be fine after seeing a doctor and taking some medicine."
"Aye?" Lin Shu regained consciousness. "Am I dreaming? Where are you carrying me?"
"Go to Daoxiang Village to find that old doctor, you have a fever, Ah Shu."
Lin Shu uttered an "oh" and muttered, "I'm dreaming. I heard from my mother that Daoxiang Village is very far away from our village. Who would stay up late at night and walk to Daoxiang Village in the dark? They wouldn't be afraid of falling and dying on the road. Uncle Miao broke his leg, and it wasn't even dark. It's scary to walk on a mountain road in the rain."
"Ashu, this is not a dream."
"It's just a dream."
Zhou Ye was helpless, "Okay, I'm dreaming."
Lin Shu's mouth curled up slightly, and she rubbed her hot face against his cheek. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and bit his cheek hard, then laughed again, "Look, you don't feel any pain, and you're still lying to me that I'm not dreaming."
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