Baoyu was scolded harshly and felt confused, but when he thought about what had happened in the past few months, he realized that a young woman's thoughts should not be guessed.
He grinned.
Zhou Chenyu sat outside the door, patted Huangdou's head, listened to the chirping of birds in the woods, and waited for a while. Then Baoyu hurriedly came out and said, "Sister, Yang Bantou's left leg is also broken."
"How come he's injured all over?" Zhou Chenyu walked into the house with a serious expression. Baoyu was anxiously waiting by her side. "Sister, this is a desolate place, and it's getting dark. Where are we going to find a doctor? Why don't I go down the mountain tonight and find the government officials? They certainly won't ignore us."
"No way!" Zhou Chenyu immediately rejected Baoyu's idea.
There is no moon tonight, and it is pitch black everywhere.
“If it were the mountain road behind our village, I wouldn’t stop you from going back tonight. But the terrain of the rocky mountain is treacherous. If you accidentally step into a hole and fall to the bottom of the cliff, you’ll lose your life. Even if you want to go back, you have to wait until tomorrow.”
Looking at the road outside, Baoyu was unsure himself. "But what about Headman Yang..."
"Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are determined by fate. It's up to him." Zhou Chenyu looked at the person on the bed and pretended to be calm: "Last time Qian Rushan injured you, the old lady went up the mountain to find you some hemostatic herbs. Do you recognize them?"
Baoyu nodded vigorously, "I recognize it, it's not far from the main gate, I'll go out and find it right now."
"Your leg is broken, what should we do?" Zhou Chenyu strode out of the house, found a straight wooden stick, broke it into several pieces, and tied it to Yang Xi's leg. "I'm not a doctor, this is the only way I can help you."
Baoyu quickly found several bundles of hemostatic herbs, crushed them with a knife, and brought them back to the room. "Sister, here are the herbs you wanted."
"Give it to me." Zhou Chenyu used two fingers to draw out the herb and applied it little by little to Yang Xi's wound. The bleeding stopped temporarily, but the surrounding skin became increasingly hot.
Zhou Chenyu frowned, touched his forehead, and then touched her own forehead. "He really does have a fever."
"Fever? I'll go fetch some cold water." After saying that, Baoyu immediately ran to the mountain stream and carried a bucket of icy water.
Zhou Chenyu soaked her handkerchief, wrung it out, and applied it to Yang Xi's forehead.
Baoyu watched from the side, at a loss for what to do. "Sister, do you think Yang Ban Tou can pull through?"
Zhou Chenyu paused, "It's just you and me here. If he really doesn't make it, you and I will be in big trouble. I hope he can pull through."
After giving Yang Xi a quick bandage, it was already dark.
They cooked a meal, steamed some dried fish, and ate some wild grass they had gathered for the night.
The two sat facing each other outside, the lit lampshade twinkling like a tiny firefly in the vast forest.
Baoyu kept looking back at the house. "Sister, I really didn't expect that we would meet Yang Bantou here."
A complex emotion welled up in Zhou Chenyu's heart. She remembered the last time she pretended to be lame and angered him. He said that whether she lived or died, it had nothing to do with him.
Who could have imagined that fate would play such a cruel trick, and that she would be the one to save his life this time?
Was she destined to be entangled with this man?
"Who knows?" Zhou Chenyu raised an eyebrow helplessly. Baoyu finished eating and put away the bowl and chopsticks. "Sister, I've prepared some cold water for you. Go wash up and go to bed. Tonight I'll stay with Yang Bantou. As soon as it's light tomorrow, I'll go down the mountain to get reinforcements."
“It takes a whole day to get to Qingshui Town from here. What if you don’t get enough rest and accidentally fall off a cliff while yawning on the way?” Zhou Chenyu snatched the bowl and shooed him away. “Go quickly.”
His elder sister had given him a strict order, and Baoyu dared not disobey. He took his clothes and obediently went to wash himself.
After Zhou Chenyu finished washing the dishes, it was her turn to take a bath. Just like when she first arrived last night, she first wet her body with a towel to get used to the temperature of the mountain stream water, and then poured water over her with a ladle.
When she came out after washing up, Huangdou, who had been guarding the door, wagged its tail. Inside the room, Baoyu's snoring could be heard. He was sleeping sprawled out, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth and chin. His sleeping posture was as unsightly as could be.
Zhou Chenyu glanced at him with disdain, tiptoed, picked up the lamp, and quietly walked past him into the house.
Compared to Baoyu's unsightly sleeping posture, the men in the room were much calmer.
Zhou Chenyu placed the lamp on the table by the window, then went outside to fetch a basin of cold water and came back. "Who would have thought that I, Zhou Chenyu, would have a day when I stay up all night taking care of a man?"
Zhou Chenyu muttered a couple of things to herself, then dampened a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his body.
As night deepened, a cool breeze swept through the woods behind the cabin, causing the lamplight inside to flicker and almost go out.
Zhou Chenyu got up and placed the lamp on the bedside where the wind couldn't reach. The dim light shone on Yang Xi's unconscious face, and her gaze fixed on him. She couldn't help but step forward to examine him closely.
In the past, when she tried to get close to him, it was difficult to even exchange a few words, let alone get a close look. Even the time he carried her on his back, she only caught a quick glance at his profile and couldn't really see anything.
Zhou Chenyu rested her chin on her hand and quietly observed him.
He was fast asleep, his eyes closed. Without that sharp gaze fixed on her, she felt much more at ease and unrestrained.
Her gaze went from top to bottom. The man's eyebrows were thick and bushy, like two sharp, cold swords, much like his usual demeanor.
The bridge of the nose below the brow bone is straight and prominent, and there is a small hump below the center of the brow bone, making the entire triangular area of the brow bone more masculine.
He possesses the sunny and rugged qualities of a man, yet he is not overly rough and uncouth like some foreigners. Any more would be too profound, and any less would be too delicate; he is just right.
Zhou Chenyu stared at him blankly, as if awakening a deep-seated, innate yearning for Chinese aesthetics, like an ancient book, a cup of strong tea, or a splashed-ink landscape painting, which, no matter how much time has passed, can always offer new insights.
"Suddenly, I feel that those handsome foreign men with deep-set features, thick eyebrows and big eyes are no longer appealing."
"Water, water." Yang Xi, who had been unconscious for a long time, moved his lips.
"Water?" Upon hearing the word "water," Zhou Chenyu snapped out of her reverie, then went out of the house and brought in a bowl of cooled water. "The water is here."
Yang Xi was still unconscious, but because he was so thirsty, his body unconsciously made these sounds.
Zhou Chenyu wanted to help him up, but she was afraid of tearing his wound open again. Helpless, she dipped her index finger in water and fed it to him drop by drop.
After Yang Xi drank the water, his dry, chapped lips became moisturized.
Zhou Chenyu stared at that spot for a moment, and for some reason, she also felt a bit thirsty. She subconsciously licked her lips and swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva.
She guiltily looked away, only to meet Huang Dou's watchful gaze, as if she had been caught red-handed doing something wrong.
Zhou Chenyu and Huang Dou were locked in a stalemate for a few seconds before Zhou Chenyu's expression softened. He arrogantly raised his chin and said, "Others would repay a life with their bodies, so what's wrong with me saving his life and getting a good look? It was worth it, I risked my life for it."
Huangdou didn't refute at all, and even wagged its tail like a lackey and rubbed against her leg. Zhou Chenyu was amused and smiled, "You also think I have no problem, right?"
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