Chapter 10: She gave him this to drink after drawing a flash flood?
Ning Lu listened to his words, and then remembered Yu Niang's unusual behavior during the day. Her unease was magnified, and she tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep soundly.
The autumn wind intensified the chill, making it most difficult for the sick to resist. Ji Ming struggled for half the night, only gradually calming down at dawn, and waking up at noon.
Smoke curled from the chimneys in the courtyard, carrying an even stronger aroma of herbs than usual.
As she struggled to get up, Ning Lu pushed open the door and came in carrying a bowl of medicine.
"You're awake? Are you feeling better?"
Seeing his confusion, Ning Lu pouted helplessly, pulled the stool to the bedside, and began to complain bluntly: "You scared me to death last night. You couldn't breathe while lying down, you were trembling in pain, and you didn't make a sound."
If she hadn't been unable to sleep and woke up to look at the stars in the middle of the night, he probably would have died in pain without anyone knowing.
Accustomed to her exaggerated tone, Ji Ming closed his eyes and leaned back a little, only then realizing that he was half-lying on the bed, the numbness and soreness from the heart attack still lingering in his bones.
"Feel sorry."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a look of bewilderment spread across his eyes.
As if he were delirious from illness, he was even able to feel indebted to and burdened by others.
"What's there to apologize for? You're sick not to make me suffer."
Ning Lu waved her hand. She herself felt guilty, worried that she had touched a sore spot by asking about his background, and worried that the medicine had been brewed too many times and was no longer effective.
Terrified, she rushed to the doctor at daybreak to get new medicine, fearing that any carelessness might worsen his condition and make him a murderer.
"The doctor said I should eat something before taking the medicine. I made you a bowl of egg drop soup. Would you like some?"
Only after she mentioned it did Ji Ming notice the faint scent of sesame oil wafting beneath the rich aroma of herbs.
The soup bowl on the table, with a chipped hole, was filled with a golden hue and glistened with an oily sheen that I hadn't seen in a long time.
"It was given to us by Aunt Li. I helped her catch a chicken once before, and it was from that chicken that laid the eggs, which we shared."
Seeing the embarrassment on her face, Ji Ming asked, "What do you want to eat?"
"I ate one."
Before she could finish speaking, Ning Lu hurriedly got up and carried the soup bowl and medicine bowl to the bedside one by one: "This stuff will taste fishy when it gets cold, why don't you drink it first?"
"Perfect, this will allow the medicine to cool down."
The faint smell of oil completely killed Ji Ming's already meager appetite, and he closed his eyes to resist the acid reflux rising in his stomach.
He turned his head and watched as her figure gradually walked away and became blurry. His body then had the illusion of falling and floating in the air, and his curled fingertips twitched slightly.
"Well……"
His wandering senses returned to his body, and with difficulty, he saw Ning Lu sitting on the edge of the bed with a serious expression, her small hands gripping his shoulders tightly.
"Are you alright? Should I call a doctor to take a look?"
She only went out to grab a few things, and when she came back, she found him asleep with his eyelids drooping. She mumbled a few words to him, but he didn't respond, so she realized something was wrong.
He shook his head, his chest rose, and he exhaled with difficulty, his neck limply tilting back.
His reply was irrelevant: "You drank it."
This wave of discomfort was so sudden and overwhelming, it drained all his strength, and his head was spinning.
Before my eyelids could stick together again, my cuffs tightened, and shadows fell around me.
He forced himself to look up, and that tiny face, no bigger than a palm, was right in front of him, scrutinizing him from all sides.
Without a doubt, his face must look terrible right now.
Ji Ming frowned, turned his head to avoid her gaze, and said in a low voice, "It's nothing... I'll be fine after a while..."
Ning Lu watched as large beads of sweat slid down the man's face and disappeared into his hair, feeling a vague unease in her heart.
"I'm going to find a doctor, I'll be back soon, you hang in there for a while."
The pressure on her wrist loosened instantly, and a cool breeze slipped into the quilt from her side. Ji Ming instinctively reached out and grabbed her wrist in return.
His upper body was pulled by her force, and he leaned to the side of the bed: "Cough... Don't go. You'll feel better after taking the medicine."
He knew his own body well; even the imperial physicians here couldn't diagnose him much better.
This kind of undisguised concern and anxiety is something I haven't seen in a long time.
After a few weak coughs, Ji Ming struggled to open his eyes and met Ning Lu's doubtful gaze. Knowing that she would still be uneasy if he didn't do something, he simply turned his gaze to the bowl of medicinal soup.
Ning Lu immediately followed his gaze, picked up the medicine, skillfully took a big sip from the rim of the bowl, and handed it to him like a lifeline: "There are only two bowls at home, and they're both here. You can use the other one."
Holding the bowl in both hands and placing it on the quilt, the aroma of medicine wafted to my nose.
Ji Mingcai noticed that the color and smell of the medicine were many times stronger than usual. Looking at Ning Lu's face, which was contorted with pain from the bitterness, the fine discomfort she felt suddenly dissipated, and her expression softened.
"The medication has been changed?"
“No.” Ning Lu pursed her tongue and put on her mask of pain again: “The prescription and the herbs are the same.”
The dregs from the previous two days' decoction were from two separate batches; today, a new medicine was used, so the strong smell is perfectly normal. She sniffed, not noticing anything amiss.
Ji Ming glanced at her eyebrows and eyes, took a sip, and swallowed only after confirming that there was nothing different.
"Is this the fishy smell you're talking about?" Ning Lu sniffed, then remembered something: "I smelled it this morning when I was brewing medicine. Yu Niang said that Da Cheng brought back some river shrimp, which I guess have been sitting out for a while."
The man's eyelashes paused slightly, then drooped again, unconcerned: "They're probably just fish and shrimp."
After swallowing just two mouthfuls, most of the strength in his hands dissipated, and ripples spread across the bowl of herbal soup.
"What else could it be but fish and shrimp?"
Ning Lu naturally took it and put it aside, tilting her head to wait for him to continue.
"Herbal medicines...earthworms and the like..."
She leaned back with her strength, her barely conscious energy dwindling.
Ning Lu pulled the blanket up over him, hesitated for a moment, and then tiptoed out the door without saying goodbye.
When Ji Ming woke up again, it was already afternoon. The little girl was sitting at the foot of the bed, staring intently out the window.
She didn't go out to work today.
His heart, which had finally calmed down, clenched silently, and his gaze toward her became complicated.
"Cough...cough cough..."
"You're awake?"
Ning Lu turned around upon hearing this, leaned forward, and hastily patted his shoulder: "I just went for a walk in the front yard and I really saw some dregs of the medicine. You're pretty amazing."
"Didn't you say...her child is frail...?"
Earthworms are effective in stopping spasms and are most effective in treating infantile convulsions; this is not surprising.
Ji Ming hesitated for a moment before adding, "This medicine isn't cheap."
Her darting eyes suddenly stopped, staring blankly at him, as if some guess had been confirmed.
He stopped speaking, his gaze lingering on her.
After a long while, a flash of dejection crossed Ning Lu's eyes, and she lowered her head, listlessly fiddling with the corner of the blanket.
"You've seen her?"
Although it was a question, his expression was resolute.
"Um."
Ning Lu responded in a muffled voice, then turned around and sat facing outwards, no longer looking at him.
Just when Ji Ming thought she wouldn't discuss the matter anymore, Ning Lu spoke up.
"I ran into Yu Niang when I went to check on the dregs of the medicine, and I remembered the receipt you mentioned. So I asked her about it."
She said that in small places there aren't many rules for doing things, and they just don't give anything.
"I asked her again which pawnshop it was, and that I would take a detour to ask her myself next time I delivered a letter. She said she didn't know either. But I met my third brother's family on the way, and they said that everyone has their own regular pawnshops, and none of them refuse to give receipts."
Ji Ming's eyes darkened as he watched her listlessly fiddling with the tattered burlap sash around her waist.
After a long pause, when no further explanation came, he asked in a deep voice, "And then?"
"Um?"
Unexpectedly, he was interested in this matter. Ning Lu looked up in surprise, shrugged helplessly, and said, "That's all. I just came back."
"When I met her, she was rendering lard."
In fact, Yu Niang said a few more things, but she took them in without expecting anything in return, and only hoped that it wouldn't end up causing resentment.
Ning Lu was simply a newcomer who didn't understand the customs and traditions of ancient times, but she wasn't incapable of understanding human speech, so she naturally knew what the other person meant.
Ji Ming now has difficulty even getting out of bed; they are struggling to move around and have no other options.
His head drooped again, and he absentmindedly fiddled with the rope around his waist, looking dejected and depressed.
This time, Ji Ming didn't ask any further questions. He simply closed his eyes and rested.
First, there was Yu Niang speaking haltingly and hiding silver in her sleeves; then, there was a sudden purchase of medicine and the refining of lard.
This matter was not handled cleverly, and it's not difficult to see through it.
He has never liked to meddle in other people's business, nor does he have the extra energy to do so.
"never mind."
Ning Lu pouted, sighed, stood up, and stepped outside.
Where to?
"Let's go talk business." Ning Lu put her hands on her hips and twisted her body like a pretzel. "You look much better, you shouldn't need anyone to watch over you anymore. In order to avoid starving, I have to go back to my business and make money."
Ji Ming watched her leave, noticing that she wasn't as cheerful as she usually was when she went out, and that she walked with a limp, wilted gait.
His slender figure slowly disappeared by the window frame, and his eyelids drooped.
I felt uneasy, for some reason.
Ning Lu was gone for several hours.
It was completely dark, past 7 PM, and the oil lamps in the front courtyard were going out one by one. Ji Ming still hadn't seen Ning Lu return.
The fatigue from the day eased considerably at this moment, and my gaze unconsciously drifted toward the door, my fingertips tapping frequently on the edge of the bed.
The night watchman outside the fence walked around again.
Ji Ming sighed, finally got up by the bedside, put on his robe, picked up the kerosene lamp, and stepped outside.
The crescent moon in the courtyard was like a bow, its light pale.
A night breeze suddenly rises, and the autumn feeling is stronger than indoors.
Ji Ming leaned against the door frame to steady himself, and only after the dizziness from suddenly standing up did he raise his eyes and look around.
The simple stove rack, the clay pot, and the herbs drying in the corner were the first things that caught my eye, and my already habitually furrowed brows furrowed even deeper.
He gripped the oil lamp tightly and slowly approached. His gaze swept over the broken earthenware pot and settled on the rotten dregs of medicine.
The color of the herbal medicine brought to his bedside each day was different. He had suspected it before, but seeing it with his own eyes, he could tell that they were indeed different.
She gave him this to drink?
Twisting the dregs of medicine in his hand, Ji Ming snorted coldly and casually tossed them back onto the ground.
He straightened up too quickly, causing his vision to go black for a moment. As he staggered, he instinctively reached out to brace himself against the windowsill.
The cold, hard touch came from my palm.
When the dizziness subsided, he could see clearly what was in his hand: a dried-out cornbread.
There was also an egg that was wrapped up quite tightly in the field of vision.
She was lying to him after all. She got two eggs, but she hadn't eaten hers yet.
"Although we are poor, I will do everything I can to make sure you have medicine to drink every day."
"Even though I eat little, I can make sure you have food every day. You've met a real bodhisattva like me. Sometimes I can't even understand my own kindness."
That guy's confident and smug words still ring in my ears.
The buzzing in his ears subsided, and the sarcastic smile on his lips gradually faded.
He put the cornbread back in its original place, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped his fingertips clean, then looked once again at the dilapidated little space.
He was born into a wealthy and noble family, and even when he fell on hard times, he never suffered such a fate. He used to think that strife and intrigue were exhausting enough, but today he realized that some people have to exert themselves just to survive.
Aside from that, he hadn't thought of anything else...
There are people in this world who would go to such lengths just to keep him alive.
She raised the oil lamp to her eyes, took two steps to the right of the fence she often frequented, and was then drawn to a soft rustling sound behind her.
Slow down and listen attentively.
It was the sound of crying.
Ji Ming paused slightly, then decisively changed direction and quickened his pace.
The intermittent gasping sounds were muffled by the haystacks at the edge of the courtyard.
The moonlight slanted behind me, casting a blurry shadow.
Ji Ming stopped a few steps away in the darkness, holding his breath and listening intently.
"Ning Lu, you're such a fool. You got scammed and you're still counting the money for them. You treated them like sisters, but they treated you like a sucker."
Hearing the familiar nagging, Ji Ming unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and extinguished the oil lamp in his hand.
His shadow disappeared completely into the darkness, embedding itself into the stone wall.
The weeping behind the haystack continued.
"But what can I do? He's injured, and I'm penniless and clueless. Even if I get the money by confronting him, I'll have nowhere to go. What can I do?"
"Circumstances are beyond your control, Ning Lulu. You should just hold on and save some money for yourself. No one is immune to hardship when they're out in the world."
"It's alright. Ning Lulu, listen to me. It's all very small. Yu Niang has had a tough time too. She's straightforward and righteous, and she helped you. People who help you won't easily hurt you. She must have had her own reasons."
"But... she could have told me she needed money. She said her child needed medical treatment, and her family needed food, and I wouldn't have refused. What was she hiding? Why did she lie to me? Wasn't she the first good person I'd ever met in this world? How could this happen..."
"This world is truly awful!"
The faint sobs turned into suppressed wailing.
Ji Ming stared at the trembling figure, his eyes narrowing and his breathing becoming heavier.
He thought she hadn't noticed, but thankfully she wasn't completely naive.
The wailing showed no signs of stopping, and Ji Ming, unwilling to listen any longer, took a step back to leave, only to unexpectedly hear his own name called.
"And that Ji Ming, Ji A-Ming, Ji Xiao-Ming, Ji Gou-Ming. I scrimped and saved, even went hungry, to buy and brew medicine for you, and you still had a gloomy face every day, looking me up and down like I was a thief. You suspected me, used me as a human shield, and made me test the medicine. What kind of person are you! Do you think you're some kind of noble prince or aristocrat? If it weren't for my kind heart, you would have been fed to the wolves long ago. You bastard."
"I ended up in this godforsaken place out of nowhere, and when I woke up I was being killed, chased by wolves, and cheated. My life is miserable, my life is worthless."
"Mom, I want to go home."
The barking of dogs and howling of wolves swept the withered leaves across his robes, and the heart-wrenching mutterings crashed into his already fragile heart layer by layer.
His hands, hanging by his sides, clenched tightly. Ji Ming's Adam's apple bobbed, and the last trace of cold sharpness between his brows completely dissipated.
The sobs, filled with despair and grievance, dissipated in the wind, and the shadow by the wall vanished in a flash.
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