The two returned to their home on the mountainside. After Pang Yi carried Zhong Mingwei to the room, he was busy lighting a fire and heating the kang. However, he had lived in southern Xinjiang for many years and had never used a kang before. Not only did he cough repeatedly, but the whole room was filled with the smell of smoke.
"Use wheat stalks to start the fire," Zhong Mingwei called him into the room. Then he pointed to a pair of wheat stalks in the corner. They were usually used to start the fire. "Then add a handful of leaves and corn cobs, and finally use firewood."
"Yes." Pang Yi responded while coughing, and started the fire according to the method taught by Zhong Mingwei. Sure enough, the kang was lit in a short while. Pang Yi took a long breath, patted the firewood in his hand, and looked at Zhong Mingwei. He was quite surprised. "Your Highness. You..."
Pang Yi did not continue the conversation. His expression was a little subtle, and he coughed. He climbed onto the kang again to make the bed for Zhong Mingwei.
In fact, he wanted to say, Your Highness, how come you can even make a fire now? But then he thought, how could he not know how to do it? He is no longer the noble prince of the East Palace, but just an ordinary commoner, maybe even worse than a commoner. If he wants to survive in a desolate place like Ningguta, he has to learn everything.
Pang Yi felt very uncomfortable. The 30-year-old man had never felt so sad. He couldn't imagine how Zhong Mingwei had survived the past year, and how he had dragged his crippled leg to learn how to light a fire on the kang in the smoke and fire. He wiped his face, trying hard not to lose his composure, and was busy tidying up the messy bedding on the kang.
"I can do it myself," Zhong Mingwei frowned and looked at Pang Yi, "You don't need to tidy it up."
"I'll do it, Your Highness, you just take a rest..." Pang Yi certainly didn't agree. He reached out and pulled the quilt over, then a hand holding gauze tightly grasped his wrist.
"I said, I can do it myself," Zhong Mingwei looked at Pang Yi with a sullen face. He was seriously injured this time, and he looked much more haggard, but his eyes were still as sharp and deep as before. At this time, he stared at Pang Yi with these eyes, "Get off, and never come up on this kang again."
This is his and Achou's home. He actually doesn't want anyone to set foot in, not even Pang Yi. If he wasn't in poor health and needed help, he would have sent Pang Yi down the mountain long ago. So when Pang Yi climbed onto the kang, Zhong Mingwei couldn't help it anymore. This is his and Achou's kang, and there are Achou's clothes and Achou's pillow on it. There may even be Achou's fallen hair on the pillow. How can he allow others to touch it?
"Yes, I obey your command." Pang Yi didn't quite understand what Zhong Mingwei meant, but facing those sharp and deep eyes, he didn't dare to ask, so he hurriedly got off the kang and said to Zhong Mingwei, "Then I'll go get a bucket of water and heat it up to wipe your face."
"Okay." Zhong Mingwei nodded, said nothing more, and reached out to rub the pink little pillow beside him.
Pang Yi found the bucket from the outer hall and brought it to the yard. The last time he came here, he saw a well in the yard. He went to the well, hooked the bucket and lowered it. Then there was a "click" sound. Pang Yi was just wondering and was about to lower the bucket again, but then the rope loosened. Pang Yi then realized that the well might be frozen.
Pang Yi glanced and saw a big stone next to the well, so he threw the stone into the well. With a loud "plop" sound, the ice in the well broke. Pang Yi finally drew up a bucket of water with icicles on it, and hurriedly carried the water into the room.
"Your Highness, what's wrong with you?" As soon as Pang Yifu put down the bucket, he noticed that Zhong Mingwei seemed a little abnormal. He was holding a small pillow in his hand and turning his head to look at the window with a broken corner. His face looked very ugly and his lips seemed to be trembling.
Pang Yi thought that the wound on Zhong Mingwei's body was extremely painful, so he asked anxiously, "Your Highness, what's wrong with you? How about I go down the mountain and get a doctor for you?"
"It's okay," Zhong Mingwei shook his head slowly, still staring at the broken window. After a long while, he spoke again, "Is the well frozen again?"
"Yes, the ice is very thick. This is the first time I know that well water can freeze. It is so thick that even a bucket cannot break it." Pang Yi nodded and squatted down to check Zhong Mingwei's legs and feet. He continued, "It just so happens that there is a big rock next to the well, otherwise it would be impossible to break such thick ice. The sound of breaking the ice was so loud just now that it scared Your Highness, right?"
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