Yang Donghu hugged Zhao Luochuan's neck tightly with both hands and coughed a few times with great effort. The feeling of water choking his nose was too uncomfortable, and the irritation made his eyes sore as well.
There were many stones in the river. Although his head was not hurt, if his body was hit by the stones, it would be bruised in two days. Zhao Luochuan pulled his arm to see if he had any other injuries.
He tried a little harder but failed to pull it apart, so he patted Yang Donghu on the back and coaxed him softly, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay."
Yang Donghu's entire body was shaking unconsciously. Zhao Luochuan hugged him and found a place where the sun could reach him, holding him tighter. "Are you cold? Let's go back, let's go back. Don't be afraid."
Yang Donghu shook his head: "No... not cold."
Now the sun is getting weaker, and they are in the water and there is wind. It would be strange if they are not cold. Zhao Luochuan is very energetic, and he doesn't feel cold at all even though his body is wet. But he is worried about Yang Donghu's weak body, and he is shivering in his arms. If he delays any longer, he might catch a cold.
Yang Donghu calmed down a little and slowly recovered from the fear of seeing the toad and falling into the water.
Zhao Luochuan didn't put the man down. Yang Donghu held him tightly around the neck. He only used one hand to pass under Yang Donghu's legs and picked him up with one hand, and he still had one hand free to carry the bucket.
It was inevitable that they would meet people on the way back. If it were in the past, Yang Donghu would definitely not want to walk in front of everyone with his arms around her, which would only give people something to talk about.
But today he didn't have the heart to worry about what others said. A few women were gathered by the river behind the house to wash clothes. They were originally just whispering, but when they saw the two men approaching and not letting go, their voices became louder.
Li Guihua had lived in peace for a few days and now had the right to go out. She squatted at the edge of the crowd with a basin of water. When she saw them hugging each other, she cursed them in a low voice, saying they were shameless. Then, afraid that Zhao Luochuan would hear her, she lowered her head and washed the clothes in her hands.
Zhao Luochuan didn't have time to argue with Li Guihua. He looked at her coldly and kicked a stone when he passed by her. The splashing water splashed all over Li Guihua.
Li Guihua stood up suddenly and was about to curse, but she saw Zhao Luochuan just gave her a gloomy look and then left. The words on her lips were on the tip of her tongue but she swallowed them back. She could only stare at Zhao Luochuan's back and swear in her heart.
Zhao Fangchu hadn't eaten at noon and felt a little hungry now. He went to look for Yang Donghu but he wasn't there, so he took a piece of bread and sat at the door, eating while looking to see which direction Yang Donghu would come from.
"Brother Dong? What happened to you?" Zhao Fangchu was so shocked when he saw Yang Donghu all wet that the cake in his hand fell to the ground. He hurried over to see.
Zhao Luochuan stepped into the courtyard and said, "Dong Hu fell into the water. Go get me some brown sugar."
I always have honey at home, so I never store brown sugar. Generally, if I catch a cold, drinking a bowl of strong brown sugar ginger tea can dispel a lot of the cold.
Zhao Fangchu said "oh" twice and ran back quickly to get the brown sugar.
The clothes were soaked, so Zhao Luochuan stripped off all the clothes on the man. After a quick glance and seeing that there were no obvious wounds, he took a linen cloth and wiped the water off Yang Donghu's body. He then wrapped him tightly with a quilt and let him sit on the bed.
"Please sit here and wait for a moment. I'll go get you some hot water."
Yang Donghu nodded, shivering, not sure if it was because of fear or cold.
Zhao Fang was easily startled when encountering something for the first time. He went back and yelled to Zhu Cuilan for brown sugar. When Zhu Cuilan heard him say that Yang Donghu fell into the water, she was shocked and asked what happened.
Zhao Fangchu couldn't explain it either, so he just asked her to find some brown sugar quickly. Zhu Cuilan knew that Zhao Luochuan was looking for brown sugar to make ginger tea. Since she knew how to make it, she simply made the ginger tea in the yard before bringing it to her.
"Donghu, come on, have some ginger tea. Drinking it will warm you up." Zhu Cuilan sat on the edge of the bed and handed the ginger tea to Yang Donghu. Seeing that water was still dripping from the ends of his hair, she picked up a cloth and rubbed the ends of his hair.
"Thank you, auntie."
Yang Donghu's body has been unable to withstand the cold ever since he was thrown out in the middle of winter right after he was born. Even now that the weather is warmer, his hands and feet are always colder than others.
The hotter the ginger tea is, the better it can dispel the cold. Yang Donghu drank the ginger tea in small sips, and only then did he feel better.
When Zhu Cuilan came in, she saw the snails in the basin in the yard and asked, "Did you go to pick the snails?"
"Um."
If Zhu Cuilan hadn't known they were in the river, it would have been fine. But after they did, she couldn't help but nag: "It's still cold, it's too early to go in the water. You're young and playful, but you won't care. When you get older, you'll know how to suffer. You're already cold, and you don't want to go out in winter. It's better to avoid going in the water."
Yang Donghu knew that Zhu Cuilan was doing this for his own good, so he listened obediently and accepted the scolding.
He fell into the water, his face still pale. Zhu Cuilan said only two words but couldn't bear it anymore. She tucked the corner of the quilt for him and said, "You must take care of your body. You have been weak in the Yang family for more than ten years. It is not easy to recover."
The big wooden barrel for bathing in winter was too heavy. Yang Donghu found it troublesome to use at home alone, and he couldn't lift it by himself to pour water. When the weather got a little warmer, he put it away and replaced it with a smaller one to use for wiping his body. However, he covered the mouth of the barrel with something when he put it away, so there was no dust in it at this time.
Zhao Luochuan simply rinsed it twice, poured the boiled water into the bucket, added some cold water, and then let Yang Donghu sit in and soak his body.
After drinking ginger tea and then soaking it in hot water, Yang Donghu felt much more refreshed, and even his nasal cavity, which had been filled with water, felt much more comfortable.
He had suffered so much, and Zhao Luochuan felt guilty. He was now using a ladle to add hot water to the bucket, pursing his lips and looking a little unhappy. "It's all my fault. I stepped on those stones, but I was still careless. Let's not go to the waterside in the future. When I'm not home, you can go to Auntie's yard to fetch water for washing clothes, and don't go behind the house."
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