The smell of herbs in the house filled every corner of the yard. The smell was so strong that people couldn't help but wrinkle their noses when they came in. Cao'er was obediently led into the house by Wen Ling, and looked at the two people standing in front of her like a pair of people standing next to each other with a dull look.
Originally, he was planning to hide behind a tree, take another look at the person and then leave, but he didn't expect to be caught in the act. Liu Guiyuan seemed not to know him, and his inquiring eyes made Cao'er at a loss.
Cao'er almost gave up on himself and wanted to disappear from their sight immediately, as if he had never been there. However, he overestimated his body. The long-term exhaustion had drained his energy and spirit. He forced himself to walk such a long distance. When he stood up, he felt his legs go weak and fell back to the ground.
His face was pale and he looked like he was about to faint at any moment. As a doctor, Wen Ling could not just stand by and watch. She looked at him deeply and tenderly where Liu Guiyuan could not see, and then helped Cao'er back into the house to take his pulse.
Liu Guiyuan was one step behind the two of them, but his eyes couldn't help but fall on the young man with unsteady steps. This man gave him an extremely familiar feeling. He must have seen this man somewhere. Liu Guiyuan recalled the dull pain that came from his heart just now, and he inexplicably had an urge to gently wipe away his tears.
The three of them had their own thoughts. Wen Ling pulled his hand and rolled up his sleeves, but was startled by the messy teeth marks on the upper part of his wrist and paused for a moment.
Cao'er apparently just realized that the scars on her body were seen by others, and she quickly pulled back her arm as if struck by lightning.
Wen Ling was a doctor, extremely familiar with all kinds of wounds. The skin on the forearm was turned inside out, which clearly wasn't caused by a single bite. It would have been severe only if the same spot had been bitten repeatedly. She glanced at Cao'er with an unclear meaning, then turned her back to Liu Guiyuan and instructed, "This young man is very weak. Wen'en, go boil some astragalus and wolfberries and give them to him."
After she finished speaking, there was no response from Liu Guiyuan. She turned around in confusion, only to see Liu Guiyuan staring at Cao'er without blinking.
"Wen En." Wen Ling raised her voice, which made Liu Guiyuan, who was in a trance, respond a little. She repeated what she had just said, and Liu Guiyuan turned around and walked out in a daze.
Cao'er saw the shock in Liu Guiyuan's eyes, and was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a place to hide. This scar was a shame to him, and a testimony to the past that he could not bear to look back on. Although the scars on his body had scabbed over, the scars in his heart were difficult to heal no matter what.
"Lift up your clothes and let me see." Wen Lingqiang pulled Cao'er's hand, took her pulse and pondered for a moment, then his voice became a little cold.
Cao'er thought of the scars on her body, shook her head in horror, grabbed her collar with her hand, stood up and took two steps back, her back against the wall with a defensive look on her face.
Wen Ling's expression was serious, as if he had guessed that Cao'er would have this reaction. He took a few steps towards him, forcefully lifted up his coat, and tore open a large part of the collar.
Cao'er was too weak to resist even though Wen Ling was a girl. However, the moment her clothes were pulled open, she screamed miserably: "Don't look! Don't look! I don't want it, I don't want it! Let me go!"
The scars on his body were almost the same as Wen Ling had guessed. There were several bite marks on his exposed chest, similar to those on his forearms, all of which were caused by the flying skin and flesh, forming thick scabs.
The wound on his shoulder was deeper, and the scabs were connected into one piece, not much different from the palm of his hand. Even though Wen Ling was used to seeing scars, he was still frightened by the miserable state of his body, and he couldn't help but loosen his grip a little.
Cao'er's face was covered with tear marks. She took this opportunity to tremble and pull her clothes up, then curled up on the ground and cried, muttering to herself. Only when you got closer could you hear him shouting "Let go."
"What's wrong with you?" Wen Ling felt a little guilty about his reckless behavior. He wanted to help the man sit up, but he couldn't move the man who was a little confused.
Wen Ling had no choice but to take out the calming incense she made for Liu Guiyuan, light it, and let Cao'er calm down alone in the room while she went out to leave him alone.
Outside the house, beside the medicine stove, Liu Guiyuan was fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and quietly watching the fire in the stove, with a bad expression on his face.
It's not that he didn't hear the screams in the house just now. In fact, when he heard them, he wanted to rush into the house immediately. His hand was on the door before he remembered that there were a girl and a boy in the house, so it would be inappropriate for him to go in.
"What happened to him?"
Wen Ling paused as she washed her hands and said calmly, "She's fine physically, but not in the best spirits. It looks like she's been abused before."
Liu Guiyuan couldn't describe what he felt in his heart, he just felt a sour and uncomfortable feeling. There were many people who came to Wen Ling for treatment, and some were even worse off than this young man, but no one could make him so sad.
Ever since Liu Guiyuan accepted that he was Wen Ling's fiancé, the two of them rarely had such moments of silence. Wen Ling looked at the absent-minded Liu Guiyuan and wanted to say something but in the end did not open her mouth, only sighing inaudibly.
Yang Donghu's appetite, which had just improved, started to improve again because he was worried about Cao'er. His dry retching eased a lot, but he just couldn't eat anything. Eating salty and sour plums didn't make him feel any better.
Zhao Luochuan was so anxious at home that he wanted to catch Liu Guiyuan and Cao'er and take them back immediately to relieve his worries and save others from having to worry about them.
At noon, Zhu Cuilan stewed wild pheasant with chestnuts. This time it was not soup, but she fried it over high heat, added thick sauce and simmered it over low heat until it was soft. She also added red taro vermicelli. The chestnuts were soft and glutinous and full of meaty aroma. It tasted better than stewed soup.
Before the meal, Zhao Luochuan spent a long time coaxing Yang Donghu and said many words to comfort him. He finally persuaded Yang Donghu to eat an extra chicken leg.
Just two days after the rain cleared up, it started raining again. Yang Donghu was still worried about whether Cao'er had found a place to stay.
The peasant girl was obviously not someone who was easy to talk to, and she had really saved Liu Guiyuan's life. If Cao'er wanted to be with Liu Guiyuan, she might not be able to get past the hurdle of being her savior.
After dinner, the sky was extremely gloomy and the temperature outside was getting lower and lower. Even when sitting in the house, one could feel the damp wind blowing in through the cracks in the window. Yang Donghu wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and sat on the bed. Zhao Luochuan was looking for bast paper to seal the window.
In the silence, Yang Donghu whispered, "Brother Chuan, I still feel uneasy about Cao'er."
After sealing the windows, Zhao Luochuan looked back at him. Seeing his husband's face full of worry, he couldn't bear it. "But we agreed that the place is too far away, and the roads are mostly mountainous and difficult to walk on. You really can't go there now. If you're really worried, I'll go back and get some information when the rain stops, and then come back to tell you, okay?"
"Yeah," Yang Donghu nodded, stood up, hugged his waist, buried his face in his chest, and felt extremely safe and warm in his heart.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
