Zhao Ping'an sat up abruptly, hesitated for a few seconds, put on his shoes, and ran outside.
Jiang Bai, carrying an oil lamp, was walking out of the house across the street when he saw him and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
"Not you?" Zhao Ping'an was stunned. He thought something had happened to Jiang Bai.
Jiang Bai shook his head. The two looked at each other for a long time before Jiang Bai pondered for a moment and said, "It's probably next door."
Next door lives Aunt Wang, who is about fifty or sixty years old. Her husband died early, and she never remarried. She raised her only son alone. Now her son runs a shop in the county town, but she is not used to life there and lives alone.
Aunt Wang was kind and cheerful. Their houses were next to each other, and she would always give Zhao Ping'an and Zhao Xile some snacks whenever she saw them. Jiang Bai hesitated for a few seconds and then decided to go over and see.
In the countryside, doors are locked at night when people go to sleep. Fortunately, the wall at the old lady's house wasn't high, and Jiang Bai used his hands to push himself over and climbed over it, calling for help as he walked into the house.
Pushing open the door, Jiang Bai couldn't help but exclaim in surprise at the sight before him: Granny Wang was lying on the floor of the main hall, her life hanging in the balance. Presumably, when she fell, she overturned the dining table, causing the loud crash. The kerosene lamp on the table had been smashed to pieces, and sparks landed on the chair next to it, igniting it. Now the flames were leaping half a meter high.
Jiang Bai took a deep breath, took off his coat, filled the water tank with water, extinguished the fire in a few moments, and then quickly walked to Wang Da Niang's side, roughly checked her body, and ruled out any external injuries.
Zhao Ping'an followed, and when he entered the house, he coughed a few times from the smoke. He squinted, blinked away the tears that had welled up in his eyes, and asked, "What's wrong, Grandma Wang?"
Jiang Bai was at a loss: "I don't know either."
Zhao Pingan asked, "Should we carry the person outside first? It'll be better if there's some fresh air outside."
Jiang Bai dared not. She didn't know what illness Wang Da Niang had that caused her to faint. If it was a heart ailment, then moving her out of the house was the right choice. But if it was a sudden cerebral hemorrhage or something similar, moving her around would only harm her.
She thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen to get a bowl. Pretending to fetch water from the water vat, she secretly took some of the spiritual liquid from the spring and fed it to Granny Wang.
The elixir has a slight healing effect, but it's not a panacea that can bring the dead back to life or heal the wounded. At most, it can help healthy people improve their health, so Jiang Bai was a little apprehensive.
Fortunately, after being fed a couple of mouthfuls, Granny Wang regained her ability to swallow. After finishing the bowl of spiritual liquid, she slowly woke up, clutching her chest and groaning.
Jiang Bai breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that the possibility of cerebral infarction had been ruled out. She quickly helped Aunt Wang slowly walk into the yard.
Zhao Ping'an was very perceptive and brought over the kerosene lamp from his house for lighting. Wang Da Niang closed her eyes and rested for a quarter of an hour. After catching her breath, she looked around and understood the current situation.
Because Jiang Bai constantly beat and scolded the two children, she had never given him a kind look. She never expected that he would save her life at such a crucial moment. Thinking of this, Aunt Wang's face turned ashamed.
She wasn't unreasonable, and sighed, "Mr. Zhao, I owe you so much this time. Otherwise, not only would I not have survived, but this house would have been burned to ashes. I want to thank you."
“Auntie, please don’t say that,” Jiang Bai waved his hand. “We live so close by, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. I should do this.”
Jiang Bai had never understood the principle that helping others is helping oneself more than at this moment. If she hadn't come to check on things today, the fire might have spread and burned down to his house.
Aunt Wang didn't reply. She clutched her chest, her brows furrowed tightly, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat; it seemed she was in pain again.
Jiang Bai looked at her with concern until her expression softened, then asked, "Auntie, what's wrong?"
“It’s been a problem for a long time,” Aunt Wang said weakly. “I’ve had chest pains before, but never this bad before…”
Jiang Bai pondered for a moment and said, "I see that your house is no longer habitable. Why don't you come and stay at my house for the night, Auntie?"
There was no other choice. Although Jiang Bai arrived in time and the fire had not yet spread, only a chair was burned and the table was blackened by the fire, but the whole room was filled with thick smoke.
While they were getting some fresh air outside, the door was wide open. However, these self-built houses don't have many windows, so air circulation is slow. This short period of ventilation was barely enough. Zhao Ping'an went in for a look and was coughing from the fumes, let alone living inside.
The elderly woman is still in critical condition, and it's unacceptable for her to be left unattended. Her son's family lives in the county town, and it will take at least two days for them to arrive and return. If anything unexpected happens during this time, they will be unable to help her.
Aunt Wang held Jiang Bai's hand tightly, sighed, and did not refuse: "Then thank you, Aunt Zhao."
Jiang Bai helped the old man up, smiling on the surface but thinking to himself: Who is Zhao Laoda’s family? It doesn’t sound right.
She wasn't angry, she just said, "Auntie, you can just call me Jiang Bai."
Aunt Wang slept in Jiang Bai's room. Fortunately, the bed was originally prepared for her and Zhao Yi. Now that Zhao Yi was not at home, there was more than enough room for another person.
Jiang Bai didn't sleep well all night, fearing that something else might happen to the person beside her. She stared at the ceiling with her eyes open, her thoughts drifting away.
Now it seems the elixir is surprisingly effective, providing excellent relief for some acute illnesses. Although it didn't cure Granny Wang's heart ailment, she woke up immediately after drinking it. Therefore, the idea of using the elixir for medicinal cuisine appears to be highly feasible.
However, Jiang Bai reminded herself to be careful with the amount of spiritual liquid she used. She was currently powerless and powerless, and with the two golden fingers of space and spiritual liquid in her hands, she was like a three-year-old child carrying a lot of money in a bustling city. She had no ability to protect herself at all.
She could imagine that if the powerful and wealthy knew about the wonders of the elixir, she would probably be dissected and studied, and her flesh and blood would be eaten by greedy people.
Thinking of this, she shuddered and was wide awake.
As dawn broke and before the roosters crowed, she sat up. The wild pheasant she had stewed yesterday wasn't completely finished; there wasn't much left. She added water, half a bowl of spiritual liquid, and a lot of chopped wild vegetables. She then kneaded dough to make dumpling soup. Remembering that the wild eggs she had found yesterday were still in her spatial storage, she took them out, one for each of the three of them.
Aunt Wang's meals are prepared separately. She is now weak and cannot eat too much meat, so she uses the remaining three wild eggs to steam egg custard, which is delicious and easy to digest.
The water added to the steamed egg custard was, of course, entirely replaced with spiritual liquid.
When it was fully light, everyone in the house smelled the aroma and clutched their rumbling stomachs in their sleep.
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