Ning Huaizhi was busy carving in the courtyard when he looked up and saw his wife entering the yard with a strange man in her arms. In his haste, he lost his grip on the carving knife and plunged it into his hand. Ignoring the bleeding, Ning Huaizhi stared intently at the unconscious stranger and asked:
"Wife, who is this person?"
Jiang Yuwei, panting heavily, said:
"I don't know who it is. I picked it up by the roadside."
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei helped him into the side room. Since Daya was currently living in the backyard, they could only settle this strange man in the side room for the time being.
Ning Huaizhi didn't bother carving the broken piece of wood anymore; he simply threw down his carving knife and followed him into the side room. Jiang Yuwei placed the man on the bed, and seeing that his clothes were filthy, she turned to Ning Huaizhi and said:
"Huaizhi, go find some of your clothes and change him into them. This is really inappropriate."
Ning Huaizhi frowned and said in a deep voice:
"I don't."
Jiang Yuwei turned around, about to say a few words to Ning Huaizhi, when she saw his hand hanging limply on the armrest of his wheelchair, blood dripping continuously. Jiang Yuwei frowned:
"What happened to your hand?!"
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei quickly picked up Ning Huaizhi's injured hand, examined it carefully, and then found a clean strip of cotton cloth to bandage Ning Huaizhi's hand.
Jiang Yuwei then let go of Ning Huaizhi's hand and looked at him with heartache:
"Was it injured while carving?"
Ning Huaizhi lowered his head and nodded woodenly, but Jiang Yuwei did not see the slight upturn of his lips. At this moment, Ning Huaizhi felt as sweet as if he had been filled with honey. Although his hand was injured, he did not feel any pain at all. In fact, he wished that he would be more seriously injured so that his wife would care about him more.
Jiang Yuwei patted Ning Huaizhi on the shoulder, interrupting his reverie:
“Huaizhi, this man looks very badly injured. He rolled down the hillside. He's a human being, after all. We can't just leave him to die. Take off his clothes and clean his wounds. Use these strips of cloth to bandage him. I'll go find some old clothes that you don't wear anymore, and you can change him into them, okay?”
Ning Huaizhi glanced at the man lying on the bed, barely alive, then looked at Jiang Yuwei's earnest eyes and nodded helplessly. He couldn't stop his wife from saving him, could he?
"Okay, I understand, wife. You can go out now. Leave this to me. By the way, before we know this person's identity, don't tell anyone else about this."
Jiang Yuwei nodded and went to Ning Huaizhi's room to find clothes.
Ning Huaizhi approached the man lying on the bed with obvious disdain and patted his face:
"Hey, wake up! Stop pretending to be dead!"
Ning Huaizhi slapped the man several times, but the man remained unresponsive. Frustrated, he had no choice but to begin undressing the man.
"Hmm? He fell down the hillside, how come he has a sword wound? Could he have been chased? It seems I'll have to interrogate him properly when he wakes up."
At this moment, Jiang Yuwei also came in with clothes. Upon seeing this, Ning Huaizhi turned around abruptly and said in a deep voice:
"Leave your clothes by the door and go out."
Jiang Yuwei immediately pulled her foot back as soon as she stepped inside. She had never seen Ning Huaizhi so angry before, so she quickly put the clothes by the door, carefully closed the door, and went to cook.
Ning Huaizhi busied himself in the side room for half an hour before emerging, drenched in sweat. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei quickly pushed her wheelchair to the stone table and handed her a cup of tea.
"Huaizhi, have some tea and calm down."
Ning Huaizhi took the tea and drank it all in one gulp, then handed the teacup to Jiang Yuwei:
"Pour me another glass. Sigh, this man is eating too well. I can barely move him. I just checked him and he has nothing on him, so I can't tell where he's from."
Jiang Yuwei poured another cup of tea and handed it to Ning Huaizhi, then took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from Ning Huaizhi's forehead:
"He won't die, will he? Should I go and check on Uncle Ning?"
Ning Huaizhi waved his hand:
"He won't die, he's just temporarily unconscious. His identity is still unclear, and I don't want to involve too many people. I'll ask him who he is and where he came from when he wakes up. I suspect he was being chased, because all the wounds on his body are sword wounds."
After hearing Ning Huaizhi's words, Jiang Yuwei also felt as if she had brought trouble home with her.
“Then I’ll keep a close eye on the area these next few days to see if any strangers appear. Let’s hide this person in the side room and wait until he wakes up and can move around. Once he’s done, we’ll get rid of him as soon as possible to avoid affecting our courtyard.”
Ning Huaizhi pondered for a moment and nodded:
"That's all we can do for now. Let's eat first, and I'll go in and feed him some porridge later."
Jiang Yuwei hurriedly brought out the hot food from the pot and called Ning Wan out to eat. After the three of them finished eating, Jiang Yuwei coaxed Ning Wan into the room to sleep, while Ning Huaizhi went to the side room to feed the other person porridge.
Seeing that no one was in the courtyard, Jiang Yuwei took her basket, closed the gate, and went to the foot of the mountain to collect herbs. She wanted to try her luck and see if she could find some anti-inflammatory and hemostatic medicine to treat the man's wounds.
Jiang Yuwei was digging for wild vegetables and herbs when she spotted a patch of dandelions in the distance. These were excellent for reducing inflammation, and she could simply boil them in water to make a drink. So, Jiang Yuwei quickly put down her basket and started digging for dandelions.
Just as he was digging with great enthusiasm, he suddenly heard a strange male voice above his head:
"Hello, have you ever seen a man who is eight feet tall, dressed in black, and with his hair in a bun?"
As soon as Jiang Yuwei looked up, she met the man's cold eyes. Even a worldly woman like Jiang Yuwei was startled. Seeing that Jiang Yuwei's expression was off, the man's voice became even colder. He took out a scroll from his pocket and unfurled it directly in front of Jiang Yuwei:
"Look, this is the man. Have you seen him before?"
Jiang Yuwei stared at the man in the painting, a chill running down her spine. Wasn't this the man she had rescued earlier that day? Was it too late to throw him back where he was? Jiang Yuwei steadied herself and met the man's cold gaze, replying calmly:
"Never seen one. We farmers live in our own village all day long and have never seen any outsiders."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei lowered her head again to dig for herbs. The man looked at Jiang Yuwei coldly, pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice:
"You really haven't seen it before?"
Jiang Yuwei paused in her digging for herbs. Why wasn't he leaving yet? If he didn't leave soon, Jiang Yuwei was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold back, but she still steadied herself and forced herself to speak:
"I really haven't seen it. If I had, I would have told you. I can't just make things up if I haven't seen it, can I?"
The man still seemed to have no intention of leaving, so he looked at the dandelions in Jiang Yuwei's basket and said calmly:
What are you digging these things for?
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