Hearing the child’s cries, Fu Wenzhou and Ruan Qiaoqiao both rushed into the outer room, where they saw An An sitting on the floor by the door, holding Kang Kang in his arms while shaking him hard.
Fu Wenzhou went back into the room to search the drawer for medicine, while Ruan Qiaoqiao hurried over, squatted down, and placed her hands on the boy’s neck to check his pulse. Then she checked his breathing.
No breath.
“Does Kang Kang have any underlying illness?” she asked immediately.
From inside the room, Fu Wenzhou responded at once, “Heart disease.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately took Kang Kang, laid him flat on a straw mat, and began chest compressions.
After several compressions, she bent down and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
When Fu Wenzhou came out with the medicine, he just happened to see Ruan Qiaoqiao performing such professional emergency rescue techniques. His previously cold and stern expression softened slightly, and he did not disturb her.
Ruan Qiaoqiao repeated the cycle for nearly two minutes. Finally, the child lying on the ground coughed twice, regained spontaneous breathing, and burst into loud crying.
An An immediately held him and comforted him, “Kang Kang, don’t be afraid, big brother is here.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao gently shook her sore wrist when she suddenly felt the light above her head darken.
She looked up and met Fu Wenzhou’s gaze. His face, backlit, seemed to be coated with a cold glow, making his already handsome features appear even more striking and soft in a distant way.
How could a man look more refined than a woman?
It was truly a waste that someone had injured him.
After a brief moment of eye contact, Fu Wenzhou squatted down, placed the medicine into Kang Kang’s mouth, and handed him a cup of water.
Kang Kang obediently took the cup himself, swallowed the medicine in large gulps—his practiced movements making one’s heart ache.
Fu Wenzhou carried Kang Kang back to the room so he could rest. Only after confirming he was fine did he come out again and call Ruan Qiaoqiao and An An to eat.
The three sat at the dining table. Fu Wenzhou served a bowl of chicken soup and handed it to Ruan Qiaoqiao.
As she took it, he asked casually, “Have you studied medicine?”
“Yes. The Ruan family used to be a well-known medical family in the area. I grew up around my grandfather and father and learned by observation. I also attended a hospital training program for two years.”
However, judging from her earlier emergency response, she was somewhat out of practice.
It seemed that during the past three years of lost memory, she really had given up her dreams for a man and stayed at home.
How foolish.
“By the way, what exactly is Kang Kang’s condition? Was it congenital or acquired?”
“Acquired. Three years ago, something happened at home and the shock frightened him when he was just one year old. He didn’t receive proper treatment. Only earlier this year were the two brothers sent to me, but the condition was already delayed and difficult to treat.”
Three years ago—that was the same year he had been sent down.
For her, that year had been a turning point. For him, it seemed the same.
“Did the doctor give instructions on how to care for him at home? Tell me the precautions so I can help in time.”
“He must not be startled, cannot stay in noisy places. There is medicine in the drawer—if he has an episode, give him one pill immediately. It’s a cardiac stimulant.”
“So young and already taking cardiac stimulants. That’s not good for his body.”
Fu Wenzhou did not respond, simply continuing to eat in silence.
He probably knew the side effects of the medicine, but to keep the child alive, there was no other choice.
Ruan Qiaoqiao made up her mind. Since she had unexpectedly become a mother, she should act like one. She would pick up her old medical knowledge and do her best to help the child recover.
She scooped a spoonful of soup and tasted it.
…Chicken soup?
This was clearly just chicken boiled into pieces and soaked in water. It was extremely fishy.
She tried a piece of chicken.
Hmm… would it be impolite to spit it out?
It was fishy and tasteless—just boiled in plain water.
So not everything in this house had a twist. For example, his cooking skills were really not good.
“It’s a bit bland. Let me reprocess it for you.”
Ruan Qiaoqiao stood up directly, carried the chicken into the simple thatched kitchen, lit the fire, poured the soup into the pot, added salt, and then took a large handful of wild greens from a basket on the ground, washed them clean, and added them once the pot boiled.
Since there was no cooking wine or scallions to remove the smell, she used wild greens instead to reduce the fishiness.
Fu Wenzhou and An An stood outside the kitchen watching her like guards.
An An suspected she might poison the food, so he kept a close eye on her. People in the village said stepmothers were never good, and since his father had also become strange lately, he had to be cautious.
Ruan Qiaoqiao turned back and said, “What are you standing there for? The soup is ready—come help carry it.”
Fu Wenzhou walked over without a word, lifted the pot, and brought it inside.
An An pouted in dissatisfaction.
Back in the outer room, Ruan Qiaoqiao served the soup again. “Try it. Is it better now?”
An An didn’t move, but Fu Wenzhou picked up the bowl and calmly drank.
His composed and elegant manner made Ruan Qiaoqiao think of five words: a fallen noble young master.
After he finished, she leaned slightly forward, her beautiful face full of expectation. “How is it? Good?”
Fu Wenzhou met her gaze at close range, then calmly looked away, maintaining his composure.
“Not bad.”
Better than his cooking by far.
Ruan Qiaoqiao immediately smiled and tapped her chest. “Then from now on, can the kitchen be fully under the control of me, the lady of the house?”
“Yes.”
He then glanced at An An, who was still glaring at her. “An An, stop looking. Eat.”
An An angrily bit into a steamed bun and drank a mouthful of soup.
…The chicken soup tasted much better.
Even An An, who usually had a small appetite, ended up drinking three bowls until his stomach was round and full.
After dinner, Fu Wenzhou washed the dishes while Ruan Qiaoqiao went to the kitchen to boil hot water for a bath.
Fu Wenzhou later took An An to the river to wash up. When they returned, Ruan Qiaoqiao had already finished.
Fu Wenzhou sent An An back to his room, then went to check on Kang Kang, who was still sleeping soundly and seemed fine.
When he came out, he saw Ruan Qiaoqiao standing in the outer room, looking at him.
“Fu Wenzhou, where am I sleeping tonight? With the children, or alone?”
Fu Wenzhou looked at her calmly, his voice low and rich:
“You’ve excluded the only correct answer. You sleep with me.”
“What?” Sleep with him?