Song Zhuowei took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. Gently but firmly, he removed her hand from inside his shirt and soothed her in a low voice.
“Don’t be afraid. The doctor will be here soon.”
He looked around, his sharp eyes sweeping the area until they landed on a large vat of clean water not far away.
That’s right!
He had learned this before!
Physical cooling!
Without hesitation, Song Zhuowei carried Lin Xizhi to the water vat and carefully lowered her feverish body into the cold water.
Water splashed everywhere.
The bone-chilling cold struck her like countless needles, forcing Lin Xizhi back to her senses.
Her whole body trembled violently.
Cold sweat and hot sweat alternated across her forehead, making her feel as though she were better off dead.
“Doctor! Doctor!”
Before losing consciousness, the last thing Lin Xizhi heard was Song Zhuowei desperately shouting for help.
She let out a bitter smile.
Song Zhuowei…
You’re really something.
What an honorable gentleman.
Then her consciousness could no longer hold on, and she completely blacked out.
While unconscious, her awareness returned to her storage space.
Feeling thirsty, Lin Xizhi scooped up a mouthful of the spring water.
Instantly, her mind cleared and her body felt refreshed.
So the well water inside her space could heal illnesses and neutralize poisons!
She drank two large ladles.
Her spirits improved considerably.
The refreshing moisture soothed her lungs and heart, making her entire body feel lighter.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on a hospital bed in the clinic of Shajing Commune.
The surrounding walls were painted white on the upper half and green on the lower half.
A large red-painted character reading “Silence” was emblazoned on the wall.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
Faint voices drifted in from the hallway outside.
The doctor said,
“Her constitution is far too weak.”
After a brief silence, Song Zhuowei asked,
“Would injecting rooster blood help? Didn’t someone from the neighboring brigade nearly drown before? They gave him a shot of rooster blood, and he survived.”
The doctor hesitated.
“It shouldn’t work in theory… but given her condition… we can only treat a dead horse as though it were still alive.”
Song Zhuowei immediately replied,
“Then I’ll go borrow a rooster from the brigade and draw some blood right away!”
Lin Xizhi panicked.
He really intended to inject her with rooster blood!
Song Zhuowei, you living King of Hell!
If he hadn’t insisted on dunking her into cold water earlier, she wouldn’t have ended up alternating between chills and fever, her life hanging by a thread…
Fortunately, she had her storage space.
Otherwise, she would have died.
And now…
He wanted to make her suffer even more!
This man is unbelievably reckless!
Lin Xizhi suddenly sat upright and shouted,
“Captain Song!”
Everyone outside was startled.
Song Zhuowei was the first to rush into the room.
But when he reached her bedside and met her pair of wet, doe-like eyes…
He suddenly froze as if he’d been burned.
Standing rooted to the spot.
His gaze turned flustered.
His hands didn’t know where to go.
His mind was filled with the memory of her fragile whimpers as she had leaned against his chest.
Like the cries of a tiny kitten.
The sound had clawed at his heart.
“Y-you’re awake,” Song Zhuowei said while staring awkwardly at the wall instead of her.
He had assumed Lin Xizhi would be just as embarrassed as he was.
Perhaps even too ashamed to face anyone.
Instead, she raised both hands and grabbed his shirt.
Song Zhuowei stopped breathing.
C-could it be…
The drug hasn’t worn off yet?
“Captain Song… I… I want to report a crime!”
Biting her lower lip, Lin Xizhi said with hatred and determination,
“I want to report the sea pirates for robbery! And I want to report the family of traffickers who sold me to them!”
Song Zhuowei frowned and turned to face her seriously.
“Human traffickers?”
“Yes! Human traffickers!”
Her eyes reddened instantly.
“They didn’t just steal my family’s belongings they planned to take me to Hong Kong City and sell me for a high price! But when they encountered the pirates midway, they changed their minds and sold me to the pirates instead! They absolutely can’t be allowed to get away with it! Cough… cough…”
Growing emotional, Lin Xizhi accidentally choked on her own saliva.
She covered her mouth and coughed violently, her shoulders shaking.
Song Zhuowei naturally had no idea that she was simply choking.
All he could think of was how pitiful she had looked when he found her aboard the pirates’ filthy boat.
Like a little lamb that had nearly drowned.
Then he had discovered that this innocent young woman had been drugged with an animal stimulant.
Now that she had finally recovered a little strength, merely mentioning her enemies had upset her so much she looked ready to fall apart again.
A surge of rage exploded inside him.
He wanted nothing more than to arrest those vicious beasts and beat them senseless.
Just then, Sea Guard member A-Ming hurried over.
“Captain! The family that filed the report keeps making a scene. They’re demanding that we immediately head out to sea to wipe out the pirates! That Uncle Pei even said if we delay any longer, his heart disease will flare up, and his life-saving medicine was among the belongings the pirates stole… What should we do?”
Lin Xizhi looked up in shock.
“Uncle Pei? You mean… Pei Zhikuan and his family actually had the nerve to report this to the authorities?”
She immediately grabbed the corner of Song Zhuowei’s shirt.
Her eyes shone as brightly as stars.
“Captain Song! They’re the ones who stole my family’s property and sold me to the pirates!”
Song Zhuowei’s gaze instantly turned as sharp as a blade.
There was killing intent hidden within it.
Turning to A-Ming, he calmly said,
“A heart attack is very dangerous. Bring him to the clinic immediately.”
Taking the order seriously, A-Ming immediately ran off to fetch the Pei family from the office.
After he left, Song Zhuowei softened his tone.
Pointing at the hospital bed, he said to Lin Xizhi,
“They’ll be here soon. Before they arrive, you need to lie back down.”
“And drink your medicine.”
His stern, commanding tone sounded as though he were training soldiers.
Lin Xizhi thought to herself,
If I didn’t already know this was simply his personality…
I’d really think he was cold, rigid, and impossible to get along with.
She obediently complied and quietly lay back on the bed.
With a serious expression, Song Zhuowei left the ward and went to the small room where medicinal herbs were being boiled to check whether Lin Xizhi’s medicine was ready.
Dr. Zhang from the clinic couldn’t help walking over and quietly reminding him,
“You really ought to be a little gentler with that young lady.”
Song Zhuowei frowned in confusion.
“Was my attitude really that bad?”
Dr. Zhang clicked his tongue.
“Bad? It was far worse than bad! You looked like you were interrogating a criminal, as if you wanted to skin her alive! Fortunately, that girl’s quite brave. If it had been someone else, she’d have been scared to tears.”
Song Zhuowei merely stared at the little clay medicine pot simmering over the fire.
He remained silent.
Dr. Zhang continued,
“Xiao Song, I’ve watched you grow up, so let me ask you something. Tell me honestly.”
Song Zhuowei responded with slight impatience,
“Go ahead.”
Dr. Zhang raised an eyebrow.
“Do you like the girl you rescued? Didn’t your Sea Guard have an unwritten rule that official business must always be handled in the office and never discussed elsewhere? But just now I heard you deliberately ask the family involved in the robbery case to come all the way to the clinic for her sake. So… have you fallen for her?”
Like her?
Song Zhuowei had never liked anyone before.
So he didn’t really know what “liking someone” meant.
But Dr. Zhang wasn’t wrong.
He really had broken precedent for Lin Xizhi.
Normally, even if she needed to identify the Pei family, she should have been taken back to the office, where trained personnel would formally record her statement.
But every time he thought about how frail she was, as delicate as paper…
Song Zhuowei genuinely worried she might lose her life.
“As far as I’m concerned, where we question a witness isn’t an official regulation of the team,” he said with a carefree smile.
“It’s just an old custom. If it gets broken, then it gets broken.”
“If the commune leaders decide to hold me accountable afterward…”
“I’ll write a self-criticism.”