Li Auntie, if you and Uncle Wang don’t have any objections, and as long as you don’t mind having me, then I’m willing.
Hearing that Song Wanning agreed, Li Lan smiled so broadly that she could barely close her mouth.
Since she couldn’t become her daughter-in-law, becoming her daughter was just as good.
“Alright, alright! Then wait here. I’ll go home right now and talk to my husband about it.”
With that, Li Lan happily ran off.
Seeing how happy Li Lan was, Song Wanning couldn’t help curling her lips into a smile as well.
Her mood was excellent.
Looking at the medicinal herbs drying in the courtyard, she decided to head into the mountains again to see if she might get lucky enough to find some rare herbs.
She picked up her bamboo basket and headed toward the back mountain.
Following the mountain path, she searched for herbs around the outskirts at first.
As she walked, she gradually ventured deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, she spotted a bright red lingzhi mushroom ahead of her.
She hurried over, wanting to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
Just then, she heard a faint rustling coming from the bushes on her right.
The sound drew her attention away from the lingzhi, and she carefully approached the bushes instead.
The closer she got, the stranger the sound became.
It sounded like someone weakly crying for help.
“Help… help…”
Unsure whether she had heard correctly, she moved even closer.
Sure enough, it was a woman’s voice calling for help.
She pushed aside the bushes and looked inside.
A woman was lying there.
One of her legs was bent at a horrifying angle, clearly broken.
Blood covered her head, making the sight extremely alarming.
Song Wanning recognized her.
She was one of the educated youths sent to the countryside, Xu Lanjiao.
The reason Song Wanning remembered her so clearly was because, in her previous life, Xu Lanjiao’s parents had driven a sedan to the village to take her back to the city.
If she remembered correctly, that happened about a month later.
Back then, seeing a sedan drive into the village was an incredibly rare sight.
None of the villagers had ever seen such a nice car before.
Xu Lanjiao’s parents had personally come to bring her home.
Instead, they learned of her death.
She had come into the mountains to gather firewood, accidentally slipped down a slope, and died.
Because no one had discovered her and no one had heard her cries for help, she ultimately perished deep in these mountains.
Even her body had been devoured by wild animals.
Feeling sorry for her, the village chief had later erected a simple gravestone on the back mountain and buried some of her belongings there as a symbolic grave.
Thinking of this, Song Wanning hurried over to help her.
Just as she was about to lift her up, she remembered that Xu Lanjiao had suffered a head injury and didn’t dare move her carelessly.
“Hey… can you hear me?”
Xu Lanjiao’s eyes were unfocused.
Even though Song Wanning was speaking to her, she barely reacted.
Song Wanning placed two fingers on her wrist and checked her pulse for a moment.
It was extremely weak.
She had also suffered serious injuries.
Her condition was critical.
She had likely lost too much blood and was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“Save… me…”
Using the last of her strength, Xu Lanjiao grabbed Song Wanning’s arm.
Her desire to survive had reached its peak.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you.”
“Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”
“I’m going to treat your wounds now. Bear with it.”
Song Wanning wasn’t sure whether Xu Lanjiao had actually heard her.
She first examined the wound on the back of her head.
She had probably struck a rock when she fell.
The wound itself wasn’t very large, but it had bled heavily.
At the moment, Song Wanning had nothing useful on hand.
After thinking for a moment, while Xu Lanjiao wasn’t paying attention, she quietly took a cup of Spirit Spring water from her space using an enamel mug and gently cleaned the wound.
Originally, she had intended to look around for herbs that could stop bleeding.
To her surprise, after the Spirit Spring water touched Xu Lanjiao’s wound, the bleeding immediately stopped.
The hemostatic effect was remarkable.
She just didn’t know whether it could heal injuries as well.
After some thought, she filled another enamel mug with Spirit Spring water and carefully fed Xu Lanjiao a few mouthfuls.
She then began treating her broken leg.
The fracture was fairly serious.
She searched the surrounding area for something that could be used as a splint, such as wooden boards or sturdy branches.
Eventually, she picked up two thick branches.
They would have to do for now.
She secured the branches to Xu Lanjiao’s injured leg and took two hemp ropes from her space to tie them firmly in place.
After finishing everything, she checked Xu Lanjiao’s pulse again.
It was much stronger than before.
It seemed the Spirit Spring water really was effective.
However, the wound on her head still needed to be properly bandaged as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Song Wanning had neither gauze nor medicine with her.
After thinking it over, and seeing that Xu Lanjiao’s condition had stabilized considerably, she decided to retrieve the lingzhi mushroom she had spotted earlier.
She returned to where she had found it, took a small shovel out of her space, and carefully dug up the lingzhi before storing it safely inside her space.
Afterward, she returned to Xu Lanjiao’s side and checked the wound on the back of her head again.
It was no longer bleeding.
Xu Lanjiao had regained some awareness.
Recognizing that Song Wanning had saved her, she weakly whispered,
“Thank you.”
“How are you feeling now?”
“Does anything still hurt?”
“Can you walk on your own?”
“If not, I’ll carry you down the mountain.”
Originally, Song Wanning had planned to leave her there temporarily while she went down the mountain to find help.
But she was worried that leaving Xu Lanjiao alone would be dangerous.
If a wild animal appeared while she was gone, Xu Lanjiao might end up suffering the same tragic fate as in her previous life—dying without even leaving behind a complete body.
“I… I’ll try.”
Hearing that, Song Wanning quickly helped her to her feet.
But with a broken leg, Xu Lanjiao couldn’t walk at all.
Having no other choice, Song Wanning shifted her bamboo basket to the front and let Xu Lanjiao climb onto her back.
She carried her down the mountain.
At first, Song Wanning thought it would be exhausting.
Instead, she found that Xu Lanjiao felt surprisingly light.
It was almost as though she wasn’t carrying anyone at all.
She quickly made her way down the mountain.
When she reached the foot of the mountain and was nearly back at her house, she saw Li Lan and Wang Jianguo waiting outside.
She immediately hurried toward them.
Li Lan spotted her as well.
The moment she saw Song Wanning carrying someone on her back, she rushed over.
“Oh my, Song girl! Where have you been?”
“Who is the person you’re carrying?”
“How did she get such serious injuries?”
Only when she got closer did Li Lan notice that the back of Xu Lanjiao’s head was covered in blood and that there were bloodstains on her clothes as well.
The sight frightened her.
Seeing such a thin and frail Song Wanning carrying another person, Li Lan hurried over, intending to help take Xu Lanjiao off her back.
But Song Wanning stopped her.
“Li Auntie, she’s seriously injured.”
“I need to take her to Doctor Li first.”