Seeing that it was still early, Ji Yuchen agreed. The two of them walked to the shore and boarded the boat. Xu Chuang got on first and helped Ji Yuchen as he jumped on, causing the small boat to wobble. Nervously, Ji Yuchen grabbed Xu Chuang’s arm and asked if it would tip over.
The man chuckled, helped him sit at the bow, and picked up the oar, pushing off the shore towards the cluster of lotus leaves.
The lotus leaves here rose half a person’s height above the water, reflecting the cool secret realm below. Ji Yuchen sat at the bow with his palms supporting him from behind, looking up at the greenery weaving above, casting various sizes of light spots. He thought this place was indeed better, cooler than the shore, because it was close to the water and full of green plants. Except for the mosquitoes that required frequent fanning, everything else was extremely comfortable.
Xu Chuang rowed the boat to the center of the lotus pond, where the large lotus leaves shielded them from the sun, casting a shadow of yellow and green. Ji Yuchen’s mind wandered for a moment, and a scene suddenly flashed in his mind, like a greenhouse in the afternoon, sunlight caressing the green plants, a woman turning back to smile gently at him, her lips moving.
He couldn’t hear what the woman was saying, and the scene ended abruptly in an instant. Ji Yuchen stared blankly at the water, where something rose to the surface, creating a small bubble, possibly a fish breathing.
He felt the boat sway as the man stepped over the board to stand in front of him, stuffing a few white things into his hand.
“Try this, it’s ripe and not bitter.”
Xu Chuang held a lotus pod, so these must be lotus seeds, freshly peeled. As he spoke, he popped one into his mouth. Ji Yuchen tasted it; the crisp and tender texture carried a hint of sweetness, somewhat like small beans, with a bit of moisture.
He looked up and said it was delicious. Xu Chuang finished peeling the lotus pod in his hand and poured them all to him, saying he would pick more to cook porridge with when they got back.
Ji Yuchen sat at the bow, eating the lotus seeds one by one, distracted by the scene in his mind—the woman’s smile was particularly familiar, even though it was fleeting, her face left a deep impression. Who was she? Why did she smile at him like that?
The small boat stopped in the center of the lotus pond, the water surface rippling in layers. Ji Yuchen looked up and cautioned, “Be careful…”
Xu Chuang stood in the middle, towards the back, picking a few lotus pods and tossing them onto the boat, then sat down to peel them.
He was quick, skillful at peeling lotus seeds. Ji Yuchen was almost done with his and was eyeing Xu Chuang’s, quite intently.
To avoid appearing too greedy, he started glancing around—behind Xu Chuang, a flower bud was quietly standing among the lotus leaves. Ji Yuchen wanted to get a clearer look and quickly stood up.
The boat lost balance between the two of them and began to wobble. Xu Chuang dropped the lotus pod and grabbed Jiu’er’s waist, just about to say “Don’t move,” when Ji Yuchen’s foot slipped, and they both fell onto the boat’s board.
…
He was originally facing Xu Chuang, and as he lost his balance, he fell backward. Xu Chuang, afraid he would hit himself, flipped over to cushion him.
Ji Yuchen lay on Xu Chuang, feeling the world spin, his light body pressing against the man’s firm chest, closely fitting from the waist down due to gravity.
It took him a while to recover, feeling something poking him. After a few seconds, he blushed deeply.
Ji Yuchen struggled to get up, and not far away, a whistle sounded, approaching from a distance, someone humming a tune as they descended the mountain. Xu Chuang held him down, not letting him move, so Ji Yuchen stayed put, his ear against the man’s chest, hearing the strong and powerful heartbeat.
He didn’t know when the whistling faded away until Xu Chuang called him, “Jiu’er… you can get up now…” Ji Yuchen then rolled off him.
He was wearing a loose cotton shirt, the collar tilted to reveal one side of his collarbone, extending to his shoulder. Ji Yuchen tugged at his collar and whispered, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
The person lying down didn’t dwell on it, pulling his shirt down as he sat up from the boat. As he got up, he grunted, as if he had hurt somewhere. Ji Yuchen pulled him over to check and found a blood mark on Xu Chuang’s lower back, likely from hitting the edge of the seat, looking painful.
He panicked a bit, wanting to go ashore immediately, but he couldn’t row the boat, so Xu Chuang had to do it.
The man sat on the boat board for a while, then rowed back to the shore. Ji Yuchen was still shaken, thinking that if it had been him, his waist might have broken, and he might have hit his head. Xu Chuang really didn’t consider the consequences.
Back home, Ji Yuchen lifted Xu Chuang’s shirt and found the blood mark had started to spread, with a bluish-purple hue around it. He was worried and wanted to take him to the clinic, but Xu Chuang said, “The clinic is already closed at this hour. There’s medicine in the drawer, just help me apply it.”
If it were anywhere else, Xu Chuang would have handled it himself, but it was inconvenient for him to reach his back, so he asked Jiu’er for help. In the drawer, there was an ointment for stopping bleeding and reducing swelling, with anti-inflammatory effects, which Xu Chuang usually used for minor injuries.
Ji Yuchen dampened a towel with water to clean the area around the wound, then applied the ointment to the broken skin, asking if it hurt.
Xu Chuang had a bit of sweat on his forehead, gritting his teeth, saying, “It doesn’t hurt.” Ji Yuchen decided that no matter what, he would take him to the clinic tomorrow.
The next morning, Xu Chuang got up to tidy the stove in the yard, cooking porridge with the lotus seeds they picked yesterday. When Ji Yuchen got up, he smelled the aroma of rice, touched his stomach, and went out to find Xu Chuang hanging clothes in the yard.
He stood there for a few seconds, not fully awake, and groggily walked over to lift Xu Chuang’s shirt.
Xu Chuang was startled, realizing what Jiu’er was about to do, he relaxed a bit, standing there allowing him to do as he pleased.
Ji Yuchen insisted on taking him to the clinic. Xu Chuang couldn’t refuse, so he put out the fire on the stove and went to the village entrance with him, just as the clinic opened.
This village clinic was run by a doctor named Wang Zhi. Xu Chuang said he was a top student from a proper medical university, who came here for an internship during school and later stayed to open this clinic. Ji Yuchen thought he sounded like the legendary “barefoot doctor,” wondering if there was some special sentiment involved, but he seemed like an honest, kind person.
Thinking this, he followed Xu Chuang inside, seeing a doctor in a white coat coming out with two books, raising an eyebrow at Xu Chuang.
“Oh, a rare guest~ What brings you here?”
The man had a relaxed demeanor, with bright almond-shaped eyes, a very proper appearance. He looked young, in his early thirties, not what Ji Yuchen had imagined.
Xu Chuang sighed with a smile, gesturing behind him, “Someone was worried and insisted I come for a check…”
As he spoke, he lifted his shirt and turned around. Wang Zhi glanced at it and couldn’t help but laugh.
The two seemed unconcerned, only Ji Yuchen was nervous, puffing his cheeks behind them, saying that Brother Chuang had hurt his waist yesterday, it looked serious, asking for help to check it.
Wang Zhi chuckled, “Hurt your waist, huh? That’s not good, a man shouldn’t hurt his waist.”
Ji Yuchen felt this person’s tone was frivolous, not at all like the serious image he had imagined, his impression of him sharply dropping.
He whispered to Xu Chuang, “Is he really a doctor? Could he be a quack?”
Wang Zhi glanced at him with a smile, having heard early on that Xu Chuang picked someone up from the mountain, not expecting him to be so sharp-tongued.
He had Xu Chuang sit on a stool and lift his shirt for a look. Xu Chuang’s lower back was already bruised, mixed with scabs at the wound, looking more serious than yesterday. Ji Yuchen didn’t understand why a shallow cut had turned into such a large bruise, looking alarming.
Wang Zhi put on gloves and carefully examined the area around the wound, working quite professionally. He said it wasn’t serious, just a superficial wound, the cut wasn’t deep, and it would heal in time.
Ji Yuchen asked, “Then why is it so bruised?”
Wang Zhi explained, saying it was called subcutaneous bleeding, and since they had already applied medicine yesterday and there were no signs of infection, it would heal once the scab fell off.
He advised Xu Chuang to apply a cold compress, and after 48 hours, a warm compress, and the bruise would quickly dissipate.
Later, Wang Zhi took tweezers and iodine cotton balls from a metal cabinet to clean the exudate around the wound, then covered it with gauze. Xu Chuang wanted to pay him for the consultation, but Wang Zhi refused, saying it wasn’t worth talking about money for such a small matter.
The two left the clinic, Ji Yuchen holding two patches Wang Zhi gave him, saying they could try them once the wound healed. He felt that Dr. Wang didn’t seem as bad as he initially thought. Xu Chuang said, “Apart from his talkative nature, he’s actually a good person.”