While stroking the puppy’s head, Jiang Yutong said, “How about I call you Banban from now on?”
“Banban, Banban.”
As if it knew that was its name, the puppy gave Jiang Yutong a soft little bark.
“Woof~”
After playing with the puppy for a while, Jiang Yutong finally remembered why she had come.
“Thank you, Auntie Wang. How much do I owe you? I’ll pay you.”
“The puppy was a gift from Uncle Li, so you don’t have to pay for it. The chicks are five copper coins each. You bought twelve, so that’s sixty copper coins in total.”
Jiang Yutong took some copper coins from inside her clothes and counted out one hundred coins for Auntie Wang.
“Auntie Wang, please give these forty coins to Uncle Liu for me. I really like this dog.”
Auntie Wang nodded. “All right. I’ll give them to him for you.”
Jiang Yutong then asked, “Auntie Wang, do you have any notoginseng? I need a little.”
Auntie Wang thought Jiang Yutong wanted it for herself. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Should I have Uncle Li take a look at you?”
“No, I have another use for it. Do you have any baijiu? Give me some of that too.”
Auntie Wang brought the things out. “Take them. If something’s wrong, don’t try to shoulder everything by yourself.”
“Mm, I know, Auntie Wang. Consider these things something I bought from you.”
With that, Jiang Yutong took out another two strings of copper coins.
Auntie Wang hurriedly refused. “No need. How much could these few things possibly cost?”
Jiang Yutong didn’t give her a chance to refuse. She picked up the things and left.
When she returned home, Jiang Yutong opened the door, put everything down, and went into the spare room. The man was still there.
She settled Banban and the chicks, then found some food for them.
Jiang Yutong boiled a pot of water and sterilized the scissors and cotton cloth by boiling them for more than ten minutes. Once everything was prepared, she began removing the weapon from the man’s leg.
She held the man’s jaw and placed a wooden stick in his mouth to prevent him from biting down uncontrollably.
After preparing everything, Jiang Yutong picked up the scissors, sprayed some alcohol on them, and began working on the man’s leg.
Unable to bear the pain, the man woke up.
Jiang Yutong hurriedly said, “Hang in there. I’m going to pull the weapon out.”
Cold sweat trickled down the man’s forehead. When he heard her words, he clenched his fists tightly and let Jiang Yutong continue.
Jiang Yutong carefully worked the weapon out of his flesh. Blood immediately gushed from the wound.
She quickly packed the wound with hemostatic medicine and bandaged it with gauze.
“All right. Be careful not to let the wound get wet. I’ll change the dressing again tomorrow.”
She then looked at the man.
He was drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled out of water.
His face was pale and his lips had lost their color. He had clearly lost a great deal of blood.
For now, Jiang Yutong had only treated his external injury. The poison on the weapon would require other medicines to counteract and help him recover.
“Thank you.”
A hoarse voice came from him.
Jiang Yutong didn’t stay any longer. After cleaning everything up, she left.
Watching Jiang Yutong’s retreating figure, Xiao Yifeng finally began looking around.
It was clearly a farmhouse. The room was very simple, with hardly anything inside, though the house itself seemed to have been renovated.
Xiao Yifeng had already recognized Jiang Yutong when he was in the mountains. She was the woman who had helped him escape the county town last time.
He never expected that she would save him again today.
Before Xiao Yifeng could think any further, Jiang Yutong came in carrying a bowl of porridge.
“Drink some.”
Xiao Yifeng took the bowl and drank it in large mouthfuls.
Soon, the entire bowl of porridge was gone.
Jiang Yutong had originally made the porridge for her own dinner, but seeing Xiao Yifeng finish it, she went and filled another bowl. This time, she also brought several flatbreads.
Xiao Yifeng was genuinely hungry, and he had also lost a great deal of blood, so he ate with great appetite.
After finishing the flatbreads and porridge, Xiao Yifeng actually felt a little embarrassed. This was the first time he had eaten so without any regard for his manners.
After eating, Xiao Yifeng looked much more energetic.
“I can never repay you for saving my life. May I ask your name, miss?”
Jiang Yutong didn’t want to become too involved with this man.
“I simply couldn’t stand by and watch someone die. Once your injury heals, you should leave.”
Jiang Yutong picked up the bowl and was about to leave. But when she reached the door, she thought for a moment and added, “I don’t care who you are. While you’re here, you’re not allowed to cause me any trouble. You can’t leave this room under normal circumstances. Otherwise, I’ll report you to the authorities.”
Xiao Yifeng nodded in agreement.
“I’ll obey.”
Jiang Yutong carried the bowl into the kitchen. Looking at the empty pot, she couldn’t help but marvel at how enormous a man’s appetite could be.
There was nothing she could do. She cooked herself a bowl of noodles and ate it casually with some flatbread.
After cleaning everything up, she listened carefully.
She couldn’t hear any movement from the man, so Jiang Yutong left him alone and went into the courtyard to play with Banban for a while.
After spending so much time in an unfamiliar environment, Banban had become a little braver. Whenever Jiang Yutong called his name, he would answer with a little bark.
He was incredibly adorable.
Seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Yutong washed up and went to bed.
Before falling asleep, Jiang Yutong thought about getting up during the night to check on the man. Medical conditions were poor in this era, and there was a good chance the man would develop a fever during the night.
In the middle of the night, Jiang Yutong suddenly woke with a start.
She put on her shoes, grabbed a lamp, and went to the spare room.
Sure enough, the man was moaning unconsciously, his forehead covered in sweat.
She nudged him and realized that he was delirious with fever. He mumbled,
“Water…”
Jiang Yutong gave him some water, then brought in a basin of water and prepared to wipe him down with a cloth.
Jiang Yutong had no particular concern about the proprieties between men and women. She quickly removed his clothes and began wiping his body.
She hadn’t expected him to have such a well-built physique.
This was the first time Jiang Yutong had been so close to a man’s body. His broad, muscular chest made it obvious that he possessed great strength.
Unlike in the modern era, where being thin was considered beautiful.
She quickly wiped him down, changing the basin of water again and again, until the man’s temperature gradually came down.
When Xiao Yifeng opened his eyes, he saw that his body was exposed and Jiang Yutong was asleep with her head resting on the table a short distance away.
Xiao Yifeng knew that he must have caused her trouble again.
He shifted his body slightly, making a faint sound.
Jiang Yutong woke from her sleep.
“You’re awake?”
Without thinking, Jiang Yutong reached out and touched Xiao Yifeng’s forehead.
“Good. Your fever has mostly gone down.”
When her cool hand touched Xiao Yifeng’s forehead, his body instinctively tensed.
It was the first time he had ever been so close to a woman.
Jiang Yutong quickly withdrew her hand.
“I’ll make you something to eat first.”
Jiang Yutong soon walked out.
Only after she had gone some distance away did Xiao Yifeng come back to his senses.
Jiang Yutong entered the kitchen, found some meat, sliced it into thin strips, and quickly cooked a bowl of noodles. She even added a fried egg on top.
To help Xiao Yifeng recover quickly, she was making sure he was well fed.
Soon, a steaming bowl of fragrant noodles was ready.
Xiao Yifeng caught the aroma and unconsciously swallowed.
“Eat quickly. You need strength to recover.”
Xiao Yifeng knew she was right, so he didn’t stand on ceremony with Jiang Yutong and began eating heartily.
Jiang Yutong went into the kitchen and ate the remaining noodles herself, then prepared the herbs to change Xiao Yifeng’s dressing.
Just then, a voice came from outside.
“Yutong! You damn girl, are you in there or not?”
Jiang Yutong’s hand froze.