After He Yan and Li Xiangyang left, Lihua and Lanhua headed into the camellia grove to search for tea tree mushrooms. Bai Su took Hehua around the slope toward the mountain hollow near the cowshed to gather medicinal herbs.
There was litoucao, also known as kangbanggui. This herb could not only help repel snakes but was also used traditionally to treat snake venom and unexplained swellings.
Mugwort could repel mosquitoes, relieve wheezing and coughing, and dispel dampness and cold.
It was useful both as a medicinal herb and for herbal baths.
Bai Su also knew a formula for a mosquito-repellent ointment whose main ingredient was mugwort.
The southern climate was hot and humid, and mosquitoes were plentiful on the islands. Bai Su planned to make some mosquito-repellent ointment and send it there.
Every so often, one or two wild gardenia bushes appeared among the shrubs. Bai Su had Hehua pick the flowers and put them into her carrying basket.
The mountain hollow was lush with vegetation, making it an ideal place for plants to grow. Bai Su found a patch of mugwort at the foot of a low slope and was just about to cut it with her sickle when she heard rustling from above.
A figure came tumbling down the slope and landed beside her feet with a thud.
The person nearly fell onto the sickle she was holding, giving Bai Su a terrible fright.
She took a closer look!
Wasn’t this Professor Yin?
He was the elderly man who had fallen ill on the tractor when she returned from reporting the Lu family to the commune. His grandson was that exceptionally handsome young man.
Hehua was standing near some shrubs not far from Bai Su, pulling up a clump of kangbanggui.
The plant had thorns, so Hehua was handling it carefully. Startled by the sudden noise behind her, she pricked her hand and jumped up with a cry of pain.
Seeing the old man lying on the ground, Hehua shrank toward Bai Su in fright.
“Mom, what’s going on? Who is he?”
“He’s not a bad person. Last time I went to the town commune, I rode back on the same tractor as him and his grandson.”
“His illness has flared up. We can’t just leave him here.”
Bai Su called to Hehua, “Come over here and help me support him.”
The cowshed wasn’t far from this mountain hollow.
Hehua suspected that the old man who had collapsed was one of the people sent down to live there.
Everyone living in the cowshed had supposedly committed some offense, and Hehua felt it would be better not to get involved with them.
Her mind began racing with worries. What if helping this old man brought trouble upon them?
She hesitated, wanting to warn Bai Su, but then remembered what her mother had told her the other day when she’d mentioned Brother He Yan’s bad class background.
Forget it!
With her mother there to make the decisions, what did she have to worry about?
Hehua suppressed her fear and went over to help Bai Su move the unconscious old man to a flatter patch of ground.
When she saw Bai Su pinching and pressing various points on the old man’s body, even pressing against his chest, Hehua became too embarrassed to watch and covered her eyes.
Professor Yin gradually regained consciousness.
Bai Su stopped what she was doing and noticed Hehua’s reaction. She was so exasperated that she scolded her.
“I’m treating his illness! What nonsense are you imagining, girl?”
“I—I wasn’t thinking anything!”
Hehua stumbled over her words. “I know you’re treating him, Mom.”
If you know that, why are you covering your face?
Bai Su decided to ignore her.
Generally, someone with Professor Yin’s condition should carry medicine with him.
Bai Su quickly searched his pockets and, sure enough, found a medicine bottle in his upper coat pocket.
The medicine was imported, and it was clearly different from what he had taken last time.
He Yan had told her that he’d accompanied Qin Yanyue around this mountain hollow and that Secretary Qin had gone to the cowshed to borrow the latrine.
Bai Su hadn’t known whom that important man had come to see.
But after finding this bottle of medicine in Professor Yin’s pocket, she understood.
When Professor Yin woke and realized that the woman who had saved him on the tractor had rescued him once again, he looked at Bai Su gratefully.
However, when he noticed her examining the medicine bottle closely, he became somewhat flustered.
Bai Su had already given him his medicine. She quickly looked away from the bottle and casually slipped it back into his pocket, acting as though nothing had happened.
“Your name is Bai Su, if I remember correctly?”
After taking the medicine and resting for a while, Professor Yin’s complexion improved considerably.
“Comrade Bai Su, thank you for saving my life again. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Of course, having fallen to such a state, there’s not much an old man like me can offer. I might not be able to help you at all.”
His voice carried a mixture of sorrow and self-mockery.
Bai Su noticed that the basket lying on the ground contained some wild vegetables, so she hurriedly asked Hehua to gather them up.
“There’s no obstacle in this world that can’t be overcome. Everyone faces a few hardships in their lifetime. You’re simply going through a period of misfortune, Professor Yin—a dragon trapped in shallow waters.”
Bai Su handed him the basket.
“When the winds rise and the waters swell, the dragon will eventually return east to the sea. You’ll live to see that day.”
Such philosophical words, coming from an ordinary rural woman?
Professor Yin was momentarily stunned. He studied Bai Su, beginning to reassess her.
In her eyes, he saw nothing but sincerity, without the slightest trace of ulterior motives.
Deeply moved, Professor Yin smiled with newfound acceptance.
“Then I’ll take your words as a good omen, Comrade Bai Su. I hope that day really comes, so I can repay you for saving my life twice.”
“Is this your daughter?”
Hehua timidly shrank behind Bai Su.
Professor Yin smiled helplessly. “You should take her and leave. It’s better to keep your distance from a wretched old man like me.”
“And from now on, if you have no particular reason to come here, take another route. Don’t come near this mountain hollow!”
“You’re worrying too much, Professor. She’s just timid.”
Bai Su pulled Hehua out from behind her.
“Hehua, what did Mom tell you in the kitchen that day? This is Professor Yin.”
Could people choose the families they were born into?
Her mother had told her not to be shortsighted!
Someone suffering through hard times now might become highly sought after in the future. Something about having great potential…
Hehua timidly opened her mouth, gathering the courage to greet Professor Yin and call him Grandpa Yin.
But someone else called out first.
“Grandpa!”
Hehua turned toward the voice and looked at the person running over.
She was completely dumbfounded.
How could anyone be even better-looking than Brother He Yan and Educated Youth Zhou?
Hehua couldn’t find the words to describe Yin Fan, who had suddenly appeared before her. All she knew was that even in his patched clothes, he looked like an immortal who had stepped straight out of a painting.
She forgot her embarrassment, her timidity, and her shyness, staring at Yin Fan without blinking.
“Your grandfather had another attack. Help him back, and don’t let him come out alone again.”
Bai Su instructed Yin Fan, who had just arrived, “His condition is very serious. I’ll come up the mountain tomorrow to gather herbs and give him acupuncture to help relieve his symptoms.”
Yin Fan knew that because of their political status, anyone who associated with them risked being implicated.
He wanted to refuse.
But when he thought about his grandfather’s illness, and how he might not have survived this episode without the medicine Uncle Qin had brought, Yin Fan couldn’t bring himself to say no.
Professor Yin, however, remained clearheaded. He waved his hand.
“No, no. That won’t do. You’ll only get dragged into trouble because of us.”
“We’ll do it quietly, where no one can see.”
Bai Su smiled and gave him a playful wink.
Professor Yin couldn’t help laughing at her mischievous expression, and he said nothing more.
Even after Yin Fan helped his grandfather away toward the cowshed, Hehua’s gaze remained fixed on the retreating figure of the noble-looking young man.
Bai Su looked at the foolishly entranced girl beside her and could hardly bear to watch. She waved a hand in front of Hehua’s face.
“Sweetheart, come back to earth!”
Only then did Hehua realize that she’d been staring at him without blinking.
Seeing Bai Su smiling at her, Hehua was so embarrassed that she wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear.
“Mom, how can someone still be so handsome when he smells like cow dung?”