Chapter 180
"Give me half a month's worth of medicine for free," Fang Zichen said.
Physician Xu: "..." This man is clearly here for the money.
The medicine Fang Zichen took wasn't cheap; half a month's supply would cost at least four or five taels of silver.
But seeing the other party's expression that clearly said 'if you don't agree, I'll make you regret it, maybe even put a sack over your head tonight,' Physician Xu had no choice but to agree.
As soon as the city gates opened, Zhao Ger, carrying Guaizai on his back, hurried to Jishi Medical Hall. He didn't know which medical hall Fang Zichen would go to, but Jishi Medical Hall was closest to the gates. Given Xiao Feng's condition at the time, he probably wouldn't have gone far.
Following the medicine boy into the backyard, he saw Fang Zichen squatting by the door, a steamed bun in each hand, eating heartily.
"Husband."
Fang Zichen stood up: "Ah, why are you here so early? Have you had breakfast?"
Zhao Ger shook his head. Worried about Xiao Feng, he hadn't slept well last night and had gotten up early today, he hadn't had the mind for food.
Guaizai's hair was tousled. Having not seen Fang Zichen for a night, he missed him terribly.
"Father, hug~"
Fang Zichen took Guaizai and handed him a steamed bun, giving the other to Zhao Ger.
He had already taken a couple of bites from this bun, but Guaizai didn't mind, holding it and starting to munch.
Zhao Ger looked into the room: "How is Xiao Feng?"
Fang Zichen smoothed Guaizai's hair and said: "Don't know. He's still unconscious!"
"Husband," Zhao Ger looked at him, his brow slightly furrowed: "What's wrong with you?"
Fang Zichen looked around, avoiding his gaze: "Nothing!"
Zhao Ger took a breath, as if gritting his teeth: "Then why won't you look at me?"
Fang Zichen tightened his arms around Guaizai, thinking that this matter couldn't be avoided or hidden. He glanced at Zhao Ger cautiously and stammered out what had happened.
Six hundred taels were gone just like that. On top of that, there would be more costs for changing his medicine and further treatment… yet another large sum.
Hearing this, Zhao Ger was stunned.
But this money had to be spent.
If money was gone, they could earn more. But if a person was gone, they were gone forever.
He had never touched those six hundred taels before, always feeling it was Fang Zichen's 'suffering money,' a knot in his heart. Those banknotes seemed to constantly remind him of what Fang Zichen had been through.
He wanted to spend it, but there was nothing the family needed to buy. Having been poor for so long, he couldn't bring himself to buy anything too extravagant, so he ended up hiding it away.
But still, it was six hundred taels of silver. He had once kneeled and kowtowed to others for just a few coppers. By scrimping and saving for many years, he had only managed to save a few dozen coppers. Now, such a huge sum was spent in less than a day. He wasn't without heartache or distress. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be willing. But Xiao Feng had helped him before.
When Guaizai was just a few months old and fell ill, he went to cut firewood to exchange for medicine. It was Xiao Feng who helped look after Guaizai. Later, when they became familiar, whenever Xiao Feng found any food, he would always share it with Guaizai.
Finding food in the mountains wasn't easy. The outer areas were often picked over by women and fulangs; anything edible was usually gone. The food Xiao Feng found, he had to venture into the inner parts of the mountains to get.
To put it bluntly, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he risked his life for it.
Yet even so, whenever Xiao Feng found something to eat, he would share it with Guaizai without a second thought.
To extend a helping hand when someone is at their lowest, without expecting anything in return—that is the rarest and most precious kind of kindness.
Although they had gotten through the tough times now, Xiao Feng had helped him before, and this kindness was something he would never forget.
If they had no money and no means, then it would be one thing. But now, they clearly had money. If they stood by and did nothing—if they watched him die when they had the means to help—Zhao Ger knew he would never be able to forgive himself.
With tears welling in his eyes, Guaizai leaned by the bedside and gently hooked his finger around Xiao Feng's. Seeing Xiao Feng's pale face, his lack of response, his eyes still shut tight as he lay there silent and unaware, Guaizai's tears immediately began to fall.
"Wah... What's wrong with Brother Xiao Feng? Is he dead?" After asking, he sniffled and took another bite of his bun.
Fang Zichen stared, completely baffled.
He couldn't figure out if his son was truly upset or not.
If he wasn't sad, his tears should not keep falling. Yet if he was sad, it made no sense that he still had the mind to eat a steamed bun.
But then he thought of that time at the Liu family when Guaizai got his head stuck, and he could still eat a sweet potato as big as his arm. Fang Zichen felt relieved.
"Father." Guaizai stretched his neck to swallow the bun, crying: "Guaizai doesn't want Brother Xiao Feng to die. Guaizai wants Brother Xiao Feng."
"Your brother Xiao Feng isn't dead yet." Fang Zichen sighed, patting his head, and said: "But from the looks of it, it won't be long."
Zhao Ger immediately hit him: "How can you say such things? It's inauspicious."
Fang Zichen said quietly: "It just looks that way to me! I don't want to say it either, but he looks like he's about to kick the bucket any moment. I feel sorry for him too."
If Xiao Feng had been stronger, it might have been better. But his original physique didn't look very healthy to begin with.
Fang Zichen had lived a wealthy life before, a standard second-generation rich kid, never lacking money. Therefore, he had no concept of money and didn't realize it was important. It wasn't until he came to Xiaohe Village, went hungry, ate wild vegetables, and carried sandbags for almost a month that he gained a clear understanding of money.
Money isn't everything, but without money, you can't do anything.
For three taels of silver, he had confronted an escaped prisoner. When buying a bun, he would compare sizes from three different shops, wishing he could bargain with the boss for half a day. Even though he was that stingy, the six hundred taels he had obtained through blood, sweat, and tears—he didn't even blink before taking it out, all because he pitied this child.
He also wanted Xiao Feng to recover.
But facts were facts; he was just telling the truth. Although after saying it, he also felt that in this situation, at this time, these words really shouldn't have been said.
He quickly spat several times, "pei, pei, pei."
Zhao Ger saw the red veins in his eyes from staying up all night, he knew Fang Zichen hadn't slept at all.
He told Fang Zichen to go rest for a while. He would keep an eye on Xiao Feng. Seeing Fang Zichen fall asleep at the foot of the bed, he then went out, gave a few copper coins to the young medicine boy, and asked him to help request leave at Zuixiao Restaurant and also to inform Zhou Ger at the shop. He also asked if there was any thin bedding he could borrow.
Fang Zichen slept like a log. Guaizai kept holding Xiao Feng's hand, staring at him fixedly.
Xiao Feng showed no improvement throughout. But near evening, he suddenly developed a fever.
Zhao Ger called for Physician Xu. After checking the pulse, Physician Xu gave a slight shake of his head, saying the situation looked grim.
With wounds this severe, it was common for a fever to set in during treatment.
Most patients who made it through the fever would pull through.
But there was always a small number who did not survive.
Xiao Feng had always been frail, with little strength to fight illness. Even after drinking the ginseng broth, his body had been worn down for too long. His wounds were grave, and he hadn’t been brought to the medical hall soon enough—left in the cold night wind for hours, he had caught a chill on top of everything else. That he had lasted this long was already somewhat surprising to Physician Xu.
Fang Zichen was awakened by Guaizai's crying.
Without enough sleep, his head hurt as if it were splitting open.
"What's wrong?" He forced his eyes open. His temples throbbed, his vision was blurry, and everything seemed tinged with a red haze.
Guaizai buried his head in his arms, clutching and wrinkling his shirt with both hands, crying heartbrokenly.
He was used to crying silently, only whimpering softly like this when he was extremely sad.
Fang Zichen was still half-asleep, forgetting for a moment they were in the medical hall. His first thought was that his son must have been bullied again. He shot to his feet, anger already rising.
"Husband, what do we do?" Zhao Ger suddenly spoke, bringing back a shred of his senses.
Oh!
This is the medical hall.
Zhao Ger's eyes were filled with panic and fear.
Fang Zichen immediately asked: "What happened?"
Zhao Ger said haltingly: "Xiao Feng has a fever. Physician Xu said... said we should take him home."
Fevers were mostly due to wound infection.
Zhao Ger had begged Physician Xu. Seeing his attitude of not giving up until all hope was lost, Physician Xu, though he had no more tricks up his sleeve, still prescribed fever-reducing medicine and had the medicine boy brew it and feed it to Xiao Feng.
After half a shichen (one hour), there was still no improvement. Only then did he say they should take him home.
Fang Zichen felt Xiao Feng's forehead; it was indeed very hot, almost scalding. He stared at Xiao Feng, his gaze complex.
Before, he was afraid the person would turn cold. Now the person was hot, and he was still afraid.
Zhao Ger wiped his tears, saying he would go out to find an ox cart, but Fang Zichen stopped him.
"I think he can still be saved. Go buy some strong liquor."
Zhao Ger didn't know what he intended, but he always listened obediently. He immediately ran off to buy it.
When the liquor was bought, Fang Zichen didn't dare delay. He borrowed a towel from the medicine boy, dipped it in the strong liquor, and began carefully wiping Xiao Feng's armpits and the thighs.
He wouldn't have known how to do this kind of work before, but having bathed Guaizai several times, he had gained some experience.
Physician Xu watched him rubbing Xiao Feng down as if scrubbing laundry. Since the child had been brought here by Fang Zichen, Physician Xu simply let him be.
They soon used up the first bottle of liquor, so Zhao Ger hurried out to buy two more.
Fang Zichen kept wiping Xiao Feng's body every few minutes. As dusk approached, Zhou Ger arrived.
"How is Xiao Feng?"
"His fever has gone down a bit now." Zhao Ger said, both weary and somewhat happy: "When you go back later, tell Sister Meng, so she won't worry."
Zhou Ger scoffed.
Fang Zichen happened to lift the blanket, preparing to wipe Xiao Feng down again. Zhou Ger saw the hideous wound on Xiao Feng's chest, his clearly visible ribs, and the bruises covering his body, and said with some sarcasm: "Do you think she'd worry? This morning, I saw her taking the village head's cart to the market."
During the noon break, worried, he had come by. After hearing from Zhao Ger about Xiao Feng's situation, he couldn't calm down for a long time after returning.
He had thought about it all afternoon and couldn't understand what Meng-shi was thinking. Xiao Feng was her own flesh and blood, carried for ten months. How could she possibly still think about going to the market when her own child was missing?
Zhao Ger frowned. Zhou Ger continued: "I used to pass by her house and see Liu Gouzi hitting Xiao Feng with a wooden stick. She just stood to the side, not even saying a word to stop it. And you're afraid she'll worry? You're overthinking it."
"No matter what, we have to tell her." Zhao Ger said: "After all, Xiao Feng is her son. Not telling her would be our fault."
Zhou Ger also knew that was the principle: "Alright then. You're not going back later?"
"Not going back," Zhao Ger said: "With Xiao Feng's condition, I wouldn't feel at ease going back."
There was only one bed in the room. For two adults like Zhao Ger and Fang Zichen, they could just lean somewhere to rest. But Xiao Feng was seriously injured, so Guaizai definitely couldn't squeeze in with him. Zhao Ger asked Zhou Ger to help take Guaizai back and look after him for the night.
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