A soldier lay at the opening looking inside and also concluded they couldn't dig any more, or else if it collapsed, the child would die.
But the opening was really too small. They couldn't get down at all. Several people tried multiple times, but their shoulders got stuck.
"Call Xiao Zheng over," Fang Zichen said.
Xiao Zheng was called over. He was a man with a very small frame.
He could squeeze through this opening.
Xiao Zheng crawled in and came out after a while: "Lord Fang, that child's left foot is pinned."
Fang Zichen furrowed his brow: "A big rock?"
"Mm! This subordinate can't move it," Xiao Zheng said.
"How big?"
Xiao Zheng spread his hands to show the size.
It was indeed big, about the size of a basket.
The space below was narrow. Xiao Zheng couldn't stand up down there and could only kneel. In that position, he couldn't use his full strength.
Fang Zichen was strong. Even kneeling, he could move it. But he was the tallest, with the broadest shoulders—he simply couldn't get down there.
They could call a small child from the village. The child could get down, but with a rock that big, there was no way the child could move it.
Just as they were wondering what to do, Guaizai tossed aside his little hoe: "Father, Guaizai will go."
Fang Zichen slapped his forehead. Right, how could he have forgotten his son?
"Then be careful!"
Guaizai nodded. He crawled through that hole faster than a mouse. In the blink of an eye, he had crawled in. But after a while, he stuck his big head out of the opening, his little topknot tilted to one side, the corners of his eyes drooping, his eyes wet, his voice pitiful: "Father."
Fang Zichen was alarmed: "You can't move it either?"
That seemed impossible!
The rock was big, but his son was no pushover. He should be able to lift it.
Guaizai shook his head: "Guaizai's hands are all soft and weak, no strength."
Fang Zichen: "..."
Fang Zichen understood instantly.
The child had been busy with him for two days. He was probably hungry. But where were they going to get food at this hour? He himself had tightened his belt two extra notches.
"The little brother inside is bleeding a lot, he's passed out. Guaizai can't wake him. Father, go ask Sister Tang for two bowls of porridge to give Guaizai energy. Once Guaizai drinks it, he'll have strength," Guaizai said.
Fang Zichen looked slightly puzzled: "Where did the porridge come from?"
Zhao Ger's grain requisition probably hadn't been that quick. The common folk definitely had some grain at home, but by now it was likely all buried under the mud. These past days they had been busy digging people out. The common folk's belongings could only be cleared out as much as possible later.
Where would grain for cooking porridge come from at this hour?
Master Li and Tang Daniang were at the rear, and Fang Zichen was very confident in them. Since arriving, he had been busy digging people out almost the entire time.
Guaizai's eyes shifted evasively. He hemmed and hawed. Fang Zichen knew then—this little brat must have done something. But now wasn't the time to get to the bottom of it. He told a soldier to go fetch the porridge. Guaizai gulped it down in two bites, then lay at the opening to rest for a while, then said he had replenished his energy and was going to save the little brother inside.
This time he was in there quite a while. Fang Zichen grew worried and lay at the opening watching him: "Son, be careful!"
"Guaizai knows! Father, don't worry."
Several soldiers nearby figured that since the young master had stepped in, the child would surely be rescued.
That rock was indeed quite large, but the young master was someone who could lift a person with one hand.
Sure enough, before long, Guaizai carried the child out on his back.
When Fang Zichen saw him, his heart sank. The boy's leg had been crushed by the boulder, and he had been trapped underneath for so long that the leg was probably beyond saving.
But as long as he was alive, nothing else mattered.
Liu Ger came over and took the child away.
After that, they continued searching for people and digging them out.
After two bowls of porridge, his stomach felt a little fuller and the hunger was gone. But Guaizai ultimately couldn't hold on any longer. At noon, while digging with his little hoe, he suddenly collapsed. It scared Fang Zichen and all the soldiers badly. Fang Zichen's legs went weak instantly, and he hurriedly scooped him up. But before he could even call for Physician Li, he heard snoring.
Fang Zichen felt both distressed and amused. He pinched Guaizai's little butt, and Guaizai, who had only dozed off for a moment, woke up again. He climbed down from Fang Zichen's arms, asked for two kisses, said he had energy again and could help his father, then raised his hoe and went back to digging with great effort.
That evening, Fang Zichen coaxed him into going back to sleep first.
By now, most people had been dug out. The village chief was asked to verify, and reported that nine people were still missing.
Fang Zichen led everyone to keep searching. Whether alive or dead, they had to find them — they couldn't give up on a single person.
Guaizai returned to the rear area. Physician Li called him over and personally handed him a bowl of medicine. "Guaizai, come, drink this."
The medicine was dark and smelled strange. Guaizai wrinkled his brow. "Grandpa, what is this?"
Physician Li patted his head: "Medicine for typhoid."
Hearing it was medicine, Guaizai's little brows immediately furrowed. He took tiny steps backward. He had secretly tasted Fang Zichen's medicine before — it was so bitter! He didn't want to take medicine. He turned around and tried to run, but Physician Li was quick and caught him.
Guaizai covered his mouth: "Grandpa, Guaizai doesn't have a runny nose, no need to take medicine."
Physician Li saw his deeply aggrieved expression and laughed: "By the time you have a runny nose, it'll be too late. Be good, drink it. A real man can't be afraid of a little bitterness."
Guaizai was stunned.
Physician Li had lived with him long enough to know his character and knew exactly how to handle him: "Only by enduring the bitterest of bitterness can one rise above others."
When Guaizai heard this, it was a big deal.
"Grandpa, what you said is absolutely right." Guaizai took the bowl: "Guaizai is a man. How can a man be afraid of drinking medicine? That would be too unmanly. Watch Guaizai down it in one gulp."
Physician Li smiled. This child was truly easy to coax. And indeed, these past few days he had been running off his feet, all to rescue people as quickly as possible. He was everywhere. Among all of them, he was probably the most exhausted.
Seeing his face scrunched up from the bitterness, looking like a little old man, hopping on his feet, and on the last mouthful about to gag and throw it back up, Physician Li quickly said: "Don't spit it out — this medicine is expensive!"
What!!
Expensive?
Then he absolutely could not spit it out.
Guaizai stretched his neck and forced it down.
Physician Li patted him and popped a candy into his mouth.
Guaizai's eyes lit up: "Candy? Grandpa, where did you get candy?"
"It fell from the sky." Physician Li smiled, dried his hair, then said: "Your clothes are wet. Take them off before you sleep."
"Guaizai knows, Father told me."
The men's straw shed was packed with people. Even the soldiers who were rotating shifts barely had room to sleep. Guaizai had no choice but to take a thin blanket and go to another straw shed.
To guard against dampness and to make it convenient to change the wounded's bandages at night, a fire burned in the center of the shed, making it fairly bright.
He was about to take off his clothes when he saw Grandma Tang and a group of people staring at him. His little face immediately turned red. He stripped in a few quick movements and dove under the blanket, hiding inside.
Why are these people staring at me!
It must be because I'm too handsome.
Ah, being too handsome is troublesome! People stare at me everywhere, making me shy.
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