The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 352: In Time

Chapter 352: Chapter 352: In Time

The mountain girl holding the torch pulled her brother who was speaking and said, "Forget it, brother, no need to say more. I think the Wang Family isn’t entirely heartless."

Wang Yongzhu quickly offered an apologetic smile, "Truly sorry, so sorry! It was my Third Brother who doesn’t know how to speak or act properly. You three are magnanimous, please don’t take his words to heart."

"It’s getting too late, and with the mountain road so far, it wouldn’t be safe to go back now. Moreover, you three saved my Fourth Brother—a great kindness. If we didn’t even offer you a meal, what kind of people would we be? I suppose all three of you haven’t eaten all day, how could you bear it? We’re just preparing a simple meal for you to fill your stomachs for the time being. It’s also a good time to wait for Doctor Liu to arrive, in case he has questions about the incident, we’ll need to trouble you three to tell the doctor..."

With that said, the siblings found it hard to refuse any longer, for to do so would be too pretentious.

After all, it was mentioned that they should speak to the doctor about the situation later.

Plus, after the sugar water hit their stomachs, their hunger grew even more, so they stopped talking and sat down on the chairs Jinhoo and Jinhua had brought over.

Quick-witted Jindou refilled their sugar water.

Song Chongjin took a couple of sips of the sugar water, then approached Wang Yongzhu, "Since everything’s fine now, maybe I should head back first?"

Wang Yongzhu glared at him, "You came down from the mountain and haven’t eaten yet, right? Where do you think you’re going? Wait to eat dinner before you leave."

Song Chongjin, not minding the glare, simply felt that today’s sugar water was really sweet, sweet enough to touch his heart.

Lady Jiang, who was naturally swift with her hands, and with the help of Lady Lin, quickly rolled out a stack of pancakes, fragrant with eggs and green onions. They then prepared a refreshing cucumber salad from the garden, drizzled with a bit of spicy oil, both sour and spicy.

Wrapped inside the egg pancakes, it was indescribably delicious.

The Liu Family Siblings started off a bit reserved, but seeing Song Chongjin calmly sitting down, grabbing a pancake, adding some cucumber salad, and eating with relish, they too reached out for some and couldn’t stop once they started.

The three men and one girl consumed all of the dough that Lady Jiang had prepared, satisfying everyone outside as well.

The Liu Family Siblings felt a bit embarrassed by the end of the meal.

However, it was fine since Song Chongjin was there with them, and they were genuinely hungry, so they ate their fill before stopping.

As the siblings ate, Wang Yongzhu asked them about what had happened to Wang Yongping.

It turned out that Xiatian Chongzi Gully had just experienced heavy rain, making the mountain path extremely difficult to traverse. Some areas even suffered landslides. The people of their village, who lived in the mountains all year round, reacted quickly to such situations and could escape the danger.

Those a bit slower to react or not very familiar with these conditions often didn’t have enough time to get out of the way and could get buried under the landslide debris of rocks and mud.

Wang Yongping was considered lucky; at least his head and hands were still exposed when the siblings found him. Otherwise, if he had been entirely buried, they would have had to wait until the path was cleared to find him.

Or if it was even worse luck, and the buried path got abandoned, he might never have been found.

It was fortunate that the Liu Family Siblings had the strength and experience, along with the courage, to dig Wang Yongping out from under the landslide.

After hearing the whole process, Wang Yongzhu felt even more how dangerous it was, how treacherous the mountains could be, and understood that they needed to emphasize safety first to their family in the future.

This time they were lucky to have met kind people.

And it just so happened that Song Chongjin was coming down the mountain to his home. Otherwise, had they gone from house to house asking for help and then tried to find their way in the dark, unfamiliar paths, who knows how much time it would have taken.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but give Song Chongjin an extra glance.

It must be said that Song Chongjin had become involved in many of the Wang Family’s affairs nowadays.

Feeling Wang Yongzhu’s gaze, the two exchanged a look under the dim light before Wang Yongzhu was the first to look away.

The Liu Family siblings were treated to a sumptuous meal by Wang Yongzhu, and any resentment they harbored had finally all but dissipated.

With Wang Yongzhu taking care of the Liu Family siblings, everyone else was at ease and focused their concern on Wang Yongping, who had been worrying since last year.

Just as the Liu Family siblings and Song Chongjin had finished eating, Doctor Liu from the neighboring village was carried back frantically by Jindou.

Doctor Liu was practically a frequent visitor at the Wang Family; no other family needed his services as much as they did.

On the way, he had already heard the gist of the situation from Jindou, and upon entering, he did not say much before carefully taking Wang Laosi’s pulse...

The people of the Old Wang Family all looked on tightly with bated breath.

After taking the pulse, Doctor Liu said, "Fortunately, there are no severe internal injuries, no congestion in the chest or abdomen. He was rescued in time—if he had been buried longer, it surely would have choked him and hurt his body... Let me check to see if there are any serious external injuries."

The people of the Old Wang Family let out a collective sigh of relief.

They all expressed their thanks to the Liu Family siblings.

When Doctor Liu wanted to remove Wang Laosi’s clothing to examine him, except for Old Granny Zhang, it was inconvenient for the women to be present, so they hid inside. Lady Sun peeked out from a small room, but after being scolded by Old Granny Zhang, she also withdrew obediently.

Only the men of the Old Wang Family and Old Granny Zhang remained in the courtyard.

After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Doctor Liu had completed his examination.

"There are external injuries on the legs, waist, and ankles, but none are too severe. It’s just that the ankle is badly swollen—a minor fracture. There was quite a bit of blood loss; he needs to rest in bed for at least seven or eight days and at the most a fortnight before he can walk..."

Upon hearing this, Old Granny Zhang anxiously said, "Doctor, if his ankle is injured, won’t he become crippled and lame afterward?"

A sigh escaped her thoughts. She wondered if the Old Wang Family was particularly cursed with leg and foot injuries—the Eldest Brother nearly became disabled from a leg injury, and now Laosi was injured in the foot too?

"No, no, it’s not that serious. I’ve prescribed some topical medicine for the wound, which should reduce the swelling quickly. It’s just that bone healing takes longer. I’m afraid your Fourth Son won’t be much help with the autumn harvest."

When Doctor Liu spoke these words, everyone’s hearts finally settled.

Not being helpful during the autumn harvest wasn’t a big deal; the important thing was that the person was alright and his leg wasn’t crippled.

And on this note, Doctor Liu emphasized again, "It’s fortunate that he was rescued promptly and the treatment was good. Carrying him on a stretcher prevented further blood loss, plus the field treatment for the bleeding was deft, using wild herbs to stop the blood. After returning, you fed him blood-replenishing elixir, so he has already recovered the blood he lost. Otherwise, your Laosi really would have had slim chances."

Gratitude filled the eyes of everyone as they looked towards the siblings and Song Chongjin.

At this moment, Wang Laozhu completely let go of his worry and found the mood to speak, "I really can’t thank you siblings enough. My Laosi was able to save his life and his leg all thanks to you!"

"Once my Laosi recovers, I’ll definitely have him bring a significant gift to express our thanks! A life-saving grace is greater than heaven, and from now on, our Fourth Son is like a son to the Liu Family. If there’s anything he can help with, just direct him."

In the mountains, there’s a custom of repaying a debt of gratitude by becoming an adopted son or daughter to the benefactor’s family, treating them with the same filial piety. However, this is rarely done nowadays.