Early in the morning, someone knocked on the door of the Fu family.
Zhou Shi was in the kitchen making breakfast, thinking that Yu Li might come back for breakfast later.
When she heard the knocking, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Wiping her hands, she walked out of the kitchen and called out, “Who is it?”
The person outside said, “Xiao Ge’er’s mother, hurry and open the door, your family’s Li Niang has collapsed.”
When Zhou Shi heard this, she couldn’t care about anything else and quickly ran over.
When she opened the door, she saw the neighbor, Da Zhuang, carrying Yu Li on his back, with his wife and Aunt Zhou following behind, all looking very anxious.
Seeing her, Aunt Zhou quickly said, “We were just about to go work in the fields when we met Li Niang on the road, and suddenly she collapsed. We don’t know what happened.”
Zhou Shi was in a panic, and quickly said, “Quickly, quickly take Li Niang inside…”
Da Zhuang responded and carried Yu Li toward the east wing. He often came to the Fu family to help with water fetching and firewood chopping, so he was very familiar with the Yu family and knew where Fu Wenxiao’s room was.
–
Inside the room, Fu Wenxiao had woken up early.
Yu Li hadn’t come back last night, and he slept uneasily.
He wasn’t sure if it was because for the past two months, the two of them had shared the same bed. Though they slept separately, as long as they were awake, he could feel the presence of someone beside him.
Over time, he gradually became accustomed to that person’s presence. Even sometimes, when waking up in the middle of the night, feeling the hand on his neck, he wasn’t surprised. He only found it amusing.
He didn’t know what kind of environment had shaped her into someone so vigilant and solitary, unable to tolerate having another person in the room while she was asleep. Her vigilance and rejection were even more severe than his.
Last night, Fu Wenxiao had also heard that Yu Li’s younger sister, Yu Zhu, had an accident. Later, Zhou went out to inquire and understood what had happened.
He was also somewhat worried about it.
If Yu Zhu’s situation was as serious as the villagers had said, then even if a doctor came, it would probably be of no use. She would be in a lot of discomfort, wouldn’t she?
She was a very principled person. Since she had become the “Yu Li” of the Yu family’s second branch, she would take good care of those younger sisters. (TL: The ML was too observant)
She truly cared about those sisters, treating them as her own responsibility.
No matter who had an accident, it was something she would never be happy about.
Since Yu Li hadn’t come back last night, Fu Wenxiao understood that Yu Zhu’s situation was probably worse than expected.
At this moment, he heard some noise outside.
Fu Wenxiao’s heart tightened, and he propped himself up on the bedpost to stand up, then walked over to open the door.
When the door opened, he just happened to see Da Zhuang carrying someone over.
Seeing Fu Wenxiao standing at the door, Da Zhuang froze for a moment and said, “Xiao Ge’er, Li Niang has collapsed.”
Fu Wenxiao’s heart sank, and his face showed a brief moment of blankness. Instinctively, he reached out to take the person off Da Zhuang’s back.
“Xiao Ge’er, I’ll send her in,” Da Zhuang said, always remembering that Fu Wenxiao’s health was poor and didn’t dare to hand the person to him. In case he lacked strength and couldn’t hold her, both of them could be in danger.
Fu Wenxiao paused, then said, “Thank you.”
He stepped aside to let Da Zhuang carry the person inside.
After Da Zhuang entered the room, Aunt Zhou and Da Zhuang’s wife, who had been following behind him, both saw Fu Wenxiao.
It was Da Zhuang’s wife’s first time seeing Fu Wenxiao. When she saw the man bathed in the morning light, she instantly froze in place.
Recently, people had been saying that the Fu family’s son was incredibly ugly, simply because he was frail and sickly. He must have been so tortured by illness that his body had become thin and weak, leaving no trace of handsomeness. The fact that he hadn’t been seen around the village only seemed to confirm this guess.
This rumor had spread from the surrounding villages to Qingshi Village.
When women from other villages visited their parents’ homes, they would be asked if this was true.
The reason this matter was frequently brought up was because everyone was curious about just how ugly a person could look when they were sick.
Moreover, in everyone’s eyes, the Fu family was wealthy, not as rich as the landowners in the village, but better off than many others. This inevitably attracted a lot of attention and gossip.
So, when meeting people from Qingshi Village, they would casually ask about it.
Now, seeing Fu Wenxiao in person, Da Zhuang’s wife, in a daze, thought to herself: if a man like this is called ugly, then there’s no such thing as a handsome person in the world.
No wonder she had once curiously asked her mother-in-law and Da Zhuang about it, only to be met with strange looks from both of them.
Now, she finally understood.
Who spread the rumor that Fu Wenxiao was very ugly? This rumor was utterly ridiculous.
The person who spread it must have never seen Fu Wenxiao in person and just made up lies.
Da Zhuang carefully placed the person on the bed.
Fu Wenxiao slowly walked over and asked, “Da Zhuang, what happened to Li Niang?”
“I don’t know either,” Da Zhuang answered honestly. “We met her on the road, and when we greeted her, she didn’t respond. Suddenly, she just fainted.”
Fu Wenxiao looked at Yu Li’s pale and frail face, her lips so white they had no color. When his gaze fell on her chest, he saw the congealed blood clot, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
He said to Da Zhuang, “Da Zhuang, please go to the city and ask Dr. Xu to come here.”
“Okay.” Da Zhuang nodded in agreement.
He walked out, told his mother and wife, took the silver that Zhou Shi had handed him, and hurried toward the county town.
After the room was empty, Fu Wenxiao reached out and carefully lifted the clothing of the person on the bed. When he saw that her chest was unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When he had first seen the bloodstains on her chest, he had thought she might have been injured by a sharp object, and a lot of thoughts rushed through his mind.
Since there was no injury, then this blood…
–
After Da Zhuang left, Aunt Zhou and Da Zhuang’s wife confirmed that there was nothing else and also left.
Zhou Shi saw that Yu Li was drenched in sweat, her clothes stained with dirt and dust, so she quickly fetched a basin of water to clean the dirt off her.
“I don’t know what happened to Li Niang, how could she suddenly faint like that?” Zhou Shi said, her eyes red.
Clearly, when Li Niang first entered, she had been so thin, yet full of vitality, which made her quite likable.
After two months of care, her body had gained some flesh, and suddenly something went wrong, which made Zhou Shi feel deeply pained.
Fu Wenxiao sat to the side, holding Yu Li’s wrist and taking her pulse.
Before the Fu family’s troubles, he had also learned some basic medical knowledge, not for any other reason, but to protect himself from being schemed against. And not to mention, later on…
He could be considered somewhat skilled in medicine.
Zhou Shi cleaned Yu Li’s face, neck, and other areas. She quickly noticed the bloodstains on her chest and was startled.
“Why does Li Niang’s clothes have blood on them? Could it be Zhu Niang’s blood?”
But that didn’t make sense, as the bloodstains were still fresh and hadn’t completely dried.
Confused, Zhou Shi turned to Fu Wenxiao. Seeing him focused on taking her pulse, she didn’t dare to disturb him.
After a long while, Fu Wenxiao finally withdrew his hand.
“Xiao Ge’er, what happened to Li Niang?” Zhou asked anxiously. “Is she injured? Did those people… catch up to her?”
When she mentioned this, fear spread across her face, as if she were afraid the nightmare from years ago would repeat itself.
Fu Wenxiao shook his head. “She wasn’t injured. She exhausted her strength and damaged her Yuan Qi…”
He hesitated as he said this.
His medical skills weren’t particularly refined; he could be considered only moderately skilled, and he was afraid of misjudging the situation. He also couldn’t understand what she had done to exhaust her strength and even deplete her Yuan Qi.
She already looked so thin, with a malnourished appearance. Even after two months of care, she hadn’t regained much. Her body had already been worn down by years of hardship and labor, probably only a little better than his own. If she didn’t take proper care of herself, her lifespan would be shortened, and she probably wouldn’t live long.
Yet now, she had actually depleted her Yuan Qi—this was really…
Zhou Shi’s face turned pale, both shocked and angry.
“How could this happen? Could it be that something happened to Zhu Niang? Is she so heartbroken…”
She guessed over and over, but couldn’t figure it out. She had no choice but to continue cleaning Yu Li’s body and change her clothes.
While Zhou Shi changed Yu Li’s clothes, Fu Wenxiao politely turned his back.
Seeing this, Zhou Shi couldn’t help but sigh.
Although the two of them were married, there was no real marital relationship between them. Seeing Xiao Ge’er act in such a way, it seemed he was planning for the possibility that if he were to die one day, Yu Li would be free to leave and find someone else.
This thought made her feel uneasy, and she couldn’t help but feel pained. She didn’t know if she was more upset for Yu Li, who was unconscious on the bed, or for Fu Wenxiao.
Soon, Yu Yin hurriedly arrived at the Fu family’s home, her face pale as a ghost.
Her expression was even more terrified than when she had learned of Yu Zhu’s accident yesterday. Her body trembled slightly, cold all over. She looked at Zhou, her lips trembling, unable to say a word.
“Ah Yin.” Seeing her in such a state, as if she were about to faint, Zhou Shi quickly embraced her. “Ah Yin, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Li Niang will be fine!”
Yu Yin’s throat felt incredibly tight, and she tried to speak but couldn’t. It felt as though her throat were blocked with cotton, making it painfully difficult to breathe.
After a long while, she finally spoke. “How is my sister? I want to see her…” Then she added, “It’s all my fault. When my sister left, I noticed she wasn’t feeling right, but I didn’t accompany her back…”
By the end of her words, she was crying uncontrollably and turned to walk toward the west wing.
In the countryside, there were few secrets, and any family matter would spread quickly.
The news that Yu Li had collapsed on the road traveled fast. Those with good relations with the Yu family’s second branch specifically went to inform them about Yu Li collapsing halfway.
When Yu Yin learned of this, she immediately rushed over.