Cheng Laili was so terrified his face turned ashen; if that blade had come down another two feet, his head would have rolled!
Daring not to utter a single harsh parting threat, he was helped to his feet by a few companions and left on a donkey cart.
The villagers loved a spectacle. Having heard that the scoundrel Cheng Laili from the neighboring village had come to cause trouble at the Xia Family and suffered a crushing defeat, they all came running to watch the excitement. Consequently, quite a crowd of onlookers had gathered—easily forty or fifty people.
Seeing Cheng Laili slinking away in disgrace, the villagers burst into another round of jeers and mockery.
An auntie said to Yufang, "When did Brother Damao get back? He's literate and so strapping—you Xia Family are truly blessed."
Her tone was full of envy. Her own family's situation was somewhat similar to Yufang's past plight: her husband had been conscripted into labor, and for two or three years there had been no news of him; the elders' health was failing day by day, and underneath them were a daughter and a son, leaving the heavy burden of the entire household resting entirely on her shoulders as a lone woman, making life exceptionally difficult.
"Mother Xia, is Brother Damao married yet?" Several village women crowded around Mother Xia, asking about it all at once.
Yufang suddenly felt a bit nervous.
"Damao's marriage isn't urgent; he can make his own decisions. Let's wait until Yufang is formally adopted into the household first," Mother Xia's words made Yufang heave a sigh of relief.
Mother-in-law still understands me. Blind in the eyes, but not in the heart.
"Brother Damao, well done!" A young man around Xia Huai'an's age walked up to him. "Brother Damao, when did you get back? Do you still recognize me?"
Seeing that this young man had earlier been standing together with the village head's third sister-in-law and the others, Xia Huai'an's heart stirred, and he said, "I just got back. I had a high fever in the past that fried my brain, so I don't remember a lot of things from when I was a kid very clearly. Are you Laoliu or Laoqi from the Zha Family?"
"Hehe, I'm Laoliu, Zha Zhongping!" the young man said happily. "I didn't expect Brother Damao to still remember me!"
Xia Huai'an also smiled. "I might not remember others, but I certainly remember you brothers—we grew up playing together. Back then we even had contests to see who could pee farther, didn't we?"Zha Zhongping was momentarily taken aback, then nodded. "Right! Damao-ge used to pee the furthest. I always figured Damao-ge was destined for the greatest things!"
"You really know how to talk, kid." Xia Huai'an patted him on the shoulder. Practically every guy played that peeing game together as kids, it seemed.
"Where's your seventh brother?" Xia Huai'an asked. He planned to live in Zushang Village for a while, so he ought to get to know his neighbors and fellow villagers better.
"He went to get medicine for Laowu." Zha Zhongping's expression suddenly darkened. "A few days ago, we ran into mountain bandits. Laowu has a hot temper and got slashed by them. He was almost healed up, but for some reason, he took a turn for the worse these past few days, and even ran a high fever last night."
The young man added, "The three of us—me, Old Qi, and Zhongxiang—were actually going to come look for you last night, but we got delayed because of Laowu."
*Wounds acting up again—most likely an infection,* Xia Huai'an thought to himself.
He had brought antibiotics, which might actually come in handy.
However, to him, antibiotics were a non-renewable resource. He only had 100 pills in total, so every one he used meant one less.
After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Xia Huai'an said, "I met a miraculous doctor once and picked up some methods for treating trauma. How about I go take a look at Laowu?"
"Really? That's wonderful!" The young man eagerly grabbed Xia Huai's arm, pulling him along.
"Wait a moment, let me tell her a few things first." Xia Huai'an gave Yufang a few instructions, asking her to find someone to help carry the oak branches from the edge of the field back, and to leave the mycelium and other things where they were for now, to be dealt with when he got back.
Auntie nearby overheard Xia Huai'an and Yufang's conversation and chimed in tartly, "Is Brother Damao really just back, or how is it that he isn't a stranger to sister Yufang at all? The way he gives instructions sounds just like a husband talking to his wife. Looks like Brother Damao already treats our little sister as one of his own."
Yufang replied bashfully, "Auntie Cuihua is making fun of me again!"Xia Huai'an followed the young man to the residence of Laowu of the Zha Family. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they were hit by the strong smell of boiling traditional Chinese medicine. A woman with swollen, red eyes was in the courtyard, using a small stove to fan the flames and brew the medicine.
"Fifth Sister-in-law, I brought Brother Damao to check on Fifth Brother. Brother Damao has studied some medicine and knows how to treat trauma," the young man said.
The woman looked at Xia Huai'an suspiciously. "Which village is Damao from? The doctors invited from the county seat all said they were helpless—can a young man like him cure him?"
"Fifth Sister-in-law doesn't recognize me? I am Damao from the Xia Family. Let me check Fifth Brother's condition first," Xia Huai'an said as he and the young man walked into the inner room.
Laowu of the Zha Family was lying on the bed, unconscious, with four or five younger members of the Zha family guarding him.
The village head was also sitting there, his back hunched, his old eyes dim and lusterless.
The two daughters' eyes were red. Seeing the young man, they softly called out, "Sixth Uncle."
"Dad!" "Third Uncle!" The young man and Xia Huai'an greeted the village head. "We came to check on Fifth Brother."
The village head nodded at Xia Huai'an. "Damao is very kind."
Xia Huai'an sat on the edge of the bed and carefully examined the wound on Laowu's arm.
As the layers of gauze were peeled back, an unpleasant, rotting odor wafted out. Besides bloody water, pus was flowing from the wound—it had indeed become severely infected.
"How is it?" Fifth Sister-in-law had followed them inside and asked anxiously.
"I have actually learned how to deal with this kind of trauma, and I have medicine," Xia Huai'an said. "We can try, but success isn't guaranteed."
Although he had antibiotics, he had no certainty that they would provide an instant cure. After all, amoxicillin was not a panacea; not every infection could be treated.
A light flashed in the village head's eyes. "Then let's try. If it doesn't work, it's just his fate!"
Xia Huai'an nodded. Carefully removing the gauze, he instructed, "Go boil a pot of water. Once the gauze is washed clean, throw it into the boiling water and boil it for more than fifteen minutes. This is called disinfection."
"From now on, all gauze that comes into contact with Fifth Brother's wound must be disinfected this way until the wound heals completely."
"Also, Fifth Sister-in-law, when you change the dressing on Fifth Brother's wound, remember to wash your hands thoroughly as well—wash them a few times. And trim your fingernails; they harbor many invisible germs that can easily infect the wound if you're not careful."
Fifth Sister-in-law looked at her somewhat blackened fingers, hurriedly hid her hands behind her back, and nodded in agreement.
Xia Huai'an then asked Sixth to fetch a charcoal stove and placed his dagger over it to heat up.
When the dagger turned slightly red, Xia Huai'an plunged it into cooled boiled water to cool it down.
Then, using the dagger, he gently scraped away the pus and severely infected rotting flesh from the wound.
Despite such excruciating pain, Laowu did not wake up; his eyelids merely twitched a few times.
Next, Xia Huai'an slowly rinsed the wound with cooled boiled water, washing away the residual blood and pus.
After that, he placed the cleaned dagger back onto the charcoal stove to continue heating.
"Stuff a piece of cloth into Fifth Brother's mouth to keep him from biting his tongue. Then hold his body down tight and don't let him move," Xia Huai'an said.
After Sixth followed the instructions, Xia Huai'an took out the dagger, one end of which was glowing red, and gently pressed it against the wound.
"Hiss!" A wisp of white smoke rose, accompanied by a pungent smell of burning flesh.
This sight caused the village head to close his eyes, while the younger children had long since hidden outside the room, not daring to watch.
"Ah!" Laowu let out a miserable scream, jolted awake by the sheer agony, before passing out again.
By this time, Xia Huai'an had already removed the dagger and tossed it back into the cold water to cool.
"All right, the wound has been treated. Just cover it carefully with disinfected gauze, wrap it several times, and don't leave the wound exposed. Change the gauze every twelve hours, and disinfect it this way every time you change it."
Enduring a pang of reluctance, Xia Huai'an took out three amoxicillin capsules, cut them open with the dagger, and carefully poured the powder into a small bowl. He had Fifth Sister-in-law add a tiny bit of honey water to mix it well, and spoon-fed it to Laowu in small sips.
"If it works, he will wake up tonight. If he still has a high fever and remains unconscious, there's nothing more I can do!" Xia Huai'an put away his dagger, stood up, and took his leave.