Chapter 113 – Fated Marriage String (5)
“They should be back soon.” Li Hua was actually very anxious too. There was only one doctor in the Goddess’s Ravine. This old doctor lived in a village that was about a kilometer away from here. It was raining today too, so it definitely wouldn’t be easy to walk here. He was very worried that the doctor wouldn’t be willing to come here, that’s why he had asked his oldest brother to bring more money along. If the doctor didn’t come, it would be good to get a prescription from him and buy back medicine at least.
“Oh.” Li Man looked Li Yan. He had fallen asleep, but his breathing was heavy. She stretched her hand out and touched his forehead. His temperature was still too high.
Seeing how worried Li Man looked, Li Hua comfortingly said, “Don’t worry. The doctor will be here soon.”
“En.” If they were in modern-day, she definitely wouldn’t be worrying. But, in this era, people would die from lack of medicine. She wasn’t worrying that he would die. She was worried that the illness would become worse and that he would get pneumonia, tuberculosis, and what not.
“Oh, hey, you should drink more water too.” Li Man remembered that Li Hua had gotten wet from the rain too and hurriedly pulled him towards outside. When they reached the doorway, she said, “Stay here. The room is too stuffy. I’ll pour some water for you.”
“It’s okay. I can do that myself,” Li Hua politely refused.
Li Man didn’t listen to him. She went to the kitchen, poured boiling hot water into a bowl, and brought it to him. “Drink more water. It’s easy to get catch a cold or get a fever during this season. It’ll be best to stay well hydrated.”
Li Hua took the bowl and asked, “What about you?”
“Oh, I’ll drink water later,” said Li Man. Remembering something, she hastily went inside the eastern hut. She climbed onto the bed and cracked open a window to let in fresh air. The open window was far away enough that the wind wouldn’t blow on Li Yan, but it would improve the air quality inside the hut. Then, seeing the thin quilt that was covering Li Yan, she decided it wasn’t enough and lightly covered him with Li Hua’s sheet too.
Li Hua was standing at the doorway. He watched her movements and couldn’t help feel a sense of uncertainty. He waited until she came out to ask, “Why did you do that?”
“Since his body temperature is high from the fever, it’ll feel too stifling if I cover him up with another quilt,” answered Li Man. Seeing that the amount of water in the bowl that he was holding hadn’t changed, she said, “Drink it quickly. It’ll get cold.”
“Oh.” Li Hua drank the water, but he still felt worried. After he finished drinking, he couldn’t resist saying, “But, I heard from other people that when someone has a fever or a cold, you should cover them up with more quilts They’ll get better once they sweat the illness out.”
“Sweating it out is one method, but doing that might lead to other complications,” Li Man explained, “Actually, the fever itself isn’t an illness. It’s a symptom. Right now, what we’re doing is physically helping him cool down -”
Seeing Li Hua was looking straight at her, Li Man suddenly realized that she had said too much. She awkwardly laughed and continued, “Actually, I don’t know much either. I just heard this from elderly people. Let’s listen to what the doctor has to say when he comes.”
“En.” Li Hua nodded. However, he felt even more doubtful towards her. Not only was his wife literate, she also had medical knowledge.
—
Inside the hut, Li Yan was in a state of deep slumber. During this period of time, Li Man had helped him by wiping his palms, underside of his feet, neck, and armpits with alcohol. Then, she applied a cold towel to his forehead. From time to time, she would change out the towel. After this was done repeatedly, Li Yan’s temperature really did fall a lot, and even his breathing became much lighter.
Li Hua was watching from the side. One part of him admired Man for knowing so much, and the other part felt happy that his second brother had taken a turn for the better.
And yet, Li Mo and Li Shu had been gone for almost half the day. Why hadn’t they come back yet? Li Hua and Li Man started to worry about those two. The roads were slippery on rainy day. Hopefully, they hadn’t met with an accident.
Seeing that the sky was getting darker, Li Hua really wanted to go out to look for his oldest brother and third brother. And yet, he didn’t feel comfortable with leaving Li Man alone.
“Let’s wait a little bit longer.” Seeing that Li Hua was feeling anxious, Li Man comfortingly said, “Nothing bad will happen to your oldest brother and third brother. Perhaps, the doctor is busy today, so they had to wait longer to see him.”
He could only hope that this was true. Fortunately, second brother’s condition had improved.