Out of consideration for his limited mobility, Xiao Yu begrudgingly walked back over, supported his neck, and fed him water.
Because his throat felt uncomfortable, he drank very slowly. As she got closer, the smell from his body became indescribable. Despite wearing a mask and filthy cloth, the stench was quite overwhelming. She eagerly waited for him to finish drinking before quickly putting him down.
To her surprise, the man became even more demanding, "Hungry!"
After saying that, he felt an itch in his throat and then started to cough violently, scaring Xiao Yu into quickly jumping away.
"If you want to eat, you have to wait; we haven’t made dinner yet. I’ll brew some medicine for you now, and you’ll have to drink it later. You’re not allowed out of this shack until you’re better, understand? I advise you, if you get both of us sick, then we’ll all just die together."
Since Xiao Yu came out of that room, she didn’t make dinner, instead directing her brother to do it, while she squatted under the stone wall to brew medicine for him.
The man had just awakened, uttered a few words, attempted to get up, and pondered over things till he wore himself out and fell asleep.
"Wait until you’re awake, and I’ll properly settle this bill with you!"
The medicinal prescription for treating the plague was bought from the market, each recipe costing two thousand yuan. She didn’t understand their pricing methods, seeming to be arbitrary but, fortunately, she had made quite a bit of money off this man, so she bought ten prescriptions in one go. Now four prescriptions had already been used, and it seems that ten might not be enough!
Still, the effect was not slow, and it might be that his injuries weren’t severe. At least he hasn’t shown any symptoms of severe coughing or breathlessness.
He was merely weak all over, his skin was darkened, and there were parts of his body that were purulent and swollen. His throat was enlarged, and his unconsciousness was likely linked to dehydration.
(Please skip the disease description, you know...)
After the medicine was ready, she withdrew the firewood and kept it warm with the remaining charcoal embers.
She then shook the man awake, "Aren’t you hungry? Your rice porridge is ready, cooled enough to eat,"
Since she had already started feeding him, she might as well do it thoroughly and then change her clothes and wash her hands. So her brother simply moved the prepared meals to the yard under the stone wall. By now, the brother and sister had tidied it up neatly, padding the paths with stones, fencing the yard, planting radishes, cabbages, and wheat, and even hanging dried salted fish on the fence, exuding the breath of life everywhere.
The delicious aroma of rice woke Wuming up instantly. His gaze was nearly greedy and thirsty as he fixed his eyes on the earthenware bowl in Xiao Yu’s hand.
The bowl wasn’t particularly attractive, ash-grey in color. Wuming glanced at it and furrowed his brows, looking as if he couldn’t eat it if it weren’t for the enticing white rice.
Xiao Yu snorted coldly, "What’s wrong? Now you’re picking and choosing?"
After realizing he’d let his feelings show, Wuming quickly composed himself, opened his mouth, and Xiao Yu placed the somewhat crooked spoon into his mouth. Her hand was a bit harsh, prompting the man to wince, and Xiao Yu glared at him fiercely, with a somewhat fierce tone, "What are you looking at?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noᴠelfire.net
The man probably had never experienced such humiliation in his life, feeling incredibly stifled and aggrieved inside, but impotent to retaliate. Who could he blame when he was dependent on others?
The rice porridge tasted really good, perhaps because of his extreme hunger. Even though he ate slowly, the bowl was quickly emptied. He licked his lips wistfully and, with long lashes that would make a woman jealous, stared deeply into Xiao Yu’s eyes.