Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 114

Yi Zhonghai couldn't even look down to check, and sighed inwardly, wondering why he was so unlucky.

It's all that damned idiot Zhu's fault for pushing me down, and then pretending nothing happened.

He Yuzhu asked, "Grandpa, you would have been freezing if it weren't for me. So, will you reimburse me for the cost of repairing the bike chain tomorrow?"

to reimburse?

Yi Zhonghai was so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood. Today was truly unlucky; he had no intention of rescuing anyone, and the person was pushed down by Sha Zhu.

You still want to get reimbursed by yourself?

Grandma, wait until you're better before you settle the score with him.

Yi Zhonghai was full of resentment. Why hadn't they arrived at the courtyard house yet?

Yi Zhonghai waited anxiously, his patience wearing thin. Finally, amidst a thousand complaints, He Yuzhu arrived outside the courtyard pushing his bicycle.

"Uncle Yan, come out and greet the guests."

He Yuzhu immediately shouted and started calling for reinforcements.

After all, Yi Zhonghai was soaking wet, and some parts of him were already frozen, so He Yuzhu couldn't let him into the yard.

Goalkeeper Yan Bugui stormed out of the yard: "Hey Zhuzi, what are you saying? What do you mean by 'welcoming guests'?"

After passing through the courtyard gate, I finally saw Yi Zhonghai, already frozen, sitting on the back of a bicycle.

It was really frozen solid.

My whole body was soaked, and the northwest wind blew so hard that my hair was frozen solid.

The clothes I was wearing were also like ice blocks; they were completely frozen solid.

Although the journey wasn't very long, it was still several miles long and took more than 10 minutes. Yi Zhonghai was now blue and purple from the cold, and his lips were deathly white.

"What's going on here?"

"Such a big person fell into the river. Don't ask questions, just move them in quickly."

He Yuzhu wouldn't promote Yi Zhonghai's good deeds, like saving a child from drowning; right now, saving Yi Zhonghai's life is the priority.

Yan Bugui didn't waste any time and, together with He Yuzhu, helped Yi Zhonghai off the bicycle.

Yi Zhonghai was almost frozen stiff. Although he got down, his legs were still spread apart, maintaining the same sitting posture as before.

Yan Bugui even tried to bend it, but he couldn't budge it at all.

"Never mind that, let's take them inside to warm themselves by the fire first."

"That's true, keep it up."

The two men struggled to drag Yi Zhonghai into the front yard, where people saw what was happening and came out to lend a hand.

Seeing that they couldn't help, someone hurriedly went to the back to inform Aunt Yi.

When they carried Yi Zhonghai into the central courtyard, Aunt Yi came out to greet them. Seeing the frozen old man, she rushed forward and wept.

"Old Yi, you can't just leave me behind and go first. How am I supposed to live the rest of my life?"

He had barely finished speaking when he was overcome with anger and fainted.

"The person is alright, they can still be saved!"

"Stop talking, have two people carry Aunt Yi into the house too."

Aunt Yi was alright. After entering the house, she pinched her philtrum and took a few breaths, and then she came to her senses.

But Yi Zhonghai couldn't do it; his entire cotton-padded jacket and trousers were frozen solid, and even after unbuttoning the buttons, he still couldn't take them off.

"Get the scissors and cut the clothes open. If anyone has a stove, bring it over so the house can be warmer."

Someone brought scissors, but clothes are not easy to cut, and there was simply not enough strength in their hands to cut open the frozen cotton-padded coat.

"Let me do it." He Yuzhu had used scissors before, and in no time at all, he cut the cotton-padded jacket and trousers to shreds.

Several older women felt embarrassed to stay and visit the little boy, so they all left.

After regaining her senses, Aunt Yi wiped him down a bit, then wrapped Yi Zhonghai in a quilt, and the others carried him to the bed.

The stove was placed directly next to the bed, so the temperature would be higher.

Yan Bugui said, "If anyone has ginger, hurry up and bring it out, brew a bowl of ginger tea and make it down your throat."

Qin Huairu quickly replied, "I have some at home."

Only after she finished speaking did she see her mother-in-law glare at her.

Suddenly feeling a little guilty, I wondered why I had become the one to stick my neck out.

Aunt Yi sighed, "My family also has some, so we don't need anyone's help to carry them."

"I'll help." Qin Huairu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling quite puzzled as to why her mother-in-law was still so calculating at this crucial moment.

Aunt Yi arranged for Qin Huairu to help look after the casserole, and then asked:

"Zhu Zi, what's wrong with my husband, Lao Yi?"

"Sigh, here's the thing..."

After a while, the ginger tea was ready. Looking at Yi Zhonghai lying on the bed, he seemed much better than before.

Aunt Yi helped Old Yi up, pried open his teeth with chopsticks, and, with tears in her eyes, poured some ginger soup down his throat.

Before the enemas were finished, the doctor who had been sent to fetch them arrived. He took the patient's pulse and said, "You have a slight fever. Although you suffered a lot, you were fortunate to be saved in time. I will prescribe a medicine for you to take for two days."

The doctor quickly wrote out a prescription, and Aunt Yi asked, "This person should be fine afterward, right?"

"He should be fine. He's lucky to have survived. If it had dragged on for too long, things would have been different."

"Thank you, doctor."

Aunt Yi gave him the money, and then said to He Yuzhu, "Thank you, Zhuzi. If it weren't for you, my husband, Lao Yi, would have frozen to death outside."

"Of course, since there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

Aunt Yi said, "Yes, it was too chaotic today. We'll thank you again after Old Yi gets better."

"No need, it's what I should do."

He Yuzhu didn't want to stay any longer. Yi Zhonghai was no longer in mortal danger, so it seemed impossible for him to attend the banquet. He had thought they could prepare a banquet for him.

Yi Zhonghai was delirious with fever in the middle of the night, constantly muttering "Silly Zhu, Silly Zhu" and talking nonsense.

Aunt Yi wiped away her tears. It seemed that it was all thanks to Sha Zhu who saved Old Yi.

On the second day, Yi Zhonghai's fever subsided somewhat, and he no longer had a high temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius, but he was still confused.

He Yuzhu was drinking tea and chatting with Xu Huizhen in the shop when he saw Aunt Yi come in carrying a large bag of things.

"Aunt Yi, what brings you here at this hour? Is my uncle feeling any better?" He Yuzhu was a little confused.

Aunt Yi forced a smile: "Zhu Zi, thanks to you, you brought your uncle back. He's much better today, although he's still a bit confused, but it's not as dangerous as yesterday."

"I took some time out of my busy schedule to buy some things and come see you. If it weren't for your help in bringing your uncle back, he might not be alive now."

As he spoke, he placed the package on the table.

"Look at all the things you brought, it makes me feel ashamed. Besides, I'm someone you watched grow up. Even though I can be unreliable sometimes, I can't just stand by and do nothing when it comes to matters of life and death."

He Yuzhu quickly invited Aunt Yi into the house for tea and inquired about Yi Zhonghai's situation.

Aunt Yi sighed, wiped away her tears, and began to recount what had happened that night and that day.

At its highest, the fever reached over 40 degrees Celsius, but fortunately we had antipyretics on hand, and we increased the dosage to bring the fever down.

He Yuzhu tried to persuade Aunt Yi not to worry that he would be gone for too long and that if Old Yi had any more problems, she could just say goodbye and go back.

When they got home, they saw that Yi Zhonghai was much more awake. He touched his forehead and found that his temperature was much lower than when he left.

"Thank God, the fever has finally broken."

"Where did you go?" Yi Zhonghai asked weakly.

Aunt Yi said, "Thanks to Zhuzi, he brought you back yesterday. I bought a lot of gifts, which cost more than a hundred yuan. I just gave them all to Zhuzi."

"What? You spent over a hundred yuan to buy a gift for Zhu Zi?"

Yi Zhonghai was furious: "That damned Zhu Zi, he's the one who pushed me into the pond!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Aunt Yi didn't believe him at all. She reached out and touched Yi Zhonghai's forehead again, but his forehead wasn't hot. Could it be that he had internal heat?

"Zhu Zi is right, you bravely saved a child who had fallen into the water."

"He's talking nonsense," Yi Zhonghai said angrily. "Who would be willing to jump into a pond to save a child on such a cold day?"

"I originally intended to let Sha Zhu go down to save people, but who knew he would squeeze in front of me and elbow me down."

"What? That's impossible! How could Zhu Zi do such a thing?"

Aunt Yi asked, still somewhat disbelieving.

"Would I lie to you about something like this? I remember it clearly, it was the pillar that pushed me down."

"You even bought him so many gifts and sent them to him?"

"this..."