Chapter 44

Chapter 44

"Dr. Kong, hurry," Wang Pingan said, immediately spotting Zhong Yizhu by the bedside, and quickly led the physician beside him over.

Zhong Yizhu also quickly stepped away from the bedside, moving back toward the foot of the bed.

He looked at Wang Pingan, who said in a low voice, "I've hardly been to Songyun County before; once there, I had no idea what to do. Luckily, Boss Gong didn't hesitate and came with me to invite the physician from Songhe Hall. He's the best in town. At first, he refused to travel such a long distance, but Boss Gong offered him ten taels of silver as consultation fee and that got him moving. Thankfully, Zhu Ge'er, you thought of everything."

At that moment, Wang Pingan truly admired Zhong Yizhu. If Zhong Yizhu hadn't thought of everything in advance, even if he had rushed headlong to Songyun County, he probably wouldn't have been able to bring back a decent physician. Looking at Pei Mu lying in bed with no sign of improvement, he inwardly thanked his lucky stars that Zhu Ge'er had sent him to fetch the physician.

"Thank you, Ping'an Ge." Zhong Yizhu nodded his thanks, said nothing about the ten-tael consultation fee, and simply turned to watch Dr. Kong work.

Zhong Yizhu's gaze was urgent, but he restrained himself from interrupting, holding his breath, all his hope now pinned on the doctor.

Dr. Kong carefully examined Pei Mu's wound, then sat down to take his pulse with a focused expression, his brows tightly knit the entire time.

After taking his pulse, he asked to see the prescription from earlier. After a long pause, he spoke slowly.

"I hate to say it, but there's nothing I can do."

Those words sent Zhong Yizhu straight into despair.

Chen Xiaorong and Wang Pingan grew frantic, pleading, "Doctor, please take another look. He's usually strong and healthy; how can there be no hope? Please look again..."

Zhong Yizhu suddenly rushed forward to lift Pei Mu, trying to move him. "I don't believe it. I'll take him to Rongcheng County, or if that fails, to Rongyang Prefecture. I refuse to believe no one can save him."

Even though Pei Mu's unconscious body was too heavy for two grown men to lift, Zhong Yizhu somehow managed to move him.

Wang Pingan instinctively moved to help, but it was Chen Xiaorong who kept his head and stopped him.

"Zhu Ge'er, calm down. It's already past midnight; the gates of Rongcheng County are locked. If we send Pei Xiongdi there now, we'll have to wait at the gate until dawn. The night is cold; we don't know if Pei Xiongdi can handle the trip. Better to wait a little longer."

Seeing the utter despair on Zhong Yizhu's face, Chen Xiaorong started crying too. He ached for this young couple, married not long ago, and even more for Pei Mu's suffering.

Pei Xiongdi had only enjoyed a few good days—why did heaven have to give him such a hard time?

"Cough..."

Zhong Yizhu came back to his senses thanks to Chen Xiaorong's words, but he still held Pei Mu and didn't let go. So when Pei Mu made a sound, he reacted immediately, carefully laying him back on the bed.

He wanted to call the physician over for another look, but Pei Mu grabbed his wrist, his voice weak and hoarse: "Zhu Ge'er... I have something to tell you."

The grip on his hand had little strength. Zhong Yizhu turned back to look at Pei Mu, still maintaining a half-bent posture, very close to him—so close that as soon as he saw Pei Mu's barely open eyes, his own eyes filled with tears, his fragility and grief impossible to hide.

Pei Mu didn't look at his injured left hand, nor did he pay attention to where they were. His eyes were fixed solely on Zhong Yizhu, and he raised his right hand with some difficulty to wipe away his tears, but that only made him cry harder.

Pei Mu softened his voice to soothe him: "Don't cry, Zhu Ge'er."

Zhong Yizhu reached out and held Pei Mu's trembling hand, trying hard to suppress his tears, but they just poured out helplessly.

"Pei Mu, I'm scared," he said, crying.

Pei Mu's eyes turned red too. This was the person he cherished more than anyone—how could he bear to leave him behind?

But perhaps his fate was simply unlucky. Maybe having Zhong Yizhu for even a short time was already heaven's special favor.

He'd fought his whole life, never willing to give in, but at this moment he finally surrendered to fate.

He wouldn't cling to Zhong Yizhu across lifetimes anymore. He just wanted Zhong Yizhu to be okay.

"Don't be afraid." Pei Mu held Zhong Yizhu's hand in return, his eyes fixed on him without blinking, as if carving him into his memory, into his soul, never to forget even beyond death.

Pei Mu held his icy cold hands and whispered instructions: "Don't stay alone at the house at the foot of the mountain anymore—it's not safe. Go back and live with your mother. There are some furs at home; I brought some down this trip. Since you're so afraid of the cold, don't sell them; make yourself a cloak instead."

Zhong Yizhu clamped his hand over Pei Mu's mouth, crying and shaking his head in despair: "Stop talking, don't say any more. I don't want anything; I only want you to get better. Please get better, please..."

Pei Mu gazed at him with gentle eyes, but for the first time, he didn't listen.

"When you find a husband later, make sure to pick someone with better luck, one who can protect you, who treats you well, who loves you even more than I do..."

No one loves you more than I do, Pei Mu thought, but in the end, he simply reached out to support Zhong Yizhu's back and said softly, "Zhu Ge'er, I want to hold you."

Zhong Yizhu bent down and hugged him, crying, soon soaking Pei Mu's shoulder with tears. He gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "I won't marry anyone. If you don't get better, there will be no one to protect me. Don't abandon me. On Qiqiao Festival, you promised to stay with me forever..."

By the end, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

He hugged the person in his arms with all his strength, as if that could keep him there.

The night had grown deep.

After delivering those words that sounded like a final farewell, Pei Mu fell back into unconsciousness. While he was awake, Zhong Yizhu had also asked Dr. Kong to examine him again. Dr. Kong asked what the snake that bit him looked like but still had no solution.

He had treated snake venom before, but symptoms like Pei Mu's—with a pulse that faded in and out—he had never seen. Nor had he ever heard of the snake described. The best he could offer was a standard antidote, not much different from what this medical clinic had already given. Since that one hadn't worked, there was no point in repeating it.

Dr. Kong went to rest at an inn not far from the clinic. Old Zhang saw them to the clinic and then went back to the village. Zhong Yizhu told Wang Ping'an and his husband to rest at the inn too, but they refused. He insisted, saying they'd need to be fresh if they had to take Pei Mu somewhere tomorrow, and finally got them to go.

Only Zhong Yizhu remained in the clinic, watching over Pei Mu.

A few of the lamps on the stand had gone out, making the room dim. Zhong Yizhu knelt by the bed, clutching one of Pei Mu's arms, his tears long dried up.

The pain of losing his father was still fresh; he couldn't understand why heaven was taking away another person he loved so much.

His chest ached until it went numb. If not for thoughts of his mother, if not for her...

Zhong Yizhu looked at Pei Mu's tightly shut eyes and whispered in his ear, as if telling a secret: "I won't marry anyone. I'll come to keep you company. But you'll have to wait for me, maybe a long time, but I will come."

Zhong Yizhu tugged gently at Pei Mu's fingers, but there was no response, and his breathing seemed to have stopped.

A gust of wind blew.

From outside came the sound of a cart. Willow Town had no city gates, so there was no curfew; travelers passing through at night was normal.

Zhong Yizhu's mind was blank, mechanically drifting to irrelevant thoughts, until a knock on the clinic door startled him back to reality.

They were in the back hall of the clinic, which had a few partitioned rooms for seriously ill patients to rest and be examined. Though called the back hall, it wasn't far from the front. In his daze, Zhong Yizhu heard someone pounding on the door calling his and Pei Mu's names. He snapped out of it—that was Gong Laosi's voice!

Zhong Yizhu hurriedly got up, staggered from numb legs, stomped hard to shake off the pins and needles, and ran to open the clinic door.

Outside, Gong Laosi was holding up an old man with one hand. As soon as they saw each other, he asked, "How's Brother Pei?"

Zhong Yizhu shook his head, looking grim: "The doctors all said they've never seen anything like it and can't treat him."

Gong Laosi then introduced the person beside him: "This is my wife's great-uncle. He's a village herbalist, but he specializes in snake venom. Zhu Ge'er, if you don't mind, let the great-uncle take a look?"

Zhong Yizhu hadn't expected this. His eyes lit up with hope. He quickly stepped aside to let them in and reached out to help support the old man: "Of course not. Uncle, please come in."

The lamps on the stand were relit. Zhong Yizhu remembered Pei Mu's description clearly and repeated it verbatim to the great-uncle. The great-uncle nodded: "From what you say, it should be a red-headed viper. The symptoms match as well. Let me take his pulse first."

Zhong Yizhu had been feeling hopeless all night, but now that someone finally arrived who could identify what kind of snake had bitten Pei Mu, intense hope surged within him. He stared intently at the great-uncle's hand taking the pulse, not daring to even ask, "Can you cure him?"—both eager for an answer and afraid it would be a false hope.

The great-uncle quickly withdrew his hand, as if he had already reached a conclusion. Without beating around the bush, he said directly, "It's a Red-headed Viper. This snake is rare, and its venom is peculiar. The one that bit your husband was a juvenile, so the venom dose was low, which is why he's lasted this long. I can try, but I can't guarantee I can save him. If you agree, I'll try."

At this point, Zhong Yizhu had no choice but to agree. This was almost the first good news he had heard so far, and he was afraid that if he hesitated even a moment, the old man might change his mind.

Meanwhile, the great-uncle directed the medicine boy, who had been woken by the knocking, to fetch medicine, while Zhong Yizhu thanked Gong Laosi over and over, almost incoherently.

Gong Laosi waved his hand. "Let's not talk about that now. Wait until Brother Pei recovers before you thank me. Zhu Ge'er, don't blame me for not telling you earlier. My great-uncle has a peculiar temper and it's not always easy to get him to come. I originally thought that Doctor Kong could be useful, but it was my wife who told me to go get Great-Uncle, thinking it would provide an extra layer of security. Good thing I did."

Zhong Yizhu was on the verge of tears. "I really have to thank Sister-in-law for this."

Gong Laosi said, "My wife has a good heart. She remembers kindness from those who treat her well. You asked me to give her all those nice things, so she naturally remembers you."

Zhong Yizhu was still worried about delaying Gong Laosi's business and urged him to rest at the inn. Gong Laosi, seeing that he wasn't needed there, didn't refuse, but he didn't take the silver Zhong Yizhu offered for lodging, saying that since they were friends, there was no need to worry about such things.

That night, the great-uncle and Zhong Yizhu stayed by Pei Mu's side. Just before dawn, the great-uncle checked his pulse again and prepared another dose of medicine to make Pei Mu drink it.

As the morning light streamed through the paper window into the clinic, Pei Mu's pulse, after a night of fluctuations, finally stabilized. Even the bluish tint on his lips had faded somewhat.

The great-uncle withdrew his hand from taking the pulse and said to Zhong Yizhu, "His life is saved. As for what comes next..."

Just those four words alone made Zhong Yizhu feel like he'd been reborn.

He suddenly collapsed by the bedside, tears streaming like a river. His lips tried to curl upward, but all that came out were the sobs of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

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Author's note: Sorry for being late, sorry. I'll give out some small red envelopes (with lucky money) in this chapter.