Chapter 105: News
“Ning Bao Gai…”
Su Ning soothingly patted her shoulder, got up and went to the spot not far away where the Luo family father and son were lying side by side.
Neither of them had woken up yet, their originally pale faces from the rain now showed varying degrees of flush, and unexpectedly, the same scorching heat came from under their hands.
Fortunately, the wounds had been wiped with spring water and showed no signs of infection.
“Girl, did you treat their wounds?”
Ge Laotou, who had already checked each one, had at some point come to her side with a grave expression and squatted down.
Their wounds looked frightening, but their lives were not in danger; a few needles would restore their consciousness.
The problem was right here.
Based on his many years of medical experience, take the injuries of the two in front of him for example—even if he had been there at the time, it would have been hard for him to confidently snatch them back from the King of Hell’s hands.
So he was really curious: exactly who had done what to save these people who should have died long ago?
“Yes, I don’t understand medical treatment, so I could only rely on the first aid theoretical knowledge my brother at home once mentioned to operate. Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you did very well.”
Ge Laotou shook his head, skillfully took out a slender silver needle from the needle pack with almost no hesitation, and precisely found each acupoint through their clothes, quickly and steadily inserting them.
“Old man is just curious, did you give them anything to eat? I’ve checked everyone’s pulse…”
The latter words, whether out of consideration or because the movements of his hands required concentration and calm breathing, Ge Laotou did not continue.
Only after successively inserting needles into both of them did he look at her with burning eyes.
“Yes.”
Without dodging, she generously nodded in admission. Su Ning took out her emptied water bottle, unscrewed it, and handed it to him. “It’s the secret medicine passed down in my Su Family. I dissolved it in water and gave them all some to drink.”
“Oh? Secret medicine, what specific effects?”
Like he had obtained a treasure, Ge Laotou’s eyes lit up as he immediately took the water bottle, eagerly opened the cap, and held it close under his nose to smell.
He couldn’t identify the other ingredients for the moment, but he immediately detected the distinct scent unique to wild ginseng.
This wild ginseng… seemed to have a long vintage?
“It can quickly stabilize injuries and speed up wound healing.”
“No wonder, they are also very lucky.”
Something that could be called a secret medicine naturally didn’t need much explanation for its effects.
Since it was an ancestral secret medicine, asking further would smack of stealing techniques. Having figured out the reason and resolved his doubts, Ge Laotou no longer mentioned the medicinal water, only sighing inwardly at these people’s good fortune and that their lives were not meant to end.
“Old Qu!”
“Hey, Ge Laotou, what’s up?”
“Have the young lads move and quickly carry everyone back. If they keep getting drenched in the rain, no amount of medicine will be enough to save them. Oh, and the silver needles…”
“Got it, got it, don’t touch the silver needles. Hear that? What are you all standing around stunned for? Move quickly and carry them back to the brigade.”
The young and strong lads, hearing this, tacitly formed groups of three or four, carefully lifted one person onto a stretcher, covered it with something barely shielding from the rain, and hurried steadily and quickly toward the team.
The group came in a hurry and left in a hurry as well.
Just like that, Su Ning and the other two followed behind the large group and arrived once again at the Sixth Production Brigade of Baiyang Commune.
As time passed bit by bit, the family members who had been waiting a long time for their loved ones were almost going mad with anxiety.
……
Luohu Brigade, Yan family.
The meal prepared on time on the table had long gone completely cold. The few people sitting inside the room said nothing, the heavy and oppressive atmosphere making it feel like breathing was becoming difficult.
Yan Xi suddenly stood up, unable to hold back any longer, grabbed the raincoat at the door, put it on, and stepped out. “Mom, I’ll go ask again. If it really doesn’t work, I’ll go to the town.”
“Okay, how about having Little Lantern and his brother go with you?”
“No need, the two kids have short legs and might delay things—just let them stay at home!”
After saying that, he strode into the rain without looking back, and in just a few breaths, he had disappeared into the heavy rain.
By the time he arrived at the brigade’s office, he found that the family members of two or three other households who also hadn’t returned were squatting together with bitter faces.
“Brigade Leader…”
“Xi Zi, don’t worry, don’t worry. We’ve already contacted the commune, and they’re helping to relay inquiries to the route bus transport team in the city. Everyone wait patiently, ah!”
Hearing this, Yan Xi fiercely grabbed two handfuls of his short hair on top of his head, breathed heavily twice, the stifled worry and anxiety in his chest almost exploding.
Clearly, that morning before departure, he had received a special call from his younger sister to the team, and the siblings had even agreed on a pickup time.
But after waiting two or three hours in the town, not only did they not arrive, even the route bus didn’t show up.
At that time, he had faintly felt uneasy, but there was no reason to assume the worst.
He thought maybe his brother-in-law’s special line of work had an emergency come up temporarily, so they canceled their return plans?
With this mindset, he returned to the team, found the noted contact number, and with trepidation dialed his brother-in-law’s office phone for the first time.
When the person on duty there told him that Gu City had indeed had two major incidents, but they hadn’t found anyone and were just about to call to ask if the head was in Luohu.
Hearing this, how could Yan Xi not know that his brother-in-law’s whole family had indeed set off for Luohu, but there was zero news of them!
His legs went soft as he returned home, waited absent-mindedly for over an hour, really couldn’t sit still, and came here to inquire about news—after all, only here in the team was there a telephone to contact the outside.
“Hello? Hey, comrade hello, this is Luohu Brigade. You say… what?”
The brigade leader answering the phone widened his eyes, abruptly stood up, and with such a large movement instantly knocked over the chair behind him.
This noise made the people waiting inside and outside the room stand up simultaneously and crowd around, each nervously rubbing their hands, afraid to hear any bad news.
“Okay, okay, I understand. Thank you, comrade. If there’s further news, please call again. Hey, thank you, thank you.”
“Brigade Leader!”
The brigade leader who hung up the phone had a grave expression, looked at the familiar faces, moved his lips, but the words seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, unable to come out.
“Brigade Leader, say something!”
“Yeah, yeah, what exactly happened? I just came back from the town—not only the route bus from Gu City this morning, even the ones behind didn’t arrive!”
“Brigade Leader…”
“Alright, everyone quiet down. The route bus had a collision accident near Qingshan County.”
“Boom——”
The brigade leader’s words were like a thunderclap exploding on flat ground, booming in everyone’s ears and causing brief deafness.
“What?”
“Ah, my son! Stone, Stone…”
“Impossible, impossible, how could it be, how is it possible!”
Shocked exclamations of disbelief, bursting into loud wails upon realizing—suddenly the entire office was shaken by this sudden news, nearly flipped over.
Yan Xi quickly squeezed forward, grabbed the brigade leader’s hand, his eyes bloodshot, lips trembling, voice shaking as he urgently asked, “Bri… Brigade Leader, are you sure, sure it’s that route bus?”
“Yes, there were three or four trips from Gu City—which one?”
The family members of the relatives present, hearing Yan Xi’s words, still clung to a sliver of hope and simultaneously stopped to look at the brigade leader.
“They said it was the earliest one.”
Instantly, some families rejoiced while others grieved.
Yan Xi covered his face, big teardrops streaming down through his fingers. The man who had always taught his son to shed blood but not tears could no longer hold back and squatted down crying loudly.
That was his only younger sister, a family of four!
How could their old Yan family ever face, ever face the in-laws…
“Hello, yes, this is Luohu Brigade. Comrade, you say, you say who?”
The brigade leader, who had also sucked in his nose feeling equally bad inside, heard the bell on the desk, steadied his emotions, and picked up the phone.
Upon hearing the names mentioned by the person on the other end, he tremblingly wrote them down one by one, thanked them repeatedly, and then hung up.
“Xi Zi, great news, Xi Zi!”
Seeing the person still covering his face and wailing, the brigade leader strode forward and fiercely patted his back several times.
“Xi Zi, your younger sister and her whole family are fine!”
“Ha?”
Ignoring the big snot bubble from his nose, Yan Xi stood up dizzy and dazed, looking straight at him. “Brigade Leader, what did you just say?”
“I said your younger sister and her whole family are fine! Just now, a young lad from Yuan County Hospital called, saying he was specially asked by Shuang Shuang’s friend to report that they’re safe and also notify Xiang Lei’s family!”
“They’re fine? Really fine? You’re sure all four of them are okay?!”
“I, I’m here. Brigade Leader, you just said notifying Xiang Lei’s family—what happened to my family’s Stone?”
A couple who had been holding their heads and crying heard their son’s name, and hearing that Yan Xin’s whole family was fine, a flicker of hope rose in their hearts again.
“Your family’s Stone has a broken leg, shoulder injured too, but at least he’s alive. He’s at Yuan County Hospital right now—quickly pack some change of clothes, bring money and ration coupons and such, and go to the hospital!”
“His dad, did you hear? Stone, Stone is still alive…”
“Quick, quick, let’s go, home first!”
