Chapter 113: Venting
The ground was full of water, and with Zhou Wangshu underneath like that, his body and face were covered in mud.
Su Yaoguang propped herself up and asked, “How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Zhou Wangshu shook his head.
He sat up, grabbed the umbrella he had thrown earlier, and tossed it toward Xiao Yanci’s direction.
Bang! Xiao Yanci was hit at his waist, and his whole body fell to the ground, rolling several times on the ground.
“Ah…” Xiao Yanci felt intense pain at his waist, and then he saw the book in his hand fly out and soak directly in the muddy water.
He turned back angrily, looking toward Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang’s direction: “You…”
“What you? Can’t you watch where you’re walking?” Su Yaoguang cursed, “If our Wangshu is hurt anywhere, I’ll chop you into pieces. I see all your books have gone straight to the dog’s belly.”
Zhou Wangshu said mildly, “Don’t be angry, Yaoguang. It’s not worth getting upset over. Anyway, I’m fine. I’ll just go back and wash up.”
Su Yaoguang took a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped Zhou Wangshu’s cheek.
Xiao Yanci tried to get up, but even a slight movement caused unbearable pain. His face changed drastically, and he shouted toward Zhou Wangshu’s direction: “My waist is injured. Hurry and send me to the clinic.”
“Ignore him.” Su Yaoguang said to Zhou Wangshu, “You’re covered in mud, and the rain is getting heavier. Let’s hurry and go.”
Xiao Yanci saw they were about to leave.
Su Yaoguang picked up the umbrella that had been thrown out earlier.
Xiao Yanci hugged her leg, his eyes red-rimmed, with unprecedented anger and grievance in his eyes: “Su Yaoguang, are you really going to be so heartless? Clearly, you used to be reluctant to let me suffer even the slightest injury.”
Su Yaoguang was stunned for a moment.
But soon, she returned to normal and kicked him away in disgust, saying to Zhou Wangshu: “Is this guy’s brain sick? He’s got some kind of delusion!”
“Maybe his brain soaked up too much water, so he got this madness.” Zhou Wangshu pulled her away.
Xiao Yanci shouted toward Su Yaoguang’s figure: “Su Yaoguang, come back here.”
Su Yaoguang turned back and glanced at Xiao Yanci.
Zhou Wangshu held the umbrella for her. Seeing her turn back to look at Xiao Yanci, he asked, “Should we find some people to carry him to the clinic?”
Without waiting for Su Yaoguang to respond, he added: “Earlier, he deliberately squeezed between us, causing you to fall. If he hadn’t been so excessive, I wouldn’t have hit him. I just didn’t expect this guy to be so weak. How heavy could that umbrella be? He got hit by it once and can’t get up. Could he be made of paper?”
Su Yaoguang said, “Even if he gets rained to death, it’s what he deserves. Why should we care about him?”
“He just said you used to be reluctant to let him suffer even the slightest injury. When was that? I remember we entered the village at the same time, and I never saw you have any dealings with him before.”
“That’s why I said he’s sick.”
Seeing Su Yaoguang’s attitude, Zhou Wangshu didn’t ask any further.
Ripples arose in Su Yaoguang’s heart.
What did Xiao Yanci mean just now?
In this life, she had never given Xiao Yanci a good look, and naturally the latter had no ties with her. Her principle was to ignore him in this life, not provoke him, and mind her own business. But he said those words. What exactly was the problem?
What he said could only refer to her previous self. Could it be that this person also possessed memories of his previous life?
“Oh my, what happened to you two?” Zhang Pandi saw the two covered in muddy water, especially Zhou Wangshu who looked like he had rolled around in the mud, and shouted inside, “Chunni, hurry and boil some hot water.”
There were no customers today, and Jia Chunni was inside making cosmetics with Jiang Jing.
Hearing Zhang Pandi’s words, she responded from inside: “Got it.”
“I ordered a batch of medicinal herbs from the pharmacy, and a batch of grain from the grain store. They said they’d deliver tonight. These things can’t be publicized; it has to be done secretly without anyone knowing.” Su Yaoguang instructed.
“Why is that?” Zhang Yingdi asked. “We’re buying grain and medicinal herbs openly. Why does it feel like we’re sneaking around now?”
“Look at this rain; who knows when it will stop. With the rain lasting so long, transporting grain will definitely get harder and prices will rise. Grain is easy to store; even if it lasts a year or two, it won’t spoil. If we stock up more grain, we won’t panic no matter what else we’re short of, right?” Su Yaoguang said.
“We should stock up more.” Zhang Zhaodi came out from inside. “Grain is a good thing; if you can’t finish it, eat it slowly. The daughter is right; with the current situation, who knows when grain won’t be able to be transported in.”
“Then let’s clear out that warehouse in the back.” Zhang Yingdi said.
“If only this rain would stop for a few days. I want to tidy up the backyard and add a few more rooms. Right now, it’s only enough for us to live in; there’s no place to store things.”
“My dear daughter, hurry and change out of those wet clothes! And Wangshu, you go take a bath and change clothes too. What happened to you two?” Zhang Zhaodi was heartbroken.
“Don’t mention it. We were walking fine on the street when we ran into a crazy madman.” Su Yaoguang said in disgust.
“There are no customers today; let’s close the door and rest.” Zhang Zhaodi instructed Wang Huanzhi and Zhang Yingdi.
Wang Huanzhi went to close the door. When he reached the doorway, he saw two people carrying a mud-covered person to the Fenghua Pavilion opposite.
He watched curiously for a bit and saw those two knock on the door of Fenghua Pavilion and say to Zhong Lanhua: “This is someone from your family, right? He’s injured and lying on the ground unable to move, so he asked us to carry him back. He said as long as we carry him back, he’ll give us ten copper coins each. Give us the money, and we’ll carry him inside for you.”
Zhong Lanhua looked at the utterly disheveled Xiao Yanci, her face unsightly: “Are you deliberately here to jinx our family? You were just injured not long ago, and now after going out once, you’re injured again. Does our family’s money blow in with the wind? Don’t forget, you’re our family’s long-term hired hand. Do you really think you’re the master? No money.”
“No money, then we’ll throw him out?” The beggars threatened.
“Throw him. Who cares?”
Jiang Yihuan came running out anxiously and said, “Don’t throw him. I’ll pay.”
Xiao Yanci had just been angered by Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu, and now humiliated like this by Zhong Lanhua, he felt like killing someone. He looked at Zhong Lanhua with resentment, wishing he could hack this shrewish woman to death with one knife right now. It was only when Jiang Yihuan appeared that the anger in his heart subsided a lot. No matter what, this shrew was Jiang Yihuan’s birth mother; for her sake, he’d spare her for now.
Jiang Yihuan paid the money, and the two beggars carried Xiao Yanci inside.
Zhong Lanhua was still unrelenting, but Jiang Yihuan kept persuading her until she stormed inside in a huff.
Wang Huanzhi closed the door and said to Zhang Zhaodi: “Luckily Yaoguang didn’t buy that Mr. Xiao. Such a big man who’s so weak he can’t take care of himself—what, buy him back to be a decoration?”
