Chapter 32: Take Shamelessness To The End
“Tsk tsk tsk, scared shitless already.” Lin Xin shook her head with a clucking sound.
“Xin, Xin Yatou, save, save me······” Lin Shu only felt his palm aching and going numb, and his entire body was gradually stiffening. He thought he was going to die, snot and tears flowing out as he indistinctly begged Lin Xin for help.
“Alright then, who told me to be so kind! But I’m not a doctor, so naturally I won’t handle your situation. I’ll go down the mountain right now to find someone to save you. Wait here!” After Lin Xin finished speaking, she picked up the back basket, held Nan Nan, and walked down the mountain.
“You, you hurry, hurry back······” Lin Shu felt his tongue root growing even stiffer, almost unable to speak.
Lin Xin raised one hand and waved behind her, quickening her steps.
“Sis～” After walking a long way, Nan Nan’s timid voice sounded.
“What’s wrong, Nan Nan?”
“······He, will he die?” After a while, she heard Nan Nan’s even smaller voice reply.
“Of course not,” Lin Xin thought of Lin Shu’s ridiculous state and burst out laughing with a puff. After laughing, she explained to Nan Nan: “That was a non-venomous green snake. Being bitten by it only hurts a lot, but it won’t kill you.”
“Ah? Then why didn’t Sis tell him?”
“Sis knows that snake has no venom, but he was still bleeding. Sis won’t stop his bleeding, so the best way is to let him lie there without moving while Sis finds someone to save him.” Lin Xin’s expression was especially serious as she said this.
“Oh!” Nan Nan responded in a half-understanding way.
However, at this moment, his little heart was filled with a big question. He seemed to remember that before at home, Sis had treated Big Cat’s leg and done it quite well!
Why wouldn’t she stop that person’s bleeding now?
Could it be because he was a person, not a cat, so Sis wouldn’t do it?
Lin Xin didn’t know that Nan Nan had already imagined so much, even finding such a reasonable explanation for her “refusing to save him.” At this moment, she was standing at the Clan Leader Grandfather’s doorstep, “anxiously” waiting for his little grandson to call him out.
“Xin Yatou, what happened? Why are you running so urgently?” Seeing the “panting” Lin Xin, the Old Clan Leader quickly asked.
“Clan, Clan Leader Grandfather, it’s, it’s not me, it’s, it’s Brother Lin Shu, he, he was bitten by a snake. I, I didn’t dare move him, so, so I hurried to find, find someone······” Lin Xin “heavily” panted while speaking in broken sentences.
“What? Bitten by a snake? Lin Jing, hurry and get your Third Grandfather, let Xin Yatou take you up the mountain to save him. Go quickly!” The Old Clan Leader hurriedly instructed his son.
After speaking, he turned to Lin Xin. “Xin Yatou, take a quick rest first. You’ll have to lead people up the mountain later. Can you manage?”
Lin Xin nodded. “I’m, I’m fine, just need a short rest.”
Soon, four or five young men and the village doctor ran over following Lin Jing.
“Xin Yatou, hurry and lead them there! Leave Nan Xiaozi at my house first. You can pick him up when you return.” The Old Clan Leader reached out to take Nan Nan from Lin Xin’s arms, but Nan Nan turned his head away, dodged his hand, tightly hugged Lin Xin’s neck, and buried his face in Lin Xin’s shoulder.
“Never mind, Clan Leader Grandfather. Nan Nan was frightened yesterday and is very clingy to me. Anyway, I’ve rested enough, so it’s no problem taking him along.” Lin Xin knew Nan Nan now felt full of fear and disgust toward the villagers and had no intention of leaving him behind.
“This······ Can you manage?” This was the Old Clan Leader’s second time asking her this. Lin Xin nodded. “Don’t worry, Clan Leader Grandfather. I’m fine. Saving him is urgent, so we’ll head out first.”
“Good, then go quickly!”
The group set off quickly.
Although Lin Xin knew the snake that bit Lin Shu had no venom, that was near the deep mountain forest. Who knew if fierce beasts might appear? She didn’t want him eaten by a fierce beast either, so she directly led the group via a shortcut to the spot.
Lin Shu was now both terrified and worried, nearly scaring himself crazy. Finally seeing people arrive, he opened his mouth wide and started crying first.
The Old Doctor, carried over on a young man’s back, went over and carefully examined his wound. He let out a long breath and sat down on the ground with a thud. “Don’t worry, the snake that bit him has no venom. Later, find a place with water, rinse the wound vigorously, apply some medicine, and it’ll be fine.”
“What? No venom? Impossible. My hand hurts so much, even my tongue won’t move properly. I can barely speak. How could that snake have no venom?” Lin Shu’s first reaction was disbelief.
The Old Doctor was from the Lin Family proper, same generation as the Old Clan Leader, a warm-hearted man deeply respected by the clansmen. Today, he’d come up the mountain to save someone without so much as a thank you and was now questioned. He immediately got unhappy, his face darkening. “Since you think my medical skill is inadequate, find someone more skilled then!”
With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.
“Third Grandfather, Third Grandfather, don’t be upset! Brother Lin Shu is just scared silly. He didn’t mean it.” A young man named Lin Zhou, who usually got along well with Lin Shu, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.
“And you, look how clearly you’re speaking now. You still dare not believe Third Grandfather? Get up and apologize to him!” Seeing the Old Doctor’s face still grim but his steps halted, Lin Zhou turned back and slapped Lin Shu’s shoulder with a palm, making him scream “ow” in pain. Startled, Lin Zhou quickly withdrew his hand and stammered, “Wha, what’s wrong with you?”
“My shoulder was smashed by a stone before.” Lin Shu endured the pain and answered.
“How could a stone smash you?” Seeing his pained expression didn’t seem fake, Lin Zhou hurried back to the Old Doctor. “Third Grandfather, besides the snake bite, Brother Lin Shu’s shoulder seems broken too. Please take a look, sir!”
“Believe me now?” The Old Doctor gave him an annoyed glance and walked back to Lin Shu.
“Which shoulder?”
Lin Shu didn’t dare speak carelessly this time and pointed to the shoulder hit by the stone. “This one.”
The Old Doctor felt it a few times and pressed a few spots, making veins bulge high on Lin Shu’s forehead from pain, but he didn’t dare say anything.
“The bone isn’t broken, but it’s cracked. Without proper tools now, I can’t fix it. Let’s get down the mountain first.”
As everyone prepared to leave, Lin Shu suddenly remembered the little deer in the trap and quickly called out to stop them. “Wait, everyone. There’s still prey in my trap. Who can help pull it up?”
Seeing him in this state but still trying to claim her prey, Lin Xin immediately said, “Brother Lin Shu, you’re really taking shamelessness to the end! This is clearly my trap. How is it yours?”
“What do you mean your trap? With your little body, could you dig such a deep trap? Who are you kidding? If you’re really envious of bro’s prey, next time I get some, bro will give it to you. But this time, bro’s arm is injured and bitten by a snake. I need money, so I really can’t give it.”
“Heh,” Lin Xin sneered, turning to Lin Zhou. “Big Brother, can you go down and check? I stuck sharpened branches at the bottom of this trap. Each branch has a mark I carved. Check them first without saying anything, and see if Brother Lin Shu can describe what those marks look like.”
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