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Chapter 31: 遇袭 ( Attacked)
Translator: LittleYen
When he said he would do it then he did it.
Next day, after Zhong Ziqi closed his stall, he sent Zhao Ning and Zhao Sheng back first, while he and Zhao Zheng’an walked around the Qing Shui town,buying some odds and ends.
Zhong Ziqi had a good idea of the gifts he needed to pick up for those two elderly members of the Zhong family. A few rolls of sheet cloth, some pastries and some meat would be enough. Don’t feel shivered from it, none of it was cheap, it cost him about 100 wen just for these.
When all the goods were bought, Zhong Ziqi thought it would be better to send them there today rather than tomorrow, to avoid them (he mean Liu xiu Juan cs) from having to make a trip to his place.
In the late afternoon, the road between Qing Shui Town and Zhao Jia’s village was sparsely populated. Occasionally, an unfamiliar carriage passed by. Zhong Ziqi was in a good mood, talking and laughing with Zhao Zheng’an.
Suddenly, from the trees on either side, two men emerged, looking at them maliciously.
Zhong Ziqi’s heart thumped as he took Zhao Zheng’an’s hand to turn around and walk back,barely just two steps away, two more men came out of the woods. There were four men in total, all of them big and strong, attacking from two sides. Zhong Ziqi knew that something was wrong.He doesn’t know who he has been messing with. Was the tree too tall to attract the wind?
[樹大招風 ;shù dà zhāo fēng
lit. a tall tree attracts the wind (idiom) / fig. a famous or rich person attracts criticism]
But with this situation in front of him, he could not afford to think about it, for it was clear that these strangers’s intention were not good, so Zhong Ziqi asked nervously:
“Gentlemen, what do you want? We have money, you can take it all, as long as you don’t hurt anyone.”
Zhao Zheng’an, beside him, clutched his hand tightly, his face tense and uneasy, he too sensed that something was not right.
One of them laughed ‘He he!’ , “The money -we’ll keep it, but the person —we can’t just leave it just like that.”
“Yes, who told you to mess with the wrong people, they told us to teach you a lesson, so we can’t just go back on our word.”
Another man said impatiently, “Cut the crap and settle this quickly!”
The other three also stopped talking, immediately they surrounded the two of them. After that, Zhong Ziqi only felt a pain in his leg. ”Ah!” As he let out a cry of pain, the next thing he knew, there was a period of ‘punches and kicks’.
“Help! Help! Someone please help!!!”
Zhong Ziqi shouted ‘help’ as he struggled and cried out in pain, hoping that someone would come out to help them, but his hopes were destined to fail.
“He he, no one can help you even if you shout through your throat.”
Zhao Zheng’an looked at them with a furious expression, especially when he saw them hitting Zhong Ziqi, he was even more furious. Completely unafraid, he ignored the two men who were going to take care of him, he rushed directly to Zhong Ziqi’s side, pushing those two men away and looking at them with a fierce face.
“Yo, you still dare to resist? beat him to death for me!”
The result was predictable. Zhao Zheng’an,no matter how fierce and tough he was, was still only one person, after resisting for a few times,he was overwhelmed by the increasing intensity of the punches. Too busy to take care of himself,finally he had to lie on top of Zhong Ziqi, firmly protecting him from harm.
Zhong Ziqi was unable to move his body as he was being held, so he cried out with a sobbing voice: “Zheng’an? Zheng’an? What happened to you?”
At some point, there was silence and the four men had left.
Zhong Ziqi’s voice choked with sobs, “Zheng’an? Zheng’an, they’re gone! Get up! Zheng’an?” But no matter how many times he called out, the person behind him did not move or say a word, even his breathing seemed to have lightened.
Zhong Ziqi panicked while he tried hard to break free from Zhao Zheng’an’s hug from below. When he turned his head, he saw Zhao Zheng’an with his eyes tightly closed, breathing weakly and blood on his face. A two-finger thick ‘rod’ (棍子= see pic) was thrown to one side, it goes without saying.
Zhong Ziqi’s eyes instantly burst into tears, his trembling hands gently picked up Zhao Zheng’an, calling out to him in terror and fear: “Zheng’an! Zhao Zheng’an …… you wake up ……! Don’t scare me! Or else I won’t want you!”
Zhao Zheng’an, who used to jump up immediately upon hearing this, was motionless like a porcelain doll at this time.
“Yes…go see the doctor…see the doctor! ” Zhong Ziqi mumbled as he got up, he tried to pick him up, but his entire body was too weak. For the first time he hated himself so much for being a ger. Who could come and save them?!
[Tl notes:So basically, a ger is weaker than a man but physically a little stronger than a woman although in this alternative world, no woman]
Perhaps God heard his plea for help, at that moment, a carriage happened to pass by. Zhong Ziqi couldn’t care less about anything else and rushed forward to stop the carriage: “Help him, Uncle, help him!!!” Zhong Ziqi begged.
The owner of the carriage was a man in his forties. He was pulling a load and immediately got out and carried the unconscious Zhao Zheng’an to the carriage. After that,he told Zhong Ziqi to get in too.
Zhong Ziqi thanked him gratefully before he sat beside Zhao Zheng’an, placing his head carefully on his lap.
“What have you done here? Did you meet a robber?”
Zhong Ziqi nodded haphazardly, coping with the fact that he was still in a state of extreme panic, calling out to Zhao Zheng’an all the way but he still didn’t move.Luckily they weren’t far from the town, they arrived in a few minutes, the carriage uncle helped Zhong Ziqi carry Zhao Zheng’an into the house, the same doctor’s medical clinic that had once treated Zhao Zheng’an, also still the same old doctor who sat on the desk.
“What’s wrong with this?” The old doctor asked as he hurriedly came over. He immediately directed the two of them to put Zhao Zheng’an on the bed in the inner room.
Zhong Ziqi choked back a sob as he recounted what had happened.
The old doctor sat down beside the bed with a serious look on his face, his hand taking the patient’s pulse.
After a long time, the old doctor withdrew his hand and said: ” His condition is a bit serious. It is possible that some of his internal organs had been injured and that he had a lot of external injuries too.In particular, the skin on his head is apparently broken and there is a big bump. But, because his head has been injured before. So unless he wakes up, who knows whether there’ll be any more damage.”
“So …… doctor, when will he wake up?”
The doctor shook his head: “I’m not sure about that, about two or three days or so! I’ll give a prescription for the medicine first, boil it out and feed it to him as soon as possible! He’s in a very bad condition now.”
Zhong Ziqi nodded his head, not daring to disturb him.
Although he was still worried, he could breathe a little easier with the doctor’s words. It was good for him to be able to recover.
Only then did Zhong Ziqi turn his attention to the uncle who was driving the cart, after that, he bowed deeply and thanked him earnestly: “Thank you so much for today, Uncle! if it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid …… Uncle, you’re our saviour, if you have any requests in the future, just tell me, I’ll do whatever I can!”
The man said with a simple smile, “No need, human life is more important.”
Zhong Ziqi gave him some money, but he refused to take it.
Zhong Ziqi said, “Uncle, please take it! I may have to trouble you a bit to deliver a letter to Zhao Jia’s village for me, is that okay? If you don’t take it, I’m too embarrassed to trouble you.”
The driver thought about it and accepted it.
“Uncle,please go to Zhao Jia’s village and look for Zhao Baogen and his family! It’s the fourth house from the center of the village, the one with two door gods on the door. Just tell them that my husband is sick, so I won’t be going back yet. Also, tomorrow’s business will be closed for a while…”
Since they didn’t go back, Zhao Amu and the others will be very worried. With Zhao Zheng’an’s current condition, he could not really go either. He also didn’t have the heart to do anything else.
At this time, his heart was in turmoil, sad, worried, heartache, and other thoughts mixed together. But one thing was clear: he was afraid that he (Zhao Zheng’an) would die. He felt like a knife had been cut into his heart….It was very painful.
He had never felt this kind of emotion before, even when that man got married (talking about the person he likes in modern era) , although he had felt the heartache that was difficult to bear, it was nowhere near as strong as the feelings he felt now. He thought that perhaps he had become somewhat fond of him in this slow contact. He had come to think of him as his member of the family that could not be lack of, no longer not essential.
Maybe he didn’t really like him and love him yet, but he was willing to continue, get along like this and give each other a chance. As long as he woke up,even if he was ‘stupid’ for the rest of his life, he was willing to raise him.
It’s always when you’re about to lose something that you think about cherishing it. In the past, although he seemed to take care of him, he always ignored him, but from now on he won’t do that anymore and will treat him like a treasure in his heart.
Translator has something to say:This chapter is kind of emotional. The story itself is simple but this realization of feeling, of wanting to treasure someone you love is kind of touching.