As he slept in a daze, Zhu Yuanyu felt his body suddenly sink, as if someone had placed a big stone on his chest. It was so heavy that he could hardly breathe.
When he opened his eyes, he vaguely saw a furry thing pressing on his chest, the size of a basketball.
He usually sleeps quite honestly, rarely turning over. At this time, he was lying flat on his back with his belly facing up, which was convenient for the unknown object to press on him.
The thing squirmed and had body temperature. Zhu Yuanyu thought it was Maotou and asked vaguely, "Maotou?" Then he immediately remembered that Maotou had been trained not to go to his bed casually unless ordered. So this thing is not a hairy thing. Thinking of this, he suddenly woke up.
Zhu Yuanyu squinted his eyes and held his breath to observe secretly. He quickly formed a seal with his left hand and struck preemptively if he found anything wrong. It was also because he was careless, thinking that he would not encounter any danger in Gao Daniu's house, so he did not use the barrier-shaped talisman for protection, so he was approached by this thing.
"嘤——"
The thing made a cry like a baby and slowly moved towards Zhu Yuanyu's face.
Zhu Yuanyu's left hand was tense, ready to exert force at any time.
Suddenly the thing stopped moving, then expanded with a "touch", exploded and disappeared.
If it weren't for the faint smell of watermelon, Zhu Yuanyu would have thought he was dreaming.
"Master, what happened?"
Qi Ao shouted through the door curtain, his voice seemed worried.
He was probably awakened by the "touch" just now and came over to check on the situation.
"It's okay. What time is it now?"
"It's Yin time. Master, can my subordinates come in?"
Zhu Yuanyu pondered for a while, knowing that Qi Ao was worried, so he let him in.
Qi Ao opened the door curtain and walked in. He looked around and felt relieved when he saw nothing wrong. He turned his attention to the kang. Zhu Yuanyu was half leaning on the bed, supporting his head with one hand. The room was dark and a little strange. His expression is unclear. Qi Ao found that the collar of his underwear was a little messy, and a piece of skin was exposed. Qi Ao realized what he was looking at and quickly looked away, and his ears began to feel hot.
Qi Ao smelled a faint aroma and was a little confused. This was obviously not Zhu Yuanyu's scent...
"Master, did you just...hear anything?"
In fact, the "bump" wasn't loud, and it probably couldn't reach the next room. Didn't Li Zhuangzhuang wake up before he saw it? But Qi Ao didn't know why but he heard it very clearly. He was worried that something might happen to Zhu Yuanyu, so he rushed over.
Zhu Yuanyu yawned, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, slowly lay down and closed his eyes, saying vaguely: "It's okay, go back to sleep."
Qi Ao was still worried, so he glanced at the other party cautiously and asked softly: "Master, should I ask my subordinates to keep vigil for you?"
Zhu Yuanyu seemed to be asleep and did not respond.
Qi Ao hesitated for a moment, then sat down on the bench next to the door, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and squinting his eyes.
One night passed, and the thing never came again, and the sound of fetching water came from outside.
Zhu Yuanyu opened his eyes and sat up.
"Master, are you awake?"
Cui'er was waiting outside the door curtain with a basin of water.
Qi Ao stood up and opened the door curtain.
Cui'er saw that Zhu Yuanyu had gotten up, so she walked in, put the basin on the table, picked up the handkerchief soaked in water, wrung it out, and handed it to Zhu Yuanyu.
Zhu Yuanyu took it, wiped his hands after wiping his face, and returned it to Cui'er.
"Master, shall we continue on the road today?" Qi Ao was a little concerned about what Gao Daniu said yesterday. For the sake of Zhu Yuanyu's health, he hoped to leave as soon as possible.
"After breakfast."
Zhu Yuanyu said calmly, thinking about the thing last night in his mind. Now that he thinks about it, that thing seems to have no malicious intent.
When I walked out, I found that the sky was very gloomy and it seemed like it was going to rain.
Not far away, Gao Daniu was feeding fodder to his mules and Zhu Yuanyu's horses.
"Brother Gao."
Gao Daniu turned around and smiled, "Brother Zhu, you're up - my mother is making breakfast. You can finish your meal before leaving..." He looked at the sky, feeling a little worried.
"It looks like it's going to rain."
"yes……"
Aunt Gao steamed steamed buns and cooked porridge in the morning, and you could see the steam rising when it was served to the table. The steamed buns were kneaded by her hands. Although they were not as soft as modern steamed buns, they were still good. Zhu Yuanyu liked the taste and ate two of them at once.
Qi Ao secretly observed from the sidelines. He had been like this recently, secretly keeping Zhu Yuanyu's preferences in mind, and then felt that he seemed to be a little closer to him...
At the dinner table, Danwa's eyes were red and swollen. He must have cried last night. When the snot slid down from his nose and almost reached his upper lip, he involuntarily sucked it in. However, it did not suck it back smoothly as usual, but seemed like his nostrils were blocked. It felt like it was there, but it finally slipped down and got on my lips.
"You kid..."
Aunt Gao took out a piece of blue cloth that looked like a handkerchief and covered Danwa's nose, shouting: "Come on!"
Danwa obediently asked Aunt Gao to wipe her nose clean, then turned her head and stopped wiping her nose.
Aunt Gao reluctantly took back her hand and complained in a low voice, "This child..."
A strong purple light pierced the sky, then thunder exploded, and it finally started to rain, pouring down. Mud splashed on the ground in the yard, and soon the whole ground was soaked.
Zhu Yuanyu looked at the shed with some worry. There was a mule and two strong horses crowded inside, and it seemed that there was no room for them. Fortunately, the situation was not as bad as he thought. The mule and the horse got along fairly well, and the mule generously shared his home with the horse to shelter them from the rain.
I originally thought that the rain would not last long, but unexpectedly it started to lighten up in the middle of the day, and then it started to rain continuously, with no intention of stopping until midnight.
"It seems like I won't be able to leave today..."
Zhu Yuanyu murmured while looking at the still dark sky.
Qi Ao on the side was also frowning. He was the one who was looking forward to leaving the most, but the result was like this...
"Huh? Someone is coming!"
Li Zhuangzhuang pointed to the door and said.
In the distance, two people wearing bamboo hats and raincoats ran hurriedly towards Gao Daniu's house.
"Daniu—Daniu—your uncle is dying—"
With a crash, Aunt Gao broke the plate in her hand and stumbled out of the kitchen. She held Gao Daniu's hand tightly with both hands and asked repeatedly: "What did they say? What happened to your uncle?"
"Mom, don't worry!" Gao Daniu was also anxious and shouted hurriedly toward the door: "Are they Dongzi and Agui? What happened to my uncle?"
The two finally ran into the house, and one of them gasped: "Daniu! Your uncle is dying - come with us to see him for the last time! Auntie, please don't go. It's raining and the road is hard to walk. --slip!"
Aunt Gao shed tears and shook her head, "How can you not go... This is the last time, brother, I want to go... I want to go..." As she spoke, she looked at Gao Daniu with tears in her eyes and refused to let go.
"Hey..." The other person sighed helplessly.
Zhu Yuanyu looked at the sky, then at Gao Auntie and the others who were in a stalemate, and then said: "Take my carriage, Zhuangzhuang, you drive."
Li Zhuangzhuang nodded and rushed out immediately. He quickly tied the rope on the horse, jumped on the carriage and found an oil-paper umbrella and two sets of bamboo hats and raincoats, and put on one himself.
Oil-paper umbrellas and bamboo hats and raincoats were all prepared by Wang Chunmei, so they were prepared. After all, Zhu Yuanyu was traveling a long distance, and the weather might be unpredictable.
This time it just came in handy.
Li Zhuangzhuang opened the oil-paper umbrella and walked over.
"Brother Gao, go quickly, don't waste time. We will watch over Danwa and his mother for you."
Zhu Yuanyu signaled to Gao Daniu.
Gao Daniu smiled gratefully at Zhu Yuanyu, nodded, took the hat and raincoat from Li Zhuangzhuang's hand, put it on and held an umbrella to protect Aunt Gao from the rain. He looked back at Danwa and Zhu Yuanyu, nodded again and left.
Dongzi and Agui also looked at Zhu Yuanyu and the others, and then walked into the rain curtain.
Li Zhuangzhuang drove the carriage and quickly disappeared in the rain.
Zhu Yuanyu stood for a while and then said to Cui'er who also came out of the kitchen: "I'll leave dinner to you." After saying that, he looked down at his side and gently put his hand on Danwa's head and touched it. .
"Will my mother die too?"
Danwa raised her head and looked at Zhu Yuanyu with a very worried and frightened expression.
Zhu Yuanyu didn't know how to answer for a while, whether to truthfully tell others that life, old age, illness and death were a normal thing, or to give him the answer he expected most now...
During dinner, I don’t know whether it was because of the rain or because there were three people missing. In short, the atmosphere became quite quiet. Everyone was eating their meals in silence, and no one spoke.
"Danwa, have some food."
Cui'er gave him a piece of food with chopsticks, and Danwa ate it awkwardly.
After dinner, since Cui'er had seen how Aunt Gao cooked medicine, she let her cook the medicine for Danwa. After the medicine was cooked and cooled for a while, Danwa refused to drink it, and tears fell down.
Cui'er looked at loss as she held the medicine.
Suddenly Danwa pushed Tweety away and ran into his parents' room. It was with great difficulty that Tweety managed to keep herself from spilling the medicine.
Zhu Yuanyu frowned. Gao Daniu had not allowed Danwa to go in since this morning, saying that he was worried that the strange disease would be transmitted to Danwa. Unexpectedly, Danwa would disobey his instructions as soon as Gao Daniu was away.
Seeing Zhu Yuanyu stand up, Qi Ao quickly stopped him and said, "Young Master, no!"
Cui'er also stopped her and said worriedly: "I'd better go in and have a look, slave." After saying that, she put down the medicine she was carrying and walked in.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered, a exclamation came out.
Zhu Yuanyu immediately bypassed Qi Ao and rushed in.
