Chapter 195: Scraping Away the Rotten Flesh

After drinking this bowl of medicinal soup, Shen Ping, who had originally only been running a fever, could not get it to break; but this turned out well, for in less than an hour, Shen Ping's forehead was already burning to the touch, clearly running a much higher fever than before.

Yet Duan Rong seemed to have anticipated this; he kept watch by Shen Ping's bedside, constantly changing the acupuncture points and techniques he used.

Furthermore, every half hour, he would feed Shen Ping a bowl of clear water.

Just like that, through the first half of the night, Shen Ping's high fever rose and fell, and under Duan Rong's acupuncture, Shen Ping almost never lost consciousness, maintaining a clear state.

Twice in the middle, Shen Ping's high fever intermittently receded, and he even lifted his eyelids to glance at Duan Rong, who was currently inserting needles into him, but he was too weak, his eyes already unfocused, and he could not see clearly at all.

After tossing and turning for most of the night, the potency of the medicine finally passed, and Shen Ping's body temperature finally stopped rising and falling like a roller coaster.

Duan Rong inserted needles into several of his sleep-inducing acupuncture points, and Shen Ping finally fell into a deep sleep.

Duan Rong had been busy all night and was already exhausted, but since the bed was occupied by Shen Ping, he could only use bedding to make a floor pallet to sleep on.

Duan Rong had only caught two or three hours of sleep before climbing up at dawn; he folded the bedding away, then leaned over to the bedside to look at Shen Ping, whose complexion was clearly much better than yesterday.

His current body temperature still had a slight fever, but it was much lower than yesterday. Duan Rong checked Shen Ping's pulse; the pulse was quite weak, but Duan Rong knew this was caused by the impact of the strong medicinal potency from last night and was only temporary.

Duan Rong discovered that the bowl of old ginseng soup Hu Huanhuan had brought yesterday was still on the side table; Duan Rong diluted it with warm water and fed it to Shen Ping.

Yesterday, he could not be given supplements because Shen Ping's body was already feverish and dry, with internal heat that would not dissipate, but last night his body had already been flushed by the strong medicinal potency, and it was the perfect time for restorative supplements; this bowl of old ginseng soup was just right to drink.

In the morning, Xiao Zongting came over again; seeing Shen Ping's condition, which seemed to have improved compared to yesterday, Xiao Zongting immediately praised Gu Suxiu's superb medical skills.

Duan Rong listened from the side and merely rubbed his own nose.

As Xiao Zongting was leaving, he told Duan Rong, "The Manager has handed the mid-year inventory work to me. I've been busy to the point of exhaustion these past two days; Shen Ping is an old acquaintance of mine, so please take good care of him for me."

"Xiao Lao, don't worry. It's rare for you to entrust me with something, so I will certainly do my best," Duan Rong said with a sincere attitude.

Xiao Zongting nodded upon hearing this and then left.

Duan Rong watched Xiao Zongting leave; he knew that the mid-year inventory work had always been done by Zhou An in previous years. But this year, because of the matter with Ruan Jing, Zhou An had been beaten to death with a whip by Ruan Fengshan, and this task had actually been assigned to Xiao Zongting.

Duan Rong felt a bit worried; if you want to make a profit, the inventory job is a lucrative position, but if you are too pedantic, it is a job that offends people.

With Xiao Zongting's stubborn personality, having this job assigned to him was likely not a good thing.

Worried as he was, Duan Rong could not intervene in such matters.

At noon, Hu Huanhuan came over again carrying a food box.

Seeing Shen Ping's state yesterday, she had thought he wouldn't make it, but looking at him today, his complexion was clearly much calmer, and his condition had evidently improved.

Moreover, he had actually drunk most of the clear porridge she fed him. Hu Huanhuan lingered by Shen Ping's bedside for a long time before leaving.

However, Gu Suxiu did not come over for a follow-up visit; logically speaking, he should have come over once more.

Because, in Gu Suxiu's view, Shen Ping was already beyond recovery. Therefore, the prescription he wrote yesterday used only calming and stabilizing medicine; rather than calling it medical treatment, it would be more accurate to call it hospice care.

In the afternoon, Duan Rong prepared to change the external wound medicine for Shen Ping.

But as Duan Rong unwrapped the bandages from the wounds, he immediately discovered that several severely ulcerated wounds were already festering...

Duan Rong's expression immediately became very grim.

Wounds like these were better left untreated, as they would be hard to heal regardless... but if they were to be treated...

Duan Rong cast a worried glance at the unconscious Shen Ping.

However, he immediately decided that there was no time to delay and they must be treated immediately.

Duan Rong then pinched a Willow Leaf Knife from the knife pouch at his waist.

This type of throwing knife was small and sharp, making it very suitable for use as a scalpel; Duan Rong prepared to scrape away the rotten flesh from the ulcerated and festering wounds.

It was just that this process would undoubtedly be extremely painful, and he did not know if Shen Ping could endure it.

Duan Rong's Divine Sense suddenly projected outward, piercing through Shen Ping's wounds; it was clearer than an X-ray scan, presenting the three-dimensional cross-section of Shen Ping's wounds before Duan Rong's eyes.

Duan Rong moved his blade, scraping away the festering rotten flesh layer by layer...

With one stroke of Duan Rong's blade, Shen Ping groaned in pain...

Duan Rong moved the blade twice more, and the intense pain actually jolted Shen Ping awake; the groggy Shen Ping thought he had returned to the prison and that Xie Daohan was continuing to subject him to torture to interrogate him...

But when he opened his eyes, he saw a strange youth scraping his wounds.

Duan Rong glanced at the sweat-drenched Shen Ping and said, "I know it hurts! The wounds are rotten; they won't heal if I don't scrape them!"

Shen Ping seemed to understand Duan Rong's words; he groaned, closed his eyes, and endured silently, no longer struggling...

Duan Rong finished scraping all of Shen Ping's festering wounds, and because of the pain, Shen Ping's entire body was still trembling slightly at this moment...

Duan Rong applied medicine to him again, bandaged the wounds, and then wiped the sweat from Shen Ping's forehead with a towel.

At night, Duan Rong decocted a second dose of medicine for Shen Ping.

The situation from last night repeated itself, but Shen Ping's state was clearly much better this night; when Duan Rong performed acupuncture, Shen Ping would often open his eyes to look at him, though his head was still very groggy and his gaze was often dull, clearly still a bit delirious from the fever.

When the potency of the medicine passed, Duan Rong inserted sleep-inducing needles into Shen Ping, letting him fall asleep.

Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead, his expression listless; he had also expended a great deal of energy over these two days to save Shen Ping.

Duan Rong made a floor pallet again and slept for a few hours; when he got up in the morning, he discovered that Shen Ping's fever had broken, and Duan Rong finally let out a long sigh—once the fever broke, it was no longer a major problem.

When Hu Huanhuan came to feed Shen Ping porridge at noon, Shen Ping finally opened his eyes and looked at her; this look made Hu Huanhuan incredibly happy.

It was just that Shen Ping had suffered repeated high fevers and had only just broken his fever; his body was still very weak, and even breathing felt exhausting, so it took a long time to swallow a mouthful of clear porridge. That moment he opened his eyes to look at Hu Huanhuan seemed to have exhausted all the remaining strength in his body.

This time, Shen Ping actually drank the entire small bowl of clear porridge, although it took a full half hour of difficult swallowing.

When Hu Huanhuan left, her mood was clearly excellent.

Duan Rong said, "Manager Hu, you can feed him some chicken soup tomorrow; when stewing it, add some ginseng slices and angelica."

Hu Huanhuan's eyes lit up upon hearing this. This was something one only drank to recuperate. "Is he already getting better?"

Duan Rong saw Hu Huanhuan's excitement and smiled, "Not necessarily yet. However, it shouldn't be a major problem."

Although Duan Rong did not say it definitively, seeing everything moving in a positive direction, she had originally thought that even if Shen Ping could recover, he would probably have to endure for a while, but she hadn't expected the fever to break in just two days.

Hu Huanhuan said, "Thank you, Mr. Duan, for your attentive care, or he wouldn't have been able to recover. Mr. Duan, is there anything you would like to eat? I will make it and bring it tomorrow."

Duan Rong said, "Those lion's head meatballs are good. What? Are those dishes all made by you personally, Manager Hu?"

Duan Rong had thought they were made by the cooks at Huaying Pavilion.

Hu Huanhuan rolled her eyes at Duan Rong and said, "What? Does it not look like it? I actually have some culinary skills."

Duan Rong laughed and said, "That's not it. I just didn't expect that you, Chief Hu, could be so capable in the parlor and also in the kitchen?"

Seeing that Duan Rong had started spouting nonsense again, Hu Huanhuan snorted coldly through her nose and said, "Mr. Duan, Huanhuan will come again tomorrow."

Saying this, she picked up the food box, turned around, and left.

Watching Hu Huanhuan's retreating figure, Duan Rong felt that for Shen Ping to pass up such a fine woman, he was truly not only ugly but also had a broken head.

(End of this chapter)