Chapter 174: Worry

Hearing Xiaohuan’s words, I was completely stunned, frightened by the bold and wild words of this little girl. This girl had even calculated the future; it was simply terrifying.

"Xiaohuan, don’t joke with others!" Zheng Linming glared at Xiaohuan.

"I’m not joking! I’m being serious! I really want to marry Big Brother!" Xiaohuan pouted and rushed over to hug me.

I was startled and instinctively wanted to push her away, but I suddenly stopped. If I pushed her away, would she be sad? After all, Xiaohuan had saved my life, and her intentions were so pure.

"Alright, Xiaohuan, go out and prepare the medicine. Let him rest!" Zheng Linming said.

Xiaohuan let go of me, then suddenly stood up with a smile and said, "Big Brother, I’m going to get your medicine. Rest well!"

After she left happily, I carefully examined my surroundings. I discovered this was a very ordinary rural house. The walls weren't made of cement but of the most common mud, and the roof was built quite crudely; it felt like it might leak whenever it rained. I hadn't expected such houses to still exist in this world. I had originally thought the place I lived in was poor, but compared to them, I was extremely wealthy.

I slowly sat up, got off the bed, put on my shoes, and looked at the scenery outside. The air here was exceptionally fresh, and the chirping of cicadas and birds made my entire body and mind feel exceptionally comfortable. There were many houses similar to this one outside, and many children were running and playing, looking exceptionally happy.

Zheng Linming saw me get up and turned to me, saying, "Judging by your clothes, you’re from the city, right?"

"Uh, I suppose so!" Compared to this place, my place could indeed be considered a city.

I walked over to Xiaohuan, who was preparing herbs. I squatted on the ground, pointed at the children outside, and asked her, "Why don’t you go play with them?"

Xiaohuan looked at the children outside and said disdainfully, "I’m not that childish. They’re just a bunch of little brats; I can’t get along with them!"

"Aren't you a little brat yourself? Why are you acting like a grown-up?" I said to Xiaohuan, feeling a bit annoyed.

"I told you, I’m not young anymore! I can get married in two years!" Xiaohuan said, pouting angrily at me.

I looked around the house and saw that it seemed to be only Xiaohuan and Zheng Linming, so I said to Xiaohuan, "Thank you for saving me today. By the way, my name is Yang Yun!"

"My name is Xiaohuan. I told you, no need to thank me. Just marry me to repay the favor!" Xiaohuan giggled like an innocent child, but her words really didn't match her innocent face.

"Xiaohuan, right? Actually, a life-saving grace doesn't necessarily have to be repaid by marriage," I began to think of ways to persuade her.

"I don’t care! A life-saving grace must be repaid by marriage. That’s what they say in TV shows and storybooks!"

"Those things on TV are just to fool children; they don’t count at all. Think about it: two people who don’t know each other suddenly get married. If they don’t like each other, wouldn't they both be unhappy?"

"But I’m very happy! Besides, Brother Yang Yun is so handsome. I don’t care; anyway, Brother Yang Yun is mine. I’m your wife, and you’re my husband!"

I had a headache from this little girl’s words. For the first time, I felt that dealing with a child was so troublesome.

Zheng Linming watched us from the side, smiling, and didn't intend to come over to help.

"By the way, Xiaohuan, where are your parents?" I asked, feeling puzzled.

"I don’t have parents. They passed away a long time ago. Grandpa has always been the one taking care of me," Xiaohuan said, looking dejected.

Hearing this, I hurriedly apologized, "I’m sorry, I didn't know. But it’s okay, Xiaohuan, you still have your grandfather!"

"That’s right, I still have Grandpa, and now I have Brother Yang Yun, I have a husband. I feel very satisfied!"

I didn't intend to answer this girl’s words; saying more was useless. This girl seemed to have set her mind on it and wouldn't listen to anything.

Just then, Zheng Linming suddenly coughed up blood, scaring Xiaohuan and me into dropping what we were doing and running to his side, asking, "Old man, what’s wrong?"

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Don’t scare me! Is your previous illness acting up again? Wuu wuu!" Xiaohuan cried, hugging Zheng Linming.

Hearing Xiaohuan’s words, Zheng Linming patted her head gently and said, "Silly girl, I’m fine. I’ll be better after drinking some medicine!"

However, I felt that this matter wasn't that simple. From Xiaohuan’s words, it could be heard that this wasn't the first time he had coughed up blood. It seemed to be a long-standing illness. I looked at Zheng Linming, and he shook his head at me.

At night, I was alone outside, enduring the baptism of mosquitoes. I couldn't sleep, thinking about what had happened before. I had thought I was dead for sure after jumping into the moat, but I hadn't died. It felt like a dream. However, since I wasn't dead, some things couldn't just be left as they were.

Who was the person who betrayed me? And how was everyone doing now? If Li Hong had dealt with me, would he make things difficult for them? This was also what I was very worried about, as Li Hong had been very unhappy with them before. I could only hope that Sister Ling and Sister Shuang could take care of them. After all, Zhang Wu was a member of the Zhang family, so I thought they wouldn't dare to go too far. As for Zhang Yinuo, that went without saying. As for Xu Hongzhi, Third Brother... thinking of Third Brother, I felt exceptionally uncomfortable. Third Brother had the least background among them, had offended the most people before, and was now the most dangerous. It was impossible not to be worried.

I didn't know where this place was. I only heard them say it was some village. To get to the city outside, one had to walk dozens of miles of mountain roads, then take a tractor to the city, and then take a bus.

Now, I couldn't just leave if I wanted to, especially since my body was exceptionally weak. My leg had been injured in the river for some reason, and I was limping when I walked.

I lived here for eight or nine days, and these eight or nine days were exceptionally happy. I played very happily with Xiaohuan and the other children. Although Xiaohuan was very unwilling to play with them, she had to join in when she saw me going. I taught them how to read and write. They couldn't even afford to go to school here. Although there was a school, it was very far away, and they had no means of transportation, so the word "school" was exceptionally distant to them.

In the last two days, Zheng Linming’s health had been getting worse and worse. It looked like he wouldn't last much longer; it felt like it was only a matter of days.