Chapter 54: Taking Care of the Injured Leng Xiao

Leng Xiao looked at Wen Nuan Nuan in surprise, then seemed to realize something and lowered his gaze, his voice deep. “No need. Let Eldest Brother handle it. I’ll stay here tonight.”

“You should return to the newlywed room tonight, of course. You can’t keep squeezing in with the three younger brothers all the time. They won’t sleep well, and neither will you, right?” Wen Nuan Nuan gently continued.

Leng Xiao hadn’t mentioned his injury until now precisely because he didn’t want her or the two younger ones to know.

Was he planning to wait until she and the three younger ones had returned to their rooms, wash up hastily, and then go back to sleep in the room with the three younger ones?

The three younger ones could still manage to sleep somewhat comfortably on one kang, but what about Leng Xiao with his tall, slender frame? Besides, the two younger ones were still young and unaware. What if they kicked or bumped into him while sleeping restlessly?

He had been injured for the sake of this family’s comfort, and she was part of this family too. In the future, she would ride the horses he had earned through his injury and use the silver he had worked hard for. She couldn’t just ignore him when he was injured.

Leng Xiao’s deep, phoenix-like eyes fixed intently on Wen Nuan Nuan, trying to discern something from her expression. Yet, under the flickering candlelight, her clear, bright eyes were open and sincere, without a trace of ulterior motives.

He understood her meaning, but precisely because he did, his heart swelled with an emotion he couldn’t quite name.

She was only worried that he wouldn’t sleep well.

Leng Tian watched as his eldest brother nodded gently and felt overjoyed!

This was how it should be. Since his sister-in-law was being so considerate, his eldest brother shouldn’t just stand by passively, let alone refuse her!

“Sister-in-law, I’ll fetch water from the kitchen and bring the clothes Eldest Brother needs to change into to your room. I’ll trouble you to take care of Eldest Brother tonight!” Leng Tian grinned warmly, his dark face beaming with sincerity.

Although Eldest Brother hadn’t wanted his sister-in-law to know about his injury earlier, how could he possibly hide it from her?

Just from the few words she had said earlier, she must have sensed something.

But this was even better. In his opinion, she should definitely be told. Otherwise, with his own clumsy and rough way of applying medicine, who knew when Eldest Brother would recover?

The two younger ones were also delighted to hear Wen Nuan Nuan’s words. Though they didn’t fully understand why, married couples were supposed to sleep together.

Moreover, they had clearly sensed that before going into the mountains, their eldest brother had been reluctant to sleep on the same kang with them.

But in the past, when Eldest Brother returned, he had always been willing to share the kang with them…

Even though Wen Nuan Nuan had mentally prepared herself, when she saw the deep, long wound on Leng Xiao’s back, with flesh torn open, she couldn’t help but hold her breath, her face paling.

In the book, it was described as scattered small scars interspersed with a deep, heavy old scar that stretched across his back, terrifying and horrifying.

At the time, she had thought it was just to add a sense of experience and hardship to the male protagonist.

But now, seeing the wound that stretched from his left shoulder all the way to his right waist, she finally understood why it was described as “stretching across the back”!

The bloody, mangled wound had likely been torn open multiple times along the way, with coagulated blood of varying shades.

“Did it scare you?” Leng Xiao sat on the edge of the kang, facing the wall, his voice tinged with self-reproach.

“No!” Wen Nuan Nuan replied quickly, then asked softly, “Does it hurt a lot?”

She simply admired him. Despite such a severe injury, he had endured it silently, afraid they would worry.

If it were her, not to mention such a serious injury, even a simple fall would have her crying out in pain.

“It doesn’t hurt. After applying the herbal medicine, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

Wen Nuan Nuan thought to herself that with the wound repeatedly tearing open, how could it not hurt?

Steadying her mind, she took the warm cotton cloth and gently wiped away the congealed blood and dirt around the wound.

Fortunately, the kang had been heated, making the room warm and quite comfortable, so she didn’t have to worry about Leng Xiao catching a chill. Wen Nuan Nuan carefully wiped the area bit by bit.

Her movements were gentle, afraid of causing him any pain.

After cleaning the wound, she applied the herbal medicine little by little, making sure to cover every corner and not miss a single spot of injured skin.

Once she had wrapped it with clean gauze, everything was finally done. Wen Nuan Nuan let out a sigh of relief, then brought over a large quilt and spread it out on the inner side of the kang. Her thoughts were straightforward and sincere: “You sleep on the inside. Resting more will help you recover faster from your injury, and I won’t disturb you when I get up to make breakfast tomorrow morning.”

Leng Xiao’s gaze was deep and thoughtful as he nodded lightly.

Only the four of them were present for breakfast. Leng Tian had packed his things and set off at the crack of dawn.

Wen Nuan Nuan genuinely admired the four brothers, who constantly redefined her understanding of diligence and hard work.

Just as she ladled the cooked wontons into the prepared broth, she turned around and saw a tall, straight figure standing at the kitchen door.

“Hungry? The wontons are ready, you can eat now.” Thinking Leng Xiao was hungry, Wen Nuan Nuan’s face lit up with a sweet smile.

Leng Xiao withdrew his gaze, turned around, and instructed Leng Yun, who was picking off withered cabbage leaves in the yard: “Little Brother, go wash your hands and bring the wontons.”

“Okay!” Hearing there was food, Leng Yun happily skipped to the well to fetch water and wash his hands.

With Leng Xiao at home and the sudden arrival of two horses, the two younger ones happily took their back baskets and bamboo baskets to the back mountain to cut grass.

Wen Nuan Nuan truly treated Leng Xiao as a patient, firmly refusing to let him do even the slightest bit of work.

There was no other way—such a deep wound would be incredibly painful if it reopened!

Moreover, the injury stretched from his shoulder all the way to his waist, meaning any strain from either arm could tear it open.

Not to mention that the family had enough silver, even if they didn’t, they couldn’t exploit an injured patient.

She brought a bamboo chair for Leng Xiao, placed it under the corridor, and thoughtfully set out apples and oranges, signaling for him to sit and bask in the sun. Then, Wen Nuan Nuan continued picking cabbage leaves in the yard.

Old leaves, withered leaves, and dry leaves needed to be removed, as they would affect the taste of the pickled cabbage.

With two horses now, there was no need to worry about waste—whether dry, old, or withered leaves, they could all be tossed into the horse pen as feed.

Actually, the pickled cabbage could have been made before the temperature dropped, but at the time, she had only stored a small bottle of salt in the refrigerator. Part of the accumulated salt was used to make a jar of Sichuan pickled vegetables with radishes, chili peppers, long beans, and young ginger.

The radishes, chili peppers, and young ginger came from the vegetable garden in the yard. Although she also had these in her refrigerator, they certainly weren’t as fresh as those picked from the garden.

The long beans came from the refrigerator.

The other part wasn’t enough to make a small vat of pickled cabbage, so she had been saving it until today, when there was finally enough to start making it.

With fresh vegetables in ample supply, pickled cabbage and pickled vegetables were just for a change of taste, so it didn’t matter if there was less.

“Ginger is just a seasoning, why is there so much planted in the yard?” Worried that Leng Xiao might be bored sitting there, Wen Nuan Nuan struck up a conversation.

“During cold, rainy, and snowy weather, it’s easy to catch a chill or wind-cold. Ginger can induce sweating, relieve surface symptoms, and dispel wind and cold. Every household that can afford it plants it, and any extra can be sold to the medicine shop.” Contrary to his cold exterior, Leng Xiao explained clearly.

Wen Nuan Nuan suddenly remembered her childhood, when she would get caught in the rain or chilled by cold winds, and her grandmother would often brew ginger and brown sugar water for her to drink. A good sweat would make her feel better.

So ginger was considered a medicinal herb in ancient times.

The concept of food and medicine sharing the same origin is indeed true.

Ginger is really effective for treating wind-cold type colds. Well, she could make ginger candy and brew some ginger water to store away for future convenience.

But that would have to wait until tomorrow. After making pickled vegetables today, there was still a large basin of rabbit meat to clean.

Wen Nuan Nuan stared worriedly at the big wooden basin of rabbit meat beside the well.

The two little ones entered the courtyard, their hands carrying and backs laden with full loads of fodder. Leng Xiao spoke up: “Second brother, you take care of the rabbit meat.”

“Alright.” Leng Chen put down the fodder, rolled up his sleeves, and was just about to start cleaning.

A voice quite familiar to all four of them came from the courtyard gate that hadn’t been closed in time:

“Well, well, the Leng Family, has the head of the household returned from hunting?”