Chapter 38: Risking Her Life for Money?
Chapter 38: Risking Her Life for Money?
The moment the words left her mouth, Jiang Xia was startled by her own boldness. Realizing the inappropriateness of her statement, she quickly clarified, "I'll help you clean your wound. Take off your shirt, and let me take a look."
She rushed to the vanity table, rummaging through it to find some cotton, bandages, and a box of Yunnan Baiyao, a traditional Chinese medicine.
Zhou Chenglei, who often got injured in the past, had a habit of keeping first-aid supplies on hand. Jiang Xia knew exactly where to find them.
Despite the dim lighting, Zhou Chenglei could still see her flushed face. He extended his hand, asking for the medicine, "Give it to me; I can do it myself."
Jiang Xia refused, trying to maintain a serious demeanor, "How are you going to treat the wound on your back? Sit still and take off your shirt quickly."
"..."
Zhou Chenglei glanced at her composed face, then obediently sat down. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his well-defined abs, which were neither overly muscular nor lacking in definition.
This man was blessed with a handsome face and a perfect physique.
She carefully wiped away the excess blood from his arm with a cotton ball.
Zhou Chenglei looked down at her, and in the dim light, her delicate features and gentle movements captivated him.
As she dabbed the cotton ball lightly on his arm, Jiang Xia's expression was serious, her brows slightly furrowed, "This wound is a bit deep."
Zhou Chenglei glanced at the wound, seemingly unconcerned, "It's just a minor injury. It'll heal in a few days. Don't worry about it."
After cleaning the blood, Jiang Xia picked up the Yunnan Baiyao powder, gesturing for him to lift his arm. She sprinkled the powder on the wound and then wrapped it with a thin layer of bandage, ensuring it covered the powder while allowing the wound to breathe and heal faster.
"Try to avoid getting it wet for the next couple of days to prevent infection."
Zhou Chenglei noticed her skilled bandaging technique and raised an eyebrow, responding lightly, "Alright."
After tending to his arm, Jiang Xia turned her attention to his back. The wounds on his back were not deep, just minor scratches, and didn't require medication.
However, his back was covered in numerous scars, a stark reminder of his past. According to the book, he had been to the battlefield, fought in several battles, and survived near-death experiences. She couldn't help but ask, "Are these scars from the battlefield?"
"Yep."
"Did you get seriously injured?" Jiang Xia looked at the scars, finding it hard to imagine how he had survived.
"It was manageable. I didn't die."
In reality, he had almost died, but winning the battles was worth the injuries. Even death would have been a price worth paying.
Zhou Chenglei turned to look at her, noticing her furrowed brows. He stood up, went to the wardrobe, and put on a shirt to cover the scars, "Did they scare you? Do they look bad?"
Jiang Xia snapped out of her thoughts, shook her head, and said admiringly, "Not at all. These are the medals of brave people like you, medals that will never fade. They look very good."
Zhou Chenglei paused while buttoning his shirt, a strange sensation stirring in his heart. He glanced out the window, "It's still early. You should get some more sleep."
Dressed, Zhou Chenglei took a pair of pants from the wardrobe and headed to the adjacent room to change.
Jiang Xia watched him leave, "Where are you going?"
"To change my pants."
Jiang Xia: "..."
She shouldn't have asked.
It was almost dawn, and a fierce storm raged outside, with the power out. There was nothing to do, so Jiang Xia returned to bed and quickly fell asleep, waking up only when the sky was light.
The wind and rain continued outside.
Zhou Chenglei was nowhere to be found in the room.
Jiang Xia changed into fresh clothes and went out, finding him in the corner of the living room, planing some wood.
He had already planed a few pieces, and was working on another. The wood was smooth and well-finished.
She asked him what he was doing.
Zhou Chenglei: "I'm making a swing for under the grape arbor."
For some reason, he felt she would like having a swing in the yard.
Jiang Xia never expected him to think of making a swing, let alone that he would actually do it. "That's great. You can do it?"
"Hmm, it's not hard," he replied. In fact, he could make bamboo chairs and stools, but he just didn't have the time.
Today, with the typhoon, he had nothing else to do, so he decided to make a swing.
Zhou's father was busy splitting bamboo.
In the long, spacious hall, the table was moved to one side, and the father and son each occupied a corner, working without disturbing each other.
Jiang Xia watched as Zhou's father took a bamboo pole, split it from the middle, inserted a small wooden stick, then made another cut perpendicular to the first, and inserted another stick. When he pushed the two sticks down, the bamboo pole split into four pieces! He then divided each of the four pieces into two, making eight in total.
It was clean and efficient!
Now she understood where the phrase "cutting through bamboo" came from!
Zhou's mother had already prepared breakfast—white porridge with pickled bamboo shoots and steamed fish with fermented black beans. It was quite appetizing.
But moving the food from outside to inside, Zhou's mother's clothes got wet, so she had to change.
Jiang Xia also got wet when she went to wash up.
This old house had many inconveniences—no toilet, and the kitchen was outside. In the future, when she built her own house, she wouldn't have to get wet going to the kitchen, and there would be a bathroom inside.
Now, she didn't dare drink water or eat much in the evening, fearing she'd have to go outside to the toilet in the middle of the night.
With the typhoon, no one ventured out.
Zhou's father was weaving mats inside, Zhou Chenglei was making the swing, and Zhou's mother was mending fishing nets. The hall was almost entirely occupied.
Jiang Xia thought about the shrimp that would be all over the beach after the typhoon. She went out and found two bamboo rakes, then asked Zhou Chenglei to cut some thin bamboo strips for her. She planned to improve her shrimp-collecting rake!
The wind had lessened, but the rain was still heavy. Once it stopped, she would go out to collect shrimp.
Zhou's mother saw her clumsily weaving the teeth of the bamboo rake with bamboo strips and asked curiously, "Xia, what are you doing?"
Jiang Xia replied, "I'm making a tool for collecting shrimp from the beach. Don't worry, Mom, I'll take the strips off afterward, so the rake won't be damaged."
Zhou's mother had never seen such a peculiar tool and thought Jiang Xia was just passing the time, so she didn't interfere.
The rain continued all day, with the wind fluctuating in intensity.
When the wind lessened a bit, Zhou Chengxin and Tian Caihua braved the rain to check on the house. They were worried that the roof tiles might be blown away and brought some vegetables with them.
Tian Caihua saw Jiang Xia working on the bamboo rake and asked, "Xia, what are you doing?"
"Making a tool for collecting shrimp. I heard there will be lots of fish and shrimp on the beach after the typhoon. When I use this rake, I can gather them all in one spot. Do you want to make one, Sister-in-law?"
Tian Caihua's lips twitched. "No, thank you! Do you really think there will be shrimp all over the beach after the typhoon? And you need a bamboo rake? There won't be that many, don't bother!"
Jiang Xia didn't know if her modified tool would gather shrimp, but it would definitely gather a lot of sand! She was so narrow-minded!
Jiang Xia didn't argue. She couldn't just say she knew there would be shrimp, or they would think she was lucky. She knew that after a typhoon, the beach being full of shrimp was rare, but she had seen similar videos in the modern world.
And she was in the book! This typhoon was specifically arranged by the author to help the heroine make money and to start the romantic plot with the male lead!
But Zhou Chengxin and his wife had gone out, and the wind and rain had lessened. The typhoon had passed, but it was still raining.
Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, "Can we go to the beach now?"
Tian Caihua looked at her as if she were insane. Go to the beach now? For money, she was willing to risk her life?
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
(End of Chapter)
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