Chapter 409: 409: Catching a Cold _1
Because there was a cluster of bamboo forest not far from the path that everyone had dug, Wei Ruo and Xiumei cut some more and brought them back.
They expanded the shed with these bamboos and built a bamboo bed on the ground, about a meter wide and two meters long, large enough for an adult man to lie down.
After being covered with a blanket, it was certainly more comfortable than sitting directly on the icy stones.
It was a small place, only enough to build such a bamboo bed, but at least everyone could take turns to sleep for a while.
On the fourth day, they still couldn’t leave this place, the weather was still very cold, and there was no sign of the snow melting.
Fortunately, Wei Ruo was able to cook for them for every meal, so no one was hungry.
And the work of shoveling snow and digging the road was still ongoing. Apart from the time for eating and sleeping at night, everyone was working without stopping.
It had been four days, they must hurry up. Once the food and charcoal were consumed, their lives could be at risk.
Every time Wei Ruo took out food for everyone, they all felt like a huge load had been lifted off their shoulders.
They really didn’t expect that Wei Ruo’s carriage contained so much grain and flour.
Although Wei Ruo told them that she always carried lots of grains and cooking utensils because she often traveled to remote farmlands where she couldn’t buy food, they were still surprised by the amount of grain she carried. It was a lifesaver!
On the fifth day, an unexpected situation occurred. Mr. Tan fell ill with a fever.
Mr. Tan didn’t tell everyone at first, even his four personal guards were unaware.
It wasn’t until dinner time when he stood up to take the bowl Wei Ruo handed him, and he collapsed as soon as he stood up.
Luckily, his house servant caught him quickly and laid him on the bamboo bed.
Mr. Tan was already a bit delirious with fever and his four house servants were immediately panicked.
“Ada, Aer, you two look after the master, and I will go with Aer to find a doctor and get medicine,” Ada gave orders to the other three.
“Brother, the roads are blocked by heavy snow, where are you going to find a doctor? Although we have been digging for two days, we should still be quite far from the city gate,” Ada asked.
“Whether far or near, we have to go. We can’t let anything happen to the master!” Ada insisted.
The other three had no better idea, so they agreed.
“Brother, come back as soon as possible!” Ada reminded him.
“Don’t worry about me, take care of the master!”
After that, Ada and Aer were ready to depart.
Xiu Fengyuan, Lu Yuhong and others saw all this, but they had no better suggestions at this time.
“Wait a moment.” Wei Ruo called to the two men who were about to leave.
“Miss Wei, what’s the matter?” The two stopped and looked at her.
“Mr. Tan seems to have caught a cold. I have some medicine in my carriage,” Wei Ruo said.
“Miss Wei has medicine?”
The news surprised and delighted everyone.
Not only Mr. Tan’s four servants, but also Xiu Fengyuan and Lu Yuhong were taken aback.
Isn’t Miss Wei’s carriage a treasure chest? It has everything in it!
“Yes, I do,” Wei Ruo confirmed, then directed the four, “Let’s move him to my carriage first.”
In these few days, the men never entered Wei Ruo’s carriage. Although it was a special period, and many etiquette had been dropped, they still kept some distance from Wei Ruo, after all, men and women should not touch each other.
Now Wei Ruo took the initiative to propose moving Mr. Tan to the carriage, his four servants were naturally delighted, because Wei Ruo’s carriage was relatively warmer.
“No.” Wei Yichen stopped them.
Wei Yichen removed the blanket he was wearing and covered Mr. Tan with it.
“Let Mr. Tan lie on the bamboo bed. If it is still cold, I can give him my clothes,” said Wei Yichen with a serious expression and a firm attitude.
“Better move him up in the carriage, it’s warmer there,” Wei Ruo said.
“Men and women are different. Now this carriage is your place of rest, it’s no longer an ordinary carriage, and men should not enter it casually,” Wei Yichen insisted.
Wei Yichen had been quiet for the past few days and hadn’t interfered with Wei Ruo’s decision, but now he suddenly changed his attitude.
Wei Ruo wanted to say something, but Xiu Fengyuan also agreed with Wei Yichen’s opinion, “I agree with Brother Wei’s opinion. Let Mr. Tan stay on the bamboo bed.”
With that, Xiu Fengyuan took off his own cloak.
Then the other men gave Mr. Tan their own outer garments.
“That’s enough,” Wei Ruo stopped, “If all of you cover him with it, he won’t be smothered, but he will be crushed.”
Speaking, Wei Ruo went to the front of the bamboo bed, took the cloak and blanket off, and returned several to Wei Yichen and the others, leaving two blankets, one for cushioning and one for covering.
Then Wei Ruo took Mr. Tan’s wrist to take his pulse.
“What are you doing?”
Wei Yichen and Ada both spoke up at the same time.
“I learned some basics of medical skills from an old man in the countryside. I am taking Mr. Tan’s pulse to see if he really has a cold. If so, we can use the medicine,” Wei Ruo explained.
Hearing Wei Ruo’s explanation, Ada, Aer and the others felt more relieved, proving that Miss Wei wasn’t using the medicine casually.
Wei Yichen frowned slightly. It was the first time he knew that his elder sister could take a pulse.
After a brief pulse-taking, Wei Ruo asked Xiumei to get the medicine from the carriage, while she began to boil water.
For the past two days, the water they had been drinking had been boiled from snow. If it cooled, it would be put in a leather pouch.
At the beginning, when Wei Ruo did this, Lu Yuhong and the others tried to stop her.
The men cared about the limited charcoal fire and said that they could just stuff the snow in their mouths directly. There was no need to go through the trouble of boiling it.
But Wei Ruo insisted, she wanted everyone to drink boiled water.
Being unable to get fresh water from her storage space already made Wei Ruo a little regretful, but drinking raw water was definitely not an option.
After Xiumei boiled the water, Wei Ruo took a bowl, put the medicine pill into the bowl, and poured boiled water to dissolve the medicine.
A bowl of clear water instantly turned into a bowl of dark brown medicinal soup.
Everyone was seeing this method of preparing medicine for the first time, and they couldn’t help but find it novel.
“Miss Wei, should the medicine be drunk like this?” Ada, who got the medicine, hesitated.
“Yes, drink it like that,” Wei Ruo replied, “Don’t worry, there is no problem with this medicine.”
After hesitating for a moment, the four servants all chose to trust Wei Ruo after exchanging glances.
Aer helped Mr. Tan up while Ada carefully administered the medicine to Mr. Tan.