The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 124 Rescue

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(Brothers, I'm shouting out loud, begging for monthly votes... Speaking of which, many of you have given me your monthly votes, and my total has unknowingly surpassed eighty. To be honest, I've never asked for monthly votes before, so I feel really bad for all of you who gave me your votes. It's like I don't value you guys at all. Actually, I'm secretly happy to see all those monthly votes... So, from now on, I'll definitely shout out loud, begging for monthly votes! Give one to whoever has one! I'm not good at bursts of energy, but I'm good at persistence...)

"It's nothing, this isn't your fault, it's our own fault..." Tao Yangdong said dejectedly, "Our cleverness backfired, greed caused this trouble..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sun Fangfang asked, puzzled. "You guys aren't still after my brother's donkey cart, are you? I had an expert appraise it; it's made of huanghuali wood, worth tens of millions..."

"If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute..." Li Tinggui pulled Tao Yangdong hard and said angrily.

"Judging from what you're saying, it doesn't seem to be about my brother's car. Could it be that you've seen something good again?" Sun Fangfang's eyes lit up. Ever since she learned about the profits in the antique business, she had become interested in it and had been studying antiques in her spare time. However, this stuff is easy to learn but difficult to master, and she often made mistakes.

"No, no..." Li Tinggui immediately shook her head in denial.

"Why don't I believe it? You must have seen something good... Why did that lady say that all that suffering was for nothing? You must be..." Sun Fangfang was very quick-witted, and in a flash, she guessed the answer.

"Little sister, let me tell you this, these two old folks saw some antique solid wood furniture in the pictures on your website, all made of precious wood..." Zhou Yun directly exposed the truth. She felt that making money was fine, but you should do it honestly, okay? How could you deceive the mountain people like this?

This shows Zhou Yun's naiveté. Finding a bargain is inherently unfair; the buyer knows the true value of the item, while the seller treats it like junk.

This is where the profit lies.

Actually, it wasn't that Zhou Yun was naive, but what happened today had made her furious. First, she was stopped and threatened with sticks, and then she was locked in the greenhouse like a criminal. She was both frightened and humiliated. How could a pampered woman like her endure that?

"Really?" Sun Fangfang's eyes lit up.

"I have no reason to lie to you..." Zhou Yun said.

"Oh dear, Tingting, what's wrong? Don't scare your mother..." Zhao Yu's cries came from behind. It turned out that Li Yuting had suddenly fainted.

Everyone panicked and tried everything, from pinching her philtrum to performing CPR, but Li Yuting wouldn't wake up. Zhao Yu cried her heart out, twisting Li Tinggui's skin with one hand, hating this bastard for being so greedy and blinded by lust that he had harmed her daughter...

Li Tinggui was in excruciating pain, but he didn't dare utter a sound. He was now filled with regret.

Despite half a day of rescue efforts, Li Yuting remained unconscious. Everyone was at a loss. Finally, Zheng Dayong gritted his teeth, picked up Li Yuting, and ran outside.

"Hey, put my daughter down quickly..." Zhao Yu shouted and chased after them, followed by Li Tinggui, Tao Yangdong, and Zhou Yun.

"This whole thing is really..." Sun Fangfang complained for a moment, then quickly followed suit.

"Brother Dayong...it's a bit like Pigsy carrying his wife on his back..." Xiaoqi watched from the side, dumbfounded.

Zheng Dayong carried Li Yuting directly to Yang Ming's house. Under Liu Sao's surprised gaze, he put Li Yuting on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then rushed off to fetch the village's barefoot doctor. The four little black dogs originally wanted to bite this kid who dared to break into their house, but they couldn't catch Zheng Dayong at all, which made them whimper in frustration. This kid was really too fast.

"What happened? She's unconscious?" Aunt Liu put down her work and quickly treated Li Yuting.

"She was shocked and frightened, exhausted and hungry, and a little dehydrated..." Looking at Li Yuting's pale face and her chapped lips, Aunt Liu knew why she had fainted.

"Coming, coming, I'll lead you in, but you absolutely can't just go in..." Sun Fangfang's voice came, followed by a woman's sobbing and complaining, and a man's sobbing intermittently.

Sun Fangfang led four people into the house, where they saw Liu Sao treating Li Yuting.

"What exactly happened?" Aunt Liu asked, looking at the five people who came in from outside.

"Aunt Liu, is this girl alright?" Sun Fangfang asked, pointing at Li Yuting.

"It's nothing serious. The girl was too frightened, and she was also tired, hungry, and a little dehydrated, which is why she fainted," said Aunt Liu.

"My dear daughter, I'm begging you, please save my daughter..." Zhao Yu cried uncontrollably, snot and tears streaming down her face. She knelt down before Aunt Liu with a thud, completely at her wit's end.

"This won't do..." Aunt Liu quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and, together with Sun Fangfang, helped her up and sat her down on the kang.

"My dear daughter, you must save my daughter! This place is so remote, it'll be too late even if we get to the hospital..." Zhao Yu cried heartbrokenly, clutching her daughter's cold little hand. She grabbed Li Tinggui's collar and yelled, "It's all your fault, you greedy bastard! If anything happens to my daughter, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life..."

"I'm a bastard, I'm not human..." Li Tinggui was also in tears, feeling extremely regretful. How could he have been so blinded by greed and forgotten the original purpose of the trip? Wasn't it just to let his daughter relax?

"This girl has some pent-up emotions, and her health isn't very good to begin with... Didn't they give you anything to eat?" Aunt Liu frowned, secretly dissatisfied with Zheng Dayong and the others.

"They gave them a bowl of milk each, but none of them drank it..." Sun Fangfang noticed the five large bowls of milk placed on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"I see..." Aunt Liu breathed a sigh of relief. "Go to the west room and get a carton of milk. Give it to her, and that should be enough. We can't do anything about the emotional baggage she's carrying..."

"Okay, wait a moment..." Sun Fangfang hurriedly went to the west room and brought back a carton of milk.

After giving Li Yuting milk, her complexion improved considerably, but she still didn't wake up.

"Alright, she should be fine now. Let her get some sleep and rest..." Aunt Liu said.

It is said that sleep is the best way to nourish the spirit. If you are upset by joy, anger, sorrow or happiness, and your head hurts, you can feel better the next day after a deep sleep.

"Little sister, is she really alright?" Zhou Yun, who actually liked Li Yuting quite a bit, couldn't help but ask.

"She's physically fine, but judging from the way she's frowning, I know the problem lies deep inside... This is something that medicine can't cure; only time can heal it..." Aunt Liu didn't actually know anything about medicine, but she had a keen eye and knew how to read people's expressions.

In fact, among the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) – observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation – observation comes first. A truly experienced TCM doctor can see the cause of your illness at a glance. Auscultation, inquiry, and palpation are just formalities to reassure you and make you think that he is seriously treating you. In reality, he already knows what's wrong with you.

"Is my daughter really alright?" Zhao Yu asked, sobbing.

"Don't worry! You'll be fine after a good night's sleep..." Aunt Liu said.

"Thank you... thank you so much..." Zhao Yu thanked him repeatedly.

"No need to thank us. To be honest, we also bear some responsibility. We frightened her, which caused her to faint," said Aunt Liu.

"Where is the patient?" A loud voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard. Aunt Liu heard it clearly. It was Li Haishui, the barefoot doctor and traditional Chinese medicine doctor in the village. Li Haishui was an outsider who moved to Zhengjia Village thirty years ago. He came with his wife and son. Since settling down in Zhengjia Village, the family has always been honest and hardworking. In addition, they have treated and saved many people. His son married a daughter of the Zheng family, so he was considered half one of their own. The Zheng family had long accepted them. At least, in the hearts of the Zheng family, they were closer to Li Haishui and his family than to the Wang family.

"Is that Dr. Li? Come in quickly..." Sun Fangfang hurriedly went out to welcome Li Haishui in, but Zheng Dayong, who had invited the doctor, did not follow in. Instead, he squatted outside the courtyard waiting for news.

"Haha, little Sun, it's really hard to get into your godfather's house. If no one leads you, the dogs will tear you apart..." Li Haishui was very well-maintained. Although he was over sixty years old, he looked like he was in his forties or fifties. He carried a medicine box into the house and immediately saw Li Yuting lying on the kang (a heated brick bed). "This girl is fine, but her brows are furrowed. Hmm! She must have something on her mind. Who are the relatives?" Li Haishui said, glancing at the four strangers.

Just as Li Tinggui was about to speak, Zhao Yu slammed his elbow into his chest, making him gasp for breath. The words that were on the tip of his tongue were now stuck in his throat.

"I am her mother..." Zhao Yu said.

"Can you tell me what the child went through?" Li Haishui asked.

"Our child has such a hard life. She was deceived by a bastard for three years..." Zhao Yu gritted her teeth as she mentioned the boy who dumped her daughter.

"Oh... I see, it must be about dating, right? No need to say more, this illness isn't difficult to treat. There are two treatments: one is quick, you can get better tomorrow if you treat it today, and the other is slow, you have to grind it down slowly. Think about how to treat it..." Li Haishui said.

"Dr. Li, how do you know they're dating? Maybe they're getting a divorce..." Sun Fangfang brought a bunch of fruit from the west room and distributed it to everyone.

"Hehe, is that even a question? Look at this girl's tightly knit eyebrows, she's clearly a virgin, how could she possibly be divorced?" Li Haishui took a large peach, eating it as he explained with a smile.

"Oh? It really is..." Sun Fangfang looked at Li Yuting's eyebrows and indeed saw that her eyebrows were rather tightly packed.

"Doctor, of the two treatments you mentioned, one is fast-acting and the other is slow-acting. Will the fast-acting one have any side effects later?" Zhao Yu had no appetite for fruit at all and asked anxiously while holding the fruit.

"The quick-acting method might change her personality to some extent, but the impact won't be significant. The slow-acting method is to let her be in a calm environment to think things through slowly. Once she understands, she'll be fine. This is a self-healing method. This method can help her mature without any psychological flaws," Li Haishui said.

"Personality change? What will happen?" Zhao Yu asked anxiously.

"That might be a bit extreme, but you never know, maybe nothing will happen..." Li Haishui said.

"Doctor, let's choose the slower one. Our daughter has been deceived, how can we bear to let her suffer any more?" Zhao Yu said hurriedly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Okay, let's find a quiet place for her to think it over. I'll also prescribe some calming and soothing medicine to help with the treatment. You parents should also show her more care and concern so she can feel warmth in her heart. In that case, her heart problem should be basically cured in a month or two..." Li Haishui said.

It is said that traditional Chinese medicine doctors are actually general practitioners. They can treat patients in pediatrics, gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, orthopedics, and psychology. In particular, many Chinese medicinal herbs have the effect of calming the mind and soothing the nerves. Although they cannot cure heart disease, they have a great auxiliary effect in the treatment of heart disease.

"Then... Doctor, please arrange a place for me..." Zhao Yu now had an instinctive trust in this somewhat mysterious old Chinese medicine doctor.

In fact, people of their age naturally have a sense of awe towards the unknown. This old Chinese medicine doctor was able to pinpoint the cause of his daughter's illness with just one glance. In Zhao Yu's eyes, this skill was almost akin to that of a witch doctor. After all, folk remedies can cure serious illnesses, and his daughter's illness might actually be cured by him.

"Can you feel it in this village? One is tranquility, another is serenity, and yet another is leisurely pace..." Li Haishui held up three fingers in a row. "Why not stay in the village? Stay here for a while, go to the market with everyone, pick some dried fruits and mountain products in the mountains, and fish by the river when you have nothing to do. Isn't that a nice way to live?"

"Yes, the village has a really nice environment. Our family is even planning to settle down here. That house across the river that's half-built is ours," Sun Fangfang chimed in.

"If you don't mind, you can stay at our house. We can waive the accommodation fee, but the medical expenses will still need to be covered," Li Haishui said.

"Although it was a misunderstanding, the harm we caused you has already been done, and we will not shirk our responsibility. Everyone, no matter whose house you stay at, the accommodation fee will be waived," said Aunt Liu.

"Thank you so much..." Zhao Yu quickly said.

Zhao Yu agreed, and Li Tinggui, Tao Yangdong, and Zhou Yun, who were standing to the side, naturally didn't say anything. Even if they wanted to say something, they wouldn't say it at this time.

"Don't mention it. Although our village makes money through agritourism, we still have a lot of human warmth..." Aunt Liu said with a smile.

"I can feel it, I can feel it..." Zhao Yu echoed repeatedly, but in her heart she was cursing. Human touch? Human touch means locking us in a greenhouse?

Actually, Zhao Yu was blinded by his own involvement. Your relentless pursuit of their car is not an exaggeration to call you criminals. If this happened in another village, they would have been beaten half to death and sent to the police station.

"Let's stay here. This is Yang Ming's house, right..." Tao Yangdong said, noticing the photo of Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing hanging on the wall.

Actually, Lao Tao had his own plans. Since you've exposed his secrets, he might as well stay at Yang Ming's house. Everyone who knows his secrets will be gathered here, so the news that he's an antique dealer won't spread throughout the village so quickly. Then, he can have Lao Li or his wife act secretly and buy those antique solid wood furniture without anyone noticing.

"This place won't do, someone's already living at Yang Ming's house..." Of course, Aunt Liu wouldn't cause trouble for Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing. It didn't matter how much they joked around normally, but when facing outsiders, Aunt Liu would definitely side with Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing.

"We're already staying here, and their rooms are free. If you stay in a paid room, it's like saving on your daily accommodation fee..." Sun Fangfang said.

Sun Fangfang's reasoning was absurd, but it sounded quite reasonable.

"Can we stay at your house?" Zhou Yun asked Liu Sao. Actually, she didn't have any particular intentions; she just wanted to stay at Liu Sao's house.

"We only accept female guests, not male guests..." Aunt Liu was a widow, so of course she wouldn't let a man stay overnight in her house, no matter what the reason.

"How about this... all the women will stay at Sister Liu's house, and the men will stay at my house." Li Haishui finished eating the peach, then carefully put the peach pit into his pocket, intending to take it home and plant it in the yard.

"This way of dividing it is good. I wonder what you all think?" Aunt Liu said.

"I have no objection..." Tao Yangdong was the first to express his opinion. If they were allowed to live separately, then these three women would be of great use in attracting attention in front of others. They could visit each other's homes and maybe even get lucky and buy those antique solid wood furniture from the Zheng family.

"I have no objection either..." Li Tinggui's mind worked very quickly. Knowing the advantages of living separately, she nodded repeatedly.

"I have no objection. Seeing this old man makes me so angry I could explode..." Zhao Yu glanced at Li Tinggui and expressed his opinion.

"I have no objection either..." Zhou Yun also expressed her opinion. She now shared the same thought as Zhao Yu. She didn't want to see Tao Yangdong hanging around in front of her. Otherwise, just thinking about the suffering and fright she had suffered today would make her want to slap him.

"Alright, it's settled then. In a little while, everyone will carry this girl to our kang (heated brick bed), and the men will all follow Doctor Li..." said Aunt Liu.

"This girl can't move right now... We need to let her slowly wake up and walk on her own, otherwise, it might hurt her mental health..." Li Haishui said.

Li Yuting's coma was actually her body's automatic protective instinct kicking in, allowing her to enter a deep sleep and recuperate. If she were disturbed or made uncomfortable in her sleep, she wouldn't achieve the maximum recovery effect.

Li Haishui's words were already tinged with superstition. In fact, he was using code words, or jargon, which of course not everyone could understand.

Aunt Da Bao drove the donkey cart home, delivered Zhang Xiaofei and the things she bought to the door, and then drove the donkey cart to take Wei Qingqing home. Wei Qingqing was also sore all over, and although she felt that she was troubling her, she did not refuse.

"Who's here? Why is there a ten-person sedan chair parked in front of my house?" Wei Qingqing looked at the ten-person sedan chair parked in front of her house with some surprise.

"You must have guests. Why is Dayong standing guard at the door?" Aunt Dabao noticed Zheng Dayong squatting at the door, but didn't pay much attention and said casually.

"Maybe... Okay, Aunt Da Bao, stop the car, I'll get off here..." Wei Qingqing said.

Aunt Da Bao stopped the car, and Wei Qingqing, holding onto the carriage shaft, slowly got off. She greeted Aunt Da Bao and then walked towards her own front door.

Aunt Da Bao turned the car around and drove away.

"Dayong, what are you doing outside?" Wei Qingqing asked Zheng Dayong.

"Oh!" Zheng Dayong had been lost in thought, and only snapped out of it when Wei Qingqing asked him. His face flushed slightly, and he smiled, "Sister-in-law, you're back from the market?"

"Hmm! You're back... Da Yong, why are you squatting at the door and not going in..." Wei Qingqing asked again.

"It's nothing..." Zheng Dayong's face turned red all the way to the roots of his neck.

"Nothing? Dayong, do you know whose car this is?" Wei Qingqing said, pointing to the ten-person sedan chair.

"They belong to the tourists..." Zheng Dayong felt quite embarrassed. "Sister Sun knows them, and one of the girls among them suddenly fainted..."

"You fainted?" Wei Qingqing's voice was shrill. "How could you faint?"

So Zheng Dayong recounted the whole story of what had happened that day, leaving Wei Qingqing dumbfounded. She still remembered Tao Yangdong somewhat, after all, she and Yang Ming had toasted them at their wedding. However, Tao Yangdong's move was rather awkward; it seemed he was clearly planning to make a fortune in Zhengjia Village.

"...That's what happened...Sister Sun was talking to them when the girl fainted. I just called Doctor Li over..." Zheng Dayong said.

"So, Dr. Li is at our house? Are you coming in? What are you doing squatting outside?" Wei Qingqing raised an eyebrow and asked Zheng Dayong, though it was just a polite gesture.

"No, no..." Zheng Dayong was quite perceptive and knew that the other party was just making way and did not really want to invite him in, so he waved his hand repeatedly.

"Then I'll go in first. Don't overthink it, it's none of your business..." Wei Qingqing comforted Zheng Dayong for a moment before entering the courtyard.

Wei Qingqing admired the Zheng family quite a bit. Zheng Yu had a mental block that drove him crazy for nearly thirty years. The Zheng family might have many flaws, but their courage to take responsibility was truly admirable.

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(End of this chapter)