Chapter 3 Medicinal Bath

"An Nian, we're home." Jiang Zhu raised his voice.

　　"Um..."

　　The person on the back finally snorted and slowly responded.

　　Jiang Zhu just thought that he was too tired and was asleep, so he put him on the round table made of terrazzo in the courtyard to sit on him and let him wake up.

　　Ye Annian actually didn't sleep deeply this time, but his left ear was damaged by a slap from Ye Chenghe. If someone came close and spoke softly into his left ear, he would not be able to hear it.

　　Therefore, it was not that he didn't wake up when Jiang Zhu called him the first two times, but he didn't hear them.

　　The summer night wind was still a bit cold, and Ye Anian shivered from the wind, but he also felt quite awake.

　　Ding Qiu had already led Ye Anfu into the house and lit the candle in the house. A warm yellow glow came out from the window.

　　"Come in, it's cold outside." Jiang Zhu said when he saw that he had woken up.

　　Ye Annian nodded, got off the round table, and followed Jiang Zhu into the east room.

　　Jiang Zhu's house has three rooms, divided into east and west rooms, with a main room in the middle.

　　Ding Qiu was young and always slept with him in the east room. In the west room, there was a large medicine cabinet against the wall and a broken bed with some sundries on it.

　　The main room is also the kitchen room, with a stove, a chest of drawers, a low table and a few wooden pillars, where people usually cook and eat.

　　Now that there are two more brothers, Ye Anyian, the earthen kang in the east room seems not enough for sleeping.

　　Ding Qiu leaned on the kang with a blind stick and asked Jiang Zhu: "Sir, how should we sleep at night?"

　　Jiang Zhu rolled up Ding Qiu's bedding and stuffed it into his arms: "You take Brother Fu and sleep in the west room, while An Nian and I sleep here."

　　"Then I'll go pack it up." Ding Qiu replied, holding his own bedding and turning around to go to the west room.

　　"Ahem, let me sleep with Brother Fu." Ye Annian said to Jiang Zhu as he watched Ding Qiu's back disappear outside the door.

　　He was suddenly asked to sleep on the same bed with a strange man, which was awkward no matter how he thought about it.

　　"You haven't recovered from your cough, and you took a dip in the river water. You might have a high fever tonight." Jiang Zhu didn't agree, "Sleep with me so you can take care of me more easily."

　　"Okay." Ye Anyian agreed.

　　After all, what Jiang Zhu said was reasonable. If he refused again, it would appear that he was unreasonable.

　　Moreover, Jiang Zhu's treatment of him was just out of the doctor's care for the patient, and he had nothing to be pretentious about.

　　After arranging a place to sleep at night, Jiang Zhu asked Ye Anyian to take Fu Zai to rest in the east room, and then turned around and went to the main room for dinner.

　　The evening meal was simple. Jiang Zhu cooked a pot of mixed rice porridge, steamed some multi-grain steamed buns, boiled eggs, small pickles, and a dish of fried mountain bamboo shoots.

Ye Anyian looked at the table full of food, only there was a small plate in front of him.

　　Inside was a square piece of white tofu, with a small piece dug out from the center and a yellow-orange pitted loquat placed on top.

　　I don't know if it's because it has just been cooked, but the tofu is soaked in the loquat juice and has a golden color, which is very appetizing.

　　"This is it?" Ye Anyian asked.

　　"Tofu candy." Jiang Zhu replied, "Tear out a small piece from the center of the tofu, fill it with sugar and stew until cooked. It has the effect of relieving coughs and asthma. I also added an extra loquat. Eat one every night. May you have a good night's sleep."

　　"Really?" Ye Anyian poked the soft tofu candy with chopsticks, a little unbelievable.

　　It's just tofu and sugar. It's just the most common ingredients. It doesn't even contain any medicinal ingredients. How can it really have such a magical effect?

　　"Wouldn't it be known tonight if it's true?"

　　Jiang Zhu smiled and finished peeling the eggs for Ding Qiu and Fu Zai. He also peeled Ye Annian's eggs and put them in his bowl.

　　Ye Anyian looked at the peeled eggs in his bowl, his face feeling a little hot. He really just asked out of curiosity, not questioning Jiang Zhu's medical skills.

　　Fortunately, Jiang Zhu didn't pay attention to this trivial matter. After peeling the eggs for the two sick children, he continued to eat his own meal.

　　Ye Annian also took a spoonful of tofu candy and put it into his mouth. The soft and slightly sweet texture immediately filled his mouth, with the scent of loquat. It melted in his mouth and turned out to be quite delicious.

　　After dinner, Ding Qiu took Fu Zai to the west room to sleep.

Jiang Zhu drove Ye Anian to the east room to rest, while he himself cleared away the dishes, tables and stools, and heated up a large pot of hot water.

　　Ye Anyian fell into the water during the day. Although he changed into dry clothes, moisture still entered his body. It was best to take a medicinal bath, otherwise he would easily develop high fever at night.

　　After the hot water was boiled, he took out a large bathtub from the west room, scooped the hot water in the pot, and put in the medicinal herbs he had prepared. Then he went into the room and called Ye Anyian to come out.

　　"Medicated bath?" Ye Anyian stood at the door of the east room of the hall, looking at the steaming bathtub, a little stunned.

　　There were some dark medicinal materials floating in the barrel, exuding a faint smell of Chinese medicine.

　　"I've closed the door tightly for you so that no wind will blow in. You can rest here while I come in. If you need anything, just call me."

　　After Jiang Zhu finished speaking, he turned around and was about to enter the house, but was stopped by Ye Anyian.

　　"Ahem... Doctor Jiang." Ye Anian looked embarrassed.

　　Jiang Zhu raised his eyebrows: "Is there anything else?"

　　"I only have one piece of clothing," Ye Anyian pulled at the loose clothes on his body, "This is yours..."

　　His own was already soaked, and together with the old wedding dress, it was hanging on the clothesline outside to dry.

　　"You soak first," Jiang Zhu said in a gentle voice, "I'll give it to you later. It may take a few days to make new clothes, so you put them on first."

　　"Okay," Ye Anyian nodded, "I'm going to trouble you again."

　　He is not being pretentious. Anyway, what he is wearing now is Jiang Zhu's obscene clothes. It doesn't matter if he wears them for a few more days.

　　"Are you still polite to me?" Jiang Zhu smiled, turned around and went into the house.

　　The water temperature in the tub was just right. Ye Annian took off his clothes and soaked in it comfortably. The water was still up to his shoulders, with only his head exposed.

　　I don't know if it was because of the medicinal ingredients, but he felt numb all over. His whole body was wrapped in warm water. The pores all over his body were opened, and all the sweat in his body was discharged smoothly. It was very refreshing.

　　After a day of hard work, his small body could no longer bear it. Now that he was feeling comfortable, he felt sleepy and dozed off against the edge of the bucket.

　　I don't know how much time passed, but there was a soft sound from the door of the east room. Jiang Zhu took out the clean clothes and saw Ye Annian with one arm on the edge of the tub, his head slightly tilted to the side, and he was asleep with his eyes closed. .

　　He was extremely well-born, with clear and handsome lines on his profile. His eyelashes were drooped. When he closed his eyes and took a nap, he didn't feel the alienation he felt when looking at people during the day.

　　His wet long hair was draped over his shoulders. The dark hair color formed a strong contrast with his sickly white skin, making him look delicate and gentle.

　　Jiang Zhu looked a little lost in thought until a strand of Ye Anian's wet hair slipped into the bucket and splashed a few water drops.

　　When he came to his senses, Ye Anian also woke up.

　　Sensing the shadow, Ye Annian turned his head and met Jiang Zhu's eyes.

　　Jiang Zhu:...

　　"I...came to give you some clothes."

　　After saying that, he put the folded plain white clothes on the small wooden pier next to the bathtub without squinting, then quickly got up and returned to the east room.

　　Desperate to die, Jiang Zhu raised his hand to close the door and rubbed his temples.

　　I just glanced at it and couldn't forget it.

Ye Annian, who was in the main room, fell asleep even after all this trouble.

　　The temperature of the water in the bathtub had just cooled down. He quickly got up and dried himself with a dry handkerchief, then put on the dirty clothes Jiang Zhu gave him.

　　A moment later, there was another soft knock on the door, and Ye Annian walked in wearing Jiang Zhu's obscene clothes and long black wet hair.

　　The water vapor on his body has not yet dissipated completely, and his eyes are as cold as ice springs.

　　Jiang Zhu was stunned for a moment, then stood up, took a clean handkerchief and threw it over: "Wipe it clean before going to bed, otherwise you will have a headache at night."

　　"Yes." Ye Anyian took the handkerchief and sat down on the edge of the Kang.

　　He watched Jiang Zhu put down the kang table, spread out a piece of red paper and began to grind ink, a little curious about what he was going to write so late at night.

　　However, before he could ask, Jiang Zhu had already spoken.

　　"What's your birthday and horoscope?"

　　"Huh?" Ye Anian was startled when asked.

　　"Combined marriage proposal." Jiang Zhu said, "I will go to the Ye family to hire someone tomorrow morning. Let's settle the matter first to avoid a long night of dreams."

　　The Wang family and Ye Chenghe must have had a falling out today, but they came back late and the village had already quieted down, so they didn't hear much about him.

　　At this time, the Wang family will definitely take the opportunity to break off the engagement and ask Ye Chenghe for the deposit of five taels of silver. Tomorrow, Jiang Zhu will come to propose marriage. Ye Chenghe is eager to take the opportunity to kill him and will definitely agree.

　　"Okay." Ye Anyian did not hesitate and told Jiang Zhu his birth date.

　　He was talking about his own birthday. I don't know why, but he can't remember these things about the original owner and some things from his childhood.

　　Jiang Zhu had no doubt that he was there, and quickly started writing. The strong and powerful handwriting appeared on the paper, and Ye Anian's heart moved when he saw it.

　　I didn't expect Jiang Zhu's writing to be pretty good.

　　"The gift money will be paid back to you when I earn it later." He looked at it for a while and then said.

　　Jiang Zhu put away his pen beautifully, looked up at Ye Anyian, and smiled so hard that his eyes curled up: "If I marry you, do you still have to pay for the bride price?"

　　Ye Anyian's face turned red: "That's not what I meant..."

　　He just felt that although it was a gift money, it ended up in Ye Chenghe's pocket. Jiang Zhu was already benevolent to him, so there was no reason for him to pay for this unjust money.

　　"Since it's not the case, take it back. From now on, when we live together, you will have to take care of the family's money."

　　"Here, let's take a look." Jiang Zhu handed the two written marriage invitations to Ye Anyian and showed them to him. "The red paper is still left over from the couplets written during the Chinese New Year. I can only make do with it now."

　　Although it was just ordinary black writing on red paper, his handwriting was beautiful and not crude at all.

　　"People in the village don't pay attention to this. Once a happy event is held, it's done. But our happy event may have to be held later, so we still have to exchange Geng Tie to make it a reality."

Ye Anyian read both Geng Tie and handed them back to Jiang Zhu: "Very good."

　　Jiang Zhu immediately smiled and put away the two Geng Tie: "If we exchange it tomorrow in front of Ye Chenghe and Li Zheng, it's settled. It's getting late, go to bed."

　　The two of them got on the kang and lay down in their respective beds. As soon as the candles were blown out, the room became completely dark, and they could hear each other's breathing quietly.

　　…

　　The next day, Ye Anyian was woken up by Fu Zai.

　　When he opened his eyes, Fu Zai was lying on the edge of the kang, blinking at him with big eyes.

　　"Brother," Xiao Fuzai said in a sweet voice, "Doctor Jiang made me egg custard, and I left half a bowl for you."

　　"Fu Zai is sensible now." Ye Anyian touched his little head.

　　There was no curse from Ye Chenghe early in the morning, and he felt much better.

　　Breakfast consisted of boiled corn, mixed rice porridge, boiled eggs and pickles. Only Fu Zai's had an extra bowl of custard.

　　Ye Annian got up, washed and dressed, and went out to the main room to eat. Jiang Zhu had already served him rice and peeled the eggs.

　　Seeing him coming out, he smiled and waved: "Come on, we have to go to Ye's house later."

　　Ye Annian responded and sat down on the seat next to him. Just as he picked up the chopsticks, Jiang Zhu handed over a small medicine bottle.

　　"This is it?" Ye Anyian asked.

　　"Loquat dew." Jiang Zhu replied, "Use this to suppress your cough first. I have a lot of things to do today. When we come back from Ye's house, I will give you a good diagnosis and treatment."

　　"Thank you very much." Ye Anyian put the medicine bottle away.

　　With that said, he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have slept peacefully last night without coughing. But before, when he slept in a small cubicle with Fu Zai at Ye's house, he would cough violently almost every night.

　　I didn't expect that tofu candy actually worked.