New Neighbor
Zhang Heng had originally planned to wait until dawn before taking the old man home, but unexpectedly, the old man seemed extremely anxious. He insisted on leaving despite his injured leg.
Since he was already helping, Zhang Heng decided to see it through. He took out his travel bag, locked the Polo, then carried the old man through the woods. After that, he climbed along a steep cliffside, even jumping across a mountain stream over a meter wide, before finally reaching the old man's home halfway up the mountain.
Calling it a home was generous—it was really just a cave. Zhang Heng gave it a quick look. It was roughly two hundred square meters and contained some simple furniture: a bed, stools, a stove, a rice jar... There was no water, no electricity, and certainly no internet. In fact, those few pieces of furniture all looked like things others had thrown away and the cave's owner had picked up.
And when he saw the figure on the bed, Zhang Heng understood why the old man had been so desperate to return.
A child lay there, dark-skinned and skinny, like a little monkey. Although it was already late, the child was still awake, cheeks slightly flushed and coughing softly.
Zhang Heng set the old man down on a reclining chair at the cave entrance, then walked over and felt the child's forehead before checking the child's throat. Fortunately, it was probably just a fever caused by inflamed tonsils. No wonder the old man had gone into the woods in the middle of the night instead of sleeping. He had likely been looking for medicinal herbs, but it had been too dark to see the path clearly, and he had fallen.
Treating it was not difficult. Zhang Heng had anti-inflammatory