As soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Xia was frightened by her own brazen statement. Realizing it sounded improper, she hurriedly explained, "I'll help you treat your wound. Take off your clothes and let me have a look."
After saying that, she ran to the Dressing Table and rummaged out some cotton, gauze, and the box of Yunnan Baiyao.
Zhou Chenglei had often been injured in the past, so he had made a habit of keeping medicine for wounds on hand. Jiang Xia knew where it was stored.
Even in the dim light, Zhou Chenglei could see her flushed face. He reached out for the medicine. "Give it to me. I'll do it myself."
Jiang Xia did not give it to him. She put on a stern expression to make herself look more serious. "How are you going to treat the wound on your back? Sit still and hurry up, take off your clothes."
"..."
Zhou Chenglei glanced at her deliberately composed face, obediently sat down, seized the hem of his shirt with both hands, and pulled it over his head.
Jiang Xia immediately saw his abdominal muscles. They were not overly showy, but their lines were distinct and perfectly proportioned.
This man had been blessed with a handsome face and a perfect physique.
Holding a cotton ball, she carefully wiped away the excess blood on his arm.
Zhou Chenglei lowered his eyes and looked at her.
Under the dim light, her features were like a painting—exquisite and beautiful. Her movements were gentle, and Zhou Chenglei could not help staring at her, lost in the moment.
The cotton ball brushed lightly over his arm. Jiang Xia's expression grew solemn, and her brows knitted slightly. "This wound is a little deep."
Zhou Chenglei came back to himself and glanced at the wound, unconcerned. "It's a minor injury. It'll be fine in a couple of days. Don't worry."
After wiping away the blood, Jiang Xia picked up the Yunnan Baiyao powder. She gestured for him to raise his arm, sprinkled the medicine over the wound, then wrapped it loosely with a layer of gauze. That way, the powder was held in place while the wound could still breathe and heal faster.
"It's best not to get it wet for the next couple of days, so it doesn't become infected."
Seeing her practiced bandaging technique, Zhou Chenglei raised his brows slightly and gave a quiet response. "Mm."
After treating the wound on his arm, Jiang Xia looked at his back. The wound there was not deep, merely a slight scrape, and it would be fine even without medicine.
It was just that his back was covered in many scars, horrifying to behold. The book had said he had fought on battlefields, taken part in several campaigns, and earned no small number of merits after narrowly escaping death. Unable to stop herself, she asked, "Were the scars on your back left from the battlefield?"
"Mm."
"You were badly hurt back then, right?" Jiang Xia looked at those scars, unable to imagine how he had survived.
"It was fine. I didn't die."
In truth, he had nearly died. But so long as he could win the battle, what did a few injuries matter? Even dying would have been worth it.
Zhou Chenglei turned to look at her. Seeing her brows drawn tightly together, he stood up, went to the wardrobe, and put on a shirt, covering the savage scars on his back. "Did I scare you? Do they look awful?"
Jiang Xia came back to herself and shook her head. In admiration, she said, "They don't look awful. These are the medals of people as wonderful as you. Medals that will never fade. They look very good."
Zhou Chenglei's fingers paused as he fastened a button. A strange flutter passed through his heart. He glanced out the window. "It's still a while before dawn. Go back to sleep for a bit."
After dressing, Zhou Chenglei took a pair of trousers from the wardrobe and planned to change in the next room.
Seeing him walk out, Jiang Xia asked, "Where are you going?"
"To change my trousers."
Jiang Xia: "..."
She should never have asked.
It was nearly dawn. Outside, strong winds and torrential rain raged, and the power had gone out again. There was nothing else to do, so Jiang Xia lay back down on the bed. She soon fell asleep and did not wake until daylight.
The wind was still blowing outside, and rain was still falling.
Zhou Chenglei was not in the room.
Jiang Xia changed her clothes and went out, only to find him shaving wood in a corner of the main room.
He had already shaved several pieces smooth, and one was still in progress. Jiang Xia saw how sleek the finished pieces were.
She asked him why he was shaving wood.
Zhou Chenglei said, "I'm making a swing beneath the grape trellis."
For some reason, he felt that she would probably like having a swing in the yard.
Jiang Xia had not expected him to think of making a swing, much less to know how to make one. "That's great. You know how?"
"Mm. It isn't difficult." In fact, he also knew how to make bamboo chairs and bamboo stools; he simply had never had the time.
Today, with the typhoon leaving him nothing else to do, he had thought of making a swing.
Father Zhou was splitting bamboo.
In the long main room, the table had been moved aside. Father and son each occupied a corner, leaving one another in peace.
Jiang Xia watched Father Zhou take a length of bamboo and split an opening through the center of its cross-section. He then inserted a small wooden stick into it, made another opening across the section to form a cross with the first, and inserted another stick. When he pushed the two sticks downward, the entire length of bamboo split into four strips! Then he divided those four strips into eight...
Clean and decisive!
She finally understood where the phrase "like splitting rotten bamboo" had come from!
Mother Zhou had already prepared breakfast: white porridge with Pickled Bamboo Shoots, along with Steamed Fish with Fermented Soybeans. It was quite appetizing.
It was just that Mother Zhou's clothes had gotten soaked while carrying the food inside from outdoors, so she went to change into another set.
Jiang Xia also got soaked while washing up and returning.
These old houses were still inconvenient in many ways. There was no bathroom, and the kitchen was outside too. When she built her own house in the future, the path to the kitchen would definitely be sheltered from the rain, and there would be a bathroom inside as well.
These days, she did not even dare drink water or eat random things at night, afraid she might have to go outside to use the toilet in the middle of the night.
On typhoon days, no household went outside.
Father Zhou wove a Sun-drying Mat indoors, Zhou Chenglei made a swing, and Mother Zhou knitted fishing nets. The entire main room was almost impossible to walk through.
Jiang Xia thought of the shrimp that would cover the beach after the typhoon. She went out and found two bamboo rakes, then asked Zhou Chenglei to shave some thin bamboo strips for her. She was going to modify a rake for gathering shrimp!
The wind outside had weakened somewhat, but the rain was still heavy. Once it stopped, she would go gather shrimp.
Seeing her clumsily weave bamboo strips around the teeth of the bamboo rake, Mother Zhou asked curiously, "Xiao Xia, what are you doing?"
Jiang Xia said, "I'm planning to make a Tide Catching tool. Mom, don't worry. I'll take the bamboo strips off after I'm done. I won't damage the rake."
Mother Zhou had never seen such a bizarre Tide Catching tool. She simply thought Jiang Xia had too much free time and did not interfere.
The rain fell for the entire day, while the wind rose and weakened by turns.
When the wind eased a little, Zhou Chengxin and Tian Caihua braved the rain to come over. They were worried that the roof tiles might be blown away, so they had come to see whether the family needed to move into the New House with them. They had also brought some vegetables.
Tian Caihua saw Jiang Xia fiddling with the bamboo rake and asked curiously, "Xiao Xia, what are you doing?"
"Making a Tide Catching tool. I heard that there are lots of fish and shrimp on the beach after a typhoon. Wouldn't I be able to rake them into a pile? Eldest Sister-in-Law, do you want to make one too?"
The corner of Tian Caihua's mouth twitched. "No need! Do you think there'll be fish and shrimp covering the ground after a typhoon? And that you can use a bamboo rake? There won't be that many. Don't waste your effort!"
She did not know whether Jiang Xia's modified contraption would rake fish and shrimp into a pile, but it would definitely rake up a pile of sand! She really had never seen the world!
Jiang Xia did not say much more. She could hardly tell them outright that she knew there would be shrimp, so she let everyone think she had stumbled onto the right idea through ignorance! Of course, she knew the chance of the beach being covered with shrimp after a typhoon was extremely small, but she had seen similar videos online in modern times.
Besides, she had transmigrated into a book! This typhoon had been deliberately arranged by the author for the female lead to make money, and it was also the typhoon that began the romantic storyline with the male lead! However, Zhou Chengxin and his wife had already gone out, and the wind and rain outside had weakened. The typhoon had passed; it was merely still raining.
Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, "Can we go to the beach now?"
Tian Caihua looked at her as if she were a monster. Go to the beach now? Was she willing to risk her life just to make money?
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
Before you continue