He turned to Aunt Xu. "Auntie, what happened?"
Seeing everyone looking at her, Aunt Xu couldn't help giving a wry smile. Fortunately, the child had been brought back to life, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"The child fell into the water because of those two little rascals in my family. Our family is to blame for what he went through. If you hadn't saved him today, A Lai, I wouldn't have known what to do."
Though Aunt Xu hadn't explained it clearly, everyone already had an idea of what had happened.
Most likely, her two little rascals were the main reason Xu Qingqing's younger brother had fallen into the water.
From what she said, if anything had happened to the child today, her family would definitely have been held responsible.
"A Lai, thank you. You saved the child, and you saved our family too."
"Auntie, there's no need to thank me. Anyone who saw him would have helped. Go to the hospital with them first; we can talk about the rest later."
Everyone agreed with Wei Donglai.
Aunt Xu nodded too. "Then I'll go to the clinic first. A Lai, please let A Qing know for me."
"Mm, I will."
Aunt Xu followed the doctor, but after taking only a couple of steps, she turned and ran back.
"Oh, right, A Lai, your liquor."
Wei Donglai couldn't help laughing as he looked at the two bottles in his hands. If Aunt Xu hadn't reminded him, he would have forgotten all about them.
Aunt Xu must have been so frightened that her head was still in a muddle. After running some distance, she doubled back again.
It turned out she had left two grandsons under a large tree not far away.
After she gave each of them a big slap, the two rascals, both looking worried and scared, followed sheepishly behind her.
Wei Donglai reckoned the two naughty kids would lose a layer of skin when they got home.
"It's settled now. Everyone, go on home."
The crowd of onlookers slowly began to disperse.
"A Lai."
Hearing someone call, Wei Donglai turned around. It was his second sister-in-law, with Wei Ning and little Yuanyuan beside him.
"Second Sister-in-law, when did you get here?"
"A little while ago. You really did a great deed today."
Although she had arrived later, she had heard roughly what had happened. She admired her younger brother-in-law for bringing the child back to life.
"Come on, let's go home first."
Chen Fengying nodded and took the two children home with him.
Perhaps what she had heard from the others hadn't been clear enough, because on the way home, she asked Wei Donglai for a detailed account of how he had saved the child.
Wei Donglai hid nothing from her.
"A Lai, I heard the doctor say that if you hadn't given him emergency treatment in time, the child wouldn't have had much chance of surviving. Is that true?"
Wei Donglai nodded, then told her about the dangers drowning victims faced in different conditions and some first-aid measures.
"How did you learn all that?"
"I came across a similar situation before and asked someone about it."
"I reckon your reputation in the village will change quite a bit after today."
Wei Donglai hadn't thought about that, but if his reputation really did change because of this, he would naturally be glad to see it.
The two children listened to their conversation. Yuanyuan was still young and didn't quite understand, but Wei Ning understood perfectly.
His third uncle seemed to have done something remarkable today.
"Third Uncle, you were really amazing today."
Seeing the admiration in Wei Ning's eyes, Wei Donglai smiled and accepted the praise from his eldest nephew.
He stroked Wei Ning's head and cautioned him, "You must be careful from now on. Never play around by the water, understand?"
"Third Uncle, I can swim."
"You can, but what if someone else can't? There's an old saying: those who drown are the ones who know how to swim. It reminds us to stay alert and put safety first. Especially you children: never go into the water without an adult accompanying you, understand?"
"Third Uncle, I understand."
They chatted as they walked and soon reached home.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, Li Yue'e saw that he was soaking wet. "What have you been doing to get yourself so wet?"
"It was too hot, so I went for a bath in the pond up ahead."
Seeing his mother roll her eyes at him, Chen Fengying smiled and explained what had happened.
Li Yue'e was naturally glad that the child had been saved.
But she still had a few words of caution for Wei Donglai about what he had done.
"Don't be so impulsive next time. You saved him this time, but what if you hadn't? Do you know what the consequences would have been?"
Wei Donglai hadn't paid much attention while saving the child. But afterward, when he thought about what the onlookers had said, he realized there was no telling what others might have said about him if the child hadn't survived.
Even so, if it happened again, Wei Donglai would have done the same.
If he hadn't known how to save the child, that would have been another matter. But he knew how to keep the child alive, and he truly couldn't have stood by with folded arms.
He understood that Li Yue'e said those things because she was worried about her son.
"Mom, I'll be careful from now on. I still have to let A Qing know, so I can't stay and talk."
Knowing Wei Donglai didn't want to hear her nag, Li Yue'e handed him the vegetables she had picked over. "Get lost, then. Remember to change your clothes when you get back."
Wei Donglai grinned and quickly left.
When he returned to the old house, Wei Donglai saw a woman looking around outside the gate of the neighboring courtyard. It was Xu Qingqing.
Wei Donglai hurried over to her. "Sister Qing, are you waiting for your younger brother?"
The woman looked at him immediately, a question in her eyes.
"Your younger brother fell into the water just now, but he's all right now. He's at the clinic."
Xu Qingqing was startled when she heard the first sentence, but Wei Donglai's next words reassured her considerably.
"Thank you!"
Hearing that her younger brother was still at the clinic, Xu Qingqing thanked him and hurried into the courtyard.
Soon, she came out with a girl of about five. She also had a small cloth bag in her hand, evidently containing money.
Thinking it would be inconvenient for her to take the child along, Wei Donglai decided to help her through to the end.
"Sister Qing, if you trust me, I can look after your younger sister for a while. You can pick her up from my place when you get back."
Xu Qingqing stopped, somewhat hesitant.
But she also understood that there would probably be a great many things to deal with at the clinic, and she would have trouble looking after her younger sister.
She looked at the little girl, then finally bowed to Wei Donglai. "Sorry for the trouble."
"It's nothing. Your brother needs you, so hurry over there."
Xu Qingqing nodded, crouched down, and said a few words to the little girl.
"Momo, your brother is sick, and I have to go take care of him. Can you play here with this big brother for a while? I'll come back and pick you up later, all right?"
The little girl nodded obediently.
Seeing this, Xu Qingqing said no more. She left the little girl with him and hurried off toward the clinic.