Setting the Bone
The speed startled Old Master Lin, and he hurriedly grabbed his youngest grandson's shoulders.
They were going so fast that the rain lashed Old Master Lin's face, and he couldn't even open his eyes.
His eyes shut, he patted Lin Xiao's shoulder and said anxiously:
"Good lad, put me down, quick! How could that little body of yours carry me?"
But Lin Xiao acted as though he hadn't heard and just kept charging forward.
He also ran so steadily that Old Master Lin, riding on his back, didn't feel a single jolt.
Old Master Lin had thought it would take quite a while to reach the Liu Household at the east end of the village, but before long, he heard his youngest grandson say to him:
"Grandpa, we're here."
Then he was set down on the ground.
Old Master Lin wiped his soaking wet face and opened his rain-squinted eyes to look.
Well, sure enough.
They were here!
His grandson really did run fast.
Thinking of his youngest grandson's slappable ways, Old Master Lin suddenly felt a little more at ease about him.
At least he wouldn't be easily beaten up in the future. If anything happened, he could surely run away.
After entering the Liu Household and examining Liu Yunan's broken bone, Old Master Lin took out the medicinal wine he had brought with him before leaving.
He poured a little medicinal wine into his palm, then quickly rubbed his palms together with it until they were warm.
Then he had Lin Xiao help Liu Yunan sit up.
Old Master Lin reached out and began carefully feeling Liu Yunan's broken bone.
Fortunately, the displacement wasn't too severe. Old Master Lin gripped above and below the break with both hands, gauged the force needed, and suddenly pushed hard!
Lin Xiao, Widow Liu, and Liu Shengsheng, who were standing nearby, heard a soft crack.
Then they saw Old Master Lin pick up the medicinal wine again, pour it into his palm, and begin rubbing it onto Liu Yunan's shoulder.
Lin Xiao asked:
"Grandpa, is it set already?"
As Old Master Lin applied the medicine, he checked the bone's alignment. Once he was sure it was properly in place, he nodded and said:
"It's set. Injured tendons and bones take a hundred days to heal, so rest and recuperate well for now. All of you, keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't put any strain on that shoulder."
The last part was addressed to Widow Liu.
Widow Liu nodded in agreement:
"Old Master Lin, thank you so much! It's so late, and we made you come all this way..."
Before Widow Liu could finish, Old Master Lin waved a hand and said:
"All right, who in the village hasn't fallen on hard times? I only lent a hand. It's late, so we'll be heading back now. Keep an eye on him during the night." With that, Old Master Lin stood up, grabbed Lin Xiao by the collar, and left the room.
Liu Shengsheng followed behind them and said:
"Thank you, Grandpa Lin!" Then she sneezed.
Old Master Lin said kindly to her:
"Little girl, have you caught a chill? Hurry inside. Grandpa's off now."
Widow Liu hurried to fetch Lin Xiao's umbrella, then saw the two of them off, thanking them all the while.
On the way back, grandfather and grandson walked through the rain, one wearing a rain cape and the other holding an umbrella.
By then, the rain had begun to ease.
Old Master Lin asked Lin Xiao:
"What on earth happened at their house? That Liu boy looked like he'd taken quite a beating."
Lin Xiao told him the truth, leaving out only how he had ruthlessly cut the tendons in their hands and feet.
In any case, the village gossips would tell his grandpa tomorrow.
For now, he'd better not mention it, right?
After hearing Lin Xiao's incomplete account, Old Master Lin let out a long sigh:
"What a sin-remember to make yourself some ginger soup when you get home-" As if he had just remembered something, he suddenly turned to look Lin Xiao over.
"You carried me on your back the whole way just now, so how come your clothes are dry?"
Lin Xiao froze for a moment. Looking at the old Lin family home, which was already close at hand, he weighed his options: explain or run.
He decisively chose to run!
"Grandpa, I'm going home first!"
Before his words had faded, Old Master Lin could no longer see him.
Old Master Lin strained to look in the direction Lin Xiao had run.
The rainy night was empty and deserted, without a soul in sight.
His youngest grandson, that speed... wasn't it a bit too fast?
The rain had fallen all night and finally dwindled to a drizzle with the arrival of morning light.
Then it stopped altogether, leaving only muddy ground and trees covered in dewdrops.
That day, Lin Xiao got up on his own without Lin Dayou having to call him.
He hurriedly cooked a pot of sweet potatoes on the stove, washed up, tucked two cooked sweet potatoes into his clothes, and went out.
Widow Liu, who had barely slept all night, came out of the room carrying a basin of water and emptied it in a corner of the courtyard.
When she looked up, she saw Lin Xiao outside the door.
Lin Xiao, who had just arrived, greeted her and asked:
"Auntie, was Tuzi all right last night?"
With bloodshot eyes, Widow Liu gave him a kind smile and said:
"Yes, he slept quite well last night." Then her face filled with worry as she continued:
"It's just that Sheng'er probably caught a chill in the rain last night. When I went to see her earlier, her forehead was burning, and she kept saying she was cold. I have to take her to town to get her checked in a little while.
"Brother Xiao, sorry for the trouble, but could you help me keep an eye on Nan'er later if you're free?"
Lin Xiao nodded and said:
"Don't worry, Auntie. I'll take good care of him. The important thing is to hurry and get Sister Sheng treated."
With Lin Xiao's promise, Widow Liu breathed a considerable sigh of relief. She didn't stop for further courtesies, but hurried inside to take what little savings the family had, wrapped the petite Liu Shengsheng in a small quilt, and went out.
In the village, only the village chief's family had two oxen.
To make it easier for villagers to get to town when they had urgent business, the village chief's family sent an ox cart to wait at the village entrance every morning.
At around seven, if anyone wanted to go to town, it would set off; if no one did, the village chief's youngest son would drive the cart home.
Usually, though, the villagers wouldn't readily leave the village without a reason, so the ox cart was generally idle.
Even though the village chief's ox cart carried passengers for free.
When Lin Xiao had first learned about this, he had thought that, with the village chief doing this, his family's oxen must be worked to exhaustion every day.
Yet it turned out that such a thing scarcely ever happened.
For one thing, the villagers all believed that going to town meant spending money, so why go if they had no business there?
For another, when villagers had surplus farm produce they wanted to sell and took their goods onto the ox cart, they were too embarrassed not to pay. They had to give at least a copper coin or two. Otherwise, with everyone living in the same village, if others learned they had taken such petty advantage-and of the village chief, no less-their spit alone could drown them.
Those families unwilling to part with a copper coin or two would rather carry their things and walk the whole way than readily take the ox cart.
So even now, although the village chief's family had already replaced one of the oxen that pulled the cart, the oxen still didn't have to carry people often.
That was why people in the village like Widow Liu, who had urgent business in town, could still get a ride there on the ox cart without a hitch.
When Lin Xiao learned of this, he couldn't help marveling.
Such a thing would have been nearly impossible in the era of his previous life.
A free ox cart would surely have been overloaded every day.
Whether or not the people boarding it actually needed a ride.