"Young Master, Young Master, Huzhi is awake, he's really awake."
From the small thatched hut not far away, Granny Sun ran out, her breath catching as she reached the riverbank. She then fell to her knees before Feng Dingchu with a thud.
"Young Master, thank you, thank you. Huzhi is truly awake. Thank you, Young Master!"
Feng Dingchu remained silent.
He had known Huzhi would wake up, so there was no surprise in his eyes.
"Granny Sun?" Chu Qianli looked on with confusion. "What... what is this about?"
"What happened to Huzhi?"
Granny Sun slowly got to her feet, her voice hoarse. "My rascal son saw a red ribbon on a tree this morning. He thought it belonged to you, Miss, so he climbed up to get it for you. Unexpectedly... he fell into the river."
"I wasn't around at the time. The river is very deep. Although Huzhi can swim, the water was too cold. He started convulsing as soon as he went in..."
As Granny Sun spoke, Chu Qianli began to understand.
"So, you went into the river to save Huzhi, not... not to..." drown herself?
Feng Dingchu still said nothing.
Granny Sun quickly added, "Fortunately, Young Master pulled Huzhi out and even performed resuscitation on him. You said that if we carried Huzhi inside, he would wake up. We carried Huzhi into the room, and just as we were changing his clothes, he woke up."
"Young Master is truly an immortal! I thank you on behalf of Huzhi! Young Master, Miss, the river water is too cold. Please come up quickly."
"Let's... let's go up first. I'm freezing," Chu Qianli realized she had misunderstood. With her heart now at ease, she suddenly felt a chill all over her body.
She couldn't help but sneeze again.
"Then you... you saved him, why did you still..."
Before she could finish, she sneezed again.
This time, Feng Dingchu proactively took her hand and walked towards the riverbank.
Chu Qianli then noticed he was holding a shoe in his hand.
The shoe was small, appearing to belong to a boy...
Feng Dingchu handed the shoe to Granny Sun, who was so touched she teared up. "Young Master, just a pair of shoes..."
"He only has these shoes," Feng Dingchu stated, releasing Chu Qianli's hand and turning to leave.
His clothes were soaked, water dripping all the way.
Chu Qianli could almost imagine him returning to a tree or a rooftop, sitting down somewhere without regard for his drenched clothes.
He would simply wait for his clothes to dry in the wind.
But doing so could easily lead to a cold, and it was early spring; it was still too chilly.
Granny Sun also looked at their drenched clothes, her scalp tingling. "Young Master, Miss, your clothes... If you don't mind, why don't you come into my room to rest for a while? I can boil some hot water for you to wash up and lend you some dry clothes?"
Feng Dingchu ignored her.
Chu Qianli, however, rushed forward, grabbed his arm, and managed to pull him back.
"Then we'll trouble you, Granny Sun."
"No need..."
Feng Dingchu still wanted to refuse.
Chu Qianli couldn't help it and sneezed again.
She rubbed her nose and said hoarsely, "You're not cold, but I am. If you don't change your clothes, I can only stay with you... I'm really... so cold, Achoo—"
...
Granny Sun boiled hot water for them, and Chu Qianli managed to find two sets of clothes for them to change into.
However, this time, Chu Qianli might have truly caught a chill.
After changing clothes, she curled up on Granny Sun's bed. Even under the covers, she still felt a shiver running through her body.
Could she be getting sick?