Qi Wen chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes. I'm aware of this. I've heard that before the fall of the State of Chu, the king was a devout Buddhist. He would chant scriptures and worship Buddha every day, and he almost even moved the capital to Luozhou!"
Ye Wanmian then pointed at the man's legs. "Look. The inner fabric of his shoes and trouser legs is severely worn out. It's obvious that he walks a lot. Considering his homeless situation, I think he must have wandered here all the way. In that case, let him stay in our clinic for a while. We can take him in and at the same time dispel others' suspicions."
Qi Wen gave her a thumbs - up. "Mrs. Jiang, you're amazing!"
"Alright, stop flattering me. Help me take off his clothes first. I'm going to start treating him. His cold is severe and sudden. The situation is a bit dangerous. Maybe he got caught in the rain a few days ago. I need to apply acupuncture as soon as possible."
Qi Wen immediately agreed. Holding his breath against the man's stench, he pulled off the man's clothes.
When the collar was torn open, it revealed the man's emaciated body, almost skin and bones. But what was most eye - catching were the criss - cross wounds on his body and a red mole on his right chest.
Ye Wanmian was taken aback and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the mole.
She knew she had a red mole on her collarbone, which had been there since birth. She just didn't expect that a man would also have such a red mole.
But then again, it wasn't that strange. Some people even had birthmarks with strange shapes.
After taking off the man's clothes, Ye Wanmian sent Qi Wen to boil the medicine for typhoid fever. She took out the silver needles and, referring to the wooden acupuncture point model made by Doctor Wang in the clinic, started to apply needles to the man's body.
She applied the acupuncture intently, and from time to time, she moved the moxibustion around the man's acupuncture points. Soon, a layer of sweat appeared on the man's body.
Maybe because of the treatment, the man's breathing became heavy. Although his eyes were still tightly closed, his eyeballs were moving constantly, indicating that he had regained some consciousness. He started to mutter in his delirium.
"Ying Niang... Ying Niang... Don't leave me..."
"Ying Niang, I was wrong. I shouldn't have... shouldn't have left you alone... Ying Niang, come back to me, okay?"
Ye Wanmian slowly raised her eyes and looked at the man.
Although the man's hair was in a mess and he had a thick beard around his face, looking a bit old, judging from his nose and eyebrows, he must have been quite good - looking when he was young.
But at this moment, his brows were tightly knitted, as if he was suffering great pain, and his muttering was filled with deep regret.
It seemed that this was a heart - broken man who was trapped by love and had been wandering the world.
Maybe because she knew that Jiang Zhiqing had been betrayed when she was young and had returned to Dongli Town pregnant, suffering from people's gossip, Ye Wanmian didn't have a good impression of heartless men in the world.
Although she continued her action, she suddenly turned the needle in her hand and inserted it deeper.
The sudden sharp pain made the man shiver all over. He opened his eyes drowsily and let out a long sigh.
Maybe because he had been sick for several days, although he opened his eyes, his mind was still unclear. He turned his confused eyes and looked at Ye Wanmian, then he froze there.
He stared blankly at Ye Wanmian, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Ye Wanmian got up to change the moxa stick in her hand. Suddenly, the man went crazy. He grabbed Ye Wanmian's wrist and shouted,
"Ying Niang, Ying Niang, don't leave me. Don't go!"
Ye Wanmian was annoyed. She shook the man off. "Let go. You've mistaken me for someone else!"
The man was sick and was easily pushed away by her. He fell back onto the bed, let out a muffled groan, and then closed his eyes and fainted again.
Just then, Qi Wen came in with the medicine in his hand. Seeing this, he was so scared that he quickly put down the medicine and supported Ye Wanmian. "Mrs. Jiang, are you okay?"
Ye Wanmian shook her head. "I'm fine."
"What was he trying to do to you just now?" Qi Wen came late and only saw Ye Wanmian push the man away.
Ye Wanmian shook her head. "It's nothing. He's delirious from the illness and mistook me for someone else. I've finished the acupuncture. Next, you feed him the medicine and dress him properly. I'll go to the back to check on Gou Dan."
Qi Wen nodded. After watching Ye Wanmian leave, he picked up the medicine bowl to feed the man. He stuffed the spoon into the man's mouth forcefully and said angrily, "Humph, if it weren't for Gou Dan, why would Mrs. Jiang suffer this? When you wake up, you must remember Mrs. Jiang's great kindness!"
Ye Wanmian rubbed her wrist. The man had just grabbed the place that Xiao Jingcheng had crazily pinched. It was already bruised, and although the man didn't use much strength, it still hurt her, which was why she had reacted so strongly.
Shaking her head, she washed her hands, walked through the corridor, and came to the backyard.
Da Huang was guarding outside Xiao Jingcheng's door. Hearing her footsteps, it opened its eyes from a light doze and ran towards Ye Wanmian enthusiastically.
Ye Wanmian rubbed Da Huang's head and gave it a candy. Then she pushed open the closed door and walked in.
The room was very quiet. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't even notice that there was a person lying in the room.
The structure of the room was very simple. After entering the door, if you walked around the tables and chairs in the middle, you could see the bed right behind. It was all in plain sight.
Xiao Jingcheng was in the same position as when Ye Wanmian left in the morning. He neither turned over nor moved. He seemed as if he were dead.
But when she got closer, she could see his rising and falling chest, which proved that he was still alive.
Because of what happened in the morning, Ye Wanmian didn't dare to get too close. She walked to the bedside, quickly reached out to feel his body temperature, and then felt his pulse. After confirming that his vital signs were stable, she immediately stepped back.
She held her breath and watched for a while. The man on the bed was very quiet. Not even a finger moved. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
However, it wasn't a good thing to let him stay unconscious all the time. She had to find a way to wake him up as soon as possible.
The thought that she had suppressed came up again.
Leaving the room, she returned to the front of the clinic. She sat down as if nothing had happened and flipped through the medical books in her hand. From time to time, she went into the consulting room to check on the condition of the middle - aged man they had picked up on the way.
The man was much sicker than Xiao Jingcheng. When the sun set, his body temperature, which had just dropped a little, rose again. Ye Wanmian applied acupuncture and moxibustion to him again and fed him the typhoid medicine.
It was already night when the clinic was about to close. Neither the Chen family nor Liuxianglou sent anyone. Ye Wanmian knew that she had successfully concealed today's events.