Li Hongmei's originally fair and smooth left leg now had a sizable gash, which was constantly oozing fresh blood.
The rate at which blood was flowing was truly terrifying.
It didn't matter that Li Hongmei refused to let him call for an ambulance.
Even if they called for an ambulance now, it would probably be too late.
Before the ambulance could arrive, Li Hongmei would definitely die from excessive blood loss.
"Oh my, how did it become so serious?"
Upon seeing the wound, the elder sister-in-law cried out with a sob in her voice.
She simply couldn't bear to watch Li Hongmei in such agonizing pain and covered her eyes, turning her head to the side.
Zhang Xiaowei was frantic, staring at the bleeding wound, momentarily lost in shock.
Suddenly, just when he didn't know what to do,
a flash of white light appeared before his eyes, and the torn wound became clear all at once.
The blood vessels beneath the skin were also distinctly visible.
What's this?
Before he could react, several spots on Li Hongmei's leg began glowing with white light.
Zhang Xiaowei slapped his forehead angrily, cursing himself for his uselessness.
Why does something like this always happen to me at the worst possible time! Regardless, I have to stop the bleeding for Sister Hongmei first.
Once he snapped back to reality, Zhang Xiaowei ripped off the jeans on Li Hongmei's left leg completely.
Then he quickly pulled a pair of shoes from under the bed, yanking out the laces and tightly tying them around Li Hongmei's thigh.
Sure enough, the flow of blood slowed.
Next, he paused briefly as he observed the glowing white spot near the base of Li Hongmei's left leg.
"Sister Hongmei, I'm going to press a point on your leg to stop the bleeding. Don't misunderstand," he said.
The point to stop the bleeding was too hidden, and Zhang Xiaowei was afraid that if he started pressing directly without explanation, it might cause a misunderstanding with Li Hongmei, so he warned her in advance.
However, Li Hongmei's complexion was pale, her lips cracked.
She was clearly extremely weak from the excessive blood loss, seemingly without the strength to speak, and could only nod slightly.
Zhang Xiaowei didn't dare to hesitate anymore and immediately pressed hard on that acupoint.
As the point was pressed, it didn't take long for the wound to completely stop bleeding.
Phew!
He had finally stopped the bleeding.
Zhang Xiaowei let out a long sigh of relief.
Then, he hurried to his feet and said to the elder sister-in-law, "Elder sister-in-law, wasn't there a bit of that bottle of Erguotou left from last night? Also, I need some needles and thread."
Hearing this, the elderly woman quickly nodded in agreement and shakily made her way outside.
Following the elder sister-in-law, he first fetched needles and thread.
The Erguotou left at the bottom of the bottle was in the kitchen, so Zhang Xiaowei went with the flow and boiled a pot of water, throwing in the needle and thread for sterilization.
After completing all this, he went back to Li Hongmei's room.
At this moment, Li Hongmei had already passed out.
This actually relieved Zhang Xiaowei, for cleaning and stitching up the wound would be excruciatingly painful, and now she wouldn't be able to feel it.
After half an hour of effort, Zhang Xiaowei finally managed to stitch up the wound for Li Hongmei.
With no bandages at home, he could only take a white T-shirt, cut it with scissors, and wrapped it around Li Hongmei's leg.
Looking at her pair of jeans, Zhang Xiaowei hesitated but opted to take it off for her.
Seeing the stark red again, Zhang Xiaowei felt a hint of bitterness in his heart.
If it weren't for Zhao Hu's bastardly act causing such a mess, tonight he would have been victorious at Yumen Pass.
There was plenty of blood soak through the bedding, but it had to suffice.
Once more appreciating the beauty sleeping before him, Zhang Xiaowei then covered Li Hongmei with a quilt.
"Elder sister-in-law, you should go rest early," he said.
"Ah," the elder sister-in-law sighed.
She looked at the unconscious Li Hongmei and sighed deeply.
"Why does our Zhang family have so much hardship? When will God finally open his eyes and stop causing trouble for our family?" she lamented.
Hearing the old woman's lament, Zhang Xiaowei remembered the words Zhao Hu had said before.
"Elder sister-in-law, that bastard Zhao Hu said he was dismantling our Zhang family's house on behalf of all the villagers of Kaoshan Village. What's that all about?" he asked.
With another sigh, the elderly woman began to tell Zhang Xiaowei the story.
"Our Kaoshan Village is famously poor for miles around, and we thought we could get rich off the quarry. But instead of making money, a lot of people died."
"After the quarry boss ran off, Zhao Hu's dad somehow found a feng shui master. He looked around the village and said that the reason Kaoshan Village was so poor was entirely because our Zhang family had taken the village's feng shui node."
"Only by tearing down our Zhang family's house and building a Temple of the Horse King in its place could the village be blessed with great wealth. That's how this whole house-demolition mess started."
When Auntie had recounted the whole story, Zhang Xiaowei was utterly incensed.
"Isn't that nonsense? If our Zhang family really took the feng shui node, why haven't we gotten rich? Instead, we've suffered one catastrophe after another."
"Who's to say otherwise?"
Hearing Zhang Xiaowei's rebuttal, Auntie agreed and then added,
"But that feng shui master said our Zhang family is too unlucky to hold down a feng shui node. That's why we've suffered this backlash. Not only has our family constantly faced disasters, but we've also brought misfortune to the whole village. In short, given the current situation, everyone in the village now believes it."
Zhang Xiaowei didn't believe such twisted logic, and he angrily shouted, "I refuse to believe there's no law in this world. Tomorrow, I'm going to report this and get Zhao Hu and that damned feng shui master arrested."
At these words, the old lady suddenly became anxious.
"Xiaowei, you absolutely mustn't do that. Our Zhang family is already seen as outsiders here. We've never been well-received by the villagers. If you confront the entire village, they'll surely drive our family away!"
Zhang Xiaowei was so angry he could break his teeth, but Auntie's words weren't without reason.
Even though it's a society governed by laws, getting along with others also requires understanding human relationships and social norms.
If they really estranged themselves from all the villagers, the Zhang family wouldn't be able to continue living in Kaoshan Village.
"Auntie, let's not talk about this now. You should get some rest. First thing in the morning, I'll go to town and buy some medicine and tonics for Hongmei."
After persuading her, Zhang Xiaowei sent Auntie back to her room and then went to rest in another empty room.
The next morning, Li Hongmei was still deep in sleep.
Zhang Xiaowei greeted Auntie and prepared to head to town.
Without any transport at home, Zhang Xiaowei could only rely on his two legs.
Just as he reached the entrance of the village, he saw a young woman holding a swaddled baby, anxiously looking out of the village.
"Tan Xiaoli!"
Seeing the woman from a distance, Zhang Xiaowei felt she looked familiar.
Upon approaching, he recognized her as Tan Xiaoli, his high school classmate from the same village and greeted her immediately.
"Zhang Xiaowei, when did you come back?"
Tan Xiaoli was also surprised, considering they hadn't seen each other in five years.
"I just came back yesterday. What are you up to?"
After replying, Zhang Xiaowei saw her anxious expression and curiously asked.
"I need to buy baby formula in town. It's already eight o'clock, and the village bus hasn't arrived yet."
"You still need to buy formula?"
Zhang Xiaowei was taken aback and teased her before instinctively looking at Tan Xiaoli's chest.
In high school, Tan Xiaoli had already developed quite well, and the boys privately nicknamed her 'big milk cow.'
Looking at her now, she seemed even more robust than in high school, not the kind to be unable to feed her child.
When Tan Xiaoli heard Zhang Xiaowei's remark, her face turned red instantly.
After a pause, she said shyly, "Don't laugh at me, but it's odd. It feels extremely swollen, but the baby just can't get any milk."
"It might be blocked. Just massage the lumps away, and then have your husband suck them out," Zhang Xiaowei immediately diagnosed her problem and suggested a solution.
"Really?"
Tan Xiaoli was astonished and asked doubtfully.
"Why would I lie to you? I've studied medicine," Zhang Xiaowei said proudly, straightening his back and patting his chest.
Once she received a clear response, Tan Xiaoli still looked troubled.
"My husband has pneumoconiosis and has trouble even breathing, so I'm afraid..."
"It doesn't have to be your husband. Any other family member will do. If that's not an option, getting help from a female neighbor works too."
Hearing this, Tan Xiaoli looked hopeful again.
"Xiaowei, thank you so much. Then I'll just..."
Tan Xiaoli was thanking Zhang Xiaowei and preparing to head home when suddenly, the baby in her arms burst into loud cries.
"Wah... Wah..."
"The baby hasn't had milk since yesterday evening and is starving. What am I going to do!"
As a mother, Tan Xiaoli, seeing her child's hungry cries, was so anxious that she started to cry.
Suddenly, she looked up at Zhang Xiaowei with a determined expression.
"Xiaowei, could you... help me by sucking a little?"