The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 203: Chapter 203: A Pie or a Trap?

Xin Ziqi had made it clear he couldn’t help, so Ji Huan couldn’t force him.

But aside from Yide Hall, there were no other clinics in town that specialized in this area.

Ji Huan asked Uncle Niu, who drove his cart to Yeyang every day, to ask around for her.

When Uncle Niu returned, he told her that while such clinics existed, they all refused the moment they heard the patient was a beggar.

"I can only help you this much for now. There’s not much else I can do..."

Ji Huan sighed, balling up the used gauze.

For the past few days, she had been changing the homeless man’s dressings on schedule and instructing him on how to exercise his stiff joints.

Even though she couldn’t find anyone to perform the surgery yet, there was no harm in doing the preparatory work ahead of time.

’You never knew about other people, but what if Xin Ziqi suddenly has a change of heart?’

The look of inner conflict on his face as he left that day hadn’t escaped Ji Huan’s discerning eye.

Besides, his reason for refusing was only his father’s final wish; he hadn’t said a single word about the injury being untreatable.

Still, just waiting around like this wasn’t a solution.

The tendons in his wrist could wait, but his Achilles tendon could not.

Because the calf muscle is highly elastic, if left untreated, it would start to retract upward. Over time, the injury would become a chronic rupture. When it came time for surgery, it would be difficult to pull the severed ends of the tendon back together. The suture would be less effective and might even be impossible. At that point, a more complicated reconstructive procedure would be needed, which would be even more trouble.

"Gently now, smaller movements..."

Ji Huan squatted at the entrance of the low shed, her mind racing as she instructed the homeless man.

All the while, her gaze remained fixed on his face—a face so ugly it could scare a crying child silent.

’See? The man isn’t a fool. At first, he was completely listless, but after her nagging for days on end, isn’t he now willing to do as she says?’

He still hadn’t said a single word to her or made eye contact, and he moved like a robot.

But it was understandable.

After such a catastrophe, a complete change in personality was normal. What was a little silence in comparison?

Moreover, she and Xin Ziqi hadn’t tried to hide their conversation from the homeless man that day. He must have been aware that the chances of surgery were slim.

Yet even so, he was still willing to cooperate with her... which at least showed he had the will to live.

’But then again,’ she thought, ’if there was even a sliver of a chance to stand up again, who would really be content to crawl on the ground for the rest of their life?’

Ji Huan had already gotten involved. To just wash her hands of it now would be a bit inhuman.

But how could she help?

She propped her chin on her hand, her brow furrowed with worry. "We can’t just wait around passively. We have to take the initiative..."

Just as Ji Huan was trying to figure out how to take the initiative, Hu Ximei came crying to her door.

"What’s wrong?"

Ji Huan reached out to wipe her tears, noticing her eyes were swollen like little peaches.

"Sister Wan, I... I..." Hu Ximei was sobbing so hard she couldn’t get her words out.

Ji Huan didn’t press her. She led her into the main hall to sit down and comforted her for a good while before Hu Ximei finally calmed down.

The moment she started speaking, her tears began to fall again.

"Sister Wan, I... I don’t want to get married... Can you please talk to my mom and my second brother? Tell them not to marry me off..."

Ji Huan almost thought she had misheard.

"What marriage? Who’s getting married? You?"

Before Hu Ximei could answer, she burst out laughing.

"How is that possible? They must be teasing you!"

"No, Sister Wan." Hu Ximei shook her head frantically. "They’re not teasing me. They’re really going to arrange a marriage for me... SOB... I don’t want to... I want to stay at home..."

Ji Huan still didn’t believe it. She even found it a little funny.

She really couldn’t be blamed.

Some of the older women in the village often made jokes like this.

For example, if they saw a pretty girl, they’d say they would introduce her to a husband soon. If a girl was lazy and didn’t like to work, they’d say she would definitely never get married.

Hu Dacheng, for instance, was often berated by his own mother for not being able to find a wife.

This time, someone must have been teasing Ximei, and perhaps the joke went too far and frightened the girl.

"Stop crying. You’re so young. I haven’t even been betrothed yet."

’Although, I’m the type who’s considered unmarriageable...’

Seeing that Hu Ximei was still crying, Ji Huan felt helpless and asked, "Who told you this?"

"My... my mom..."

"How could your mother bear to marry you off so early? She says the same sort of thing to Dacheng all the time. She’s just trying to scare you..."

Seeing that Ji Huan wouldn’t believe her no matter what she said, Hu Ximei grew anxious. The more anxious she got, the more tongue-tied she became. All she could do was cover her face and sob, occasionally blurting out, "Sister Wan, please save me!"

Seeing her like this, Ji Huan realized she was genuinely frightened, and not just a little. Her own attitude gradually became serious.

She went into the inner room to wake Dabao from his nap, hoisted him onto her back, and took Hu Ximei by the hand to the Hu Family’s home.

She actually wanted to reassure Hu Ximei and, at the same time, have a talk with Widow Xie. Some jokes weren’t appropriate to make with children, especially since girls could be so sensitive.

But when they arrived at the Hu Family’s home and Ji Huan heard what Widow Xie had to say, she was completely stunned.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she was horrified.

It took her a long moment to find her voice.

"N-No... Aunt Xie, Ximei, she’s... how old is she?!"

Hu Ximei was only eleven this year.

Ji Huan’s entire worldview shattered. She never would have imagined, not in a million years, that this was actually true.

The Hu Family was actually arranging a marriage for Hu Ximei!

"Didn’t you just say a while ago that you wanted Ximei to marry later, to keep her by your side for a few more years so she wouldn’t suffer hardships at her in-laws’ home?"

It hadn’t been long at all. How could things change in the blink of an eye?

"I didn’t plan to agree at first, but... the other family is well-off. I heard the young man is a decent person, and he’s even the same age as Ximei."

Widow Xie pulled Ji Huan to a corner and lowered her voice. "It’s hard for a widow to marry off her daughter. It’s even harder to find a suitable match. I’m just afraid of holding Ximei back. An opportunity like this won’t come again."

Ji Huan absolutely could not agree.

There were plenty of families with both parents alive who still raised their daughters poorly.

’It’s a matter of family values and upbringing. What does being a widow have to do with it?’

But she didn’t want to correct Widow Xie on that point right now.

"If the family’s situation is so good, why are they in such a hurry to have him marry so young?"

Pies don’t fall from the sky, only traps do.

Ji Huan’s intuition told her something was fishy.

"There is a reason. They said their boy is afflicted by a baleful aura this year. They consulted a master who determined that he must marry early to resolve it... The date is very soon, so they’re in a hurry. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even consider a family like ours."

’Master, my foot! He’s clearly a charlatan!’

"Aunt Xie, have you forgotten what that fortune teller predicted for me? They’re just con artists who can deceive people to death without paying for it. You can’t believe a single word they say."

Widow Xie had never believed in that superstitious nonsense either.

"But that family believes it..."

"Maybe they’re in cahoots with that fortune teller! Maybe they just want to marry a girl from a good family to ward off disaster for their son?"

Having had her own experience with such a marriage, Ji Huan’s thoughts instinctively went in that direction.

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