Chapter 24: Leaving a Root of Illness

“Where am I?”

Old Zhao woke up and asked in a daze when he saw the people around him.

“Old Zhao, have you forgotten? You fell into the water and almost drowned. We saved you!”

“That’s right, when we heard your cry and rushed over, you were about to sink into the water!”

“If it weren’t for the old doctor’s superb medical skills, you would have gone to see your old father by now!”

“How did you fall into the water? Were you pulled in by a fish?”

Amidst the villagers’ clamor, Old Zhao finally recalled some of the previous events.

Then he shuddered, “Right, the fish! Where’s my fishing rod?”

“Still thinking about your fishing rod? When we rescued you, you were clinging to your fishing rod. We found it too troublesome, so we threw it by the river,” a villager replied.

“Aiyo, how could you throw away my rod? Where did you throw it?” Old Zhao became anxious.

Now that villager was not happy, “What are you saying, Old Zhao? We kindly saved you, and you don’t even have a word of thanks, but you’re blaming us instead?”

“That’s right, if we had known, we wouldn’t have saved you. We would have let you drown!”

“Ungrateful! We went into the river to save you and even went to so much trouble to carry you to the old doctor’s place!”

The other villagers were also dissatisfied.

“This, this… wasn’t I just worried about the fishing rod? I spent a lot of effort to make it. Don’t mind me, thank you for saving me.”

Old Zhao realized he was in the wrong and quickly thanked them.

The villagers were also hard-mouthed but soft-hearted. Seeing Old Zhao thank them, their expressions softened.

“Alright, stop thinking about your broken rod. You should hurry up and tell us how you fell into the water. I remember you never used to go into the river, right?”

“I, I jumped in myself,” Old Zhao’s mouth moved a few times, but he finally said honestly.

“You jumped in yourself?!” a villager said in disbelief. “Don’t you know you can’t swim? How dare you jump into the river?”

“How would I know the water there was so deep? I thought it would only reach my thighs at most,” Old Zhao defended himself.

“Then why did you jump into the river?”

“That was, that was…” Old Zhao hesitated for a few moments before saying, “That was because I accidentally let a fish pull my fishing rod away. In the heat of the moment, I wanted to grab the fishing rod back, so I jumped into the water.”

Not far away, Lu Qing: “…”

It was just as he had thought.

When Wang Da’an was narrating just now, he had guessed that Old Zhao had fallen into the water to grab his fishing rod.

He had seen this kind of thing many times in his past life.

Even he himself had done this kind of thing before.

He just didn’t expect that Old Zhao, who couldn’t even swim, would be so reckless.

“You, you’re so foolish!”

The other villagers didn’t expect that Old Zhao had almost gotten himself killed for such a reason.

“What’s your broken fishing rod worth? You can just go to the mountain and cut a bamboo stalk to make another one. For this, you almost lost your life. Has your brain been kicked by a pig!”

A villager who had a good relationship with Old Zhao immediately started scolding him.

Old Zhao didn’t dare to speak.

He didn’t dare to say that when he jumped in, it wasn’t just because he was worried about the fishing rod, but more because it was rare for a big fish to take the hook, and one that could easily drag his fishing rod away. He couldn’t bear to let it go.

Yesterday, the two big fish that Lu Qing had caught had made him extremely envious and jealous.

Such a big fish could be eaten for many meals. It was rare for him to have a chance to catch a big fish, so how could he let it go?

However, this incident also confirmed to him that there were indeed big fish in that spot.

Next time, as long as he was careful, he would definitely be able to catch one!
The villagers didn’t know Old Zhao’s thoughts. Otherwise, they would have definitely given him another good scolding.

At this time, Old Zhao wanted to get up, but he found that his whole body was weak and he couldn’t exert any strength. His head was also a little dizzy, and he couldn’t command his body.

He was immediately shocked, “Old Doctor, what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move?”

Old Doctor Chen sighed, “You were soaked in the water for a long time, and the cold air entered your body. You also drank a lot of dirty river water, which injured your spleen and stomach. You even held your breath for a long time. Although I have expelled the dirty water from your body and woken you up, your body has already been damaged.”

“Then what should I do, Old Doctor? You have to save me, save me!”

When Old Zhao heard this, his heart and guts were terrified, and he quickly begged.

The thought of catching a big fish just now had long been thrown to who knows where.

“Don’t be anxious. I’m a doctor, so I will naturally treat you,” the old doctor comforted him. “It’s just that you’re old, and your body won’t recover so easily. You need to rest and recuperate for a period of time.”

“Then will I be able to walk again in the future?” Old Zhao asked hopefully.

“Walking will naturally not be a problem. As for how much you can recover, it depends on how you recuperate,” the old doctor said.

“It’s good that I can still walk.” Old Zhao’s heart relaxed a little.

He was really afraid that he would be paralyzed from now on.

“Where’s my dad? Where’s my dad?”

Just as Old Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, a noisy sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard, and then a group of people rushed into the courtyard.

At the head were two young men, a woman, and an old woman.

Behind them were other villagers who had heard the news and rushed over.

“Dad!”

The older young man saw the lying Old Zhao and quickly ran over.

“I heard Da Shan shout that you fell into the water and were being sent to the old doctor’s place. What exactly happened?”

It turned out that when Wang Da’an and the others were sending Old Zhao over, they had also called someone to go to Old Zhao’s house to inform them.

“I, I’m fine now.”

Old Zhao looked at his son and said with some guilt.

“What do you mean, fine?” A villager on the side directly exposed him, “Ah Ming, your father went fishing alone, jumped into the river himself, and almost died…”

Then he told the whole story.

As soon as he finished speaking, the old woman, who was Old Zhao’s wife, immediately started crying and scolding.

“You damn man, I told you not to go fishing for that fish, but you insisted on going. You can’t even swim, what were you doing by the river? You even jumped into the river yourself. Do you want to die and have me follow you?!”

Old Zhao’s son, Zhao Ming, also had an ugly expression on his face.

But as a son, he couldn’t scold his father.

He could only persuade, “Dad, why don’t we stop fishing in the future? The family isn’t short of that fish meat to eat, why bother with that?”

The second son also said, “That’s right, Dad. In the future, if you want to eat anything, just tell us. No matter how much effort it takes, I will get it for you. Don’t do such dangerous things anymore.”

“I won’t go, I won’t go anymore.”

Old Zhao’s face turned red with shame from being told off by his wife and sons, and he had no choice but to agree.

“Don’t worry, Ah Ming, even if your dad wants to go fishing again, he won’t be able to,” a villager said at this time. “The old doctor said that your dad was soaked in the water for a long time this time and has left a root of illness. If he doesn’t rest and recuperate well during this period, I’m afraid it will be difficult for him to even walk in the future.”

“What?!”

Old Zhao’s family was immediately shocked.

(End of this chapter)