Chapter 3: 3. Chapter 3: The Poisonous Sand Demonstration

Chapter 3: Poisonous Sarsaparilla

After the tractor drove away, Jiang Xia saw the female lead still looking in their direction, so she asked, "Do you know each other?"

Just now, she had heard the female lead call him "Brother Zhou," but she remembered the book stating that the male and female leads first met when the male lead rescued the female lead after she was swept into the sea by waves.

Zhou Chenglei’s right ear had been injured while on a mission, leaving him with almost zero hearing in that ear. The tractor engine was loud, and although he vaguely heard Jiang Xia speak, he didn't catch it clearly. He turned his head and asked loudly, "What did you say?"

Jiang Xia replied loudly, "Do you know that woman from just now?"

Zhou Chenglei replied, "No."

"Oh." Jiang Xia responded and didn't say anything else.

Zhou Chenglei was a man of few words; since she wasn't talking, he certainly wouldn't initiate conversation. He just focused on the road, trying his best to avoid potholes.

There were no paved roads from the village to the town, and the dirt road was full of potholes of various sizes, making it bumpy and uneven.

The tractor bumped and jolted all the way to the town’s health center.

Jiang Xia felt like she was being shaken to pieces and wanted to vomit.

And this had only been about ten minutes!

Zhou Chenglei parked the tractor and intended to help her down, but seeing her face pale and her lips colorless, he feared she might faint. He scooped her up horizontally and walked quickly into the health center.

The health center was a very simple two-story building.

It was near closing time, so there was no one around.

The old doctor on duty in the emergency room saw Zhou Chenglei rushing in with someone in his arms and assumed it was a serious illness. He hurriedly stood up and signaled the nurse to push over a hospital bed.

After a round of examinations, the result was that the patient only had a fever and motion sickness!

37.1°C!

There was practically no difference between that and not having a fever at all!

The old doctor’s face darkened. He prescribed a packet of fever-reducing powder, told them to go home and drink plenty of water, and shooed them away.

The two walked out, both blushing.

Jiang Xia didn't know why her fever had broken so quickly after waking up, but she felt much better now.

The old doctor put the thermometer back into the brown bottle of disinfectant and couldn't help but grumble, "Acting all mysterious, telling me the person was delirious with fever, asking if I needed to do a check-up to see if her brain was fried. Is that the mental state of someone with a fried brain? I think *he* is the one with the fried brain! Getting this nervous over 37.1°C!"

He had really wanted to take his stethoscope and smack that man on the head to see if there was water sloshing around inside!

The nurse on duty was a young woman currently in the middle of marriage arrangements with her fiancé, right in the honeymoon phase. She understood perfectly and laughed, "Dr. Xu, you don't understand. They are clearly newlyweds. That man obviously dotes on his wife. Didn't you see how worried he looked at her? His mind must be completely filled with his wife."

Her fiancé looked at her the same way when she was sick!

The old doctor snorted, "The brain is meant to hold brain matter. If you fill your brain with a wife instead of brain matter, doesn't that make you a 'love-brain'? That’s a mental illness, and illnesses need to be treated!"

The old doctor didn't know he had accidentally coined a term that would become popular in the future.

His conversation with the nurse drifted through the air and into the ears of Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei.

Zhou Chenglei wished both his ears were deaf.

He supported Jiang Xia and unconsciously quickened his pace.

Zhou Chenglei was nearly 1.9 meters tall, while Jiang Xia felt she was at most 1.65 meters. One step of his long legs was equal to two or three of hers, and her body was still weak from the fever!

Jiang Xia tugged lightly on his shirt corner: "Zhou Chenglei, slow down, I can't keep up."

Zhou Chenglei paused and looked down at her: her face had turned pale again!

Could it be that they had encountered a quack doctor?

He scooped Jiang Xia up horizontally again, looked back at the emergency room, and wondered if he should have that doctor do a more thorough check-up.

Seeing Zhou Chenglei pick her up again, the old doctor rolled his eyes and used the newspaper on his desk to cover his face.

Zhou Chenglei: "..."

Jiang Xia only wanted him to walk slower; she hadn't expected him to pick her up again.

However, since he had already done it, she naturally wouldn't say anything else, lest it make things even more awkward for both of them.

She really was too weak to walk.

The man’s arms were strong and his gait steady, but a bridal carry was hardly a comfortable position. His arms dug into her back, and she was afraid to lean too close, so keeping her neck tilted back was exhausting.

Jiang Xia couldn't take it anymore and simply reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. It was finally a bit more comfortable.

He is a soldier, she is a civilian, and he is serving the people, Jiang Xia consoled herself.

Zhou Chenglei’s body stiffened, making him even more convinced that the doctor earlier was a quack.

She had previously treated him like a venomous snake, but now she was actively hugging him—it was like she had become a completely different person.

If that wasn't a fried brain, what was?

"We'll go to the city hospital to take a look, get an X-ray, and do a check-up." Fortunately, he had come by tractor, which had headlights, so he wasn't afraid of driving at night.

Jiang Xia: "..."

He wasn't afraid of losing face, but she was!

"My fever is already gone, and I feel much better. You were just walking too fast, and I'm still a bit weak from the fever, so I couldn't keep up. There's no need to see another doctor." After saying this, Jiang Xia simply closed her eyes, found a more comfortable position, and pretended to sleep.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at the woman feigning sleep in his arms. The breath from her nose puffed against his neck, and indeed, the scorching heat was gone; it seemed the fever had broken.

He had checked her breath earlier, and it had been burning hot.

Zhou Chenglei hesitated for a moment, but decided to listen to her and carried her outside.

The young nurse had stars in her eyes: "So sweet! That man is a soldier, right? He's so strong."

Her fiancé was also a soldier, and they could only communicate by letter; she wondered if he was that strong?

She would write a letter tonight after work and ask him.

The old doctor shook his head: "An eyesore! These young people today!"

Young nurse: "Dr. Xu, the winds of reform and opening up are blowing. They are a married couple; isn't it natural for a husband to take care of his sick wife? What eyesore? Don't be so old-fashioned!"

The old doctor’s mouth twitched: "I just hope these winds of reform don't get blown off course by you lot!"

*

The tractor "chug-chug-chugged" away from the hospital. When passing the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhou Chenglei saw it hadn't closed yet, so he stopped the tractor and walked inside.

Jiang Xia also wanted to see what was for sale in a supply and marketing cooperative from this era, but remembering she had no money on her, she gave up.

Zhou Chenglei soon returned with a glass bottle of Sarsaparilla, the cap already removed.

Jiang Xia thought he was thirsty, but she was thirsty too.

She had heard that the Sarsaparilla from this era tasted like medicated oil; she didn't know if it was true, but she had never drunk it before.

Jiang Xia watched as he placed the Sarsaparilla on the tractor bed and took out the packet of fever-reducing powder the doctor had prescribed.

Jiang Xia: "..."

Was he planning to use the Sarsaparilla as water for her to take the medicine?

Did he have to be this unreliable?

The result was even more outrageous than she thought!

Zhou Chenglei poured the entire packet of fever-reducing powder into the Sarsaparilla.

Jiang Xia was greatly shocked!

As the powder hit the Sarsaparilla, it immediately began to "fizz" and bubble.

Then, Zhou Chenglei handed the bottle of "fizzing" Sarsaparilla to her: "Take your medicine."

Jiang Xia looked at the bubbling Sarsaparilla: "..."

Was he trying to poison her so he could remarry the female lead?

(End of chapter)