Bone Setting

The sheer speed startled Old Master Lin, who quickly reached out to grip his young grandson's shoulders tightly.

Because they were moving so fast, the pelting rain made it impossible for Old Master Lin to even open his eyes.

Keeping his eyes shut, he patted Lin Xiao's shoulder and urged anxiously:

"Good boy, put me down quickly. How can your small frame possibly carry me?"

However, Lin Xiao acted as if he hadn't heard a thing and just kept charging forward.

Moreover, he ran exceptionally steadily, so much so that Old Master Lin didn't feel any bumps while riding on his back.

He had originally thought it would take quite a while to reach the Liu family's house at the eastern end of the village. Who would have expected that, not long after, Old Master Lin heard his young grandson say:

"Grandpa, we're here."

Then, he was set down on the ground.

Old Master Lin reached up to wipe his soaking wet face and forced open his rain-blurred eyes to take a look.

Hey, it was true.

They had arrived!

His grandson sure ran fast.

Thinking of his young grandson's usually punchable attitude, Old Master Lin suddenly felt a bit more reassured about him.

At the very least, it wouldn't be easy for him to get beaten up in the future; if anything happened, he could definitely run away.

After entering the Liu house and examining the condition of Liu Yunan's broken bone, Old Master Lin took out the medicinal liquor he had brought along before leaving home.

He poured a little of the medicinal liquor into his palm, then quickly rubbed his hands together to generate heat.

He then asked Lin Xiao to help Liu Yunan sit up.

Old Master Lin reached out and began to carefully feel the broken bone.

Fortunately, the dislocation wasn't severe. Old Master Lin gripped above and below the fracture with both hands, gauged the right amount of force, and suddenly gave a sharp thrust!

Lin Xiao, along with Widow Liu and Liu Shengsheng standing to the side, heard a soft crack.

Then they saw Old Master Lin pick up the medicinal liquor again, pour some into his palm, and begin rubbing it onto Liu Yunan's shoulder.

Lin Xiao asked:

"Grandpa, is it set?"

While applying the medicine, Old Master Lin checked the bone's alignment. Once he confirmed the position was indeed correct, he nodded and said:

"It's done. It takes a hundred days for injured muscles and bones to heal. Let him rest well recently. You all pay attention, don't let him put any strain on this shoulder."

The latter part was directed at Widow Liu.

Widow Liu nodded in agreement:

"Old Master Lin, thank you so much! Making you come all this way so late at night..."

Before Widow Liu could finish, Old Master Lin waved his hand and said:

"Alright, everyone in the village has their difficult times. I'm just lending a helping hand. It's getting late, so we'll head back first. You all be careful tonight." Saying that, Old Master Lin stood up, grabbed Lin Xiao by the collar, and led him out of the room.

Liu Shengsheng, who was standing to the side, followed behind and said:

"Thank you, Grandpa Lin!" Then she sneezed.

Old Master Lin said to her kindly:

"Little girl, have you caught a cold? Hurry back inside. Grandpa is leaving now."

Widow Liu quickly found Lin Xiao's umbrella and handed it to him, then saw the two off while continuing to express her thanks.

On the way back, the grandfather and grandson walked in the rain, one wearing a straw raincoat and the other holding an umbrella.

By now, the rain had started to lighten up.

Old Master Lin asked Lin Xiao:

"What exactly happened to their family? I saw that the Liu boy was beaten quite severely."

Lin Xiao recounted the events truthfully, only omitting the part where he ruthlessly slashed people's wrist and ankle tendons.

Anyway, the gossiping villagers would let his grandpa know tomorrow.

It was better for him not to mention it right now, right?

After listening to Lin Xiao's incomplete account, Old Master Lin let out a long sigh:

"What a sin... Remember to boil some ginger soup for yourself when we get home..." As if suddenly remembering something, he turned his head and scrutinized Lin Xiao:

"You just carried me on your back all the way here, how come your body is completely dry?"

Lin Xiao froze for a moment. Looking at the Lin family's old house just a short distance away, he weighed the options in his heart between explaining himself and making a run for it.

He decisively chose to run!

"Grandpa, I'm heading home first!"

Before his voice even faded, Old Master Lin had already lost sight of him.

Old Master Lin peered intently in the direction Lin Xiao had run.

In the rainy night, it was completely empty; not a single figure could be seen.

His little grandson... wasn't that speed a bit too fast?

The rain that had poured all night finally slowed to a drizzle as the morning light appeared.

It continued until it stopped completely, leaving behind only muddy ground and trees covered in dewdrops.

Today, Lin Xiao got out of bed on his own without needing Lin Dayou to wake him up.

He hurriedly boiled a pot of sweet potatoes on the stove, washed up, and stuffed two cooked sweet potatoes into his pockets before heading out.

Widow Liu, who had barely slept all night, came out of her house carrying a basin of water and poured it into the corner of the courtyard.

When she looked up, she saw Lin Xiao standing outside the door.

Lin Xiao, having just arrived, greeted her and asked:

"Auntie, was Baldy alright last night?"

Widow Liu, her eyes full of bloodshot veins, smiled at him kindly and said:

"Yes, he slept quite well last night." Then, with a worried look on her face, she added:

"It's just that Sheng'er probably caught a chill from the rain last night. When I went to check on her earlier, her forehead was burning hot, and she kept crying that she was cold. In a bit, I'll need to take her to town to see a doctor.

Brother Xiao, if you have time later, could I trouble you to look after Nan'er for me?"

Lin Xiao nodded and said:

"Don't worry, Auntie. I will definitely take good care of him. The most important thing is that you hurry and take Sister Sheng to see a doctor."

Receiving Lin Xiao's promise, Widow Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Forgoing any polite pleasantries, she hurried into the house to grab the family's meager savings, bundled the petite Liu Shengsheng in a small cotton quilt, and headed out the door.

In the village, only the village chief's family owned two oxen.

To make it convenient for villagers who had urgent matters in town, the village chief's family would send an ox cart to wait at the village entrance every morning.

Around seven o'clock, if someone needed to go to town, they would set off immediately. If no one was there, the village chief's youngest son would drive the ox cart back home.

However, on ordinary days, the villagers wouldn't easily leave the village unless they had a reason, so the ox cart was usually quite idle.

Even though riding the village chief's ox cart was free.

When Lin Xiao first found out about this, he thought that by doing this, the village chief's oxen must be exhausted every day.

But unexpectedly, such a situation basically never occurred.

On one hand, the villagers believed that going to town meant spending money. Why go to town if there was no reason?

On the other hand, if villagers had extra agricultural products to sell and took their goods on the ox cart, they would feel embarrassed not to pay. They had to give at least a copper coin or two. Otherwise, living in the same village, if others found out they had taken advantage of such a small thing, and taken advantage of the village chief at that, they would be drowned in spit and gossip.

Families who couldn't bear to part with a few copper coins would rather carry their goods and walk the whole way than easily take the ox cart.

Because of this, even though the village chief's family had already replaced the draft ox once up to now, it still didn't need to carry people very often.

Therefore, people in the village like Widow Liu who had urgent business in town could still smoothly catch the ox cart to get there.

When Lin Xiao learned of this situation, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

If such a thing had happened in the era of his past life, it would have been almost impossible.

A free ox cart was bound to be overloaded every single day.

This was true regardless of whether the passengers climbing aboard actually had a genuine need for a ride.