Chapter 115 Is this Danzhou?

Chapter 115 Is this Danzhou?

"Thank you so much for today, please take this."

Jiang Yutang handed over the medicine and bowl, her tone sincere: "You just got caught in the rain, take some medicine to prevent getting sick."

Cheng Lanzhou looked up at her, took the pill and swallowed it with warm water, then handed the empty bowl back to her.

She took the bowl, her fingers tracing the rim, hesitated for a moment before asking, "How did you happen to be by the river?"

The cave was some distance from the river, and everyone was taking shelter from the rain inside the cave at this hour, yet he happened to appear there, which was quite a coincidence.

Cheng Lanzhou was poking at the fire with a branch when he heard the question. He sat on the ground and gently raised his eyelids.

This was the first time he had looked up at Jiang Yutang. The firelight flickered and reflected on his face, making his deep eyes shine brightly.

What Jiang Yutang was jealous of was that these eyes not only had long eyelashes, but also double eyelids.

Cheng Lanzhou threw the branch in his hand into the fire, saying in a calm tone, "I was on my way to fetch water and just happened to be passing by."

Jiang Yutang tilted her head to look at him, her doubts growing even stronger.

Why didn't you wait until the rain stopped during the day before going, since it was still raining?

But she wisely didn't ask any more questions and turned back to her family, though a strange sense of anticipation rose in her heart.

The atmosphere among the refugees in the cave was more somber than usual in the early morning.

Last night, the Jiang family was busy taking care of Xiaoxiao, who had a fever, by lighting a fire and going in and out of the cave until late at night, which inevitably disturbed the rest of the nearby refugees.

The journey was already arduous, and without a good night's sleep, many people looked tired and murmured complaints.

Upon hearing this, the gentle escort came to inquire about the situation. He learned that the child had suddenly developed a high fever, which caused the commotion. He couldn't help but sigh, "That's understandable."

He even specifically instructed the complaining migrants next to him: "It's not easy for anyone to be away from home, so let's be understanding of each other." Only then did the small disturbance subside.

Fortunately, things went as planned. Xiaoxiao's fever subsided by morning, but she was still a little weak and snuggled in Mu Shi's or Jiang Songzhi's arms, whimpering and acting spoiled.

"The fever will break and he'll be fine. Kids recover quickly." Jiang Yutang touched her nephew's face.

It had been raining all night, and the mud underfoot was sticky and wet. Every step I took, mud splattered onto my trouser legs, which was very annoying.

Fortunately, the midday sun shone down and dried the muddy road in no time.

"The rain was really heavy last night."

Jiang Huaiyu stretched and sighed, "Luckily we found that cave to take shelter from the rain, otherwise, if we had been out in the open all night, who knows how many people would have gotten sick."

“Yes.” Jiang Yutang also felt relieved, then laughed and joked, “Otherwise, the rain would have soaked our banknotes, which would have been terrible.”

"That's impossible!"

Jiang Huaiyu immediately became anxious and patted his chest to guarantee, "Even if I'm soaked to the bone, I absolutely won't let a single drop of rain touch the banknotes!"

This amused Jiang Yutang, who nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, Third Brother is the most reliable."

They chatted and laughed all the way. When the group stopped to set up camp in the evening, Jiang Yutang followed Yun and Mu to the river to wash the mud off his trousers.

She squatted by the river, immersing her trouser legs in the cool water, scrubbing the mud vigorously, when suddenly the image of her in the river last night flashed through her mind.

Cheng Lanzhou held her tightly; both of them were soaking wet and so close they could feel each other's body heat.

She froze, and the movements of her hands stopped.

If she hadn't been the one involved and knew that the two were arguing, an uninformed person seeing that scene would probably have thought they were taking a romantic bath together in the river.

The embarrassment and awkwardness that had been suppressed by tension and gratitude the day before suddenly erupted, rushing straight to my head like a rocket.

"Why--"

She couldn't help but gasp and buried her face in her knees, feeling her cheeks burning hot, as if they were about to burst into smoke.

"Tang'er, what's wrong?" Madam Yun noticed her unusual behavior and asked with concern.

Jiang Yutang looked up, revealing a flushed face, and quickly shook her head: "N-nothing."

"oops!"

Yun exclaimed in surprise and reached out to touch her forehead: "Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"

"Mom, I'm really fine, it's just from the sun!" Jiang Yutang hurriedly dodged away, pointing to the sun that had already set halfway down the sky and putting on her hat.

Not far away, Cheng Lanzhou walked over with dirty clothes. He squatted down a distance away from them, put the clothes in the water, but did not start washing them immediately.

Hearing Jiang Yutang's soft, coquettish tone as she spoke to Madam Yun, his hands, which were rubbing clothes, unconsciously clenched, his knuckles turning slightly white.

Cheng Lanzhou looked down at the water, where his reflection was mirrored, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

He suddenly let out a heavy sigh, raised his right hand to cover his face, trying to hide his loss of composure, but his slightly burning ears betrayed him.

While joking, Jiang Yutang caught a glimpse of Cheng Lanzhou out of the corner of her eye, and her heart inexplicably quickened. She quickly lowered her head again, pretending to concentrate on washing clothes.

The wind blowing by the river carried moisture, but it couldn't dispel the silent and subtle atmosphere between the two.

This pleasant feeling persisted until I lay down.

With the wind whistling in her ears, Jiang Yutang lay on the bamboo mat wrapped in a thick towel, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She turned over to face Jiang Sumin and called out, "Fourth Brother," but he didn't respond.

So she pouted and made a "sucking" sound.

On the other side, Jiang Sumin could no longer bear it and asked impatiently, "Speak your mind, don't disturb my sleep."

Jiang Yutang let out a mischievous laugh and asked, "Fourth Brother, how much longer until we reach Danzhou?"

Jiang Sumin was silent for a moment, then reached out and pulled the thick blanket around him, and said in a low voice, "At our current pace, we should be able to reach Danzhou in about three days."

"really?"

Jiang Yutang's eyes lit up immediately. She turned over happily and looked up at the night sky above her head. The stars hung sparsely on the black velvet-like sky. She muttered to herself, "What should I do? I'm so happy that I can't sleep."

After a long time, no reply was received from Jiang Sumin.

She pouted and glared at Jiang Sumin, who was now silent beside her, before turning her head away sullenly, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards the Cheng family's residence.

Cheng Lanzhou lay in front of Cheng Daier and Lin Shi, lying straight on the ground, facing upward with his eyes closed and his hands neatly placed at his sides, looking like he was sleeping very soundly.

Jiang Yutang raised her furrowed brows and couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "This person is too upright. Even when he sleeps, he's so upright. Is he preparing for the civil service exam?"

After she finished complaining, she obediently closed her eyes, and soon the rise and fall of her chest became steady and regular, indicating that she had fallen asleep.

At this moment, Cheng Lanzhou slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head and his gaze lingered on Jiang Yutang's sleeping profile for a moment before looking back at the night sky. A question kept popping into his mind.

What is the civil service exam?

After the storm that night, the journey went very smoothly. Just as Jiang Sumin had said, the group arrived in Danzhou safely at dusk on the third day.

Jiang Yutang excitedly ran ahead to look at the city, but after seeing it clearly, the smile on her lips gradually faded.

"This...is Danzhou?"