"Captain, Captain, something's happened, something's happened." Ergou suddenly rushed into the courtyard from outside, shouting that something had happened as soon as he entered.
Upon hearing that something had happened, Captain Xu dashed out of the house in one stride: "Ergou, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Captain, something happened to Niu Jianwen. Huff, huff, huff~" Ergou was out of breath from running.
"What happened to Niu Jianwen? Where are they?" Captain Xu was extremely anxious when he saw only Ergou return and heard that Niu Jianwen had met with an accident.
"Captain, Niu Jianwen rolled down the hillside and broke his leg, and his arm was also injured." Ergou finally caught his breath after a moment.
"Where is Niu Jianwen now?"
"We've already sent him to Li Family Village. I came back to report to you after sending him down."
"Alright, you rest first, I'll go down and take a look." Captain Xu began walking down the mountain after hearing this.
"Chao Shu, Bingsheng, you two stay here. Captain Xu and I will go down." Ye Hao said to Sun Chaoshu and Lu Bingsheng when he saw Captain Xu about to descend the mountain.
"Brother Hao, we'll go too." The two said in unison.
"No, you two stay here. Your stamina can't keep up with ours." After speaking, Ye Hao chased after Captain Xu.
Captain Xu didn't say anything when he saw Ye Hao catching up. Through their contact over the past two days, Captain Xu knew that Ye Hao had excellent stamina and could keep up with his pace.
The two ran down at full speed, arriving at Li Family Village in an hour.
Upon reaching Captain Li's doorstep, they saw Huang Su Su standing outside. "Ye Hao, why did you come down?"
"I heard Niu Jianwen was injured, so I came down to see how he was."
"Alright, you two go in. I'm a bit afraid of blood, so I don't dare go in."
Captain Xu led the way into Captain Li's house.
Inside, a circle of people had gathered: Tang Zilan, Zuo Lei, and Wang Rong were all there, and Niu Jianwu stood by the kang with a sad expression. Some villagers were also watching.
Niu Jianwen lay on the kang, while a man in his sixties, who looked like a doctor, was setting Niu Jianwen's leg bone.
"Captain Li, how is Niu Jianwen? Is it serious? Should we send him to the township clinic?" Captain Xu asked as soon as he entered the room.
"Dr. Zhu has already examined him. The injury on his arm is a superficial wound and has been treated. His left leg is fractured, and Dr. Zhu has already set the bone. Now we just need to fix it in place."
"Are there any other injuries?"
"Captain Xu, this old man has already examined him. There's nothing else wrong, it's just this leg. He probably won't be able to get out of bed and walk for half a year." Dr. Zhu had also finished setting Niu Jianwen's leg. At this time, there was no plaster, so they used bamboo or wooden splints for fixation. Niu Jianwen's leg was fixed with wooden splints.
"Alright, during this time, give him more nutritional supplements and make sure he doesn't try to get out of bed and walk. Don't exert force before it's healed, or a secondary dislocation will be difficult to recover from. I'll prescribe a few more doses of medicine; you can brew them for him, and he'll recover faster."
"Alright, thank you, Dr. Zhu." Captain Li and Captain Xu were both very grateful to Dr. Zhu. If Niu Jianwen had died there, they would both have been responsible.
"Alright, you all can disperse. These Comrades who came to the countryside, stay here." Captain Li watched Dr. Zhu leave and then sent all the other curious villagers away.
"As you've seen, Niu Jianwen is in no condition to work. From now on, Niu Jianwu, you will be responsible for taking care of your brother. You can help with some work in the village when you have time, no need to go up the mountain.
Soon, carry your brother to where you used to live. The rest of you, please also help look after them. You saw what happened today; the mountain is very dangerous. Niu Jianwen was lucky; there's nothing serious, but if his luck had been bad, he might have lost his life. I hope you can remember this lesson and be careful in everything you do from now on."
"Captain Li, we've caused you trouble. This happened on the second day after they arrived on our side, we're really sorry."
"It's fine, it's not your fault. It's just this child's bad luck. Anyway, it's already good that he didn't lose his life. Alright, it's already evening, and you had to run down the mountain again. Stay in the village tonight, and go up the mountain tomorrow."
"No need, we'll go up soon. We still have to patrol the mountain tomorrow."
"Alright, then be careful. When walking on mountain roads at night, you must pay attention to safety."
"Alright, you can carry Comrade Niu Jianwen back now."
Niu Jianwu heard this and went to hug his older brother, preparing to carry him back directly.
"Are you a fool? Two people should carry him." Captain Li was dumbfounded and amused when he saw Niu Jianwu trying to carry him in a princess carry.
Ye Hao saw that in this room, it was either women or weaklings like Wang Rong, so he stepped forward and helped Niu Jianwu carry Niu Jianwen back to their lodging.
"You all help Niu Jianwen and Niu Jianwu more. Niu Jianwu isn't very bright, and Niu Jianwen is injured. Since you all came from the capital together, look after them. I'll go up the mountain first then." Ye Hao finished speaking to the others and then went up the mountain with Captain Xu.
"Be careful on the way."
Ye Hao, Captain Xu, and Niu Dazhu went up the mountain together. By this time, it was already dark. Captain Xu took a flashlight from Captain Li's house, and the three of them walked up the mountain using the faint light of the flashlight.
"Da Zhu, how exactly was Niu Jianwen injured today? I forgot to ask earlier."
"Captain, at noon today, we were eating when Niu Jianwen said he needed to use the restroom and insisted on going far away. Afterwards, we only heard a scream, and when we went over, he was already rolling down the mountain. Later, when Niu Jianwen woke up, we found out that when he was using the restroom, a spider dangled down from a tree, startling him. He ran wildly to the side in a panic, then missed his footing and rolled down." Niu Dazhu recounted the entire incident.
"This Niu Jianwen is too timid. Before, when he went up the mountain, a snake scared him so much he sat on the ground and didn't dare to move. Today, a spider scared him into rolling down the mountain."
Ye Hao was speechless upon hearing this. It really is true that whatever you fear most, that's what happens. Poor Niu Jianwen.
"Xiao Ye, you saw what happened with Niu Jianwen today, right? From now on, you must be extra careful in the mountains. There are all sorts of snakes, insects, rodents, and many poisonous animals here. Go back and tell your two brothers about this too." Captain Xu said to Ye Hao.
Since brothers Niu Jianwen and Niu Jianwu have gone down the mountain, we will act together from now on. There's no need to split into teams. We'll split into teams again once you are all familiar with life in the mountains.
Go back and get a good rest today. You walked so far today, and then ran back and forth again.