Chapter 33: The Eldest Aunt’s Crippled Hand

Jiang Shi dragged the venomous snake as she ran toward the village, screaming, “A snake! A snake! A ghost! A ghost! Help!”

She continued shouting all the way to her doorstep.

Inside the house, Chen Laoda heard his mother’s frantic cries and rushed outside. “Mother, what happened to you?”

Jiang Shi suddenly collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth and convulsing.

The black snake finally released its grip on her arm and slithered away.

“Mother! Mother!” Chen Laoda panicked, crouching down and shaking her violently. “Mother, what’s wrong?!”

Jiang Shi rolled her eyes back, her body twitching uncontrollably, unable to utter a single word.

Chen Tieniu finally caught up, panting and drenched in sweat. “Your mother… she was bitten by a snake! Quick, take her to the doctor!”

Hearing this, Chen Laoda wasted no time. He hoisted Jiang Shi onto his back and dashed toward Doctor Xu’s house in the village.

Doctor Xu was a rural physician who primarily made a living by hunting in the mountains and treating minor injuries. Many villagers sought him out for medical help.

Upon arriving, Chen Laoda hurriedly set his mother down. “Doctor, please take a look at my mother! She was bitten by a snake!”

Doctor Xu had been resting in his room when he heard the commotion. Rubbing his eyes, he stepped out and asked, “A snake? What kind of snake bit her?”

Chen Tieniu quickly responded, “A black snake with a triangular head!”

Hearing this, Doctor Xu’s eyes widened in alarm. “That’s serious! That snake is highly venomous!”

Without delay, he examined Jiang Shi’s wound and then rushed inside to grab a bottle of liquor. He poured it directly onto the bite.

Jiang Shi howled in pain.

Doctor Xu then quickly retrieved an antidote pill from his medicine cabinet and forced Jiang Shi to swallow it.

After finishing his treatment, Doctor Xu let out a long sigh and asked, “How did she end up getting bitten?”

Chen Laoda turned to look at Chen Tieniu. “Father, how did Mother get bitten?”

Chen Tieniu was still trapped in the horror of what had just happened, his eyes vacant. He remained silent for a long time.

Seeing this, Doctor Xu smacked the back of his head. “Old Chen!”

Chen Tieniu jolted back to reality. “It happened in the vegetable field.”

“The vegetable field? Ah, that explains it. There have always been venomous snakes in the mountains, though they’re not very common. You were just unlucky to run into one,” Doctor Xu said. He then handed a bottle of medicinal oil to Chen Tieniu and continued, “Take this back and apply it to her arm. Her life has been saved, but… I’m afraid her hand is useless now.”

“Her hand is useless? What do you mean?” Chen Laoda asked in shock.

Doctor Xu glanced at Jiang Shi’s bandaged arm and said, “I can neutralize the venom, but the snake severed the tendons in her hand. Once the tendons are cut, the hand naturally becomes useless.”

Hearing this, Chen Laoda immediately collapsed to the ground. “But this is her right hand! What will we do if it’s crippled?”

Doctor Xu comforted him, saying, “That snake was extremely venomous. If you hadn’t brought her here in time, she would have lost her life. When compared to losing her life, losing the use of a hand is not such a big deal.”

Chen Laoda thought for a moment and realized the truth in those words. His expression gradually improved.

Suddenly, Chen Tieniu spoke up. “That vegetable field… it doesn’t just have snakes. There are ghosts too! We clearly pulled out all the crops, but the next moment, they grew back!”

Doctor Xu and Chen Laoda were both startled and turned to look at him.

Chen Tieniu, his eyes vacant, continued muttering, “A ghost… it must be a ghost!”

Doctor Xu quickly took his pulse. After a moment, he furrowed his brows and said, “Your father must have been scared senseless by the venomous snake. I’ll prescribe some calming medicine for him. Take it home and brew it for him to drink.”

Chen Laoda hurriedly took the prescription. “Thank you, Doctor Xu.”

Doctor Xu then helped them carry Jiang Shi back home.

Meanwhile, up in the mountains—

Du Wanchun followed Granny Zhou through a dense forest. At the end of the woods, they stumbled upon a vast field of flowers.

The sunlight was warm that day, and the flowers were in full bloom, painting the field in a vibrant sea of red.

Excited, Du Wanchun ran into the flower field and turned back to Granny Zhou with a beaming smile. “Mother, come quickly! There are so many flowers here!”

Granny Zhou walked forward, plucked a flower, and examined it closely. Suddenly, her expression changed. “This… this is a rose?!”

Du Wanchun also picked one, took a sniff, and said, “It really is.”

Granny Zhou stared in disbelief at the vast expanse of roses before her. She frowned in confusion. “But how are these roses blooming already…?”

Roses were known for their strong fragrance, and their essential oil had a calming effect. Rose-scented extracts were highly sought after in the capital. However, large rose fields like this typically bloomed in early summer around May. It was still only early March—far too soon for them to be in full bloom.

“What’s wrong, Mother?” Du Wanchun asked.

Granny Zhou’s brows remained furrowed. “These flowers shouldn’t be blooming until May…”

After hearing this, Du Wanchun plucked another rose and held it up toward the sunlight. She smiled and said, “Mother, maybe this year’s spring is warmer than usual, so they bloomed earlier.”

Granny Zhou thought for a moment and found the explanation reasonable. As she stepped deeper into the flower field, she said, “That could be it. Changliu Village is in the south, much warmer than the capital. It’s not surprising for the flowers to bloom earlier here.”

“Exactly! Mother, let’s hurry and gather these flowers before it gets dark,” Du Wanchun said as she bent down to pick up a bamboo basket.

Granny Zhou took the basket with a smile. “Alright, let’s harvest them first and figure out the rest later.”