Chapter 4

For Li Tian, his twenty years of life in Liaocheng could be described as utterly uneventful, without the ups and downs of a hard life or the grand and tumultuous experiences of a remarkable one.

So much so that when he picked up the woman last night, Li Tian was still wondering if he was dreaming.

When the sun rose high in the early morning, Li Tian finally got up from the sofa, rubbed his eyes, and glanced at the mysterious woman lying quietly on his bed. Suddenly, he became excited because he realized this was not a dream but reality, a true and undeniable fact.

Looking at the woman on the bed, Li Tian suddenly thought how wonderful it would be if such a woman could be his wife for life, even if he had to live two years less, or even three.

But thoughts were one thing, and whether they could come true was another. A bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He then walked to the corner of the small house, took out an iron box, and upon opening it, found several crumpled hundred-yuan bills inside, stacked up to about 2,000 yuan.

Li Tian slowly took out five hundred-yuan bills, then quietly closed the box and walked out the door.

The sun outside was warm, and Liaocheng was as usual, with people going about their work and labor.

On a day like today, Li Tian should have been busy washing vegetables and dishes at the small restaurant, but today he was heading to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy was not far, and he arrived after a few minutes.

Inside the pharmacy was an old doctor wearing glasses, who looked to be in his sixties.

"Old Chen, give me some anti-inflammatory medicine," Li Tian said as he walked in.

Old Chen adjusted his reading glasses on his nose and said with a smile, "Little Li, did you get into a fight again?" He continued to smile as he fetched the medicine.

Li Tian used to come to buy anti-inflammatory medicine every time he got into a fight, so he and Old Chen were quite familiar.

"Old Chen, you guessed wrong this time. It's not for me, but for someone else," Li Tian said with a smile.

Old Chen took out two bottles of penicillin and two bottles of amoxicillin and handed them to Li Tian.

"Is that so? Have you finally learned to be good and stop fighting?" Old Chen said with a squint.

"I've long given up my bad ways," Li Tian replied.

After paying, Li Tian was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned to Old Chen, asking, "Old Chen, what should be done if the area around a wound turns purplish-black?"

Old Chen squinted and smiled, "That's a hundred percent a sign of poisoning."

"Poisoning?" Li Tian frowned slightly.

Old Chen nodded.

"Indeed, only poisoning would cause the area around the wound to turn purplish-black."

"What medicine should be used then?" Li Tian asked.

Old Chen replied, "That depends on what kind of poison it is."

"I don't know what kind of poison it is, but the area around the wound looks purplish-black, and it seems to have been bitten by something," Li Tian said, recalling the woman's wound.

Old Chen said, "If it was bitten by a poisonous creature, the best thing to do is to try to suck out the poison as soon as possible. If you can't get to a hospital in time, you can use your mouth, but be careful not to poison yourself."

"However, in general, antibiotics are quite effective. How about it? Do you want some?" Old Chen asked, looking at Li Tian.

"Yes, give me some."

Old Chen smiled and took two bottles of antibiotics from the medicine cabinet and handed them to Li Tian.

So Li Tian bought two bottles of antibiotics and quickly returned to his small house.

When he got back, the mysterious woman was still lying there like a corpse. Li Tian examined the wound and saw that the area around it was turning increasingly purplish-black and was also swollen.

Seeing the worsening condition, Li Tian quickly ground the anti-inflammatory medicine into a powder and applied it bit by bit, then used the antibiotics specifically for treating poisoning on the woman.

He was busy for almost two hours before he finished.

He sighed in relief and murmured to the woman on the bed, "I'll do my best to save you. Sigh, who would have thought your injuries would be so severe."

"Besides, I don't even know what's wrong with your wound. There's no hospital in Liaocheng, so it looks like we can only leave it to fate."

"But if I were to help suck out the poison..." Li Tian quickly dismissed the thought. He didn't dare to take that risk.

If he were to save this mysterious woman and she found out the truth when she woke up, she might kill him. After all, the wound was below her chest... Li Tian didn't have the courage for that.

After applying the medicine to the woman, Li Tian went to the restaurant to collect his wages.

As he walked down the street, a few acquaintances greeted him.

While walking, Li Tian suddenly heard a car horn. He turned his head and was momentarily stunned: Wow, what impressive cars.

One was a Land Rover Discovery 2, and the other was a black Audi driving towards him.

Liaocheng was a remote small village, and although there were cars, most were解放牌 (Jiefang) trucks for coal and cargo, and even a Santana was considered quite good.

But today, such impressive cars suddenly appeared in Liaocheng.

Although Land Rovers and Audis were common in first-tier cities in China, they were rare in this remote village.

Especially for someone like Li Tian, who dreamed of cars, looking at those impressive vehicles, he thought: When will I be able to buy one myself?

Li Tian smiled bitterly, knowing his limits. To want such a car now was like a dreamer's fantasy, impractical and unrealistic.