24 – Root of the Illness

“Where am I?”

Old Zhao woke up and, seeing the people around him, asked in confusion.

“Old Zhao, did you forget? You fell into the water and nearly drowned. We rescued you back!”

“Yeah, we heard your cries. By the time we got there, you were almost submerged!”

“If not for Old Doctor Chen’s exceptional medical skills, you’d be on your way to see your father by now!”

“How did you fall into the water? Were you pulled in by a fish?”

Amid the villagers’ loud chatter, Old Zhao finally recalled some of the earlier events.

Then he jolted: “Oh right, the fish! Where’s my fishing rod?”

“Still thinking about your rod? When we pulled you up, you were gripping it so tightly that we eventually tossed it by the riverside for convenience,” replied a villager.

“Hey, how could you throw away my rod? Where exactly did you toss it?” Old Zhao became frantic.

The villager displeased muttered, “What are you saying, Old Zhao? We kindly saved you, and you don’t even thank us. Instead, you blame us?”

“Exactly, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have saved you and let you drown!”

“Ungrateful. We went into the river to save you and even carried you all the way to Old Doctor Chen!”

The other villagers were also dissatisfied.

“Well, well… I’m just worried about the rod. I put so much effort into making it. Please don’t take offense, and thank you all for saving me.”

Realizing he was at fault, Old Zhao hurried to thank them.

The villagers, stern but soft-hearted, seeing Old Zhao’s gratitude, their expressions softened.

“Enough about your broken rod. Just tell us, how did you fall into the water? I remember you never going into the river before.”

“I… I jumped in myself.” Old Zhao muttered, eventually confessing.

“You jumped in yourself?!” A villager couldn’t believe it, “Don’t you know you can’t swim? Why dare to jump into the river?”

“I didn’t know the water was so deep there. I thought it would only reach my thighs at most,” Old Zhao explained.

“Why did you jump into the river then?”

“Well, well…” Old Zhao hesitated before saying, “I accidentally let the fish pull my rod away. In a hot-headed moment, I jumped in to retrieve it.”

Not far away, Lu Qing thought, “…”

As expected.

When Wang Da’an was recounting earlier, he had already guessed that Old Zhao fell into the water trying to retrieve his rod.

He had seen such things many times in his past life. Even he had done similar things before.

He just didn’t expect Old Zhao, who couldn’t swim, to be so reckless.

“You, you are such a fool!”

The other villagers couldn’t believe that Old Zhao nearly lost his life over such a trivial reason.

“What value does that broken rod hold? Just cut a bamboo from the mountain and make a new one. For that, you nearly lost your life. Is your brain addled?”

A villager who was relatively close to Old Zhao immediately scolded.

Old Zhao dared not speak.

He even dared not say that he jumped in not just because he cherished the rod, but also because he couldn’t bear the thought of letting such a big fish, capable of easily dragging his rod away, escape.

Yesterday, Lu Qing caught two big fish, which made him envious and jealous.

Such a big fish, how many meals could it provide? He rarely had the chance to catch such a big fish; how could he let it go?

However, this incident also confirmed to him that there really were big fish at that spot.
Next time as long as he is more careful, he will definitely be able to catch it!
The villagers did not know Old Zhao’s thoughts; otherwise, they would surely scold him again.

At this moment, Old Zhao wanted to get up but found that his whole body was weak and he couldn’t muster any strength. His head was also a little dizzy, and he couldn’t quite move his body.

He was immediately shocked: ‘Old Doctor, what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I move?’

Old Doctor Chen sighed: ‘You stayed in the water for too long, the cold invaded your body, and you drank a lot of polluted river water, injuring your spleen and stomach; you even held your breath for a long time. Although I have expelled the dirty water from your body and woke you up, your body is already damaged.’

‘What should I do, Old Doctor, you must save me, save me!’

Old Zhao was terrified and quickly pleaded.
The thought of catching big fish just now had long been thrown out of his mind.

‘Calm down, I am a doctor; of course, I will treat you.’ The old doctor comforted, ‘But you are old, and recovery will not be easy. You need to rest quietly for a period.’

‘Will I be able to walk again in the future?’ Old Zhao asked hopefully.

‘Walking should not be a problem. As for how much you can recover, it depends on how well you rest.’ The old doctor replied.

‘It’s good enough if I can walk again.’ Old Zhao felt a bit relieved.

He was really afraid that he would be bedridden from now on.

‘Where is my dad, where is my dad?’

Just as Old Zhao felt relieved, suddenly there was another burst of noise outside the courtyard, followed by a group of people rushing in.

Leading the way were two young men and a woman, as well as an elderly woman.
Behind them were other villagers who had heard the news and come to see.

‘Dad!’

The older youth, upon seeing Old Zhao lying down, hurried over.

‘I heard from Da Shan that you fell into the water and were brought to Old Doctor Chen’s place. What exactly happened?’

It turned out that when Wang Da’an and the others brought Old Zhao here, they also called someone to inform his family.

‘I… I’m okay now.’
Old Zhao said to his son, feeling somewhat guilty.

‘Nonsense.’ A villager immediately exposed him, ‘Amin, your father went fishing alone, jumped into the river, and almost didn’t make it…’

Then he explained everything in detail.

As soon as he finished, the old woman, Old Zhao’s wife, began to cry and curse.

‘You wretch, I’ve told you not to go fishing, but you insisted. You can’t even swim; what were you doing by the river, jumping in yourself? Do you want to die and take me with you?!’

Old Zhao’s son, Zhao Ming, also looked very unhappy.

But as a son, he couldn’t reprimand his father.
He could only persuade: ‘Dad, maybe we shouldn’t go fishing anymore. Our family isn’t lacking the fish to eat; why push yourself like this?’

The second son also spoke up: ‘Yes, dad, if you need anything, just tell us. No matter how much effort it takes, I’ll get it for you. Just don’t do anything dangerous anymore.’

‘I won’t go, I won’t go anymore.’

Old Zhao, his face red with embarrassment, had no choice but to agree.

‘Don’t worry, Amin, even if your dad wants to go fishing again, he won’t be able to.’ A villager said, ‘The old doctor said your dad was badly affected by the water, he needs to rest. If he doesn’t rest well during this period, he might not be able to walk in the future.’

‘What?!’

Old Zhao’s family was instantly stunned.