That evening, Ma Jinhua dragged his exhausted body ho.
The courtyard was silent, with only the kitchen light on.
His wife was busy at the stove, a pot of chicken soup simring and filling the air with its rich aroma.
"Where’s little Rui?" Ma Jinhua asked.
"He’s in his room. He just finished eating." His wife wiped her hands, a hint of relief on her face. "He seems to have quieted down a lot after taking his dicine today, not as restless as before."
Ma Jinhua nodded, but a faint sense of disappointnt welled up inside him.
Although Li Xu had said there would be ups and downs, he couldn’t help but hope his son would have another mont of clarity.
He walked into the bathroom, drew a hot bath, and prepared to wash his son.
Ma Rui was sitting on a small stool, still clutching the clay rabbit and smiling foolishly.
"Co on, let Dad give you a wash," Ma Jinhua said, squatting down and reaching for his son’s buttons.
"Bath, bath... hehe..."
Ma Rui giggled, climbing into the bathtub with his clothes still on.
His shorts and t-shirt were soaked.
Ma Jinhua was long used to this.
He coaxed his son, "Your clothes are wet. Dad will take them off for you. It’s hot, so you need to bathe every day. Tomorrow, I’ll have Mom get you another change of clothes..."
As he spoke, Ma Rui suddenly froze. He looked up, his expression bewildered, as clarity gradually returned to his eyes.
He gently placed a hand on his father’s, stopping him. "Dad, I can do it myself."
Ma Jinhua’s hand froze in mid-air as if he had been struck by lightning.
"Wh-what did you say?" The words were practically squeezed from his throat.
Ma Rui smiled, a sound tinged with both bitterness and emotion. "Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I can wash myself."
Ma Jinhua’s eyes instantly reddened. He stared intently at his son’s face, terrified this was just a hallucination.
But the look in Ma Rui’s eyes was undeniably clear.
"Okay... Okay. You wash yourself."
Ma Jinhua’s voice trembled. He slowly stood up and backed away to the bathroom doorway, but he didn’t dare go any further, afraid his son would suddenly revert to his old self.
Ma Rui took off his shirt. His movents were a bit slow, but he did it all by himself.
He tested the water temperature, then slowly settled into the tub.
Standing in the doorway, Ma Jinhua’s heart pounded in his chest, and tears nearly stread down his face.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
’The Wang Family wasn’t mistaken this afternoon. The dicine really works!’
He spun around and hurried to the kitchen, telling his wife, "Little Rui just said he wanted to take a bath, and he actually took his own clothes off!"
The ladle in his wife’s hand fell into the pot with a CLANG. She covered her mouth as tears instantly welled in her eyes. "Really? Is he... Is he better?"
"Not completely, but he’s even more lucid than this afternoon!" Ma Jinhua’s voice shook with excitent. "Dr. Li’s dicine is a miracle!"
Wiping her tears, his wife was a ss of crying and laughing. "The heavens have finally shown rcy..."
Ma Jinhua took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
"Our son is taking a bath, keep an eye on him."
With that, Ma Jinhua started heading out the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I’m going to find Dr. Li," Ma Jinhua said as he left.
...
Li Xu had stayed in town the previous day.
So today, Ma Jinhua certainly wasn’t going to make Li Xu go through all that trouble again.
Because officials and foreign businessn occasionally visited, the village committee had built several guest rooms.
Their standards were comparable to a four-star hotel.
The rooms were not only spacious but also clean.
Li Xu was staying in one tonight.
He arrived at the village committee office and knocked on the door.
"Co in."
Li Xu was reading a book.
"Dr. Li, little Rui just said he wanted to take a bath, and he even took his own clothes off!" Ma Jinhua said excitedly after entering the room.
Li Xu didn’t seem surprised, rely replying in a calm voice, "That’s a good sign. It ans the dicine is continuing to take effect."
"Dr. Li, I’ve made up my mind!" Ma Jinhua said decisively. "Those twenty acres of Aconite—I’ll buy them in my own na and give them to you!"
He rembered clearly that earlier in the day, Li Xu had ntioned he only brought a three-day supply of dicine.
For his son to make a full recovery, he would need at least a month’s worth.
Therefore, the most important thing now was to get Li Xu to go back and get more dicine.
And how could he get Li Xu to go back?
By satisfying Li Xu’s request, of course.
The village had planted 200 acres of Aconite. 180 acres were sold to Tsumura Pharmaceutical, and the remaining 20 acres were the village’s collective property.
He couldn’t just give them away.
But he could buy them with his own money and then give them to Li Xu.
Li Xu was taken aback for a mont. "Village Chief Ma, this is..."
"Don’t refuse!" Ma Jinhua cut him off. "You saved little Rui. Forget twenty acres of Aconite—I’d give you my entire family’s savings if you asked!"
Li Xu didn’t stand on ceremony either, since the Aconite was why he had co in the first place. "Alright, then I won’t refuse. However, this batch of Aconite must be processed using traditional thods. It cannot be soaked in Daban Liquid. The quality must be the sa as the batches exported to Japan."
"No problem!" Ma Jinhua agreed without hesitation. "I’ll personally supervise the work to ensure the quality is even better than what we export. What’s more, I’ll have people start digging your twenty acres first thing tomorrow. I’ll make sure we get that dicine as soon as possible!"
Then, Ma Jinhua stated his request. "Dr. Li, you said you’re running low on dicine. Could you go back and get more? Don’t worry, even if you’re not here, I promise the quality of the Aconite won’t suffer."
"Alright."
Li Xu agreed.
He also trusted that Ma Jinhua would do his utmost.
After all, his son’s condition was on the line.
"Thank you, thank you."
Ma Jinhua thanked him profusely. "Are you based in Feng City? I’ll buy you a plane ticket as soon as I get back. And I’ll send soone with you, so that once you’ve prepared the dicine, they can bring it straight back."
"Okay."
Li Xu didn’t hesitate.
"Please get so rest."
Ma Jinhua left the village committee office.
On his way ho, he called the woman with the black-rimd glasses from Nanyao Group again.
"Hello, Village Chief Ma?" The voice on the other end was tinged with anticipation. "Have you decided to sell the Aconite to our Nanyao Group?"
"Manager Liu, I’m sorry, but I’ve already decided to sell those twenty acres of Aconite to Dr. Li," Ma Jinhua said politely.
There was a two-second silence on the other end, followed by an anxious voice. "Village Chief Ma, you must be joking, right? We had an agreent today! If that fraud couldn’t cure your son, you’d sell to our company!"
"I’m not joking," Ma Jinhua said firmly. "Dr. Li’s dicine is saving my son. I have to give him this batch of Aconite."
"How is that possible?" Manager Liu’s voice was full of disbelief. "Village Chief Ma, don’t let yourself be scamd! It’s only been one day, and he’s already cured your son? Even if you don’t want to sell to us, you don’t have to co up with such a flimsy excuse."
Ma Jinhua was getting annoyed. "Manager Liu, I’m not in the habit of making things up. If you don’t believe , you can co and see for yourself tomorrow. That’s all, I’m hanging up!"
After hanging up, Ma Jinhua hurried ho.
He wanted to check on his son again.
But he found his wife with a worried expression on her face.
He quickly asked, "What’s wrong?"
His wife gave a bitter smile. "After his bath, our son’s mind got muddled again."
Ma Jinhua comforted her, "Don’t worry. Our son’s condition is already improving. After a few more days of dicine, he’s sure to get better."
"Besides, Dr. Li is going back tomorrow and will bring back more dicine..."
...
P.S. I have so family matters to attend to for the next three days, so I’ll be releasing two Chapters a day. After that, I’ll go back to three a day.
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