Chapter 155: Healing the Sick and Saving Lives

"But the child seems merely a bit frightened, and he answers questions fluently. Surely it isn't anything too serious?" Yin Shanshan asked from the side.

Su Wanning’s expression grew stern. "Sometimes children don't express themselves like adults. They stay silent and bottle everything up inside, which easily leads to problems. It's not something you can see on the surface."

"Let's not talk about that for now. You mentioned you have medicine, Miss Su—what kind of medicine is it?" Fang Wei interrupted them, her voice laced with anxiety.

"I spotted some medicinal herbs in the woods today that help soothe the nerves and restore energy. I plan to gather some for him to take."

Fang Wei had heard before the show started that Su Wanning was skilled in traditional Chinese medicine, but she had assumed it was just a gimmick for the program. She never imagined it might be true.

"Then I'll leave it to you!"

"You're welcome. Suisui, Niannian, why don't you take the other kids to the room and keep Xiaotian company? He was frightened in the woods today; try your best to cheer him up."

Niannian nodded obediently. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll go tell Brother Xiaotian a story!"

Su Wanning reached out to stroke her daughter's hair, her heart softening. "What a good girl."

She then looked at Qin Jingchen. "Let's go."

The two of them, accompanied by a cameraman, headed back into the woods. Fortunately, with the high-powered flashlight Suisui had made, finding the herbs was quite easy. Qin Jingchen handled the lighting while Su Wanning quickly collected the necessary plants.

"This should be enough. Let's head back; it's getting late, and we shouldn't stray too far."

Qin Jingchen had no objections to Su Wanning’s suggestion. They turned back, but out of professional habit, Su Wanning continued to scan the undergrowth as they walked. Suddenly, her keen eyes caught sight of a familiar plant, and she was abruptly reminded of the torn pant leg she had seen on Qin Jingchen earlier that day.

She turned to look at him, only to find he had changed into a new pair of trousers, making it impossible to tell if his leg was injured.

"When you were climbing the trees earlier, I thought I saw your pants tear. Are you hurt? Let me gather some herbs to stop the bleeding."

"It wasn't from climbing the tree."

His answer was cryptic, but Su Wanning understood the implication.

"You really are hurt. Where is it? Let me see."

Su Wanning frowned slightly and, without further discussion, pulled Qin Jingchen toward a nearby rock, signaling him to roll up his pant leg. As she crouched before him, her brow furrowed in genuine concern, Qin Jingchen felt a wave of tenderness wash over him.

Little did he know, Su Wanning was actually thinking about how he mustn't have a serious injury—if he were incapacitated, how would she and the children manage their livelihood? And if he were to be left disabled...

The more she thought, the more desperate she became. She quickly examined his injury. Below his knee, there was a large area of swelling, with the skin scraped raw and fresh blood oozing out. It was clear he had tried to treat it himself, but he had likely only rinsed it hastily, as grit and dust remained embedded in the wound.

Seeing this, her professional instincts took over. She frowned and scolded, "It’s this serious, and you just rinsed it with water? If this gets infected, you could end up needing an amputation!"

[She’s worried.]

[Mr. Qin is so stoic. If it were me, I’d be crying with a wound that big.]

[When did he get hurt? While climbing the tree? He looked so agile.]

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Qin Jingchen spoke softly to soothe her, but Su Wanning was speechless. She shared the viewers' curiosity. "How exactly did this happen?"

"Niannian fell down a hillside while we were looking for treasure in the woods."

From that single sentence, Su Wanning filled in the blanks. He must have protected her with his own body to keep her from getting hurt, which was why his injuries were so severe. A sense of guilt washed over her. Caring for the two children was supposed to be her responsibility, yet she had dumped them on him for the sake of convenience. If she hadn't insisted on splitting up, this might never have happened. More importantly, she was deeply grateful that he had protected their daughter so well.

"Don't move. Let me take care of it."

Luckily, she had her tools with her. She cleaned the wound thoroughly, crushed the herbs she had gathered, and applied them to the injury. Qin Jingchen sat on the rock, watching the woman crouching before him, his gaze softening.

"I'm really fine. Don't worry too much."

But the more he said it, the more guilty she felt. She continued in silence, wrapping a neat bandage around his leg.

"There. Don't remove the bandage tonight. Tomorrow morning, take it off, and I'll clean the wound again. It should be much better by then."

Su Wanning clapped the dust from her hands and looked up, only to lock eyes with Qin Jingchen unexpectedly. For some reason, neither of them spoke, and an ambiguous atmosphere began to spread between them. After a long moment, Su Wanning gave an awkward cough and stood up.

"Well, can you walk? It's getting late. Let's head back."

To her surprise, Qin Jingchen frowned slightly. "It might hurt a little."

"Here." She tossed him a wooden stick and turned to walk away without looking back.

By the time they returned, dinner was almost ready. Su Wanning washed the herbs, placed them in a clay pot with plenty of water, and set it over the fire to simmer.

"Thank you so much. I snuck a look at the kids earlier; they were chatting with Xiaotian, and he seems much better."

Seeing the lingering worry in Fang Wei’s eyes, Su Wanning comforted her. "Don't worry too much. With the other kids keeping him company tonight and our group being so lively, he should improve. After he drinks the medicine and gets some sleep, he should be fine by tomorrow."

Tears of gratitude welled up in Fang Wei’s eyes as she held Su Wanning’s hand, thanking her repeatedly.

[If you ask me, this is all Yin Shanshan’s fault. She’s the one who scared everyone by telling ghost stories on purpose!]

[Are you guys okay? Yin Shanshan was just scared and said that off the cuff, okay?]

[How come out of so many kids, Xiaotian is the only one who's such a scaredy-cat?]

[Tch, look at all the guest groups—they’re the only ones who came back early, too.]

The live chat was in an uproar, but the group was peaceful and joyous as they sat around the long table, welcoming their first dinner on the island. Xiaotian had left his room with the other children and now sat beside Fang Wei. Though he still looked a bit timid, his condition was clearly much better than before.