Back To The 80s-Chapter 581 - 573: Miracle_1

Jin Cheng?!

Lu Zhanguo couldn’t believe his eyes; he wanted to approach to take a closer look, but his legs felt as though they were rooted to the ground.

He slowly moved closer to the person who was asleep.

The person lying on the recliner continued to sleep peacefully, undisturbed even as Lu Zhanguo approached and crouched down next to him without blinking an eye.

Only when he crouched down did Lu Zhanguo notice something was amiss with Jin Cheng; a pungent smell of traditional Chinese medicine emanated from him, strong enough to overpower his senses.

Lu Zhanguo’s outstretched hand trembled slightly as he went to grab Jin Cheng’s hands, which were folded on his stomach. The cool touch startled him and finally, unable to hold back any longer, his eyes reddened as he called out lowly, "Jin Cheng!"

"You know him?" Old Man Axing, hearing the commotion, came out from the store. Surprised, he looked at Lu Zhanguo.

Lu Zhanguo stood up and upon recognising the man who had saved Mo Wang, he was even more surprised.

Axing nodded with a smile, "I didn’t expect us to cross paths so often."

Suppressing the agitation in his heart, Lu Zhanguo pointed at Jin Cheng and asked, "May I ask, sir, what happened to him?"

Axing shook his head, "Ever since we saved him over four years ago, he’s been asleep."

Lu Zhanguo turned back to look at the sleeping Jin Cheng, a dull ache in his heart. Over four years, you were alive all this time.

Holding up the blanket that lay on Jin Cheng, Axing softly said, "The sun is setting, it’s going to get cold. Let’s go back inside." He then turned to Lu Zhanguo, "Let’s continue our conversation inside. Could you lend me a hand in bringing him in?"

The stunned Wu Guanghan finally came back to his senses and hurried over to assist Lu Zhanguo in carrying Jin Cheng inside.

Once inside, Axing directed Lu Zhanguo in moving Jin Cheng to the bamboo bed in the inner room. He fetched a warm towel and gently wiped Jin Cheng’s face and hands, treating him with the delicacy one would afford a baby. Then he began to massage Jin Cheng’s body.

After finishing up, Axing finally sat Lu Zhanguo and Wu Guanghan down and started telling Jin Cheng’s story.

Axing was obsessed with medicine; he would go any lengths to see rare medicinal herbs that he’d never seen before. His family was poor because of his obsession, and he and his son Awang would often need to travel by foot or by donkey cart, spending a year or even more wrapped up in their journeys.

A few years ago, they heard about the Angelica sinensis growing in Min County, G Province famous for their efficacy—rumoured to be an imperial tribute in the past. Intrigued, they decided to go see for themselves.

In the spring, they scraped together enough money to buy tickets to G Province. To save money, they walked most of the way after reaching the provincial capital. By the time they reached Canger Cliff, it was already summer.

Axing and Awang found a village at the bottom of Canger Cliff, rented a room in a local house, and spent every day collecting herbs on the mountain to dry and sell for money, saving up for the next leg of their journey. Back then, there weren’t many herb gatherers, and sometimes they even stumbled upon valuable herbs, which made it hard for them to leave.

On the day Jin Cheng’s accident happened, they were downstream of the Tuotuo River. They saw a car fall from the cliff, and someone jumped out from the car. The explosion halfway down the cliff hurtled the person into a river hundreds of meters away. Axing immediately sent his son to save him.

Later, their landlord, upset by their bringing back a dead man, insisted that they move out, considering it unlucky. Father and son found a wooden cart and set off with Jin Cheng in tow.

Traveling back home, treating Jin Cheng along the way, sometimes lodging in a farmer’s house, sometimes sleeping in a melon shed—by the time they reached the provincial capital it was spring again. They carried Jin Cheng onto the train but were nearly kicked off midway when someone mistook him for a corpse. With much difficulty, they finally arrived back in Miaojiang province.

Armed with a doctor’s kind heart and an obsession for medicine, Axing couldn’t let go of a potential research subject as promising as Jin Cheng. The more complicated and challenging the disease seemed, the more he was consumed with interest. Therefore, he took care of Jin Cheng without a single complaint for over four years.

Lu Zhanguo listened to the old man casually relay the story, reeling from the impact of it. The dedication that it took to carry Jin Cheng from the northern provinces to the southern colonies—how much hardship did they endure? This was an unparalleled level of obsession.

Axing chuckled and said, "You see, he’s still not awake. He’s doing much better than before, though. Maybe there will be a day when he wakes up. But it’s also possible that he’s hanging onto life by a thread, unwilling to let go due to some deep attachment."

Wu Guanghan was even more curious: How on earth could Jin Cheng survive so many years of unconsciousness, without eating or drinking anything?

Lu Zhanguo’s feelings were complicated. There were many things he wanted to say to Jin Cheng. However, he was unable to utter a single word, the pain trapped in his chest.

Once this mission is over, he would bring Jin Cheng home!

...

Ever since Lu Zhanguo left, Gu Xiaobei had moved back to the small courtyard with the children. The shop was bustling, but she did not go there. Resolved to stay home with the kids, she shadowed them without a step’s distance every time they played outside. She even brought Dahuang back from the storeroom.

Now, the trio was joined by Doudou. The three children did almost everything together—when Mo Wang went to the bathroom, Xiaopang and Doudou followed too.

Watching the three kids playing train in the courtyard, Gu Xiaobei smiled, with Mo Wang leading, Xiaopang in the middle grabbing Mo Wang’s clothes and Doudou in the back hanging onto Xiaopang’s shirt. But her heart was filled with worry about Lu Zhanguo. For this mission, he neither mentioned where he was headed nor when he would return. She dreaded recalling the incident with Mo Wang, scared by the thoughts, yet she put on a brave face to avoid worrying everyone at home. Thankfully, she had the two kids. Time flew by thanks to them.

Gu Xiaobei had not been to the shop for a long while. Qin Li was in charge of all the business.

During a lull one afternoon, Qin Li rode her bicycle to visit Gu Xiaobei and brought along some snacks for the children.

The moment Xiaopang saw Qin Li pushing her bicycle into the courtyard, he instantly abandoned the train game and sprinted over excitedly, "Hi Aunt Qin, is it cold?"

Qin Li parked her bicycle and laughed, "Xiaopang, your sweet talk has improved." She then handed over the bag she brought to Xiaopang, "These are snacks for you, your brothers. Can you carry them?"

Xiaopang looked back at Gu Xiaobei and replied, "We don’t want any."

Ever since Qin Li entered, Mo Wang had been standing stationary, quietly looking at her.

"is the shop okay?" Gu Xiaobei asked Qin Li as she took the bag from her and smiled.

"It’s fine. Business has been pretty good this year. We’ve had to work overtime several days already. I noticed we were less busy after lunch today, so, I decided to come over and visit."

Gu Xiaobei saw Xiaopang and Doudou eagerly looking over, so she took out two bags of fish skin peanuts from the bag and handed them to Xiaopang and Doudou.

Xiaopang took the peanuts and then extended his hand again, "Mom, what about brother?"

Mo Wang, who was standing at one side, shook his head, "I don’t want any. I’m not going to eat."

Qin Li reached out to pat Mo Wang, but he turned and ran back inside the house.

"What’s wrong with Mo Wang?" Qin Li was a bit puzzled. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"He’s been a little distant towards strangers recently, so you guys will have to work a bit harder." Gu Xiaobei glossed over Mo Wang’s unusual behavior with a single sentence.

Qin Li quickly understood what Gu Xiaobei meant. She shook her head and replied, "I’m not busy anyway. You can rest assured and stay at home."

Qin Li didn’t enter the house but chatted with Gu Xiaobei in the yard for about fifteen minutes before leaving in a hurry.

Wen Xiuqing came out with Mo Wang only after Qin Li had left and said, "What a pity for such a lovely girl."