Nan Chen’s heart dropped upon hearing that diagnosis, but he couldn’t fall apart because he was the leader, and if he were to fall apart, everyone else would too.
As such, Nan Chen’s voice was calming when he said, “It’s okay, Dabao, calm down. Think about it. Given the current situation and resources, what else can we do?”
Influenced by Nan Chen, Dabao’s panic disappeared, and he calmed down.
Dabao turned to Zheng Lunlun, and with his tiny hand, he pried Zheng Lunlun’s eyes open to check Zheng Lunlun’s condition.
“Let’s try using the leeches,” said Dabao.
“Huh?”
“When Mr. Blondie first got poisoned, the leeches sucked part of the poison away and saved his life. Now that the poison had worsened, we could try using the leeches to suck the poison out again. This method may not be effective, but it’s the only one I could come up with.”
Nan Chen nodded. He had thought about that too, but he didn’t say anything because he’s didn’t want to affect Dabao’s thought process.
Since Dabao also came to the same conclusion, Nan Chen was quick to agree.
There were plenty of leeches in the forest so the team was able to collect dozens of them within a short time.
Dabao picked up the leeches and put them on Zheng Lunlun one by one.
The thin leeches fattened up quickly because they had sucked Zheng Lunlun’s blood.
The leeches that had fed on the blood grew round stomachs and looked terrifying.
They died rather quickly because the poison was too strong.
After using a dozen leeches, Dabao halted the treatment because Zheng Lunlun would lose too much blood if they kept using the leeches.
After they removed the leeches, Zheng Lunlun looked much better.
Nan Chen and Dabao dared not leave the room and stood guard.
Dinner time rolled around.
Qiao Zhan came in with a plate of fish for Dabao who shook his head to tell them that he didn’t have any appetite.
“Have some. You’ll need the strength.”
Nan Chen accepted the fish before he picked out all the bones and feed it to Dabao.
“Dabao, don’t be stressed out about this. It’s not your fault if Zheng Lunlun doesn’t make it, it’s just his time. You tried your best,” said Nan Chen softly.
Dabao’s tears rolled down.
“Don’t cry, you must be strong now. We must believe that he’ll get better.”
“Who comforts a kid like that? Or are you trying to intimidate him?”
The one who questioned Nan Chen’s method was, of course, Ning Ran.
“What is wrong with what I said?” demanded Nan Chen.
“You said ‘if Zheng Lunlun doesn’t make it’. Is that something appropriate?” asked Ning Ran, “Shouldn’t you be saying things like ‘Zheng Lunlun would definitely make it’?”
Nan Chen thought about it and noticed that his choice of words was terrible.
Dabao was too young and could not handle the reality that way, but that woman was so rude that he refused to admit defeat, even if he was wrong.
“I don’t need your advice, get out!”
“This isn’t your house,” sneered Ning Ran, “Why should I leave just because you asked me to?”
“This isn’t your house either. You’re noisy and annoying!”
Dabao noticed that the two of them were about to fight again so he voiced up to stop them. “Mommy,” said Dabao, “please talk less.”
“Why am I the one at fault?” said Ning Ran angrily, “He’s the one who’s picking a fight.”
“Third Uncle was just too worried,” said Dabao.
Dabao only complained to Ning Ran because he didn’t want to embarrass Nan Chen.
Ironically, Dabao’s sweet gesture made Nan Chen feel embarrassed because arguing in front of a child was not a graceful thing to do.
“Let’s stop talking,” said Nan Chen who ended the argument.
He never liked to talk anyway so he was practically mute afterward and was sitting there like a wooden sculpture.
Dabao wasn’t talkative either so he was also ‘frozen’ there.
Ning Ran stayed for a couple of minutes and felt like she had reached her limit.
Those two were the world’s most quiet people, and she couldn’t handle them.
Ning Ran wasn’t a talkative person either, but she couldn’t withstand their level of silence.
In the end, she had no choice but to admit defeat and left. I think I’ll go hang out with Erbao who is more talkative.
On this end, Dabao and Nan Chen were still ‘frozen’.
Their natural states were being quiet so they didn’t feel awkward or feel the pressure to start a conversation.
In fact, a quiet environment made it easier for them to think.
“Dabao,” said Nan Chen who broke the silence, “What do you think about Lunlun being poisoned a second time?”
“The herb,” said Dabao.
“What are the chances of the medicine reacting badly after it had healed the patient?”
“Low.”
“In other words, it didn’t make sense for his condition to worsen after he had gotten better?”
“Exactly,” nodded Dabao.
“Could it be possible that someone else had applied the medicine on him once more?”
Dabao turned to look at Nan Chen.
Dabao had been suspecting that too, but he didn’t dare to say it out loud.
After all, he was just an innocent child, and he didn’t dare to think about someone doing something that terrible.
“You think so too, don’t you?”
Dabao didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want it to be true.
Who could it be? thought Nan Chen.
The first suspect that came into his mind was Ning Ran.
Ning Ran once hid in the closet in Zheng Lunlun’s room so she and Zheng Lunlun must be in a relationship.
With Zheng Lunlun being there, Ning Ran could be worried that Zheng Lunlun would spill her secrets so she decided to kill him.
She has always been a flirty woman so it’s possible that she slept with Zheng Lunlun but couldn’t let anyone know about it.
That is why she wanted to kill him! She has a motive!
Nan Chen found Ning Ran to be more and more suspicious.
He thought that Ning Ran may have entered the room a moment ago to check if Zheng Lunlun was still alive and ended up arguing with Nan Chen.
Moreover, she wasn’t there when everyone was by the river! Who else could have done it if not her?
Having thought that, Nan Chen stood up with fury burning in his eyes.
“Third Uncle, where are you going?”
Dabao sensed the anger from Nan Chen and was frightened.
“Nowhere. I’m just checking the surroundings.”
Nan Chen couldn’t let Dabao find out what he was thinking because he couldn’t destroy the kid’s impression of his mother.
If a child were to find out that their mother or father was a cruel person, the child would not be able to adapt or accept that hard truth.
In the long run, the child would be affected and would grow up to be mentally unstable.
That was why a child must never find out how evil their parents were or they would be burdened with guilt.
Nan Chen understood that so he didn’t want to talk about Ning Ran’s sin in front of the kids, but he won’t let her go unpunished either!
“Third Uncle, do you think that someone had deliberately applied the medicine on Mr. Blondie?”
Dabao was too smart and could more or less guess what Nan Chen was thinking.
Nan Chen couldn’t answer that question, but he didn’t want to lie either.
“We need to investigate further.”
“It’s definitely not mommy,” said Dabao.
Nan Chen couldn’t reply.
He thought about it for a while and decided it was best to protect the child so he nodded rigidly and said, “I agree.”
Dabao was relieved to hear that.
