There was a rare flash of appreciation in Master Chu’s eyes, but his voice remained cool and inaudible, “Two quarters of an hour.”
The hot water was far hotter than she had imagined, and Song Wan Yue was shivering all over.
Da Ya was so shocked that she covered her mouth.
Song Wangyue felt her skin burning, and again she tried to stand up, but was pushed back.
Gradually, Song Wan Yue felt a fire burning inside her body, even hotter than the hot water, which made her cry out in pain, and the beads of sweat on her forehead turned into large beads that fell in bunches.
She gritted her teeth and endured it, but the burning sensation became heavier and heavier, as if it was going to burn her limbs and bones clean.
Daya turned her head away, not daring to look.
Master Chu’s hand was still pressed against the top of her head, just watching her reach the limit of what she could bear, and without a hint of weakness.
Gradually, Song Wan Yue’s consciousness slowly drew away, and the burning sensation all over her body seemed to be gradually leaving her.
Snap!
Master Chu slapped his hand on the water, countless splashes of water splashed on Song Wan Yue’s face, pulling her consciousness back.
“There’s still half an incense stick, hold on.”
Song Wan Yue wanted to nod, but she didn’t even have the strength to do so. She leaned helplessly against the side of the bucket, allowing the swaying water to swirl around her face and even some into her nose.
“Time’s up!”
As the words fell, Master Chu bent down and lifted Song Wan Yue out of the water, holding her up with one hand and pulling the bath towel from the shelf to one side to quickly wrap her up.
“The quilt!”
Daya hastily picked up the quilt that had been placed to one side and opened it, wrapping Song Wangyue so tightly that not even a single hair was exposed outside.
Master Chu carried her back inside, pulled the quilt off the bed and covered her with it, then pulled the bath towel off her body and got up, instructing Daya, “Dress her.”
Da Ya gently helped Song Wan Yue to get dressed.
“Let her rest well, no one is allowed to disturb her.”
After saying that, Master Chu left.
Daya went back to the table and poured a cup of warm water and brought it over, “Yue’er.”
Song Wan Yue was drowsy, as if she had heard or not heard, her lips moved, but she could not muster the strength to say the word “hmm” in her throat.
When Daya saw her lips moving, she thought she wanted to drink, but remembering Master Chu’s words, she did not dare to touch her, so she carried the water back to the table.
Daya gave him both the water jian and the small spoon, and went out quickly, closing the door gently.
Gu Yi carried the water to the bedside, scooped a spoonful and tested the temperature before handing it to Song Wan Yue’s mouth, using the spoon to gently pry open her lips and feed it in little by little, the heartache in his eyes unmistakable.
Song Wan Yue slept drowsily for the rest of the afternoon and only reluctantly woke up in the evening when Song Lin came to pick her up.
“Little girl ……”
Gu Yi was distressed and wanted her to stay here, as she would have to come back early tomorrow morning anyway.
Song Wan Yue shook her head, “I promised big brother that I wouldn’t stay at your house no matter how late it is, you call my father in and carry me out.”
“I’ll do it.”
Gu Yi leaned down to carry her, but she stopped her, “If you don’t want me to be unable to come tomorrow, go and call my father in.”
Gu Yi had to go and call Song Lin to come in.
What he told Song Lin was that Song Wan Yue had taken a medicinal bath to improve her physique. Seeing Song Wan Yue’s breathless appearance, Song Lin was immediately distressed and leaned down to pick her up with the blanket, turned around and walked out in big strides, reached the carriage, carefully put Song Wan Yue inside the carriage, took the reins, gave a fierce flip of the whip and drove the carriage away.
He didn’t say a word all the way until he was almost at the door of his home, then he advised heartily, “Yue’er, why don’t we stop learning?”
His daughter had never been so weak since she was a child, except for the serious illness she had suffered, and Song Lin’s heart hurt like a knife.
Even after sleeping all afternoon, Song Wan Yue was still breathless, and her words were filled with a strong sense of powerlessness, “It’s okay, Master said, she’ll be fine after a good sleep.”
Yesterday, Song Lin carried Song Wan Yue into the house without the family seeing him, but today Xu came out of the kitchen and saw Song Lin carrying Song Wan Yue, who was wrapped in a quilt, and was so frightened that she almost threw the ladle in her hand, “What’s wrong with Yue’er?”
With this cry, she startled everyone in the family out.
Song Lin had already carried Song Wan Yue to the door of Song Lin and Xu’s house, and the family followed him in panic, only to be relieved to learn that Song Wan Yue had soaked in a medicinal bath to become weak.
Grandma Song said, “Let Yue’er stay in your house at night, boss, you go to sleep in the east room on my side.”
Song Wan Yue did not say anything, her whole body was now so weak that she probably needed help to get up at night.
“Boss daughter-in-law, you stay and look after Yue’er, the rest of you go out.”
Xu was the only one left in the room, she painfully took off Song Wan Yue’s shoes, took a pillow and made her lie down, then unrolled the quilt she was wrapped in and put it aside, covered her with it and asked her in a soft voice, “Do you want some water?”
Song Wan Yue was indeed a little thirsty and nodded, “Yes.”
Xu poured water on the edge of the bed, took off her shoes and went up to the bed to help her lean into her arms, lifted the bowl of water and handed it to her mouth, Song Wan Yue drank from her hand and raised her eyes to see Xu with red eyes, leaning into her arms, “Mother, don’t worry, I’m fine.”
“Mum, don’t worry.”
Xu held back her heartache and let her lie down again, placing the bowl of water on the table, “You can sleep, mother will stay with you.”
Song Wangyue fell asleep again in a daze, during which time she was woken up by Xu and fed, before falling asleep again.
The next few days, Song Wan Yue was picked up by Song Lin every day in this way, Song grandmother could not stand it anymore and repeatedly persuaded Song Wan Yue to give up, “The big deal is that when you go out, let your father follow you, otherwise we will not go anywhere, so we will not be abducted by human traffickers at home. Master Chu and the Gu family’s side grandma had the cheek to go and say.”
“Grandma, the master said ten days would be good, now five or six days have passed, if I give up now, my previous suffering will be in vain, and I feel much more relaxed now, maybe after waiting to soak in these medicinal baths I will be able to fly into the sky.”
Seeing that she was obviously suffering and still making herself laugh, Grandma Song wiped her tears, “Fine, then wait a few more days, if you are still like this after ten days, we won’t learn anything.”
……
Ten days passed with difficulty.
By the eleventh day, Song Wan Yue felt as if she had been transformed, her body lightly leaping as if she could actually fly.
Master Chu began to teach her to practise her inner strength.
