Volume One, Chapter 12: My Beloved Boyfriend

It was not until the palms of his hands were covered in blisters that Wang Dong finally managed to pull the man up.

Only then did Wang Dong realize just how severely injured this fellow was. The wound on his head had been visible earlier, but there was also a deep gash on his thigh, and a withered tree branch had pierced his ribcage, penetrating at least three or four centimeters deep.

The good news was that the man was still alive; he was still breathing. The bad news was that his breathing was growing weaker by the moment.

Wang Dong had no way to treat the wound on the man’s thigh, so he used the remaining steel wire to tie a tourniquet around the base of the leg to stem the bleeding. As for the injury to the ribs, he could do nothing but carry him down the mountain.

He secured the man under the armpits with a hangman’s knot and tried to hoist him onto his back...

Damn it, he was too heavy. He couldn't carry him.

Hardening his heart, Wang Dong dropped him back to the ground. "Buddy, if you end up with any lasting injuries, don't blame me. Blame yourself for being too fat!"

Keeping the knot in place, Wang Dong didn't bother with his back this time. Instead, he tied the rope around his own waist and began to drag the man down the mountain.

The three hunting dogs had vanished. Perhaps they were clever enough to have gone down the mountain to find help, but Wang Dong never liked to pin his hopes on others.

Choosing a path that looked relatively smooth, Wang Dong began his arduous journey while towing the man. Fortunately, it was downhill. As long as he wasn't carrying him, it didn't take too much effort; all Wang Dong had to do was watch the direction and ensure the man didn't slam into rocks or trees, or catch the protruding branch on anything.

Exhausted and panting, and with the man having been knocked about quite roughly, the two of them finally reached the bottom of the mountain.

However, by then, it was already dark.

Wang Dong’s heart suddenly tightened. They were still some distance from the village. While the chances of encountering wild beasts weren't high, the possibility remained. The mountains nearby were home to Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, black bears, and even a pack of wolves that had been spotted a few days prior!

Moreover, the smell of blood all over this man made him the perfect bait. Wang Dong himself was so exhausted he was practically half-dead; even if he wanted to run, he couldn't.

Now, Wang Dong could only hope that since it was the beginning of summer, the mountain beasts were well-fed and wouldn't come down to forage. Otherwise...

*Rustle.*

In the dark of the night, a nimble figure flashed by. Two green, glowing eyes were fixed intently on Wang Dong from a mound not far away.

It's over!

Soon, a second pair of eyes, then a third, appeared to the left and right. The three dark silhouettes practically signed Wang Dong's death warrant.

It's over, it's all over...

Wang Dong plopped down onto the ground and picked up the axe at his waist. Damn it, no use running; trying to outrun a wolf was a waste of energy.

Just as Wang Dong sat down, the three pairs of eyes moved. Two pairs darted back, and one pair closed, followed by a sound:

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Huh?

Wang Dong froze instantly. Wait a minute, these weren't wolves, they were... dogs?

And these three pairs of eyes must have belonged to the three hunting dogs that had run off earlier!

Wait, no—could it be that those things which had been in a standoff with him for so long the other day were these same three useless mutts?

Thinking of this, Wang Dong was so amused by his own previous actions that he almost laughed. So, he had just been scaring himself all along?

That was truly...

"Hey! Found him! Over here!"

A dim flashlight beam shone directly into Wang Dong's face. At the same time, an old man’s voice called out from nearby.

Seeing the dim light, Wang Dong finally let out a sigh of relief. His tightly wound nerves completely unraveled. Then, his vision went black, he fell backward, and he knew nothing more.

...

"This boy has a lucky life, meeting such a good soul. Otherwise, he would have ended up like the others, dying in the mountains without anyone knowing why!"

"Hard to say. This is only the first time, who knows? It's just good luck he ran into the young man; otherwise, he surely would have..."

"Hehe! He's awake! He's awake!"

Wang Dong woke up, and he woke up in the arms of three elderly women.

The sour, musty smell made it impossible for him to open his eyes at first. Wang Dong twitched his nose, sneezed, and struggled to crawl away from the woman's lap so he could finally breathe.

"Heh, he's got quite a bit of spirit!"

The woman who had been using her lap as a pillow for Wang Dong curled her lips, chewing on sunflower seeds and laughing happily.

Wang Dong felt himself over, confirming his clothes were still there. "Where... where am I?"

"Eh? What kind of accent is that? You're not from around here, are you? This is our village, Sanlitun."

Sanlitun?

Wait, that wasn't right. He had been heading toward Erdaowan. How did he end up in Sanlitun? While not far apart, the two places were in completely different directions—one north, one south—separated by four or five miles!

The enthusiastic woman seemed to notice Wang Dong's confusion and said with a smile:

"What's the matter, young man? Thinking you're in the wrong place? You're not. The man you saved is from our village. Besides, that Erdaowan village doesn't have any miracle doctors anyway. Isn't he just brought back here to be treated by our village's 'Liu the Needle'?"

Liu the Needle?

Oh... he remembered.

Moving a bit further away from the old women's feet, Wang Dong finally regained some clarity. He remembered the name "Liu the Needle." His real name was Wang Qianshi, a disciple of an old traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. He was skilled and hardworking, and after learning a great deal from the doctors who came from the city during the barefoot doctor training years ago, his skills had become even more refined.

Not only in Sanlitun and Erdaowan, but people from several neighboring villages also flocked to him for all sorts of ailments.

With Liu the Needle there, the man's life should be out of danger... right?

Wang Dong looked at the cheerful expressions of the elderly women and had already guessed the general situation, but he still couldn't help asking out of curiosity:

"And the man I dragged back..."

"Don't you worry, young man. With Liu the Needle on the case, what is there to fear? Young Liu said his life is saved, and he’s already treated the wounds. But the man was sent to the city overnight for some sort of X-ray or something, so..."

*Bang.*

Before the woman could finish, a dusty figure rushed into the room. She glanced at the people present, then dropped to her knees in front of Wang Dong with a thud.

When Wang Dong saw the newcomer's face, he froze.

This girl was the reason he had come to Erdaowan in the first place; she was the figure he had been thinking about day and night!

Xiangyu! It was his Xiangyu!

Wang Dong's eyes immediately welled up. He reached out with trembling hands, wanting to pull Xiangyu up from the ground.

He had searched everywhere, and now that he had finally found her, he had so much to say, so much to do, so...

*Thump, thump, thump.*

Xiangyu didn't give him the time. The straightforward girl knocked her head on the floor three times. With a hoarse voice and suppressed sobs, she said:

"Thank you! Thank you, benefactor! Thank you for saving my man, I..."

*Thump.*

Before Xiangyu could finish, Wang Dong’s vision went black, and he fainted once again.