novelraw Chapter 182 Using the Stove as a Urine Bucket
Chapter 182 Using the Stove as a Urine Bucket
Chapter 182 Using the Stove as a Urine Bucket
Uncle San reached out to lift the blanket off Gu Lai'an's head to check on his condition and how high his fever was.
If it's too serious, you should still consult a doctor.
As soon as her hand touched the blanket, Gu Tang went up to him and complained, "Go and take a look over by the stove. He's using it as a chamber pot! No wonder the stove went out and the room is as cold as an icebox."
Third Uncle was taken aback upon hearing this: "What?"
Gu Tang pointed to the stove: "Go and take a look, you'll see, it smells like urine!"
Third Uncle immediately went to the stove, sniffed it closely, and confirmed that it did indeed smell of urine.
Returning to the bedside, Third Uncle asked the person lying motionless with their head covered, "Lai'an, did you mistake the stove for a chamber pot? Did you misread it when you got up to pee in the middle of the night?"
The person lying on the bed turned over without saying a word.
Gu Tang said angrily, "It's not that I misjudged him! I think he did it on purpose! He was sick yesterday, and we served him food and drink, and he enjoyed it even more. He probably wants to stay sick so that we can continue to serve him!"
Upon hearing Gu Tang's words, the person under the blanket trembled a few times, seemingly afraid of Gu Tang's anger.
Gu Tang was furious and immediately reached out and pulled off his blanket.
"If you have the nerve to do it, then come out and admit it! Now you're cowering under the covers like a coward, what kind of job is that? Don't think you can escape a beating just because you're sick!"
Startled by the sudden removal of his blanket, Gu Lai'an had nowhere to hide and quickly snatched the blanket back to cover himself.
This time, however, he dared not cover his head with the blanket again.
He poked his head out and said in a muffled voice, "I must have been mistaken..."
Gu Tang almost laughed in anger at these words: "There's a bright red fire burning in that stove, are you saying you're seeing things?"
Gu Lai'an stopped talking, licked his chapped lips, his vision blurred, and his cheeks were flushed.
Seeing that his condition was not good, Third Uncle hurriedly whispered to comfort Gu Tang: "He's a bastard, it's not worth getting angry with him. I see he has a high fever, so don't make a fuss with him now. Your father isn't here, and if he damages his brain, we won't be able to stop caring about him in the future."
Gu Tang calmed herself down and complained to her third uncle, "I wish he would lose his mind! I'd rather spend money to raise a fool than raise a troublemaker!"
That firewood was all cut by my dad and Ping'an in the mountains; he never went to cut any himself! Now, not only does he not know how to save, he wastes it recklessly! The stove was filled to the brim with firewood! He peed on it and put it out; I don't even know if the firewood inside was wet or dry!
"Whether the firewood is wet or dry, let him continue using it! Consider it a lesson he'll learn!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Lai'an's cheeks twitched twice. His head was throbbing and aching, his whole body was weak and sore, and he couldn't even straighten his neck. He could only close his eyes and grit his teeth in hatred!
If he hadn't wanted to take advantage of his father's absence to make himself sick so that his father would soften his heart, he wouldn't have not only turned off the stove but also left himself outside the quilt to freeze for quite a while.
He just hadn't expected Siya to be so cunning!
Upon entering the house, I immediately noticed how cold it was and went to check on the stove.
Logically, once the stove went out, that was it. But Si Ya's nose is like a dog's! Even after so long, she could still smell the urine. She should have just poured water on the stove to put it out.
Gu Lai'an grew angrier the more he thought about it, and then everything went black before his eyes. He quickly lost consciousness.
Before his consciousness faded, he belatedly became afraid, as if he had become too ill and might actually burn himself to death!
Upon realizing that Gu Lai'an had fainted, the Third Uncle hurriedly stepped forward and placed his hand on Gu Lai'an's forehead.
The next instant, the warm palm trembled a few times in surprise at the scalding heat.
"Oh no! Your older brother's fever is even higher than yesterday! We need to get a doctor!"
Third Uncle's expression changed drastically. He withdrew his hand and hurriedly left the house to fetch the doctor.
Gu Tang took two steps to catch up, and when she reached the outside of the house, her third uncle was almost at the gate of the courtyard.
She looked at it for a while, then came back.
She came up to Gu Lai'an and pinched his arm.
"Are you really dizzy?"
The person was not awake and did not move.
Gu Tang reached out and touched his forehead again, finding that it was very hot!
Tsk! Looks like he's really dizzy!
He turned and left, telling Gu Ping'an in the kitchen to stop brewing the medicine.
"Why aren't you brewing it? I've already opened the medicine!" Gu Ping'an asked, puzzled.
"The person inside has fainted. Master has gone to fetch a doctor. The doctor will definitely need to get medicine when he comes. You can brew it then."
"She fainted?" Gu Ping'an was very surprised. "Is it that serious today?"
Gu Tang spat towards the east wing: "He did it on purpose! He peed on and put out the stove in that room! It's as cold as an ice cellar in there."
Gu Ping'an was greatly shocked and puzzled: "What is he trying to achieve? It's his own body, why is he ruining himself?"
"Who knows what he's thinking? Maybe he's planning to get himself half-dead while Father's away, so he can come back and complain to Father that we've harmed him."
Honestly, given Gu Lai'an's thought process, these are all she can think of.
Gu Ping'an looked disgusted upon hearing this: "A fool comes up with a foolish idea!"
The Gu family lived very close to their third uncle's house. While the siblings were talking, their third uncle invited the man back.
Hearing a noise coming from the courtyard gate, Gu Tang gently nudged Gu Ping'an, telling him to go to the woodshed and fetch a few pieces of firewood. Then she led him to the east wing.
As they walked to the east wing, they "just happened" to bump into their third uncle and Doctor Gu as they entered the courtyard.
Gu Tang told Gu Ping'an to go to the east wing first, and then ran to meet him.
First, he greeted Doctor Gu, then complained to his third uncle: "I chased after you for a few steps, but you were faster than anyone else, and I couldn't catch up with you."
"There's no other way, I'm just worried, I'm afraid your older brother might get seriously injured from the fever."
Third Uncle led the group towards the east wing. His tense mood finally relaxed a little, and he even smiled when he spoke to Gu Tang.
"Knowing you're worried, I had Ping An take some more firewood to the east wing. I reckon they're lighting the stove right now."
These words comforted Uncle San, who thought that Gu Tang was all bark and no bite when it came to Gu Lai'an, and that there was still some affection between them.
Third Uncle thought that this girl was soft-hearted.
Once inside, they saw Gu Ping'an lighting the stove, and the Third Uncle's affection for the siblings grew even stronger.
They're all good kids; they wouldn't do something like kicking someone when they're down.
Doctor Gu was aware of the discord between the two sets of siblings in the Gu family, but the fact that the siblings were willing to lend a helping hand to their eldest brother, who was in a coma with a high fever, made him feel very reassured about their future interactions.
However… Doctor Gu looked around but did not see Gu Mei, Gu Lai'an's older sister who shared the same parents.
That's strange!
The younger brother fell ill, and his older sister, who shared both parents, was not there. Instead, his two half-siblings helped him.
Although Dr. Gu was extremely curious, he didn't ask any questions and simply took Gu Lai'an's pulse with a normal expression.
Gu Ping'an had already lit the stove. He put the flint in his pocket and squeezed over here, eagerly waiting for Doctor Gu's diagnosis.
Previously, Third Uncle was too hasty and did not explain clearly, only saying that Gu Lai'an had fainted due to a high fever. Doctor Gu thought it was caused by some other illness, but now it is clear that there is no other illness, it was just caused by a cold.
As for fainting... well, there's nothing we can do about it. The kid's eyes are all dark circles, which means he didn't sleep well last night. Coupled with a high fever, he naturally fainted.
Actually, he's fine. We'll just boil some medicine for him and give it to him so he can rest properly.
After receiving the diagnosis, the three members of the family breathed a sigh of relief.
Doctor Gu reminded them, "Don't turn off the stove in the house again. Colds are most dangerous when they keep recurring! Tell Lai'an to be careful these next few days, and not to take it lightly."
"Don't worry! I'll scare him with my dad later! If he dares to use the stove as a chamber pot again, he'll definitely give him a beating when he gets back!"
Gu Tang's words had a double meaning, specifically clarifying that the stove in Gu Lai'an's room was not turned off by them.
"Using a stove as a chamber pot?" This was the first time Doctor Gu had ever heard such an outrageous thing.
Uncle San sighed: "When he woke up just now, I asked him why the stove had gone out and why there was a smell of urine. The child didn't hide it and said that he had mistaken the stove for a chamber pot during the night..."
Gu Lai'an's reasoning was really far-fetched. His third uncle didn't believe it when he heard it, and now even Doctor Gu doesn't believe it. They all think that Gu Lai'an is trying to stir up trouble again.
Doctor Gu wouldn't say anything about this, but he tentatively asked, "I have some calming medicine here. If possible, you can let him take some. More rest will help him recover."
"Okay, let's get them together then. We need both the one for treating colds and the one for calming the nerves. You can make a few extra packets; we don't know if the child will listen to you."
The third uncle made the decision to prescribe the medicine, as he was genuinely afraid that the boy would cause any more trouble.
"Alright, I'll go back and prepare the medicine first. You can have either of your daughters or sons take it later. As for Lai'an, put a cold compress on his forehead to cool him down."
"Alright! I'll do as you say." Third Uncle agreed with a smile and personally saw the person out.
Back in the east wing, the third uncle didn't let Gu Tang and her siblings do anything; instead, he personally prepared a cold compress to cool Gu Lai'an down.
Gu Tang stopped him and pointed to the kitchen: "I was just thinking that the doctor still needs to prescribe medicine, and the medicine in the kitchen hasn't been brewed yet. Why don't we brew that medicine and feed it to him first?"
The cold water in winter is truly bone-chilling! I'm not kidding!
If my third uncle keeps sitting here rinsing his hands with cold water, his high fever won't go down, and his hands will be ruined.
"If there's medicine to take, that's much better than a cold compress. You two go and brew it; I'll put the compress on him first." The third uncle waved to the siblings, telling them to go ahead and brew the medicine.
The medicine that had been opened earlier hadn't been wrapped up yet. After coming out of the east wing, Gu Tang picked up the medicinal herbs and flipped through them, telling Gu Ping'an, who wanted to help, to step aside, as she wanted to brew it herself.
Gu Tang poured all the medicine into the medicine pot, and when adding water, she actually added hot water.
Gu Ping'an clicked his tongue in amazement, but dared not utter a single word.
The hot water was from the stove in the kitchen. Although it hadn't boiled, the temperature was still very high. After pouring it into the medicine pot, the pot was placed on the stove for boiling medicine. Before long, the water in the pot began to boil.
Gu Tang timed it precisely. The medicine in the jar had just been boiling for a quarter of an hour when she immediately took it off the heat and poured it into a bowl, without caring whether the medicine had been properly cooked.
Once they were almost dry, they were taken to the east wing and handed over to Uncle San.
Gu Lai'an was still unconscious, and his third uncle called him for a long time but couldn't wake him up.
"Sir, I'll pry his mouth open, and you can pour the medicine into it."
Gu Tang rolled up her sleeves, looking eager to try.
With his sleeves half-rolled up, he realized that Gu Lai'an might resist when being given the medicine, so he directed Gu Ping'an to press his entire body against Gu Lai'an to prevent him from struggling.
Gu Ping'an was overjoyed and pounced on him.
Gu Tang rummaged through the remaining firewood in the house and found a small piece of wood about the size of a palm, which was just the right size to pry open Gu Lai'an's mouth.
What Gu Tang did next made Third Uncle's eyelids twitch!
Gu Tang first pinched Gu Lai'an's nose hard, and when he opened his mouth due to lack of oxygen, she quickly inserted a piece of wood into his mouth.
The wooden piece pried his mouth open, and Gu Tang shouted excitedly, "Master! Quickly pour it into his mouth!"
Uncle San couldn't bear to look, but he still quickly poured the medicine into Gu Lai'an's mouth.
The sudden liquid rushed to his throat, and Gu Lai'an subconsciously began to swallow. However, because he was swallowing too quickly, he had some difficulty swallowing, and his head began to sway from side to side, while his hands and feet also struggled.
Gu Tang held his head in place with both hands, while Gu Ping'an pressed down on his hands and feet with all his might.
Seeing that the person was struggling more and more, the third uncle sped up and poured all the medicine down his throat in one go.
Unfortunately, the medicine was poured in too quickly, causing Gu Lai'an to choke and cough violently, with the medicine in his mouth immediately overflowing and flowing down his neck.
Fortunately, most of the medicine was swallowed, so the effort wasn't in vain.
After all that commotion, Gu Lai'an seemed to want to wake up. He opened his eyes a crack, but it was unclear whether he was fully conscious. After glancing around, he fell back asleep.
"Wow! My grandma's ancestral medicine-giving technique is really amazing! She can even wake up someone who is completely unconscious!" Gu Tang said gloatingly.
Third Uncle tapped her: "You always have so many ideas."
“This wasn’t my idea.” Gu Tang pointed towards the end of the village. “My dad said it was my grandma’s idea. That’s how she gave us the medicine.”
Third Uncle fell silent.
This girl... I just praised her for being soft-hearted, but that's not being soft-hearted, it's just that she's afraid things won't get chaotic.
"Go wash your hands quickly, a lot of that medicine was spilled on your hands just now."
As she spoke, she pointed at Gu Ping'an, who was still pressing down on Gu Lai'an: "The medicine has already been administered, why are you still pressing him down? Be careful not to hurt him."
Gu Pingan got off the bed with a grin: "I was just afraid he would cause trouble again."
"Go, go, go. You two don't need to guard this place. Go back to your room and write. Girl, go back to your room and make your incense. Don't bother him anymore."
The siblings had had their fill of playing, and with a smile, they responded and left the house one after the other.
Gu Ping'an went directly to the main room to write, while Gu Tang went back to the kitchen to wash her hands with hot water, intending to go back to her room to continue figuring out how to handcraft a crossbow.
As we walked along the corridor back to the west wing, the courtyard gate was suddenly banged on.