Chapter 3: Going Home
After trekking through the forest for four days, he finally saw Xiaolinbao at dusk, with smoke slowly drifting in the sky. Su Tang let out a long sigh and was slightly proud of his accurate sense of direction, then rushed down the mountain slope towards Xiaolinbao.
In the process of running, Su Tang began to tear his clothes, after a few days of tossing and turning, his clothes were already in tatters, now they had become so worn out that they barely covered his body. Su Tang also wanted to scrape himself lightly against the rocks he passed by, but his body was too dirty, he was worried that the wounds would get infected, and new injuries and old ones have some differences, he thought of using this to deceive someone, it's easy for a meticulous person to spot the flaw.
In a moment, Su Tang and Xiao Linbao were getting closer to the fields outside the village. Some farmers had already noticed them and stood up straight, looking over in their direction.
Su Tang took a deep breath and then shouted hoarsely: "There are wolves... so many wolves... Help! Save me..."
Su Tang was running and shouting non-stop. When he was still dozens of meters away from the farmland, he could no longer hold on and fell to the ground with a thud.
Soon, farmers came out of the paddy fields in twos and threes, surrounding Su Tang where he had fallen.
"Heavens... isn't this Young Master Su? How did it end up like this..."
"Didn't you hear? We've run into a pack of wolves!"
"Wolf pack? Young Master Su ran into the Dark Forest?"
"Haha... This time Qian Biao is in trouble, not stopping Young Master Su from causing trouble and not protecting him well. When he comes back, Miss Zhu will definitely skin him alive!"
"Come on, everyone lend a hand, we must hurry to send Master Su to the castle, Miss Zhu and Miss Ke have been anxious for several days." A loud and clear voice rang out.
Su Tang felt several pairs of hands lift him up and place him on a sturdy back, without opening his eyes he knew that the person carrying him was definitely Zhao Tiejiang from Xiaolingbao, no one else's muscles would be so solid.
It wasn't long before Su Tang heard the creaking sound, and the old inner castle gate was pushed open. With Zhao Tie's shouting: "Young Master Su is back! Young Master Su is back!" The entire inner castle was thrown into chaos.
Su Tang heard a very chaotic sound, but he found himself clearer than ever before. His heart was like a bright mirror, and he could make quick and accurate judgments about every strand of sound.
Some people's voices were filled with forced concern, some hid sarcasm and schadenfreude, some seemed helpless, while others genuinely rejoiced at the return of Su Shao Ye.
Everything in the outside world has felt both familiar and strange since he woke up from his coma a few days ago, and it's still the same now.
Su Tang can call out everyone's name based on their voice, but for those people, he has a brand new definition and evaluation.
Someone who used to appear very loyal may not necessarily be so, and someone who always made him feel annoyed before has shown a trustworthy and warm side.
It turns out that I have been living in a daze for over a decade! Su Tang let out a sigh in her heart.
Suddenly, a trembling voice came over: "What's wrong with Master? Uncle Zhao, what's wrong with Master?!"
Su Tang's heart suddenly warmed up, he knew who it was.
"Miss Ke'er, Young Master Su just ran out of the Black Forest, he's only a bit frightened, nothing serious." Zhao Ironworker replied in a rough tone.
At this time, another voice came over, with a very high tone, and as soon as she opened her mouth, the surroundings immediately became quiet.
"What's wrong with Master? Where is Qian Biao? Where is Qian Biao? Get out here for Auntie!!"
"Miss Zhu, Young Master Su is fine." Zhao the blacksmith had to repeat himself again: "I didn't see Qian Biao, he's probably still in the woods, or maybe he got separated from the young master."
"What do you know, a blacksmith?!" Zhu'er shouted: "Wu Po, quickly go and invite Sun Lang over!" Actually, Zhu'er was usually quite friendly to her neighbors, but seeing Su Tang's ignorance, she was shocked and angry, and didn't care about the consequences.
"Zhu'er girl, I met Sun Langzhong this morning, he should have gone to the village, today is the day when the young wife of Xu Village Head gives birth."
"Murakami isn't without a good doctor, what is he doing looking for Dr. Sun?!"
"The little wife of Xu Cun Tou has an abnormal fetal position and is afraid that she won't be able to get through, so they've called all the doctors from the surrounding villages." a well-informed person replied.
"What's going on? His little wife is human, but our young master isn't?! Zhu'er's anger grew, and she shouted: "Prepare the carriage, I'm going to reason with Old Lady Xu!"
"Hey... my little aunt, keep your voice down." Wu Po hastily said: "Don't say anything unpleasant, not to mention you, nor the young master. Even if Master were alive, he would still have to be polite when meeting the head of Xucun Village."
"I don't care, you're told to prepare the carriage, just go and prepare it! If something happens, I'll take responsibility alone!" Madam Zhu shouted.
Su Tang knew that if things went on like this, it would be bad. With his understanding of Zhu'er's personality, there was an 80% chance she would really run to Xu Cun Tou's home to argue.
"Water... water..." Su Tang moaned.
"Quickly, quickly carry the young master inside. Wu Po, you go and help the young master cook some congee, the young master has lost a whole circle, probably hasn't eaten properly for several days..." As she spoke to the end, Zhu Er's tone became somewhat choked, but she was still trying her best to control herself. As for the reason, Su Tang was extremely clear, and couldn't help but let out another sigh in his heart.
He was placed on a soft bed, and then a spoon was brought to his lips, with warm water in it. Su Tang didn't resist, and took several sips in a row, making comfortable humming sounds, and the furrowed brow also relaxed. He wanted to use body language to give Zhu'er a psychological hint that he was fine now, and it wasn't worth offending the village head.
As expected, Zhu'er didn't mention preparing the carriage again, and she drove everyone else away, leaving only Ke'er. The two of them began to undress Su Tang.
Su Tang was unconscious and couldn't cooperate, but his clothes were tattered to the extreme. Zhu Er and Ke Er didn't use much effort to strip Su Tang bare.
Su Tang's body was just dirty, but there were no wounds. Zhu'er finally let out a sigh of relief and went outside to fetch a bucket of warm water, soaking a towel in it and carefully wiping Su Tang's body clean.
"Alas, why do our lives as sisters have to be so bitter..." said Zhu'er, her eyes growing increasingly moist. She had to hold back in front of others, but in this relatively secluded space, she didn't need to hide anything: "In another half year, the young master will become the castle lord, yet he still doesn't take things seriously, only knowing how to cause trouble. Later on, if something unexpected happens to us... we..." As Zhu'er spoke, her voice trailed off and tears slowly welled up in her eyes.
"Zhu'er sister, don't think nonsense." Ke'er said in a low voice: "Young master isn't back yet? As long as he can come back, it's good."
"Pfft! I'd rather he didn't come back, and died in that forest instead!" Zhu'er said with hatred: "Is that so? I'm also relieved. At worst, I'll just find a rope in the house to hang myself, go see Madame, and say I was incompetent, couldn't take care of Young Master properly, and failed her. No matter how she scolds me, I..."
"Zhu'er sister, don't curse Young Master, don't..." Hearing Zhu'er say such cruel words, Ke'er was frightened to the point of having a pale face.
Zhu'er was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst out crying: "How could I have thought of cursing him... Waaahhh... It's all because he didn't try hard enough... Waaa..."
Ke'er was infected, thinking about the days of fear and panic, tears also fell down with a plop. She hugged Zhu'er and choked: "Zhu'er sister... don't cry... Young Master is back, we should be happy, not cry..."
Women are really troublesome... Su Tang's eyelids flickered, crying is not wrong, but first, you should take care of me properly? Being naked like this, what a joke!
However, Zhu's words made Su Tang feel very guilty.
Su Tang's father, Su Xiang, was summoned to go on an expedition and unfortunately died in battle. When Su Tang's mother heard the bad news, she fell ill immediately. With no relatives by her side and the reliable housekeeper away on a business trip, before she passed away, she only managed to call over two maidservants, Zhu'er and Ke'er, who had grown up with Su Tang, to her bedside.
Zhu'er and Ke'er were at a loss, they didn't expect the mistress to put such a heavy burden on their shoulders. On that day, Zhu'er and Ke'er made a poisonous oath, even if they were cut into pieces or crushed to death, they would take good care of Young Master.
To put it nicely, Su Tang was kind-hearted. To put it bluntly, Su Tang was always silly and couldn't calm down the people living in Xiaolingbao. Zhu'er was one year older than Su Tang and three years older than Ke'er. It seemed that because Madam had grasped her hand tightly before she died, Zhu'er had received a huge shock, so she suddenly grew up overnight, and her nature became more and more sharp and cunning. Zhu'er knew that good horses have riders, and kind people are bullied. Su Tang could be a heartless young master, but she couldn't.
In the following years, Zhu'er ran around every day, taking charge of all the practical matters in the castle, and propped up a quiet sky for the silly Su Tang.
In the eyes of those farmers in Xiaolinbao, Zhu'er's status was equal to that of Old Chang, the steward. Without Old Chang's hard work running errands, the Su family would have collapsed long ago. But if there was no Zhu'er, no matter how much money Old Chang made, it would all be swindled away, stolen, or squandered by Su Tang.
