The dilapidated house had a basement.
The girl pulled Zhan Bei Jue into the house and first fetched him a cup of water from the tap, which he gulped down.
Then, she dragged him directly into the basement.
A dark red carpet was spread on the basement floor.
As soon as his feet landed, thick dust flew up, stinging his nose.
A dirty pillow was tossed onto the carpet, and the surroundings were strewn with discarded bottles, cans, and scrap metal.
After pulling him to lie down on the carpet and draping her coat over him, the girl left.
She was gone for the entire day.
During that time, Zhan Bei Jue woke up several times.
The thirst had subsided considerably, but his head ached, his entire body hurt, as if he had a high fever, the pain making him twitch.
He felt dizzy and disoriented, wanting to grasp something to confirm he was alive, but he couldn't grasp anything.
Thus, fluctuating between hot and cold, drifting in and out of consciousness, he lasted until it was pitch black, and someone pushed the door open.
With a soft "click," the room lit up.
Zhan Bei Jue slightly opened his eyes and saw those worn, dirty, and foul-smelling sneakers again.
The girl, wearing the shoes, stepped onto the carpet and walked to his side.
As she stepped on it, the carpet billowed dust in the light.
The dust made Zhan Bei Jue cough twice, and he wearily closed his eyes again.
She knelt beside him and reached out to touch his face.
Then, she couldn't help but murmur in English, "So hot. Why do you have such a high fever?"
"Where are you bleeding from? How did you get such a serious injury? Why did you come to my doorstep instead of anywhere else?"
To figure out the location of the wound, she roughly ran her hand over his head.
She touched a split injury.
The pain made Zhan Bei Jue feel as if his tail had been grabbed, and he couldn't help but shudder all over.
He wanted to curse her and tell her to be gentler.
But at this moment, he was on the verge of death; his mind could still function, but his voice was completely gone.
"You're quite resilient."
After touching the wound and seeing how large it was, the girl removed her hand, wiped it on his clothes, and turned to leave again.
The touch from her left Zhan Bei Jue in pain for a long time, unable to recover.
It wasn't until she had been gone for a while that she returned with a stout woman.
The two closed the door and spoke very quietly beside him, conversing entirely in English.
Seeing the man so dirty, severely dehydrated, and bleeding, the stout woman sighed as if accustomed to such sights, then asked.
"Where did you find him? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"
The girl shrugged and replied.
"I found him outside my house. Of course, I'm afraid of trouble. I didn't want to bother with him, but he just kept lying there."
"If he dies there and turns into a pile of rotten flesh, it'll be even more trouble for me."
"His injuries are quite severe. Min'er, I can't give you credit anymore. You know I have children to feed."
The girl named Min'er seemed to have anticipated this and answered directly.
"I know. Don't worry, I'll pay you first this time. Treat him first. If he really dies in my house, then I'll be in big trouble."
"Alright," the stout woman agreed.
"He has a large wound on his head. We need to stop the bleeding urgently. I'll have to shave his head. Go get some hot water and a towel."
Min'er opened the door and quickly walked out.
The stout woman took a clipper from her tool kit and began shaving Zhan Bei Jue's head.
Soon, he was completely bald.
The stout woman asked Min'er to hold his head still at this angle.
"Now I'm going to stitch him up."
On Zhan Bei Jue's left ear, diagonally upward, was a split about the length of a thumb.
Fortunately, it was only a superficial wound and not a fracture, so it just needed to be stitched.
This was also why, despite losing so much blood, he hadn't died yet.
Even Guan Yu chewed on a towel when stitching with bare hands.
The woman stitched as she said, and as the needle pierced his skin, Zhan Bei Jue yelped, nearly jumping up.
It hurt so much.
Who knew what it felt like to be poked in the scalp with a needle?
The pain made him wish he were dead.
"Don't move."
The woman, as if operating on a fish, pushed the needle into his skin again.
Zhan Bei Jue's consciousness began to recover somewhat.
In this dirty and dilapidated basement, with no disinfection or hygiene conditions, they were stitching his head?
It was a miracle he wouldn't get complications.
He wanted to use all his strength to lift his right hand to stop them. Min'er was startled by his bloody, grimacing, struggling appearance.
"Da Mei, why don't you give him some anesthetic so he can sleep? He seems to be in a lot of pain."
The stout woman said, "His leg and left shoulder are both broken. It would be good to give him anesthetic while repairing them."
"However, are you sure, Min'er? The cost for that is not low."
Min'er lowered her head and looked again at Zhan Bei Jue's face, which was a mess.
"Give him the anesthetic. I'll pay you first with the money I earn. As long as this trouble is resolved quickly."
The two treated him like a salted fish.
They rendered Zhan Bei Jue unconscious, handling him as they pleased.
After a series of stitching sounds, his shoulder and leg were fixed with casts.
His whole body was wrapped like a mummy, and then he was placed back on the carpet.
In the following days, Min'er continued to visit him once a day.
For the first two days, Zhan Bei Jue was groggy and had a persistent fever, unable to eat or drink.
Each time Min'er entered, she would feed him the medicine, cover him with the coat, and then leave.
It wasn't until the third day that Zhan Bei Jue, who hadn't eaten, drunk, urinated, or defecated for days, felt the urge to use the restroom.
As Min'er was about to leave, he reached out and pulled her.
"Bathroom, I need to go to the bathroom."
He uttered the words almost as a groan.
"There's no bathroom here."
Min'er looked at him, who was wrapped like a mummy, and thought.
Even if there were, you couldn't go in this state. I can't lift you.
"Do you need to go number two or number one?"
"Number one."
Zhan Bei Jue didn't even realize they had been communicating in English the whole time.
"Wait a moment."
Min'er casually picked up a large cola bottle from nearby, unscrewed the cap, and placed it on the floor.
Then she walked to Zhan Bei Jue's side, "Do it in here."
What did she mean by "do it in here"?
Zhan Bei Jue instinctively wanted to reject this.
But Min'er didn't have time for his sensibilities.
"Your leg is injured, and you can't move now. There's no bathroom for you here. If you don't do it in here, you'll have to do it in your pants. Choose one."
"I'm running out of time and have to leave immediately. If you choose to do it in the bottle, I can help you. If not, I'm leaving now."
With that, she didn't even give him time to think.
She tossed the bottle onto the carpet and stood up to leave.
Zhan Bei Jue quickly pulled her back again.
When the casts were put on, his pants were inconvenient. Da Mei had directly pulled his pants off.
Beneath the coat, Zhan Bei Jue had one leg in a cast and the other bare.
Min'er, accustomed to this, reached in and secured him in a couple of moves, looking away.
"Begin."