Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 609: Strange
In addition to shouting for help, people who fall into the water will also ask others to save others first. Zhang Shou had only seen this kind of situation in TV dramas in his previous life. Generally speaking, they were either partners who promised to live and die together, or extremely deep revolutionary friendships, or loved ones and friends. He stared at the two people who fell into the water for a while, and just when he was wondering if they were brothers or friends, the person who called for help first became furious.
"Zou Ming, are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy, I..." The young scholar struggling in the water wanted to shout something, but in the end he gulped down a few more mouthfuls of water and almost choked, and then he could no longer speak.
In his previous life, Zhang Shou also happened to encounter people falling into the river. One time it was a child who slipped, and another time it was a young man who jumped into the river. Being a good swimmer, he readily rescued the child who slipped, and later received a thousand thanks from the parents. As for the man who jumped , he was too lazy to even watch, and simply turned around and walked away. The only difficulty in the world is death. Since you want to die, then die!
Although the first reaction of the guy who was about to commit suicide after falling into the water was to yell for help...
So, at this moment, he thought that the scholar who was clearly choking on water but still yelling to save others first was a little interesting. But when he looked at the guy that the scholar yelled to save first, he only saw that he was a sturdy man. Although he also seemed to be struggling in the water, the more he looked, the more he felt that something was wrong.
Although he didn't see how the two fell into the water, Zhang Shou still shouted without hesitation: "Zhu Hong, rescue the scholar surnamed Zou first!"
Seeing that the man who jumped into the water to save people really went to save his companion first because of his words, the one who had been anxiously scolding his friend just now felt relieved at once, while the other scholar who was so frightened that he couldn't help but sit on the ground hurriedly got up, stumbled to Zhang Shou, and then bowed to the ground.
"Thank you for your help, young master! Fortunately, you didn't listen to Brother Zou. He is talented and well-read, but he is a weirdo!"
As he was speaking, the nimble Zhu Hong had already swam to Zou Ming's side and dragged the now completely exhausted scholar onto the shore. He only had time to hand the man over to a few other guards who came to take over, and he hurriedly jumped into the water to save another one.
Seeing Zou Ming being rescued to the shore, he did not complain about the action of saving him first - of course, it was also possible that he did not have the energy to complain, because he was shivering and his face was blue and purple from the cold. Zhang Shou quickly called his followers to catch up.
Without his command, several people from the Duke of Zhao's mansion were busy cleaning the debris in Zou Ming's mouth, and then controlling the water. After seeing that he had spit out a few mouthfuls of water and had recovered his normal breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, someone quickly stripped off Zou Ming's wet clothes and wiped his body dry with the sweat towels they brought with them.
But in this cold weather, being stripped naked, the skinny Zou Ming's face turned purple, and he looked like he was half dead, and he didn't even have the strength to groan. Seeing this, and seeing that most of the other people were wearing thin cloaks, Zhang Shou, with the intention of saving people to the end, simply took off his heavy fur coat and gestured to wrap it around the scholar.
Facing such a generous attitude, the other two scholars looked at each other and could not help but be moved. Nowadays, there are few people who help others in times of need, but many who add icing on the cake. The kind of people in ancient books who give away food and clothes are even harder to find, especially strangers who meet by chance.
At this moment, both of them were very worried that their brother Zou would come to his senses and say something unpleasant because of his strange temper, which could be described as conceited or ignorant of the ways of the world, to put it bluntly.
So, the two rushed forward, surrounded Zhang Shou and thanked him profusely, saying a lot of nice things. As a result, they were so distracted that they didn't even notice that several followers had already carried away Zou Ming, who was wrapped tightly in the cloak and had chattering teeth. When they came to their senses, they saw that their companion was gone, and the other strong man who fell into the water had been rescued.
Compared to Zou Ming, who was rescued earlier, Zhu Hong held the man's neck with one hand when he rescued him. His face was gloomy and a little blue, as if he was frozen. As soon as he got ashore, he threw the man on the ground. After roughly controlling the water, he tested the man's breathing and confirmed that it was normal. Then he let the guy lie on the ground like a dead dog.
The remaining few followers also acted quickly. Some of them stepped forward immediately. Some took off their coats to help Zhu Hong dry his body, some were busy handing him his clothes, shoes and socks, and others were busy asking about his well-being. As for the unconscious strong man, no one paid any attention to him.
Seeing this, Zhu Ying couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in confusion: "What's wrong with you guys? It's so cold, even though this person has been rescued, his clothes are soaking wet. If we don't take care of him, he will freeze to death!"
Hearing this, Yang Hao, who had come out with Zhang Shou today, shouted angrily, "Miss, I saw it clearly just now. It was this reckless fellow who suddenly ran out and bumped into the scholar, and the two of them fell into the water together! In such a cold weather, Brother Hong had to jump into the water to save him. This guy deserves to die! Young Master and Brother Hong actually saved him. They are so kind!"
After hearing what was said, the two scholars who were still a little confused reacted immediately. One of them was so angry that he was shaking, pointing at the ignorant man and angrily said: "That's right, we were walking with Brother Zou Xian just fine, but this man suddenly shouted and rushed out, knocking Brother Zou Xian directly into the water!"
It was not until this moment that Zhang Shou finally understood what had happened when he saw the man falling into the water. He had just felt that the man's struggle in the water was a little fake, and now he seemed to have fainted. He could not help but glance at Zhu Hong, whose face was as gloomy as water, and then told Yang Hao to lend him a cloak to wrap him up and then send it to a store not far away.
Although Yang Hao was somewhat reluctant, he had no choice but to obey Zhang Shou's order. But just as he took off his new cloak, Zhu Hong came up and stripped the sturdy man naked in a few seconds.
Zhu Hong packed up the wet clothes and other things that he had taken off the man into a roll. He even touched the man's wet hair and pulled out a wooden hairpin. He then gave the big bag of things to another guard at the side, and then explained a few words to Yang Hao.
"His clothes are soaked through, and your cloak is padded, so it will get wet too. This is not saving someone, but killing him. It would be more appropriate to strip him naked first and then wrap him in the cloak. Isn't that how Master Shou dealt with the scholar just now?"
Zhang Shou saw Zhu Hong turn around and look at him after he finished speaking, obviously he had something to say, so he planned to send the two scholars who were thanking him profusely away. But who knew that at this moment, he felt a weight on his shoulders, and when he turned around, he saw that it was Zhu Ying who directly gave him her extremely thick cloak.
Seeing Zhu Ying wearing only a small jacket and a skirt, rubbing her hands because of the cold, he couldn't help but feel angry and amused. He quickly pulled off the cloak that didn't fit her at all and wrapped the young lady tightly again.
"Okay, Yingying, don't make trouble. If I get sick from the cold, how can I explain to the Madam and Auntie Nine? I was weak when I was a child, but since I recovered from the illness, I have been healthy and have never been sick again. It won't hurt to get some fresh air! Be obedient and don't be stubborn. I have sent someone back to get some clothes!"
Seeing that Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were behaving intimately and did not look like siblings, the two scholars recalled Zou Ming's rash greeting that had not yet been carried out, and could not help but look at each other.
Although they knew that asking this question was abrupt, they endured it again and again. Finally, one of them couldn't help asking: "For saving such a life, we and Brother Zou must come to thank you. May I ask who this gentleman and this lady are..."
"No need to thank us. We didn't save anyone. If you want to thank someone, just thank Zhu Hong. It was so cold, but he jumped into the water to save someone. He suffered a lot!"
Zhu Ying was wrapped in a cape, and she felt very distressed when she saw Zhang Shou's thin clothes being blown by the wind. When she saw Zhu Hong coming over with a pale face from the cold, she quickly waved her hand to signal him not to be polite, and then ordered without further explanation: "Okay, don't say anything, everyone go to the store over there and drink some ginger soup! You should also cover yourself with a quilt and sweat it out, you are not made of iron!"
Zhu Hong was driven away by Zhu Ying before he could say a word. He was helpless. But he saw Zhu Ying driving him away and dragging Zhang Shou to the store over there, claiming to go to avoid the wind and get warm. The two scholars followed them in a hurry. He had a lot to say but couldn't say it, so he could only hold it in his heart.
When they arrived at the inn where the two drowning people were housed, the shopkeeper and the waiters all gathered around and were busy with work. He had no chance to talk to Zhang Shou. He could only secretly thank God that he had instructed several guards from the Zhaoguo Mansion to keep a close eye on them and had packed up all the evidence early.
The two scholars, who had just not been able to find out the names of Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, finally found out who the godlike young couple were in this chaotic situation because the guards who arrived earlier had revealed their identities to the store owner.
Their first reaction after knowing the news was that both of them felt as if their heads were exploding. They rushed to Zou Ming's side at the same time, each one shouting louder than the other.
"Brother Zou, you are so lucky! Do you know who are the kind-hearted people who saved you just now? They are the lecturer in the Eastern Palace, Doctor Zhang from the Imperial College, and the eldest daughter of Duke Zhao's mansion! They are so kind-hearted, righteous and generous, you must thank them later!" As if he realized that he had forgotten the person who actually jumped into the water to save people, he quickly nudged his companion with his elbow.
"That's right, the guy who saved you is a guard from Duke Zhao's mansion. He's a great swimmer, but he's almost exhausted after saving two people. He hasn't recovered even after drinking two bowls of ginger soup! You should thank him later. Going into the water to save someone in such a cold weather might even get you killed! You, you insisted on walking towards the water, and ended up getting pushed into the water by someone, right?"
That was not all. When the waiter with the towel came up and said he wanted to wipe the man's body again, the two young men immediately grabbed the job. They were good at studying, but had they ever served others? They clumsily took the towel that the waiter claimed had just been scalded with hot water, and one of them wiped Zou Ming's body while the other wiped his hair, showing a deep friendship.
Only Zou Ming himself knew that his two friends were not helping him, but were torturing him, and their strength seemed to be free. At first, he was still grimacing and enduring, and before he knew it, he was about to scream, but before he could make a sound, his mouth was covered tightly.
"You better watch your mouth, don't say you were flirting, understand?"
Zou Ming immediately quit: "But..."
"What buts are there? I was almost killed by you! How many people have been beaten to a pulp by this opponent? Who are we? Not to mention that he is your savior. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't be able to save your life! We came to Beijing to take the Spring Examination, not to cause trouble!"
Having suffered an unexpected disaster, and now being severely warned by two bad friends, Zou Ming was so depressed that he was almost dead. After waiting for his two companions to confirm that he had understood, he dropped the hot towel and let the waiter come up to help clean up. He couldn't help sneezing and muttered: "But, the guy who pushed me into the water didn't do it accidentally, he did it on purpose!"
Although his voice was not too loud and the store was in chaos at the moment, Zhang Shou, who had been paying close attention, did not miss the sound.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, but did not rush over. Instead, he asked directly : "Why did you do it on purpose?"
Zou Ming was annoyed that his two companions didn't listen to him at all, while his waiter was busy packing his clothes. When he heard someone interrupting him, he was immediately cheered up - actually, it couldn't be said to be a big cheer, but because of these words, he finally sobered up a little bit as he was a little drowsy after falling into the water before.
He almost shouted in a delirious voice: "Of course he did it on purpose, because he came straight at me, and after falling into the water, he tried his best to pull me back into the water! If I hadn't kept the nail on my middle finger long because of the fortune I drew in the temple before, and hadn't hurt him so much that I kicked him away, I would have been drowned by this guy on purpose!"
With these words, the store suddenly fell silent. Even the other two scholars who had just complained about Zou Ming could not help but break out in a cold sweat. Would they, the foreign scholars who had just arrived in the capital, offend people so much that others would not hesitate to use this method to secretly harm them?
Zhu Hong did not expect that Zou Ming, whom he thought was just a dull scholar, had also noticed something strange. Seeing the different expressions on the faces of the people around him, he hesitated for a moment before secretly reporting to Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, and immediately said, "Mr. Shou, Miss, the man who knocked people into the water is a good swimmer. When I went to save him, he seemed to be deliberately tearing and kicking while struggling. I realized something was wrong, so I simply knocked him out."
At this moment, the other two scholars, who were just shocked and angry because their friend was knocked into the water, immediately took a breath of cold air. As expected of Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, they were decisive in saving people and more efficient in their actions. They knocked people unconscious when they saw that they were not right. Fortunately, Zou Ming did not do anything unnecessary when he was rescued, otherwise, wouldn't he be dead now?
