Chapter 469 - 395: Oh, My Son
Zhao Jun used his foot to swing the door open, then charged inside with Li Baoyu on his back.
Seeing Zhao Jun carrying his son, Li Dayong’s head started buzzing. But then he watched as Zhao Jun reached the door to the west room, kicked the wooden door open, and went inside with Li Baoyu.
Li Ruhai was such a heavy sleeper that all the commotion hadn’t managed to wake him. But the loud THUMP of Zhao Jun kicking the door open startled him, and he let out a yelp.
Zhao Jun reached the side of the kang, turned his back to it, and slid Li Baoyu onto the bed. He then slid to the floor, collapsing on the spot.
When Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei rushed in, they saw Zhao Jun slumped on the floor. Their eldest son was on the kang, but both of his legs were dangling off the side.
Jin Xiaomei rushed to the kang and saw Li Baoyu’s face twisted in pain. He was groaning nonstop, one of his arms held awkwardly against his body.
For a moment, Jin Xiaomei thought Li Baoyu had been gored by a wild boar, and tears instantly streamed down her face.
"HUFF... HUFF..." Zhao Jun gasped for breath, then reached back, put a hand on the edge of the kang, and pushed himself up with all his might.
Li Dayong glanced over at the kang. Seeing no blood on Li Baoyu, he calmed down considerably. He reached out to help Zhao Jun to his feet and asked, "Jun, what happened?"
"N-Nothing... serious," Zhao Jun said between gasps. "Baoyu dislocated his arm."
"Ah! He didn’t brace the gun properly," Li Dayong realized at once. He nudged Jin Xiaomei, saying, "It’s nothing serious, so stop crying. You stay here. I’m going to the Xu family’s house to get Elder Xu."
For a dislocated arm, Han Shang was useless. They needed the village’s own Xu Guangyi. The old man came from a long line of healers and specialized in bone-setting and massage.
Li Dayong had just turned to leave when Zhao Jun grabbed him. Then, Zhao Jun spun around, grabbed Li Ruhai by his tank top, and yanked him off the kang. "Ruhai, you go," he ordered. "Go get Elder Xu."
"I..." Li Ruhai shrank back and whispered, "Brother Jun, I’m a little scared!"
"Scared, my ass!" Zhao Jun pulled a flashlight from his satchel, shoved it into Li Ruhai’s hands, and barked, "Now go!"
"Jun!" Now that she knew Li Baoyu wasn’t in serious danger, Jin Xiaomei had calmed down. But seeing Zhao Jun forcing Li Ruhai out into the night, and knowing her youngest son was afraid of the dark, she interjected, "Let your uncle go instead."
"No!" Zhao Jun cut Jin Xiaomei off. "Auntie, you stay here and watch Baoyu. Ruhai, you get a move on!"
Then, Zhao Jun turned to Li Dayong. "Uncle, you have to come with me. Get my dad, too. There’s trouble in the fields!"
"Alright!" Seeing how serious Zhao Jun was, Li Dayong agreed at once. He then gave Li Ruhai a kick on the rear and yelled, "Get going! Can’t you see your brother is in pain?"
Hearing that, Li Ruhai rubbed his butt, glanced back at Li Baoyu, then gritted his teeth and ran out of the house.
"Uncle, hurry up and get dressed!" Zhao Jun said, then turned and ran outside as well.
Once outside the courtyard, Zhao Jun vaulted the wall back to his own house. Worried he might startle Wang Meilan and his two younger sisters by bursting in, he went to the window of the east room and called out softly, "Dad."
"What is it?" Zhao Youcai’s voice came from inside. The dogs barking in both yards had already woken them up, and then they’d heard Zhao Jun shouting for the door to be opened.
Zhao Youcai knew something must have happened. He said a few words to soothe Wang Meilan, then got off the kang and put on his clothes and trousers.
"Son, what is it?" Wang Meilan asked, her eyes fluttering open groggily and her voice hoarse.
"It’s nothing, Mom. Go back to sleep," Zhao Jun replied from outside the window. He then turned and went to the hand-pump well, worked the handle a few times to splash cold water on his face, then cupped his hands to take a few gulps.
Just then, Zhao Youcai came out of the house, fully dressed. He had just closed the door behind him and was about to question Zhao Jun when he saw Li Dayong vault over the wall.
Zhao Youcai glanced at Li Dayong, then quickly turned to Zhao Jun and asked, "What in the world is going on?"
Zhao Youcai knew something was definitely wrong.
Li Dayong was curious as well. He walked over to stand beside Zhao Youcai, and both men looked at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun said to Zhao Youcai, "Zhang Laibao was at my uncle’s place stealing corn, and Baoyu mistook him for a Black Bear."
"That little bastard!"
Zhao Jun quickly added, "Baoyu couldn’t see clearly, so he aimed the gun at him. I knew something was wrong, so I pushed him from behind, and the shot went wild."
"My god!"
"Oh, no!"
The first part of Zhao Jun’s story made both Zhao Youcai’s and Li Dayong’s hearts leap into their throats. Zhang Laibao was in the wrong, sure—you could beat him, even beat him half to death—but you couldn’t shoot him.
If that shot had hit Zhang Laibao, Li Baoyu’s life would have been over.
But when they heard Zhao Jun say the shot missed, both Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong let out a long breath of relief. Li Dayong, in particular, felt like he had just narrowly escaped a disaster.
Zhao Jun continued, "But the recoil from the gun kicked back and dislocated Baoyu’s arm."
When you fire a gun, you support the barrel with your left hand and pull the trigger with your right. The stock must be pressed firmly against your right shoulder. If it isn’t, the recoil will slam the stock backward, injuring the shoulder. In a severe case, you end up with a dislocation, just like Li Baoyu.
Zhao Jun’s push had made the muzzle of Li Baoyu’s gun jerk upward, but it had also knocked the stock away from his shoulder. And that was what had caused the injury.
However, once Xu Guangyi came and popped the arm back into its socket, he would be fine after a few days of rest.
"That’s not so bad, then," Zhao Youcai said, glancing at Li Dayong, who was nodding in agreement. "The main thing is that no one was hit."
"Yeah," Li Dayong nodded, shooting Zhao Jun a look of immense gratitude. He was incredibly relieved that he had let Zhao Jun come along tonight. Otherwise, Li Baoyu’s entire life would have been ruined.