Chapter 33: Truly Useless
Wu Dahai glanced at the small figure anxiously hopping by the riverbank and frowned, ordering a nearby soldier in a deep voice, “Go see what’s going on.”
By the time the soldiers reached the riverbank, Yu Haojie had already jumped into the rushing river, heading straight for Yu Xiaogang, who was on the verge of being swept away.
Because he wasn’t shackled, he was the fastest among the crowd.
When he got to the riverbank, Yu Xiaogang was still desperately clutching onto a stone by the shore. However, the twelve-year-old, exhausted from a day’s journey and already on the verge of a breakdown, lost his grip the moment he saw Yu Haojie appear. His hands slipped, and he was immediately carried away by the current, drifting two meters out.
Seeing such a frail child, only twelve years old, Yu Haojie couldn’t bear it. He leaped into the river without hesitation.
By the time everyone else arrived at the shore, the dark river only showed a faint glow from the torches, and there was no sign of Yu Haojie!
“Dad! Haojie!”
“Xiaogang! My Xiaogang!”
Zhang Fen, Ye Jiamai, and Yu Luo’s heart-wrenching cries pierced the night, filled with such anguish and despair that it made everyone feel uneasy.
“Mom, Dad… Dad won’t be in trouble, right?!”
Yu Luo reached out, clutching Ye Jiamai’s arm, her vision blurred with tears. She couldn’t believe her father would act so impulsively to save a stranger.
How foolish of him!
Did he not think for a moment, when he jumped into the river, that if something happened to him, there would be no one left but her and her mother?
Hearing Yu Luo’s cries, Wu Dahai, who hadn’t planned to move, performed a lightness skill to reach the riverbank.
“What’s going on?”
Hearing Wu Dahai’s voice, Ye Jiamai and her daughter, as if clinging to a lifeline, immediately moved to kneel before him.
Before they could kneel, Wu Dahai lifted them up with a swift motion.
“You saved my life—there’s no need to kneel to me.”
“Commander Wu, you have lightness skill—can you please save my father?”
Wu Dahai’s expression changed instantly at Yu Luo’s plea!
Before he could refuse, a stack of silver notes was pressed into his hand!
Judging by the thickness, even if they were in one-hundred tael denominations, it had to be several thousand taels—if they were thousand-tael notes…
“Don’t worry, this stretch of the river is only rough here. Downstream, it gets shallower. I’ll go check.”
In the end, Wu Dahai kept the silver notes and took off downstream using his lightness skill!
In truth, Yu Haojie hadn’t jumped blindly. During their rest, he had scouted ahead and noticed that just a few meters downstream, the river narrowed. With his swimming skills, he could definitely save himself.
When Wu Dahai arrived, sure enough, Yu Haojie was already pulling himself and Yu Xiaogang ashore by leveraging the narrower section of the river.
Seeing this, Wu Dahai hurried over to help, first pulling Yu Xiaogang to shore, then Yu Haojie.
“Thank you! Thank you, Second Uncle!”
Yu Xiaogang, despite his young age, was a sensible child. Although his grandmother was unreasonable, he hadn’t inherited that nature. He knew the danger Yu Haojie had faced by jumping into the river and was genuinely grateful.
Having been soaked by the icy river water, wearing only a thin cotton jacket, Yu Xiaogang had felt as if the gates of the underworld were opening for him.
Even though he was still weak, he couldn’t help but kneel down in gratitude to Yu Haojie, his eyes filled with tears.
Seeing such a well-mannered child, Yu Haojie couldn’t help but feel relieved. If it had been someone from the first branch, he would’ve let them die without a second thought, but how could he abandon a child like this?
“Get up quickly! Let’s get back and change into dry clothes by the fire, or you’ll catch a cold.”
Panting, Yu Haojie pulled the boy to his feet, speaking in a gentle tone.
“I don’t know what sort of bad luck I’ve walked into. Usually, when the court exiles criminals, the guards couldn’t care less about them. But you all manage to stir up trouble every single day!”
Snorting in frustration, Wu Dahai turned around and stormed back to his resting spot.
Seeing Wu Dahai’s grumpy yet helpless demeanor, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly lowered his head in fear.
Yu Haojie, however, was in high spirits. He could tell that, despite Wu Dahai’s greed, he still had principles. At least he remembered the debt he owed to Ye Jiamai for saving his life.
Patting Yu Xiaogang’s head reassuringly, Yu Haojie wrung out the icy river water from the boy’s soaked cotton jacket before doing the same for his own.
Soon, Ye Jiamai and Yu Luo, carrying torches, came rushing over, followed by the second and third branches, and even Yu Zhengqing.
“Haojie, are you alright?”
Surprisingly, the first to speak was Yu Zhengqing, his concerned gaze making Yu Haojie unsure how to react.
“Dad, here’s a blanket—wrap up, quickly, or you’ll catch a cold.”
“No, if the blanket gets wet, what will we use tonight? Let’s just get to the fire and warm up first.”
Ye Jiamai had been about to scold him for his recklessness, but seeing him shivering uncontrollably, she swallowed her anger.
Back at the fire, Yu Luo pretended to pull out a fresh set of clothes from her pack, urging Yu Haojie to change quickly.
Meanwhile, Wang Ying from the third branch hurried over with a cup of hot water. As the warmth spread through his body, Yu Haojie began to feel much better.
“Thank goodness you’re alright. But we don’t have any spare clothes left.”
Over by the third branch’s fire, Zhang Fen and Yu Shanhai were looking at the still-shivering Yu Xiaogang with worry and helplessness.
Before she could finish complaining, Yu Shanhai had already taken off his own jacket, wrapping it around his son without hesitation.
“Daddy, aren’t you cold?” the little girl asked, eyes wide with concern.
“Daddy’s not cold. I can warm up by the fire,” Yu Shanhai replied, though his own body was trembling from the cold.
Looking at the way he selflessly gave his coat to his son, Yu Haojie couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
