Chapter 605: 290 Selling Cuteness (Second Update)_2 Chapter 605: 290 Selling Cuteness (Second Update)_2 They were hands that have done hard labor.
Gu Jiao took her pulse, then withdrew her hands. “Your abdomen has been chilled and there is a sign of blood stasis. You need to take some herbal medicine that will relax your muscles and promote blood circulation. I will also prescribe you some painkillers; take one when the pain is unbearable, don’t tough it out until you pass out.”
After speaking, Gu Jiao turned around, placed her small knapsack on the table, and gathered the medicine from her first aid kit, separating it into porcelain bottles. She then wrote the instructions and dosage on the bottle labels with a charcoal pen.
Gu Jiao hadn’t asked how she ended up in Ciyu Village, whether she came of her own free will or was driven out by the Marquis Residence. Following Gu Jiao’s distribution of the medicine, she prepared to leave.
“Sister…” Gu Jinyu suddenly called out, her tone and expression filled with hesitation and unease. “Are mother and my little brother well?”
“They’re okay.” Gu Jiao answered succinctly.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, her voice choked with emotion.
Gu Jiao said indifferently, “A patient doesn’t need to apologize to their doctor.”
Gu Jinyu looked directly at Gu Jiao and said, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m not pretending. After living at the orphanage for a while, I truly realized how hard life is for the poor. You must have had it even harder, right? I heard that the family you lived with often refused to feed you. They beat you and forced you to work, and if it wasn’t for the identity switch, I should have been the one bearing it all.
I stole your life, and in the end, I jealously despised you because I couldn’t get the care from mother and my little brother, and because you were a mere peasant woman from the country…”
There are a few intelligent and clever children in Ciyu Village, but they have been abandoned in this place where they can’t get an education or learn anything, and their potential is being wasted so senselessly.
If it had been me left in the country back then, I’d probably have ended up like them. I always looked down on you, thinking I was superior because of my education, but I never realized that these opportunities were afforded to me because of your identity. If you grew up in the Marquis Residence like me, how could you be any worse off than I am now?
I always refuse to admit that you are better than me because of my vanity. I’m not asking for your forgiveness; I just want to tell you that I won’t do it again, whether you believe that I’m turning over a new leaf or simply resigning myself to my fate. Either way, I couldn’t stay in the Marquis Residence for much longer.
As she said all this, bitterness etched on her face, “I really envy you, having married and being able to keep mother and my little brother by your side. I don’t know what kind of household I’ll end up marrying into. My grandmother is picking a match for me, yet I know that ultimately, it won’t be as comforting as the life you have.”
“Are you done?” Gu Jiao asked.
Gu Jiao’s cold reaction was exactly what Gu Jinyu expected. She laughed at herself and said, “I heard your husband got first place in the national exams. I wanted to congratulate you both.”
“Thanks,” said Gu Jiao.
After speaking, Gu Jiao left with her knapsack.
Gu Jiao, seemingly as cold as iron, boarded the carriage back home.
While waiting for Gu Jiao, the boy have a chat with the other young fellows and some children at Ciyu Village. He had no idea that the patient Gu Jiao was seeing was her nominal little sister — the girl who was swapped with Gu Jiao at a young age.
On the way, with nothing much to do, the boy shared with Gu Jiao what he’d heard during his wait: “I heard that the girl is a young lady from a prominent family who came to Ciyu Village under an alias to do good deeds. If she hadn’t fainted today and been helped into a room by the village cook, who found her token, no one would have known she was a member of the gentry. She didn’t elaborate on her background, though.”
Gu Jiao opened the window curtain to appreciate the scenery along the road.
The boy continued on: “Ciyu Village has very little silver to spend each month, barely enough to cover food and clothes for the kids. The circumstances improved only after the girl arrived. She bought the children’s clothes and contributed towards their meals every month. In this day and age, such kind-hearted young ladies are hard to come by…”
Whatever the boy prattled on about next, Gu Jiao didn’t hear it. She had fallen asleep.
Elsewhere, Xiao Liulang had finally finished cleaning up a mess made by a little monk and came out from Guozijian with a face covered in dust.
He was leading little JingKong by the hand.
Although being led by the hand, JingKong’s little head was hanging down and his small body was expressing its endless resistance, just like a poor little creature about to be dragged home against its will.
Xiao Liulang saw the unwilling look on the little guy and gave a cold laugh: “Ha, this time I’m not going to cover up for you!”
He realized that constantly taking the fall for him, he was becoming too fearless.