But... But... I Haven't Done Anything Yet!

Xiao Yue gave him a burst of dry laughter. Yes, how funny.

Wu Chao Guang introduced Xiao Yue and Yu Fen to the others as Little Duck and Little Fish. When the curious soldiers asked about the origin of the names, he made up a little story, saying that Xiao Yu and Xiao Ya were cousins.

Xiao Yu's mother craved fish when she was pregnant with Xiao Yu, so when the boy came out, she gave him the name Little Fish. Xiao Ya's mother also craved something when she was pregnant.

Guess what? Correct, she craved ducks! So when she gave birth to a boy, the boy got the name Little Duck. Everyone found the story hilarious. Everyone but Xiao Yue and Yu Fen.

There were nutritious potato and pork rib soup and hand-pulled noodles for dinner that night. The mouth-watering smell wafted from the kitchen and spread to the whole base, inviting the hungry soldiers to come and eat dinner. Even those who had to stand guard could not help but throwing looks full of desperate longing in the kitchen's direction.

The soldiers treated Yu Fen as a goddess who descended from heaven to cook them good food. Yu Fen truly enjoyed this new job. She cooked a lot that night, so she let the soldiers eat to their hearts' content.

Before even the big pots were upturned for the last droplet of soup, Yu Fen poured herself and Xiao Yue two steaming bowls. They carried the warm bowls on a tray over to a secluded place so they could talk more freely.

"Yu... I mean, Xiao Yu, are you okay? It must be tiring, cooking for so many people every day like this."

Yu Fen shook her head.

"No Young L- I mean, Xiao Ya. Truthfully, this s- I mean I do enjoy cooking. When I was a child, I wanted to be a cook in the palace."

"Oh? Then what happened?"

Yu Fen gave her an uneasy smile. She stirred a wooden spoon into the noodle soup and said, "My parents did not have much money to send me to school. I was only qualified to be a maid, so I started to work as a maid to earn money for my elder parents."

Xiao Yue leaned at a stack of hay while blowing on her bowl. Smiling, she said, "Well, now that all soldiers acknowledge your cooking skill, don't you think they can recommend you to the palace kitchen?"

Yu Fen's cheeks were tinted pink. Since she was a child, she had not gotten so many compliments. Cooking was her hobby. She enjoyed eating what she cooked, but she never dared to consider herself any good. This was the first time she ever cooked for others, and it was for this many people too. Their recognition and praises did warm Yu Fen's heart. She did not even feel exhausted when working in the kitchen for long hours. The happy faces and gratitude from the soldiers were the greatest reward she could ask for. She did not dare wish for more. The gods would punish her for being greedy.

"Y- Xiao Ya, is everything alright? What were you doing the whole afternoon?"

"Oh, that... Long Zhao Xue, he asked me to help find some cures for poisoning case."

Yu Fen frowned.

"Xiao Ya, you are not a medic. How can you help?"

She was not wrong. Chun Ya was a regular young lady with no medical background. She was not supposed to be able to achieve a feat such as curing poisoned patients. Xiao Yue quickly modified her story.

"What I mean is, I help to read the medical scrolls to the medics. Many of them have long years of experience as medics but a lot of them did not receive proper education, haha. The medical texts were so complicated. Even I get dizzy while reading."

Yu Fen oh-ed and sipped some soup from her bowl. Xiao Yue was glad that Yu Fen accepted her story. The truth was far more complicated than what Yu Fen was able to digest. Xiao Yue did not think that she would ever be able to tell Yu Fen even a fraction of the things that Long Zhao Feng knew by now, especially regarding Chun Ya's death. This was how it all started, but Xiao Yue could not even tell Yu Fen about it. The shock would be too great.

After dinner, the two women went to rest in their tent. The grateful soldiers had agreed to wash their own dishes. It was almost remarkable to what extent these otherwise very proud soldiers were willing to go as long as they could get good food on the table.

As soon as Xiao Yue's head touched the pillow, she fell asleep. They had been riding for many days, and Xiao Yue had not slept too well during the nights. Her real body could take it, but Chun Ya's body was that of a pampered young lady from a good house.

Yu Fen woke Xiao Yue up early in the morning. Xiao Yue thought it was too early, but seeing that breakfast was ready, she realized that Yu Fen woke up hours before she did to prepare breakfast for everyone.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Yu," Xiao Yue said, ashamed of herself when she looked at the steaming bowl of congee with meat strips and some scallion bits dotting the surface.

"You must be tired. Let me help. I want to help."

"No, no!" Yu Fen quickly objected.

"I am illiterate. Y- Xiao Ya is good at horse-riding and knows a lot about plants. Your role in this war is crucial. Please work hard, Xiao Ya! Let us not lose to the Hei Kingdom!"

Xiao Yue gave her a weak smile.

Right.

As of now, she was part of the Hong Kingdom. Whether or not the Shaman was part of this scheme was unclear. Xiao Yue only knew that right now the Hei Kingdom had somehow gotten their hands on Xi'an tribe's specialty poison and was now using it against the Hong Kingdom.

After losing the support of her own tribe, since her revival, she received a lot of kindness from the Hong Kingdom. It was just natural for her to want to protect them. Invigorated by Yu Fen's patriotic spirit and the delicious breakfast, Xiao Yue thus returned to the hospital tent to work on finding the cure again.

When she arrived at the smaller tent, it was empty. Xiao Yue was stunned. Where did the patients go, did they suddenly recover? Now that would be a breakthrough discovery in poisoning cases...

"Xiao Ya."

Pulled back from her imagination, Xiao Yue returned to the real world. A caretaker was poking his head through the tent flap.

"They died last night. We have moved the corpses into a different tent and send them back to their family today."

"..."