04 Saving People

Gu Jiao went out to chop firewood, partly because of a genuine shortage, but also in the hope of finding something in the forest to stave off hunger.

Although her family was not yet destitute to the point of being unable to afford meals, it was not far from it. If Xiao Liulang were the only one to eat, they could probably hold out for a few more days. With her included, circumstances were stretched thin.

It was now deep autumn, clear skies stretched as far as the eye could see, without a single cloud.

She wondered if it was due to the lack of pollution, Gu Jiao felt the sky above her was an unfamiliar, uncharacteristically blue. The air was also very fresh, lifting one's spirits.

She came here without rhyme or reason, she didn't know if the madmen at the Research Institute would miss her. Probably they were gritting their teeth, blaming her for disappearing suddenly without providing them with the latest research results.

However, she may appear to be a medical doctor at M University Research Institute on the surface, but in reality, she was a special agent. She had entered the Organization at the age of eight, and everything she had experienced thereafter was merely a disguise for her true identity.

Of course, she did not plan to lead such a dangerous life forever. She had agreed with the Organization that this would be her last job. Once finished, she would leave, but the plane had an accident unexpectedly...

In retrospect, the timing of the plane crash was too coincidental.

But discussing this now meant nothing, she was dead, there was no way to take revenge.

No one should feel saddened by her death.

Her parents divorced when she was two years old, they each formed new families, had new children afterward, she was always the surplus.

In some ways, her fate was quite similar to that of the previous host. The previous host's parents died early on, and in the Gu family too, she was superfluous.

When the previous host died, there was not a single person who genuinely felt saddened for her.

Gu Jiao sneered at herself, there was a hint of coldness in her eyes.

For fear of rain, Gu Jiao did not venture far into the forest. Yet, she still managed to find quite a few worthwhile items: fungi, mushrooms, and wild fungus growing on old stumps.

The fungus was plump and thick, practically covering half the stump. Gu Jiao picked the large ones.

This area, which was apparently logged by villagers, had many such stumps growing lots of fungus.

Gu Jiao went from one stump to the next, picking as she went, it didn't take long before her basket felt heavily laden.

Believing she had picked enough, Gu Jiao wisely called it quits. She chopped some firewood, secured the firewood and the basket with a cord, and was about to descend down the hill with it on her back.

However, as Gu Jiao turned to leave, she suddenly felt as if she had stepped on something.

Immediately following that, she heard a faint groan, very feeble and weak.

She blinked her eyes, slowly lifted her foot.

"This couldn't be happening…"

She took a deep breath, looked down, and saw a white-bearded old man lying in the bushes, who had just been knocked unconscious by her foot...

Gu Jiao: "..."

How could someone be lying in the ditch?

And she just happened to step on him?

Gu Jiao conscientiously stepped over him without a second thought.

However, within two seconds, Gu Jiao emotionlessly turned back.

"Let me just clarify, I'm not saving you out of goodwill," she said.

"Chuckle——"

Next to the old man was a tightly knit sack, a chicken inside fluttered its wings and made a sound.

Gu Jiao casually glanced at the bag, the bag went silent in an instant.

Then she looked at the white-bearded old man in front of her. There was a big footprint on his face, left by Gu Jiao's stepping, a pitiful sight.

His clothes suggested a common villager.

However, there was an indescribable aura of authority in his appearance.

Gu Jiao dropped the firewood from her back and started to take his pulse.

She learned Western medicine at school. However, later she had to execute a very special task. She infiltrated the home of a renowned doctor of traditional Chinese medicine under the pretext of apprenticeship, and stayed undercover for a full five years.

From the look of his pulse, he didn't have a serious disease. Gu Jiao deduced he was suffering from a sudden high fever due to flu. He must have accidentally fell into the ditch and dislocated his arm.

Gu Jiao took her small first-aid kit out of her backpack, grabbed an ice pack, and applied it to his forehead.

Then, Gu Jiao took care of his arm, cut a piece of firewood, tore off his clothes, and immobilized his arm.

Having done all that, Gu Jiao checked his temperature again and found it was still too high, so she gave him an intramuscular injection to reduce his fever.

Not far away, there was a small grass shelter for villagers to rest when they went up the mountain.

Gu Jiao moved him there.

After the fever subsided, and he was about to wake up, Gu Jiao got up to leave the mountain. Before she left, she left her umbrella to him.

"I don't cure people for free."

As she finished speaking, she took a cloth bag with a wild chicken inside and left.

As soon as Gu Jiao got home, it started to rain heavily. In no time, it was pouring. The distant mountains and the village shelters were all enveloped in a mist of rain.

Gu Jiao went straight to the stove.

Xiao Liulang had already cleaned up the dishes and wiped the stove, and even put away the clothes.

Gu Jiao set down the firewood and the cloth bag, opened the cabinet to check, and wondered, "Did you eat it all?"

She had left quite a lot.

She didn't expect that skinny man to have such an appetite.

Is this really the age for growth?

Gu Jiao raised her eyebrow and put the wild chicken in a cage.

Gu Jiao separated the small firewood from the large ones and picked out the ones that needed to be split.

By the time she finished splitting the firewood, it was already evening and the rain hadn't stopped. The room was damp and cold. She looked for a heating pot, planning to start a fire for herself. Suddenly, she thought of something and went to Xiao Liulang's room, gently knocked on his door.

"Do you want to heat up?"

She asked softly.

There was no response from inside the room.

She called out again but still no response.

Seeing the door slightly ajar, Gu Jiao gently pushed it open. Peeking inside, she saw a thin figure asleep at the worn-out table under the dim oil lamp.

He was still holding a book that he hadn't finished reading.

The book was clearly yellowed, and the cover was cracked, patched up with oil paper.

It's hard to be a scholar in the countryside, especially Xiao Liulang, who was constantly exploited by the Gu Family and his previous master. He couldn't even go to a private school; all of his learning was self-taught.

Gu Jiao hesitated for a moment, then walked over silently, took a cotton jacket from the cabinet, and put it on him.

When Xiao Liulang woke up, it was already midnight.

He hadn't slept well for the past few days, and hadn't expected to fall asleep at the table. As he opened his eyes and found a cotton jacket on him, a frown appeared on his face, and a hint of caution flashed in his eyes.

He frowned at the book in his hand, then heard a crackling sound. Turning his head, he saw a heating pot burning on the floor, which must have been placed there at some point.

The cold room was instantly warmed up by the fire.

Xiao Liulang's eyes fell on the heating pot, revealing a thoughtful look.

There was only one heating pot in the house. If she gave it to Xiao Liulang, Gu Jiao wouldn't have one on her side.

After putting away her small first-aid kit, Gu Jiao quickly crawled into bed and wrapped herself up like a small silkworm.

She had been so exhausted from the day's activities that she quickly fell asleep in the cold.

Gu Jiao hadn't dreamed in many years, but she had a dream that night.

In her dream, a doctor came to town, and Xiao Liulang went to him to get his leg treated. However, there was a medical dispute in the pharmacy where the doctor was, which inadvertently hurt many people.

Xiao Liulang, who had been limping on one leg, ran slower than others and ended up getting his other good leg injured too.

While this injury didn't cost him his life, it caused him to miss an exam three days later.