Seven, First Encounter

The man in the white shirt clapped his hands, turned his head, and saw Luo Shu excitedly looking at him, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, "You're injured, let me take you to the pharmacy to get bandaged up." He had come here because his family had received a call from Old Master Xu at Jimin Pharmacy, about obtaining a hundred-year-old ginseng. Since his base wasn't far from this small town, he had driven here. Right after parking his car, he had heard the sounds of a fight from this alleyway.

Tears streamed down Luo Shu's cheeks as she stared blankly at the person before her. It was wonderful! She had finally seen him again, and this time there was no age gap between them, this time she definitely wouldn't back down. She wanted to tell him that she liked him.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt a lot?" the man in the white shirt asked, frowning. It seemed like the young lady recognized him, but why couldn't he remember her at all?

Luo Shu hurried forward a few steps, reaching out to tightly hug the man in the white shirt, "It's great that you're here too! I've finally found you." This was the first time in two lifetimes that she had hugged him like this, it really felt like a dream!

The moment Luo Shu hugged him, the man in the white shirt instinctively wanted to push her away, but a mysterious sense of familiarity surged in his heart, and he stopped his hand, thoughtfully looking at Luo Shu who was hugging him. He was sure he had never seen her before, so why did he have this strange feeling?

"Have we met before?" the man in the white shirt gently pushed Luo Shu away. Even though she made him feel peculiar, he still didn't quite like being hugged in this way.

Luo Shu looked at the face that was much younger than she remembered and her lips curved into a happy smile, "We have." In her previous life, she never left his side; she knew him better than her own family.

The man in the white shirt slightly curved his lips, noting Luo Shu's arm, which was bleeding profusely, and a twinge of heartache rose within him, his handsome eyebrows furrowed once again, "Let me take you to the pharmacy to get a bandage." He was certain they hadn't met before, but when he saw her teary yet still sparkling eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say something that might hurt her.

"Okay!" Luo Shu wiped her tears and reached out to grab his hand. Even though she knew it wasn't good to do so, she really didn't want to let go of him. She had already missed him in one lifetime; she didn't want to miss him again.

The man in the white shirt glanced at Luo Shu and withdrew his hand. He didn't dislike her, but in this day and age, even married couples didn't hold hands in the street.

A twinge of disappointment crossed Luo Shu's heart, but she did not reach for his hand again, "My name is Luo Shu." Although they had been inseparable in her previous life, this was their first meeting in this one. If she was too forward, she might cause him to dislike her.

"Lu Hanmo." Lu Hanmo also revealed his name.

I know, Luo Shu silently said to herself, "Brother Lu, thank you for saving me."

Lu Hanmo shook his head, "No need to be polite! We're almost at the pharmacy." He glanced once more at Luo Shu's injured arm. The young girl was really tough; despite such a severe injury, she hadn't cried out in pain even once.

Shopkeeper Liu was organizing the account book when he heard footsteps at the door; looking up, he saw Luo Shu and Lu Hanmo entering and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. Then he noticed the wound on Luo Shu's arm, "Young lady, how did you get hurt? I'll get the medicine box to bandage you up."

"Thank you, Shopkeeper!" Luo Shu said with a smile of gratitude. Such a minor injury she could deal with herself, but she didn't want to part with Lu Hanmo so quickly.

Shopkeeper Liu quickly brought the medicine box over and said to Lu Hanmo beside him, "Would you please help the young lady roll up her sleeve?"

Lu Hanmo nodded, reached out slowly, and helped Luo Shu roll up her sleeve. As her sleeve was rolled up, Luo Shu's thin and frail arm was revealed to his eyes. Seeing Luo Shu's arm, so thin it was almost nothing but skin and bones, a pang of heartache surged in Lu Hanmo's heart. She must have been living a very hard life, otherwise, she wouldn't be so thin.

Luo Shu watched Lu Hanmo's profile, her heart filled with happiness, "Ow!" The rough fabric rubbed against the wound, and Luo Shu couldn't help but cry out in pain. It was only then that she noticed her frail arms and couldn't help feeling somewhat embarrassed. It seemed that she needed to take good care of herself, though she knew that Lu Hanmo was not a superficial person, she still hoped to present the best side of herself to him.

"The pain will go away once the medicine is applied," Lu Hanmo said softly to comfort her.

Luo Shu smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Brother Lu." Compared to meeting him, these injuries really weren't much at all. In fact, she felt somewhat thankful to those thugs; if it weren't for their robbery, she wouldn't have met him so soon.

"Shopkeeper Liu, it was Grandpa Xu who called me to pick up Ginseng," Lu Hanmo said after Shopkeeper Liu had finished bandaging Luo Shu. His grandfather had always been in poor health, so the doctor suggested that it would be best to use a hundred-year-old ginseng to replenish his vitality. The family had also been looking for a hundred-year-old ginseng, but unfortunately, they could only find some that were fifty to sixty years old.

"So, you are Young Master Lu? I will go get the Ginseng for you right now." After he had called Old Master Xu, not long after, Old Master Xu had called back, instructing him about this matter. He knew a little about the Lu family; they were one of the most prominent families in Jinchen.

"Alright!" replied Lu Hanmo.

Shopkeeper Liu went behind the counter and took out the Ginseng Luo Shu had sold to him earlier, then approached Lu Hanmo and said, "Actually, this Ginseng was sold to our pharmacy by this young lady. It's quite a coincidence that you know each other."

Seeing Lu Hanmo's surprised expression, Luo Shu smiled slightly, "I found it inadvertently in the mountains. I was robbed because I got money from selling this Ginseng."

"You were robbed?" Shopkeeper Liu exclaimed in surprise. He remembered that when the girl came to sell the Ginseng, there were no customers in the store; could it have been someone from the pharmacy? He looked around and noticed Hu Dahai was not there.

Shunzi had mentioned that Hu Dahai had a cousin who was a gangster. At the time, he had thought about dismissing Hu Dahai. However, after observing him for a while, he found that Hu Dahai seemed to be honest and worked diligently, so he discarded the idea. To his surprise, Hu Dahai had actually gotten involved in a robbery. It truly is hard to judge a book by its cover.

"Was it our employee who leaked the information?" Although he was certain in his heart, Shopkeeper Liu still wanted an answer.

"I'm not sure, those people have already been caught by the Public Security Office, and I believe there will be results soon," Luo Shu said. Of course, she knew that the man with buckteeth was an employee of Jimin Pharmacy, she didn't confront the matter directly, not wishing to make Shopkeeper Liu too uncomfortable.

Lu Hanmo glanced at Luo Shu with a slight smile, his eyes filled with admiration. He withdrew his gaze and said to Shopkeeper Liu, "Shopkeeper Liu, I will take the Ginseng with me. I will personally call Grandpa Xu about it."

Shopkeeper Liu nodded with a smile, "Alright! I will see you out!" Once they had left, he also planned to go to the Public Security Office to see if it was indeed Hu Dahai.