Chapter 5. Sharing a Ride

When Xiao Liulang arrived in town, his schoolmate immediately dragged him toward the clinic.

A long line stretched outside the building. Everyone was waiting to see the famous physician.

The two of them stood at the very end of the line.

Dongchang stood on tiptoe, trying to see the front.

“We’re not too late. If we wait, we should still be able to get your consultation.”

“I’ll pay you back for the carriage fare later,” Xiao Liulang said.

Dongchang pounded his chest confidently.

“We grew up in the same hometown and studied at the same school. No need to act polite! Ah, you must be hungry?”

He had rushed out without eating, and Xiao Liulang hadn’t eaten either.

From his wide sleeve, he took out a small cloth bundle. Inside were three pretty cornmeal dumplings.

“Where did you get those?”
Xiao Liulang found them strangely familiar.

“I took them from your stove. They were freshly steamed when I went inside.”

Xiao Liulang’s eyebrows tightened.

“How many did you leave behind?”

Dongchang looked puzzled.

“What do you mean, leave behind? There were only three. Don’t you know how many dumplings you made?”

Xiao Liulang pressed his lips together and said nothing.

After a long moment, he finally asked quietly:

“Why didn’t you leave even one for her?”

Dongchang was shocked.

“You mean that shrew? What would be the point of leaving anything for her? Hasn’t she harmed you enough? Besides, she wouldn’t eat anything you made anyway!”

He took a dumpling and bit into it. His eyes widened.

“Xiao Liulang, why are these extra good today?”

At that moment, Xiao Liulang suddenly stepped out of the line.

“Hey! Where are you going? It’ll be your turn soon!”

Xiao Liulang didn’t answer and walked forward silently.

Dongchang stomped his feet, then turned to the woman behind them.

“Madam, could you hold our spot? I’ll be right back!”

He hurried after Xiao Liulang.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m going to buy osmanthus cake.”

Xiao Liulang cut through an alley toward Li Ji’s shop.

Li Ji’s was an old, famous bakery. The line was just as long as the clinic’s.

Dongchang panicked.

“Are you crazy!? You’re really going to buy cake for that wicked woman? You know the physician only stays half a day! If you wait here, you’ll miss him!”

But once Xiao Liulang made up his mind, no one could stop him.

***

An hour later, he finally bought the osmanthus cake.

“Let’s pray Physician Zhang hasn’t left yet!”

Dongchang grabbed Xiao Liulang and rushed back to the clinic.

But when they arrived, the long line was gone. Instead, curious townspeople and solemn soldiers surrounded the entrance.

Dongchang turned to a middle-aged man nearby.

“Excuse me, what happened? Where did all the patients go?”

The man shook his head.

“Ah, don’t even mention it! Some lunatic ran into the clinic with a knife. He claimed the doctor killed his mother and started slashing wildly! Everyone inside was cut. Did you see that woman at the front? Just before she went in, the madman charged inside! Luckily she ran out and survived, but she fell and hit her head.”

Wasn’t that woman the one who had been standing behind them?

If they hadn’t left, the last one entering the clinic would’ve been Xiao Liulang.

Without his leg, he never would’ve escaped. He would’ve been among the injured.

On the way home, neither of them spoke.

The sky grew darker as the donkey cart rattled along the lonely path.

Town carriages didn’t enter villages this late, so they had paid twenty coins to rent a simple donkey cart. It had no proper compartment—just a flimsy black cover with wind blowing in from all sides.

Their hands and feet were frozen stiff.

Suddenly, a slender figure appeared in Xiao Liulang’s view.

He stopped and stared.

They reached a fork in the road.

The right path led to the village. The west path led to the marketplace.

Walking along the narrow marketplace path was Gu Jiao, a heavy basket on her back, panting with effort.

The sun had already set. In the last traces of dusk, her thin figure was clearly visible.

When she lifted a hand to wipe her sweat, the cloth wrapped around her wrist showed—stained with blood.

“Stop the cart,” Xiao Liulang said.

The driver halted.

“What’s the matter?”

Dongchang asked—then noticed Gu Jiao waiting by the road.

She didn’t see them. She thought it was just a normal donkey cart and walked past without lifting her eyes.

“Get on.”

Xiao Liulang spoke.

Gu Jiao flinched and finally turned to look—only then noticing him and Dongchang inside.

Dongchang looked just as disgusted as always, but this time, he didn’t tell Xiao Liulang to ignore her.

“Get on,” Xiao Liulang repeated, his voice clear and cool.

Though only sixteen or seventeen, he carried a calm dignity beyond his age.

Gu Jiao hesitated, then climbed aboard.

She sat across from him and placed her basket on the floor.

“Did you go to the marketplace?” Xiao Liulang asked.

Gu Jiao nodded.

“Yes. I sold two chickens and bought some rice and flour.”

And did several other things as well.

Xiao Liulang stared at her for a moment, as if he understood something, but said nothing.

Dongchang, meanwhile, looked at her strangely. This foolish shrew… went to the market and did business?

Gu Jiao, unaware of his thoughts, asked,

“Did you see the physician today?”

Dongchang exploded.

“Of course not! It’s all because of YOU! If you hadn’t insisted on buying that stupid cake, he wouldn’t have missed the consultation!”

He did not mention that buying the cake had saved Xiao Liulang’s life.

“Oh… that’s unfortunate,” Gu Jiao murmured, lowering her eyes.

She said the words, but she didn’t look the slightest bit sad. Could she already know what had happened?

Impossible. With her nasty personality, if she knew she’d saved Xiao Liulang, she would never act this calm. Last time she saved him, she forced him into marriage. If she knew she’d saved him again today, she’d probably ask for the moon.

Dongchang snorted.

“Well, I ate the cake! Why should you benefit from it?”

Gu Jiao said calmly,

“Okay.”

He felt like he had punched cotton.

The three fell silent.

***

Just then, a luxurious carriage came down the road.

Dongchang perked up instantly and straightened his clothing.

“Look! That’s the Dean’s carriage!”

“What, Dean?” Gu Jiao asked.

“The Dean of Tianxiang Academy! Xiao Liulang’s exam in three days will be held there! The Dean is from the capital—one of the Four Great Talents of the Empire. His knowledge is unmatched! Being advised by him once is worth ten years of studying the classics! If only I could become his student! But he hasn’t accepted new students in years. I’ve been at the academy for half a year and haven’t even seen his face.”

He babbled nonstop, too excited to remember he was talking to his most disliked person.

Inside the carriage,

The white-robed dean sat respectfully across from an old man in plain clothes.

The old man’s left arm was wrapped with cloth. He held an umbrella in his arms. And on his face… was a huge dirty shoe print.

The dean didn’t dare ask a single question.

He bowed politely.

“Why did you suddenly leave the mountain without telling me? Should I send someone to assist you?”

The road to the village was rough, especially the path to Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao’s home. The wheels bumped and nearly got stuck several times.

The donkey stopped at the village entrance.

“Xiao Liulang,” Dongchang said, hopping down first and helping him off the cart.

Once standing, Xiao Liulang glanced back at Gu Jiao.

She hopped off lightly with her basket.

He turned away.

“That’s enough. You may go back,” he said to Dongchang.

It was late, and the driver looked impatient.

“Fine, I’ll go. Don’t forget your exam in three days! The academy won’t close that day, so I can’t come pick you up. You must go by yourself.”

“Alright.”

Xiao Liulang nodded and lifted his bundle.

The dark road made walking difficult. Gu Jiao waited for him quietly without moving.

Dongchang cast her a cold look, then pulled Xiao Liulang aside and whispered,

“Do well on your exam. If you pass and enter the academy, that shrew won’t be able to bother you anymore! And don’t rush your leg treatment. I’ll keep asking around about the physician. Oh—and eat the osmanthus cake yourself! Don’t give it to her!”

When Gu Jiao walked home from the market earlier, she had been drenched in sweat. Now, after riding in the wind, her sweat had dried, and her flushed face turned pale in the moonlight.

Xiao Liulang glanced at her once.

Dongchang wanted to say more, but Xiao Liulang cut him off.

“I understand. You should go.”

Dongchang opened his mouth but saw Xiao Liulang turn away. He had no choice but to leave.

Xiao Liulang gripped his bundle in one hand and his cane in the other as he headed toward home.

Gu Jiao took a step and followed.

She kept a respectful distance—not too close, but close enough to catch him if he fell.

But he knew the road well. He didn’t stumble once.

Most houses had already closed their doors. Only Zhun Xiang was outside pouring bathwater. She paused, staring blankly into the darkness.

“Xiang’er, why aren’t you coming in? What are you looking at?” Her mother-in-law croaked from inside.

Zhun Xiang blinked.

“Oh… I must have seen wrong.”