Chapter 5

Gu Jiao was quite surprised by her dream. She actually had a dream, and it was about a man.

"Am I really that preoccupied with him?" Gu Jiao rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

But it was just a dream, so Gu Jiao didn't take it too seriously.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, with a few stars still visible on the horizon, indicating it would be a sunny day.

Gu Jiao couldn't remember the last time she had woken up so early. In her previous life, although she worked at a research institute, those who knew her well knew she was a complete night owl. Her research and surgeries were mostly scheduled in the afternoon. As for the tasks assigned by the organization, they rarely required her to rise with the sun and rest at dusk.

Today, Gu Jiao was wearing her own clothes.

After bringing the brazier into Xiao Liulang's room last night, Gu Jiao had warmed her clothes by the fire. However, she had been very quiet and hadn't woken Xiao Liulang.

Gu Jiao went to the backyard to fetch water for washing up.

Xiao Liulang's door was open, but he was no longer in the room.

Thinking she had woken up quite early, she was surprised to find someone had beaten her to it.

Gu Jiao walked around the house but didn't see Xiao Liulang. She only noticed that a bucket was missing from beside the water tank.

Gu Jiao looked at the half-full water tank and rubbed her chin, saying nothing.

The front door was still bolted, so Xiao Liulang must have left through the back door of the kitchen and locked it from the outside. This way, outsiders couldn't enter casually, but if Gu Jiao wanted to go out, she could open the front door and leave.

After washing up, Gu Jiao returned to her room, applied some ointment, and took some anti-inflammatory medication.

Xiao Liulang still hadn't returned, so Gu Jiao started to ferment the last bit of cornmeal. This was their last supply of food.

Gu Jiao needed to find a way to sell the wild chicken she had brought back to the town to exchange for some food. However, the original owner had never left the village, so Gu Jiao didn't know the way to the town.

It took some time for the dough to rise, so Gu Jiao took a broom and swept the backyard, the hall, and her own room. Since Xiao Liulang wasn't there, she didn't enter his room.

She had only washed half of her clothes yesterday, and a few more were still in the wardrobe. Gu Jiao took them all out and put them in the large wooden basin in the backyard.

In this dynasty, there was soap, which the original owner had seen on a peddler's cart. However, the villagers were poor and mostly couldn't afford it, so they used soap pods from trees.

Gu Jiao crushed the soap pods and evenly spread them on the clothes, continuously beating them with a wooden mallet until a fragrant foam appeared, then she began to wash them repeatedly.

The cleaning power of the soap pods wasn't as strong as she had imagined, but Gu Jiao was determined to get the clothes clean.

Finally, she rubbed a small hole in one of the undergarments.

Gu Jiao: "..."

By the time Gu Jiao finished washing the clothes, half the water in the tank was used up.

The dough was now ready, so Gu Jiao made cornmeal buns and put them in the pot to steam.

Xiao Liulang still hadn't returned.

There were two wells in the village. The old well was at the end of the village, closer to their house, but it was almost dry. Gu Jiao guessed that Xiao Liulang must have gone to the new well at the village entrance.

It was only a few dozen steps from where Gu Jiao had fallen into the water yesterday. A normal person could make a round trip in less than fifteen minutes. Considering Xiao Liulang's leg condition and the weight of the water, Gu Jiao gave him half an hour, but he should have been back by now.

Standing by the stove, Gu Jiao looked toward the front door and finally decided to go out.

Gu Jiao found Xiao Liulang near the old well, behind a large locust tree.

Xiao Liulang was surrounded by a group of menacing thugs, with the bucket on the ground and the well water spilled everywhere.

Each thug had two chicken feathers stuck in their hair.

Ancient version of Shamates?

Gu Jiao recognized that the thugs were from both her village and the neighboring village. They were notorious for their mischief, though they didn't commit serious crimes like murder or arson, they often caused trouble for the villagers.

Xiao Liulang's cane had been taken by a young thug. The young thug didn't look much older than thirteen or fourteen, but he was very arrogant.

He pushed Xiao Liulang to the ground and pointed the cane at his face: "How many times have I warned you? Don't show your face in front of me! Are you deaf or something? Get out of Qingquan Village right now!"

The young thug's voice was still changing, and it sounded somewhat familiar.

Without thinking, Gu Jiao took a few steps forward, raised her hand to block the cane, and kicked the young thug in the buttocks.

"Ouch! Who the hell dares to kick me—"

The young thug was kicked to the ground and turned to curse, but he choked on his words.

Gu Jiao didn't care if he choked. She stepped forward, took the cane from his hand, and twisted his arm behind his back, pressing the cane against his neck.

The young thug was extremely uncomfortable and immediately shouted: "Sis! Sis! What are you doing!"

Gu Jiao was taken aback.

The other thugs, seeing their leader being bullied, rushed at Gu Jiao.

The young thug roared: "Stop! This is my sister!"

The thugs were stunned.

Gu Jiao... Gu Jiao remembered who this young thug was—Gu Xiaoshun, the second son of the Gu family's second branch.

Gu Xiaoshun was thirteen, the youngest and the only one who was close to the original owner. He didn't think the original owner was foolish or ugly.

The reason might be that Gu Xiaoshun was too rebellious, refusing to study properly and always hanging around. His older siblings and parents often scolded and beat him. Only the original owner would pull his hand and use the candy she saved from her own mouth to comfort him, saying, "Xiaoshun is good at fighting, Xiaoshun is so strong."

Gu Xiaoshun knew the original owner did this because she was foolish, but he wasn't smart either.

He just felt that if someone was good to him, he would be good to them.

"Sis! Sis! It hurts!" Gu Xiaoshun cried out in a pained voice.

Gu Jiao let him go, put her right hand behind her back, and pulled him up with her left hand, asking calmly, "Why are you bullying my husband?"

"Husband?" Gu Xiaoshun doubted he had heard correctly. "Didn't you tell me to beat him up?"

"Me?" Gu Jiao was puzzled.

"Yes!" Gu Xiaoshun glanced at Xiao Liulang and lowered his voice, "You told me you didn't want this cripple anymore, and I should drive him away so you could be with Mr. Xiao Qin!"

He thought his voice wasn't loud, but everyone present heard it.

Xiao Liulang's expression was cold.

The thugs were speechless.

Gu Xiaoshun said, "Sis, you didn't forget, did you? You told me this yourself!"

Gu Xiaoshun wouldn't lie to her, and it seemed the original owner had indeed said such things, though she herself had forgotten. Her brother, however, remembered every word.

"I just... said it casually, and you took it seriously?"

Gu Jiao felt a toothache.

"What should we do now?" Gu Xiaoshun realized he might have done something wrong and stood there with his head drooping, looking like a little quail.