Chapter 4 Rescue

Gu Jiao went out to chop firewood, partly because she was really short of firewood, and partly because she wanted to go into the mountains to find something to fill her stomach.

Although the family wasn't so poor as to starve, they were close. Xiao Liulang could probably make ends meet for a few more days on his own, but with her included, they were struggling to make ends meet.

It is currently late autumn.

Whether it was because the sky was completely unpolluted or not, Gu Jiao felt that the sky above her was exceptionally blue, a blue she had never seen before. The air was also very fresh, making her feel relaxed and happy.

She ended up here out of nowhere, and she wonders if those lunatics at the research institute miss her. Most likely, they're seething with resentment, blaming her for disappearing without sharing her latest research findings with them.

However, while she is outwardly a medical doctor at M University's research institute, she is actually a secret agent. She joined the organization at the age of eight, and all her subsequent experiences have served only to conceal her true identity.

Of course, she didn't intend to live a life of constant danger. She had an agreement with the organization that this would be her last job; she would leave after it was done. But then the plane crashed…

Looking back now, the plane crash seems too coincidental.

But there's no point in talking about it now. She's dead, and there's no way she can go back to seek revenge.

No one should be saddened by her death.

Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and afterwards they each started new families and had new children. She was always the one who was superfluous.

In a sense, her fate was quite similar to that of the original owner. The original owner's parents died early, and she was superfluous in the Gu family.

Even though the original owner of this body is dead, no one will truly feel sorry for her.

Gu Jiao gave a self-deprecating laugh, a hint of coldness in her eyes.

Worried about rain, Gu Jiao didn't venture too deep into the woods. Even so, she still managed to discover quite a few good things: mushrooms, fungi, and wild wood ear fungus growing on tree stumps.

The wood ear mushrooms were plump and thick, almost covering half of the tree stump, and Gu Jiao picked the largest ones.

This area had clearly been felled by villagers; there were many tree stumps like these, and a lot of wood ear mushrooms had grown there.

Gu Jiao picked the leaves one by one, and soon the basket was heavy.

Seeing that she had picked enough, Gu Jiao stopped in time, chopped some firewood, tied the firewood to the basket with a rope, and carried it on her back to prepare to go down the mountain.

However, as soon as Gu Jiao turned around, she suddenly felt a splattering sound under her foot, as if she had stepped on something.

Then she heard a muffled groan, very faint and weak.

She blinked and slowly moved her leg away.

"It can't be that unlucky..."

She took a deep breath, looked down, and saw an old man with a white beard, unconscious, whom she had stepped on while hiding in a patch of weeds...

Gu Jiao: "..."

No, how could someone be lying in a ditch?

Did she just happen to step on the other person's foot?

Gu Jiao, with a clear conscience, stepped over him.

But less than two seconds later, Gu Jiao returned with a blank expression.

"Let me make this clear first, I'm not saving you out of conscience."

"Cluck cluck—"

From a tightly tied cloth bag next to the old man, a pheasant flapped its wings and squawked once.

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cloth bag casually. The bag immediately went silent.

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

Judging from his clothes, he looks like an ordinary villager.

But there was also an indescribable air of authority about him.

Gu Jiao put down the firewood on her back and began to take the other person's pulse.

She studied Western medicine in school, but later, in order to carry out a very special mission, she went into hiding for five years under the pretense of becoming an apprentice of a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

Judging from his pulse, he didn't have any serious illness. Gu Jiao guessed that he had caught a cold, developed a sudden high fever, and accidentally fell into a ditch, dislocating his left arm in the process.

Gu Jiao took out her small medicine box from her basket and put an ice pack on his forehead.

Gu Jiao then reattached his arm, chopped a piece of firewood, tore off a piece of his clothing, and used it to immobilize the arm.

After doing all that, Gu Jiao took his temperature again and found that it was still high, so she gave him an intramuscular injection to reduce the fever.

Not far away, there is a small thatched hut for villagers to rest when they go up the mountain.

Gu Jiao moved the person there.

Her fever had subsided, and she was almost awake. Gu Jiao got up and headed down the mountain. Before leaving, she left her umbrella with him.

"I don't treat people for free."

After saying that, he took a bag of pheasants with him.

As soon as Gu Jiao arrived home, the rain began to fall, quickly turning into a downpour. The distant mountains and the thatched huts of the village were all shrouded in a misty rain.

Gu Jiao went straight to the kitchen.

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

Gu Jiao put down the firewood and cloth bag, opened the cupboard to take a look, and asked in surprise, "Have you finished eating?"

She kept quite a lot.

Surprisingly, that slender kid had quite an appetite.

Is it really the age when we're growing?

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow, found a cage, and put the pheasant inside.

Gu Jiao separated the small firewood from the large firewood, picking out the pieces that needed to be chopped separately.

By the time she finished chopping firewood, it was already evening. The rain hadn't stopped, and the house was damp and cold. She found a brazier, intending to light a fire for herself. Suddenly remembering something, she walked to Xiao Liulang's house and gently knocked on his door.

"Would you like to warm yourself by the fire?"

She asked softly.

There was no response from inside the house.

She called out again, but there was still no response.

Gu Jiao saw that the door was ajar, so she gently pushed it open and peeked out. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, she saw that thin and frail figure had fallen asleep on the old table.

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

The book was clearly yellowed, and the cover was torn, covered with oiled paper.

Scholars in the countryside have a hard life, especially someone like Xiao Liulang, who has been exploited by the Gu family and the original owner of the body for a long time. He can't even attend a private school and has to rely entirely on himself for his studies.

Gu Jiao hesitated for a moment, then tiptoed over and took a cotton coat from the closet and draped it over his shoulders.

Xiao Liulang woke up in the middle of the night.

He hadn't slept well for the past few days and never imagined he'd fall asleep at his desk. When he opened his eyes, he noticed he was wearing an extra cotton coat, and his brow furrowed, a flicker of wariness crossing his eyes.

He frowned at the book in his hand, when suddenly he heard a crackling sound. He turned his head and saw a burning brazier on the ground.

The cold, sterile room was suddenly warmed by the firelight.

Xiao Liulang's gaze fell on the brazier, and he revealed a thoughtful expression.

There was only one brazier in the house, and after giving it to Xiao Liulang, Gu Jiao didn't have any more.

After hiding the small medicine box, Gu Jiao quickly crawled into bed, wrapping herself up like a little silkworm cocoon.

Perhaps the exertion of the day had exhausted her small body, so even though she was a little cold, she fell asleep quickly.

Gu Jiao hadn't dreamed for many years, but tonight she had a dream.

She dreamt that a doctor came to town, and Xiao Liulang went to him to treat his leg. As a result, a medical dispute broke out at the pharmacy where the doctor worked, and many people were accidentally injured.

Xiao Liulang was already lame in one leg and couldn't run as fast as others, and suddenly his other leg, which was originally intact, was also cut off.

Although the injury did not kill Xiao Liulang, it made him miss the exam three days later.

(End of this chapter)