Shen Qing glanced coldly at Gao Laosan and asked, "Are you taking Gao Che back with you, or are you coming back to the Gao family with us?"
Gao Laosan hurriedly said, "I'll take him back, I'll take him back. This child must have been frightened. I'll take him back to calm him down." After saying that, he picked up Gao Che and climbed into the sedan chair next to him.
Shen Qing looked at Gao Liushi with sarcasm: "The third branch of the family didn't even bother to check whether you were alive or dead, and they wouldn't even let you ride in a sedan chair. Did you think that an adopted child would take good care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days?"
Gao Liu cried silently without saying a word.
Shen Qing and Chunju brought the person back to the Gao family, and the gatekeeper did not dare to stop them anymore.
Chunju carried Gao Liushi into the room, applied medicine to her, and gave her water.
Shen Qing sat to the side and watched coldly. Only after Chunju helped Gao Liushi clean herself up did she get up to leave the Gao family.
"Qing'er..." Gao Liushi said weakly.
Shen Qing stopped in his tracks.
"Don't blame me for adopting Gao Che as my grandson, I really had no other choice..." She groaned again after only a few words, and after a long while she continued, "The Gao family has to have an heir, doesn't it?"
Shen Qing looked at her expressionlessly: "I agreed to let you adopt Gao Che a long time ago. What chills me is that when the third branch of the family wanted to drown me in a pig cage, you didn't say a single word for me. If I hadn't been lucky enough to survive, you would have been beaten to death in court today! When you let them drown me, you wouldn't have survived either! I've said it before, we're in the same boat, only if I live can you live."
After saying that, she left the room without looking back.
Madam Gao was wailing in the room, calling out "Qing'er... Qing'er..."
When Shen Qing and Chunju returned to the inn, they were pale and their clothes were soaked with sweat.
She clutched her chest and collapsed to the ground.
Chunju anxiously said from the side, "Young Madam, is your wound hurting again? I'll go and call Young Master Cheng over!"
Cheng Zhiwen arrived quickly and immediately helped Shen Qing lie down on the bed.
He raised his hand and unbuttoned Shen Qing's clothes, revealing the wound above her left breast.
Seeing the wound oozing white pus, his thick eyebrows furrowed tightly. He looked up into Shen Qing's eyes and asked sternly, "Knowing that the wound was at risk of infection, why did you still go out and run around all day?"
Shen Qing stared blankly into the void and muttered, "If I don't go, Gao Liu will be beaten to death."
"Are you so attached to your husband that you even protect his elderly mother, who treats you terribly?"
“Saving Gao Liushi has nothing to do with my husband. If I want to gain a foothold here, I need Gao Liushi to act as a mascot.”
"Mascot" is a modern term that refers to a person whose existence is solely for the purpose of comforting people, not that this person has any power or can create any value.
Cheng Zhiwen, being an ancient person, did not understand the meaning of these three words, but upon learning that Shen Qing's risking her life to save Gao Liushi had nothing to do with her husband, her anxious mind gradually calmed down.
He began cleaning Shen Qing's wound.
A cool sensation washed over Shen Qing's left breast, causing her to shiver.
Now, she has seen through everyone in the Gao family and understands deeply that nominal relatives and friends, no matter how nice their words are, can sacrifice her at any time and tear her apart.
Cheng Zhiwen, who had no connection with her, treated her with genuine affection.
Unable to bear hurting Cheng Zhiwen any further, she finally decided to tell him her plan: "I am all alone here, and the Gao family is my nominal 'home.' Therefore, I can only do business legitimately by using the Gao family's name. The prerequisite for all of this is that Gao Liu's family must support me."
The cool sensation sliding across the wound paused, and Cheng Zhiwen said softly, "I told you long ago that I would have you come to Shanghai with me."
Shen Qing smiled helplessly and asked in return, "Go to Shanghai with you to do business?"
"Of course."
"Then we are just business partners, and I am still helpless, rootless, homeless, and without a place to call home."
"Business partners can also be each other's support."
Shen Qing silently lowered her eyelashes.
As a modern person, she hadn't previously placed much importance on finding a place to call home.
In modern society, as long as you have knowledge, work ability, and legal knowledge, even a woman can thrive.
But things are different now. She lives in a cannibalistic feudal society. As a woman, she has no family or man to protect her and could be eaten at any time.
Just like that time in Shanghai, if Cheng Zhiwen hadn't revealed that she was his female companion, those foreign businessmen might have taken advantage of her that very night.
Just like the other day, if it weren't for Prefect Qi Zhenheng upholding justice for her, and if it weren't for Cheng Zhiwen providing her with this place to stay and treatment, her body would be lost somewhere by now.
When she first arrived, she was able to escape the county government office alive, thanks not only to her own wisdom but also to the support of the local people who stood at the courtroom entrance to hear the trial.
Even if a woman is very intelligent, she has no power and her physical strength is naturally inferior to that of a man. In order to live well in feudal society, she always needs someone to support her.
This is a product of the times, and even though she is a knowledgeable and intelligent modern woman, she is powerless to resist this deeply ingrained rule.
She must use Gao Liushi and the Gao family to gain power and support.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing no longer felt that she was in a predicament; she only regarded it as a small step in her great future.
She was too weak and fell into a drowsy sleep. When she woke up again, the room was dimly lit, and Cheng Zhiwen was reading under the lamp.
She looked at him and asked softly, "How long have I been asleep?"
Cheng Zhiwen looked up and saw that his face was incredibly gentle in the dim light.
“One day.” He closed the book, walked over, bent down by the bed, placed his hand on her forehead to check, and breathed a sigh of relief, “The fever is gone.”
After saying that, he turned around, walked to the round table, mixed a packet of white powder into water, and brought it to the bedside: "I've brought the powder. Take it today, and the infection will be cured quickly."
Shen Qing obediently drank it.
The liquid went down her throat, and her little face scrunched up in bitterness.
Cheng Zhiwen pulled out a small square wrapped in tin foil from somewhere, put it in her hand, and said softly, "Is it bitter? Try this."
Shen Qing opened it.
The small, dark brown slab of ointment looked like chocolate. I wondered to myself: Does chocolate even exist in this era?
She picked it up and took a bite. The rich sweetness of the cocoa and milk melted in her mouth, and the taste was very mellow, even more authentic than modern chocolate!
Suddenly, a sense of happiness filled my mind and body.
Shen Qing quickly drank the rest of the medicine and then began to savor the chocolate in small bites.
No pain, no gain.
Seeing her like a child, Cheng Zhiwen smiled and asked, "Is it delicious?"
She nodded vigorously: "It's delicious! This must be hard to find, right?"
"It did take some effort."
"But why did you think of buying chocolate? Do you like it too?"
Cheng Zhiwen paused, shifting her gaze from her face to elsewhere: "I was thinking that the medicine powder is too bitter, so I need to give you something sweet."
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