Half a month later, Shen Jintang's injuries finally stopped recurring, but he remained in a deep sleep.
The old doctor removed his withered fingers from her pale wrist and sighed, "Her pulse is stable, but..." He shook his head, his cloudy eyes filled with helplessness, "Whether she wakes up or not is all up to fate."
Just as Gu Zhixing was about to speak, the curtain was suddenly lifted.
The steward barged in, his round belly protruding, the brass key hanging from his waist jingling.
“Young Master Gu,” he squinted his triangular eyes, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together incessantly, “you know the rules of our clinic, this bed…” He glanced at the unconscious Shen Jintang, “can’t just be occupied forever, can’t it?”
Gu Zhixing hurriedly stepped forward: "I can work to pay off the debt, such as brewing medicine, sweeping the floor, or any dirty or tiring work."
"You?" The manager scoffed, revealing two gold teeth. "Do you know how much our Doctor Wang charges for a house call?" He held up five short, thick fingers and waved them. "Five taels! You couldn't earn that much sweeping floors for a year!"
A few snickers came from outside the door.
Gu Zhixing clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.
"Manager Zhao, I beg you..."
"Enough with the nonsense!" The manager's expression suddenly changed, and he waved his hand towards the door. "Someone! Show this 'distinguished guest' out!"
Two burly men rushed in and, without saying a word, began to pull back Chen Jintang's blanket.
Gu Zhixing stepped forward to block the bed, his voice trembling: "Don't touch her! We...we'll walk ourselves..."
The midday sun hung overhead like a red-hot branding iron.
Gu Zhixing squatted down and carefully carried Shen Jintang on his back.
She was frighteningly light; even through her thin clothes, he could clearly feel her prominent shoulder blades. Gu Zhixing's nose stung with tears; he hadn't taken good care of Shen Jintang.
"Tangtang, don't be afraid," he whispered. The person on his back remained silent, with only a faint breath brushing past his ear.
Sweat trickled down his temples, leaving a small, dark dot on the bluestone slab.
He used his last copper coins to hire a donkey cart, carefully placed Shen Jintang on the cart, and walked alongside her, always protecting her with one hand, afraid that the bumpy ride would hurt her still-healing body.
"Where are you going, sir?" The driver cracked his whip, and the old donkey impatiently pawed at the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Gu Zhixing's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
He looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the street and suddenly realized that he had nowhere to go.
Back in Kyoto, who didn't know the name Gu Zhixing?
In this remote little town, he was nothing more than a down-on-his-luck passerby carrying a woman who had fainted.
“Go…go to the west of the city.” His voice was dry, as if he were squeezing it out from his throat.
The wheels creaked as Gu Zhixing held Shen Jintang tightly in his arms.
She was as still as a porcelain doll, with only faint breathing as proof that she was still alive.
Gu Zhixing looked down at her and noticed that her long eyelashes cast two shadows on her face, and there were still brown medicine stains left from when he fed her medicine that morning at the corner of her mouth.
He gently reached out and tenderly wiped it away for her.
——
The inn in the west of the city had a faded blue banner hanging on it, and the innkeeper was an old man with a face full of wrinkles.
Upon seeing Gu Zhixing carrying an unconscious girl into the room, the old man immediately waved his hand as if shooing away flies: "Go away! If you're going to die, don't die here!"
The landlady of the second inn went even further, grabbing a broom and blocking the doorway: "Bad luck! Get out!"
By the time they reached the third house, the setting sun had cast long shadows of the two of them.
The shopkeeper didn't kick them out, but simply held up three fingers: "You'll have to pay extra, thirty coins a day."
Gu Zhixing touched his empty purse and silently withdrew.
"Sir," the driver finally lost his patience, jumped off the carriage and started to untie the rope, "I'll add five more copper coins, or you can get off here!"
Gu Zhixing carried Shen Jintang on his back and stood on the dusty street, sweat dripping down his chin and hitting the cracked dirt road with a "plop".
As he gazed at the darkening sky, he suddenly felt the light Shen Jintang on his back become incredibly heavy—in this vast city, there was nowhere for them to stay.
His feet lingered in place, his gaze sweeping over every door and window on the street, as if searching for a glimmer of hope.
But those tightly closed doors and windows seemed to be silently rejecting him.
Gu Zhixing gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and carried Shen Jintang on his back to continue walking forward. Even if the road ahead was uncertain and the hope was slim, he was determined to find a place for her to shelter from the wind and rain.
He looked up at the sky, gritted his teeth, and continued walking forward.
In the north of the city, there was a poor area with low-rise houses. Gu Zhixing never imagined that he would one day set foot in such a dirty and chaotic place.
The alley was so narrow that only one person could pass sideways, and the air was filled with a mixture of stench and cooking smoke.
After asking around, they found a small hut less than a square meter in size that was willing to take them in. The roof was drafty and the corners of the walls were covered with moss, but at least there was a wooden bed.
"One tael of silver a month, pay in advance and move in later." The landlady was an old woman with a missing front tooth, but her eyes were very shrewd. "If this girl dies, we have to move out immediately."
Gu Zhixing didn't have a single penny on him. He frowned and said, "Let's stay here first. Give me three days, and I'll give you three times the money."
The landlord looked Gu Zhixing up and down, and felt that he had an extraordinary temperament. He seemed to be in a difficult situation. After considering it for a moment, he finally agreed.
After settling Shen Jintang in, Gu Zhixing sat on the floor beside the bed, looking at her through the sliver of moonlight filtering through the window.
Shen Jintang's face was as pale as paper, her eyelashes cast two shadows on her face, and her chest rose and fell slightly. Apart from that, she looked no different from a dead person.
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