"You...you are a criminal slave?" Gu Qingtong was stunned and looked at the man in front of him in disbelief.
The Great Zhou had a rule that male criminal slaves had to be branded with a mark on their bodies. However, the man in front of him, although dressed in rags, had absolutely nothing to do with a criminal slave in his gestures and conversation. Instead, he seemed like a well-educated and modest young man. The more Gu Qingtong looked him up and down, the more he found it unbelievable.
"I guess so." The man pursed his lips bitterly.
Living like a dog for fifteen years, I am probably more humble and pitiful than a criminal slave, right?
"So... did you escape from your master? You were afraid of being recognized, so you had to burn off the slave mark on your body?" Gu Qingtong guessed, looking at the scars on the man's arm and the hand with two broken fingers. He paused and spoke hesitantly, "Because your master often abused you, often... tortured you, you really couldn't stand it, so you found a chance to escape?"
The man didn't say anything, but just lowered his head and stared at his injured hand. His expression was calm but suppressed, and the rise and fall of his chest gradually became heavier, as if he was trying to endure something. Seeing him like this, Gu Qingtong didn't ask any more questions, but hurriedly picked up the scissors and continued to remove the thin cloth that wrapped his wound. This time, she didn't say anything, and neither did he. They both stared at the wound without blinking, until the thin cloth was completely removed, revealing two bloody severed fingers. Then the man suddenly turned his head away.
"You must have been injured for quite some time, but the wound has been recurring and has become like this. I think it will be harder to heal than a new wound," Gu Qingtong looked at the skinny palm with the little finger and ring finger missing, feeling very depressed. She took out cotton and dipped it in realgar wine to carefully wipe the two bloody broken surfaces, while lifting her eyelids and carefully looking at the man. Looking at his tightly closed eyes and the beads of sweat oozing from his forehead, Gu Qingtong sighed silently in her heart, then threw away the cotton and smeared the dead body removal and skin regeneration ointment brought from the medicine shop on the broken surface, while softly comforting the man, "Although you are seriously injured, the dead body removal and skin regeneration ointment in our shop is very effective. I wanted to apply it to you a few days ago, but the shop was out of stock a few days ago. Today, the master chef finally made a few more jars, and I hurriedly brought a jar back. I will rub it on you every day in the future. I guarantee that your wound will heal within half a month."
"You... work in a pharmacy?" The man panted, opened his eyes and looked at Gu Qingtong.
"Yes, otherwise how could I dare to change your medicine?" Gu Qingtong smiled at him, lowered his head to get new fine cloth to bandage his wound, paused, and said, "Although two fingers are broken, it will not affect your future work. When your wounds are healed and your body is stronger, I will discuss with the shopkeeper and let you work in the medicine shop with me. It just so happens that our medicine shop is in need of a clerk to run errands and collect herbs. Although the salary is not much, it can provide food and accommodation. With a legitimate business, you don't have to... go to beggars for food in the future."
On the evening of four days ago, Gu Qingtong, who had just returned from Renhuitang, met this man in the alley. At that time, two beggars were punching and kicking him, cursing that he was trying to steal the beggars' food. Gu Qingtong couldn't bear it, so she gave the two beggars some change and sent them away. She was about to leave, but she heard the man lying on the ground sobbing like a dead dog, and she couldn't leave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
