Chapter 4 Cannon Fodder White Moonlight 3 I saved my life
Ali grabbed the cloak of the person who came like a drowning man, breathing heavily.
Seeing this, the man placed his cold, slender fingers on Ali's wrist, then withdrew them after a moment. Without saying anything else, he supported her with one hand.
In the empty bamboo forest, only two people's breathing could be heard, one rapid and the other shallow.
After an unknown amount of time, the dizziness finally subsided. Ali moved his weak feet, but fell into the man's arms again.
"Still dizzy?"
A questioning voice came from above his head. Ali looked up and met a pair of dark and deep eyes.
The sun sets in the west, and the afterglow of the sunset has completely submerged in the sky. The cold breath of the spring night is the first to cover this sparsely populated deep forest. It seems that these eyes are also immersed in the coldness, cold and without a trace of emotion.
The evening breeze blew into Ali's neck and he shivered, but he did not avoid his gaze as he did in the past. He responded in a low voice with a strong nasal tone.
He Zhiyan put the cloak he had taken off on Ali's shoulders and simply tied it with a knot.
He tilted his head, with half of his face hidden in the afterglow of the sunset.
Ah Li had not expected that his first meeting with He Zhiyan would be like this: "Why is my brother here?"
After He's father entered the Medical Officers' Academy, the family pharmacy was moved to Beijing and handed over to He Li and He Zhiyan to manage. A few new apprentices were hired before the New Year, and they were able to cope with the situation.
A month ago, He Zhiyan went to Jiangnan to purchase medicinal herbs and visited some old friends of He's father. According to his itinerary, he would not return to Beijing until ten days later. Even if he had just told He's father to send a message to his brother, it would not be so soon.
Ali looked at He Zhiyan without leaving any trace. The 19-year-old boy was dressed in tight clothes, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. His black hair was tied behind his head with only a hairband, which fluttered gently in the breeze. His eyes were deep, revealing a bit of indifference and alienation that was unlike his peers.
He Zhiyan didn't answer her question: "Can you still walk?"
Ali shook his head helplessly. The pain in the wound on his knee became more and more intense, constantly clamoring for its existence.
"……pain."
He Zhiyan was about to withdraw his hand but stopped.
Ali looked up at him, a tear just sliding down from the bottom of her eye, leaving only a feeling of grievance.
Although the original body looked weak, she was actually very strong-willed. However, she never concealed her emotions in front of her brother who had no blood relationship with her.
He Zhiyan looked away, relaxed his grip on her shoulder, and patted her gently: "Hold on, can you walk?"
Ali reluctantly said "yes", but his legs went weak after he took half a step.
"Be careful." He Zhiyan grabbed the unstable Ali, and his breath instantly enveloped her, as cold as a plum blossom.
Seeing her face as pale as paper and covered in cold sweat, He Zhiyan's eyes turned colder. He turned around, carried her on his back, and walked quickly out of the woods.
As the world spun around, Ali was so frightened that he hugged He Zhiyan's neck tightly.
He Zhiyan's shoulders were very broad, and years of martial arts training had made his posture upright and strong. Ali didn't feel any shaking when he lay on his back. The wound didn't hurt as much anymore, and his mind gradually relaxed.
The scenery around him kept receding. Ali looked at the night sky above his head and couldn't help but think of that night in Huaijiang Valley four years ago.
She accidentally got lost while picking herbs, and sprained her ankle while trying to avoid wild animals in the mountains. It was her brother who, despite his own injuries, searched the entire valley to find her, and just like tonight, he carried her on his back for a long, long distance along the mountain road.
At that time, his brother had just woken up from a serious injury and was very weak, but Ali felt extremely safe lying on his back, as if as long as he was there, he had nothing to fear.
There was a mist in Ali's eyes, but now she was very scared. She was scared of her brother's cold attitude and she was scared that her brother would leave her like her mother.
She carefully placed her face against He Zhiyan's back, tears quietly sliding down her cheeks.
He Zhiyan's body tensed up for a moment.
Ali has always been sensitive to other people's emotional changes. As if she sensed his alienation, she silently withdrew her arm and only dared to lightly rest her hand on his shoulder, stammering, "Brother, I'm sorry." Like a child who had done something wrong.
Since last year, He Zhiyan seemed to be quietly distancing himself from the He family, avoiding her and being respectful and distant to He's father, just like when he first came to the He family five years ago.
He Li actually always knew that her brother didn't really consider her and their father as family. He had no memories of the past and was subconsciously wary of everyone.
But five years later, she could feel the changes in her brother.
Although he still spoke coldly, he would stand in front of her when she was frightened and crying when the hooligans made a scene in the drugstore, and he would teach a lesson to those who said that she had brought bad luck to her mother and would bring bad luck to her father in the future. He would also accompany her to the mountains to collect herbs, read books and practice calligraphy, and spend every quiet moment with her.
But I don’t know when everything changed.
Facing He Zhiyan's gaze as if he were a stranger, He Li could only stand there timidly.
I didn't dare to ask, nor did I dare to make a fuss.
He Zhiyan stopped suddenly.
The air in the forest seemed to freeze at this moment; even the sound of the wind gradually disappeared, making people feel suffocated.
Ali inexplicably felt that he was angry.
"You saved my life, there's no need to do this." He Zhiyan's voice came faintly, no different from the past year.
Ali's already pale face became even uglier.
After an unknown amount of time, Ali felt herself being put on the bed. She buried her tear-soaked face in the soft quilt, blocking the view of those behind her.
There was silence in the room for a few moments, and then the door was closed with a creaky sound.
Ali took a deep breath, got out of bed in the dark, and groped his way to the window.
The bright moon was in the sky, casting a clear light on the room. Ali opened his clenched left hand, and his white palm was covered with bright red blood, the red and white were clearly distinguished and particularly dazzling.
It's He Zhiyan's blood.
Just now when she was on He Zhiyan's back, she smelled the smell of blood in the air, but He Li's eyesight was weak and He Zhiyan was wearing a black robe, so she didn't notice it at the time.
Ali leaned against the window and slowly wiped her palms. As some dried blood was wiped away bit by bit, a small red mole appeared on the palm of her left hand. The color was very light and it was almost unnoticeable unless you looked closely.
Ali used a little more force in holding the handkerchief, and the delicate skin on her palm was rubbed red, but the small mole seemed to have been born on her palm forever and did not change at all.
The system had told her that once she entered a mission, it would only appear at the critical moment of life and death to ensure her safety. To determine whether the mission was complete, she only needed to look at the red mole on her palm:
After completing the task, the mole on the palm of your left hand will turn abnormally bright red, like cinnabar.
There are still several months before the heroine appears. Ali needs to become the unforgettable mole of He Zhiyan and escape the dilemma of death to survive.
*
Ali's injury healed more slowly than expected, and he was unable to walk until mid-April. He's father said that the wound was probably slightly infected because it had been soaked in pool water.
The weather gradually warmed up. A-li was wearing a light green padded jacket and a half-worn white silk skirt. She was bending over and tending to the flowers and plants in the yard. Because she was recuperating at home, her long hair was loosely tied up with a hairpin. Her face was bare, and she looked particularly beautiful and charming.
During the days of recuperation, Ali had been reading He's father's old medical books and doing needlework, which was really boring. Today, taking advantage of the good weather, she took good care of the flowers and plants in the yard.
Ali wiped the dust off the leaves bit by bit, and poured all the weeds and fallen leaves into the sack in the corner. Finally, he had almost finished cleaning up.
Most of these flowers and plants were brought by her from her hometown. At first, she was worried that they would not be able to adapt to the cold climate in the capital. Fortunately, under Ali's careful care, most of the flowers and plants bloomed vigorously and filled the room with fragrance.
Ali looked up in the direction of the palace and heard that after the beginning of spring, several concubines fell ill in succession in the palace, and the empress dowager was also ill. As a result, the people in the medical office were so busy that they always came out of the palace at nearly midnight.
As a young man who entered the Medical Officers' Academy only last year, He's father was so tired that his eyes were black and he had a blister at the corner of his mouth. However, he had to check on Ali's injuries in person every day to feel at ease.
And He Zhiyan...
Since that night, Ali rarely saw him. He usually went out early and came back late, but he seemed busier than before. When he showed up occasionally, he would just say a few simple words of concern, never crossing the line.
“Knock knock knock—”
There was a knock on the door. Ali straightened up and brushed the dust off his hands.
Shi Changan was standing at the bottom of the steps holding a large bouquet of flowers. When he saw the door open, he quickly handed it to A Li and said, "Miss He, this is for you."
"My mother asked me to come and see you. Does your knee still hurt?"
A simple and honest smile appeared behind the brilliant bouquet, and Ali couldn't help but cover his mouth and laugh.
Seeing that he was holding the flowers, he took them and said, "Much better. Thank you, Brother Shi."
"Hey, no thanks!"
Shi Changan smiled foolishly and scratched the back of his head. He didn't dare to look at her, but only stared at the threshold under his feet.
Seeing that he seemed to be hesitant to speak, Ah Li asked, "How is Aunt Sun's injury? Has she finished taking the medicine?"
Coincidentally, at the beginning of the year, Shi Chang'an's mother, Aunt Sun, broke her leg while picking wild vegetables in the mountains. Because the family was in financial difficulty, she did not dare to go to the clinic to see a doctor. She just tore off a piece of cloth to fix the leg, took two packets of the cheapest herbs and went home.
When the neighbors carried her back, they happened to be met by Ali. Ali helped her re-bandage the wound, and carefully prepared a few plasters, which he gave to Shi Changan to take home, and told him to apply them to the affected area twice a day. If they were used up, he could come to Ali again at any time.
Mentioning this, Shi Changan's face was full of gratitude, and he nodded repeatedly: "Mother has recovered very well, thanks to Miss He. If she hadn't met Miss He, I'm afraid Mother would have suffered a lot..."
"Miss He is my family's great benefactor, I..." He took a step forward, mustering up the courage to look into Ali's gentle eyes. "No! It's my mother. I really don't know how to thank you."
Ali shook his head shyly and said seriously, "Practicing medicine and saving lives is a doctor's duty. Although I am not very talented or knowledgeable, I must do my best."
Unfortunately, the world is difficult. Even under the emperor, the common people are in such a difficult situation. Help as many people as you can. A Li thought of the words that his father often said and sighed in his heart.
Shi Changan felt his heart skip a beat, as if he had an ungrateful hare in his arms, which he couldn't catch, and he struggled to break free.
He wanted to say more, but when he caught a glimpse of the people at the alley entrance, he swallowed his words back and subconsciously took a step back: "Brother He."
He Zhiyan was seen walking against the light in a black robe, his black hair neatly tied up, and his facial expression was a little blurry.
Shi Chang'an felt very strange. The He family had obviously moved here for more than half a year, and the neighbors had always gotten along very well. However, he was a little afraid of the elder brother of the He family. When he saw him come back, he didn't even bother to say a word and ran away.
Ali's puzzled gaze shifted away from Shi Chang'an's fleeing figure, and she realized that He Zhiyan was looking at her with an unclear expression.
Just as Ah Li was about to speak, He Zhiyan had already walked around her and entered the yard. Seeing Ah Li still standing at the door, he lowered his eyes and said, "You can't stand for long with the injury on your leg."
Ali then returned to the courtyard and the two of them sat down at the stone table.
He Zhiyan simply rolled up his sleeves, took the cold hand warmer on the table, picked up a few pieces of charcoal and put them in, put his slender fingers on the edge of the warmer to test the temperature, and then handed the hand warmer to her.
Watching He Zhiyan's smooth movements, Ali's thoughts gradually drifted away. It had been a long time since the two of them sat face to face and talked like this.
Seeing He Zhiyan reaching out his hand, she quickly put down the flowers and took the hand warmer.
"Thank you, brother."
She has always been weak, and after staying outside for so long, her hands were already slightly red from the cold.
Ali held the hand warmer in his arms. The temperature was just right. A warm current slowly flowed from his fingertips, and even his eye sockets felt a little hot.
The two were speechless for a moment.
The water on the table was boiling. He Zhiyan raised his hand and added two cups of tea. The tender green tea leaves rose and fell in the white porcelain cups. This was not a precious tea, but it had a unique tea fragrance.
Ali, who grew up in a remote place, didn't know how to taste tea, and she didn't even like to drink tea leaves, but now she tasted a hint of sweetness in this cup of tea.
He Zhiyan had no idea what she was thinking. His eyes, as quiet as a deep pool, inadvertently fell on the flowers beside him. His fingers on his knees were gently twisting, as if he was thinking about something.
Ali looked at him quietly for a long time. Perhaps because the atmosphere at the moment was too wonderful, a rare courage surged in her heart and she asked what she wanted to say.
"Brother...is your shoulder injury healed?"
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