Guided by her memory, Su Ruanruan directed Gu Ji to drive towards the desolate village where she had been rescued.
Under the scorching sun, Gu Ji stopped the donkey cart, quickly broke off some branches from the trees by the roadside, and picked some wildflowers from the grass.
He was very skillful and quickly wove a beautiful wreath.
A large flower wreath was placed on Su Ruanruan's small head, which also helped to shield her from some of the glaring sunlight.
Su Ruanruan was surprised to find that Gu Ji had such a thoughtful side, and immediately gave him a sweet smile.
This smile immediately made the lively boy blush.
"Ruanruan, where are we going?"
"You'll see when you get there. Just do whatever I tell you to do. I'll treat you to dinner in town later."
Upon hearing this, Gu Ji stopped asking questions and followed Su Ruanruan's instructions the whole way.
She told him to go left, so he didn't dare go right.
About an hour later, the donkey cart finally came to a slow stop.
Su Ruanruan searched the place inside and out again, but didn't find a single scrap.
She then directed Gu Ji to go down into the river and search all the bird nests nearby, but they still couldn't find the little gem.
Gu Ji was puzzled, having no idea what Su Ruanruan was looking for; he only heard her tell him to keep an eye out for a red thing the size of a pea.
Seeing her brows furrowed slightly, looking worried, Gu Ji didn't dare to provoke her and just sat quietly to the side watching her.
Su Ruanruan rubbed her aching temples.
Oh no, we really can't find it.
What will I give him in return?
She glanced at Gu Ji, who was sitting docilely to the side like a quail, and suddenly felt a little hungry.
"Let's go, let's go to town first."
Sigh, we can only take it one step at a time.
She couldn't deny losing the item while it was in her possession; she never liked owing others anything.
However, this little thing is really hard to find, and perhaps it will never be found again.
The two of them drove the donkey cart to town and ordered two bowls of wontons and three vegetarian buns from a small stall.
The wontons were large with thin wrappers and delicious broth. Gu Ji ate them with relish, but noticed that Su Ruanruan beside him was not very interested.
"Ruanruan, eat quickly, or it will get cold."
Su Ruanruan sighed, then picked up her spoon and took a bite.
She was starving, but the delicious wontons tasted like nothing at all.
Although the gem was small, it was clearly of high quality, and all her wealth wouldn't be enough to compensate for it. Besides, the head constable didn't seem to be short of money.
He wasn't concerned about how much the gem was worth, but rather what the dagger meant to him.
A shout broke the silence and brought Su Ruanruan back to reality.
Su Ruanruan frowned and looked over. Not far from the steamed bun stall, the owner of a restaurant was grabbing a thin child by the collar and cursing him with foul language.
The boy was about the same size as Xiao Xi, thin and frail, his clothes were dirty and torn in several places.
"Where did this beggar come from? Get lost! If you come to my shop and cause trouble again, I'll beat you to death."
He shoved the boy to the ground. The boy cried out in pain, his small body seemingly broken, but he didn't care about that and immediately got up and knelt in front of the shopkeeper.
"Shopkeeper, please, please give me a steamed bun. My mother and sister haven't eaten for two days. Please!"
He then pointed to a table in the restaurant that hadn't been cleaned yet, "Please, manager, give me that unwanted steamed bun!"
"Get out of my way! What do I care if they starve to death? This isn't a charity. Go away, beggars, and don't get in my way, you little bastard."
He kicked the boy again, and the boy was kicked to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes. He clenched his teeth and tried not to cry.
He glanced back at his mother, who sat on the street corner with her eyes closed and a pained expression, and his younger sister, whose lips were pursed and her eyes were filled with tears.
I endured the pain and stood up.
Just as he was about to leave, someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't go."
Su Ruanruan had a sullen face, one hand on the little boy's shoulder, and a cold look at the shopkeeper. "This is the first time I've seen a businessman so arrogant and unwilling to make money peacefully."
"Did you ever consider before you uttered those foul words, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,' that one day, the person you once offended might become the source of your future troubles?"
All sentient beings in the six realms are equal; none are more noble or more lowly than the others. However, this statement is clearly inappropriate in this time and space, so she didn't say it.
As more and more onlookers gathered, the shopkeeper's face turned pale, and he angrily shouted, "Where did this crazy old woman come from? Get lost! What nonsense are you spouting? What business is it of yours if I scold this little bastard? Get out, get out! All of you, you poor wretches who can't even read a single word, yet you act like big shots and lecture me. Who gave you the guts!"
"Hey, who are you calling a poor slob? You look so well-off, you've been eating too many of your own kind, haven't you?"
Gu Ji was immediately displeased. He could tolerate others scolding him, but he couldn't stand it when Ruan Ruan was bullied.
The shopkeeper glanced at Gu Ji, whose rough clothes clearly indicated he came from the countryside, and didn't seem to pay attention to what Gu Ji meant by "the same kind."
"What, did I say something wrong? You're obviously illiterate country bumpkins who dare to come to town and embarrass yourselves. Get out of here with this beggar!"
"You!" Although Gu Ji could diagnose illnesses and prescribe medicine, and was literate, he only had a superficial understanding of the subject and could not be considered a scholar.
He wanted to argue further, but Su Ruanruan pushed him away.
Su Ruanruan looked at the arrogant, wealthy shopkeeper in front of her, whose eyes seemed to droop all over his head.
He smiled and said, "You say we're illiterate? May I ask if there are any scholars in your family, shopkeeper?"
How could she not see that the shopkeeper was practically wearing a plaque that read "My family has a scholar" hanging above his head?
Mu Bai is exceptionally talented, yet he is polite and incredibly humble in his interactions with others.
She wanted to see what kind of scholars this family had.
When asked, the shopkeeper's arrogance intensified, and before he could even speak, the waiter beside him had already chimed in.
“My young master is a scholar; he passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve.”
"Oh? How old is your young master now?"
"I'm twenty-two this year."
Su Ruanruan sneered, "Twenty-two this year, yet you can't even pass the county-level imperial examination. No good."
As soon as Su Ruanruan finished speaking, a man with beady green eyes squeezed in. He was dressed like a scholar, but he didn't have the refined appearance of one.
He was pale and thin, with sunken eyes.
It was immediately obvious that this person was someone who frequented brothels.
Although the scent of perfume on him was masked by the smell of soap, a faint odor still wafted over, making Su Ruanruan feel nauseous and want to vomit. She took a few steps back without making a sound.
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