Villainous Fake Eunuch (7)
Song Xuyi squinted her eyes, intending to take a closer look. However, perhaps seeing that Song Xuyi had already stabilized herself, the man then imperceptibly loosened his hand from around Song Xuyi’s waist, took two steps back, and walked over to the burly man who was still crying loudly.
The burly man was sobbing and retreating in fear. He had already understood that all his symptoms at this moment were caused by the unimpressive-looking man before him. He looked at the man in horror and repeatedly begged for mercy, “It’s my fault for being blinded by lard1, not recognizing a great person and offending you. Please, I beg you to forgive me. I won’t dare again…”
The man did not speak. He quietly watched the burly man crying bitterly on the ground, his expression unchanged, his eyes cold, looking at the burly man as if he were looking at a dead object.
Before long, a layer of cold sweat seeped out on the burly man’s back. He didn’t dare to look at the man’s eyes anymore, his gaze shifting around in search of help. Finally, his eyes fell on Song Xuyi behind the man, as if he had suddenly found a lifeline. The burly man’s eyes lit up instantly, “I’ll move in! I’m willing to move into that house…”
The burly man quickly packed his luggage and, almost rolling and crawling, moved into the house rented by Song Xuyi.
This news spread instantly throughout Wang Family Village.
The people of Wang Family Village found it extremely strange because the burly man was one of the most troublesome people in Wang Family Village. No one expected him to agree to move in. Even more surprising to the people of Wang Family Village was that almost within a day, several patients who were infected and liked to wander around also moved into the house rented by the outsider girl.
Could it be that this girl really wanted to help the people of Wang Family Village to cure their illness?
At this time, the people who were frightened by the soldiers outside the village remembered that the girl was now with the old doctor. The old doctor was a famous benevolent doctor and would never joke about the lives of the people…
Perhaps they really wanted the epidemic to disappear…
So, with these few people taking the lead, by evening, some more patients voluntarily moved in.
Song Xuyi was extremely happy. According to modern epidemic prevention methods, she set up a large pot in the yard to boil hot water to disinfect the clothes of these people. At the same time, she required these people to wear the simple masks she made, used wormwood to fumigate the yard, and bought a lot of wine from the village’s winery, distilling high-concentration alcohol through repeated distillation…
After all this trouble, the money and wealth Song Xuyi brought with her were almost exhausted. However, seeing the busy scene in the yard, Song Xuyi was extremely happy.
“Thanks to you, otherwise these people would never have moved in,” Song Xuyi looked gratefully at the man standing behind her with his arms crossed. “I never thought you would come back!”
Song Xuyi wore her self-made simple mask, revealing only a pair of moist, lively eyes full of reverence and gratitude. When she focused on looking at someone, she looked as cute and naive as a young beast.
“The letter has been delivered.”
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The man’s fingers moved, avoiding Song Xuyi’s grateful gaze, and he spoke dryly, “I have nothing to do anyway, just an idle person, so I came back.”
“Then… what did Gu Ruyu say?”
Song Xuyi did not doubt the man’s words at all. However, knowing her whereabouts, Gu Ruyu did not send anyone over, which seemed extremely strange.
“He didn’t say anything. He burned the letter after reading it.” The man continued, his eyes tightly fixed on Song Xuyi’s expression.
Song Xuyi was stunned, then frowned involuntarily. According to reason, knowing her whereabouts, Gu Ruyu should come, so why was there no movement?
No matter how much Song Xuyi thought, she couldn’t figure it out. Finally, she decided not to speculate on Gu Ruyu’s thoughts. After all, Gu Ruyu was a deep schemer, not someone she could control.
Now, without Gu Ruyu coming over, the situation became extremely dire. Without Gu Ruyu, Song Xuyi could not prove her identity. If the soldiers received the order to massacre the village, Song Xuyi did not have enough status to stop the soldiers from massacring the village.
The only plan now was to completely eradicate the epidemic.
In this way, Song Xuyi was completely tied to the people of Wang Family Village.
Thinking this, Song Xuyi felt an immense pressure and couldn’t help but enter the pharmacy to start brewing medicine for the patients.
“Aren’t you afraid?” The man followed Song Xuyi into the pharmacy, glanced at her with a complex look, and spoke dryly, “If I’m not mistaken, you want to seek help from that person named Gu Ruyu. I heard you sneaked out. Maybe he’s angry with you. If you write another letter to apologize, he might come to help you…”
“Thank you,” Song Xuyi heard the man say so many words for the first time. After getting along this way, she felt that the man had a cold exterior but was warm inside. Not wanting to reveal too much to involve him in the court’s dirty waters, she made up a lie to explain, “Actually, I don’t know Gu Ruyu that well. I just wrote to him with a try-it-out mentality. According to rumors, Gu Ruyu is a sinister, arrogant, and vengeful person. I don’t want to bother him anymore…”
“Rumors are unreliable,” Song Xuyi didn’t know if it was her illusion, but she felt that the man’s face seemed even gloomier. “I contacted Gu Ruyu for a moment this time. He was very modest and had the demeanor of a gentleman. Maybe there’s a misunderstanding between you and him—”
“That’s because you are powerful, and Gu Ruyu wants to recruit you,” Song Xuyi recalled the cold look of Gu Ruyu in the original owner’s memory and the military tally that Gu Ruyu had not returned, and couldn’t help but sigh, “He has already taken what he wanted from me, so he naturally won’t be kind to me anymore…”
The man opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. His face became extremely cold in an instant. If others saw it, they would definitely be frightened, but now Song Xuyi was sure he was a good person and was not afraid of his cold aura. She even thought that his expression was just because he was frustrated for not being able to help her.
“Really, thank you so much.” Song Xuyi turned her head, smiled at the man, and handed him a stack of her self-made simple masks, “I know you are a great person and very capable. Maybe you are not afraid of this epidemic, but I hope you stay healthy and live a long life. It’s always good to be more careful…”
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The man looked at Song Xuyi without expression, tightened his lips, and did not reach out to take the masks.
Feeling a bit awkward, Song Xuyi didn’t mind, thinking that maybe the man thought he was too capable to need a mask. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, the man seemed to think of something and grabbed Song Xuyi’s hand, speaking dryly, “I don’t know how to wear it!”
Song Xuyi didn’t think the man didn’t know how to wear it, feeling that he might be concerned about some face issue.2 Thinking that it was a small task, she let the man squat down and helped him wear the mask.
When helping the man wear the mask, Song Xuyi noticed that his chin was smooth without any marks.
Maybe she was mistaken!
After helping the man wear the mask, covering the lower half of his face, his eyes became more dazzling and charming. When Song Xuyi accidentally met his gaze, her heartbeat quickened, and she almost didn’t dare to meet his eyes.
After asking about the man’s plan to leave Wang Family Village in half a month, Song Xuyi was overjoyed.
With this man who was like a weapon in control, it became much easier for Song Xuyi to implement her series of measures.
In a few days, the two buildings had many more patients, and Song Xuyi was so busy that her feet barely touched the ground. Fortunately, the man was extremely smart and learned the basics of diagnosis while following Song Xuyi, helping her a lot.
Song Xuyi was extremely grateful. She had nothing to repay the man now, but knowing that he didn’t like coarse food, she used the remaining money to buy some ingredients and squeezed out some time to cook for the man as a thank you.
The man seemed surprised that Song Xuyi would cook personally. Seeing the meal she prepared, his face, which had been cold for the past few days, softened a lot. With Song Xuyi occasionally joking, the atmosphere at the table, though not lively, was not awkward. But perhaps the cold and beautiful face of Gu Ruyu had left a deep impression on the man. Halfway through the meal, the man brought up Gu Ruyu again—
“You are too tired now!” The man’s gaze swept over Song Xuyi’s obviously thinner cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes, tightening his lips, “Since you can cook, and it tastes good, why don’t you try writing another letter to Gu Ruyu? As long as you promise to cook him a meal, I guarantee he’ll help you…”
“Young Master Zhao, Gu Ruyu is very deep and I can’t handle his help,” Song Xuyi sighed, explaining helplessly again. To avoid the man’s inexplicable fondness for Gu Ruyu and fearing he would bring up Gu Ruyu again, Song Xuyi changed the subject and raised her wine glass, “Let’s not talk about unhappy things, I toast to you!”
The man’s softened face seemed to turn cold again.
He glanced at Song Xuyi mockingly, drank the wine in his glass in one gulp, and then poured another glass…
When Song Xuyi brought her cup to her lips, she belatedly remembered that this body couldn’t handle alcohol well. But since she was the one who brought it up, and facing the man’s cold gaze, Song Xuyi could only bite the bullet and drink the wine.
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To distill alcohol, Song Xuyi specially bought high-grade wine, knowing this body had a low tolerance for alcohol, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad. Soon after drinking, Song Xuyi felt unwell, staring at the man opposite her and giggling.
The man seemed to be drinking in frustration, but seeing Song Xuyi’s expression and flushed cheeks, his eyes flashed as if he remembered something, and he suddenly smiled…
Song Xuyi met a pair of dazzling eyes…
The author has something to say:
Gu Ruyu: You run away when you want, and want me to save you when you want, isn’t that too shameless? At least ask me…
Today, Xiaogu is working hard to save face.
LP: Re-translated on August 15, 2024
Footnotes
- Blinded by lard (猪油蒙了眼睛): A Chinese idiom meaning to be blinded by greed or foolishness.
- Face issue (面子问题): Refers to concerns about maintaining one’s dignity or social standing.