Chapter 1373: Delivering Medicine

Chapter 1373: Chapter 1373: Delivering Medicine

He’d learned the art of selling misery a few years back, and Xiao Yu really fell for it; as long as he played pitiful and acted weak, Xiao Yu’s heart would ache for him.

Gu Jinli frowned, asked suspiciously, "Really? But why do I feel like you’re faking it?"

The winter drills were his idea; these past few years he’d deliberately picked snowy days to lead the troops into the mountains for winter training—would he still be afraid of the cold?

Qin San Lang nodded. On his firm, cold, stern face, a pair of eyes filled with pain looked at her as he said, "Mm, my stomach really hurts."

"Then I’ll rub it for you, get the gas moving. Tomorrow I’ll make you a face mask so you can cover your nose and mouth, then you’ll breathe in less cold wind." Gu Jinli’s heart softened, and she began to rub his stomach.

Qin San Lang was so satisfied he could burst. He wrapped his arm around her soft, slender waist and sprawled over her, breathing in her scent... Mm, it was that familiar clean, herbal fragrance of hers. As for that rotten-egg smell, she always got rid of it before he came back so he wouldn’t smell it.

It was a small thing, but it let him know that Xiao Yu cared about him.

"You’re crushing me." Gu Jinli pushed at him and complained unhappily, "You’re so heavy."

Qin San Lang then shifted to lean against the side wall of the carriage, but he still couldn’t bear to let go of her. His arm kept circling her waist while she rubbed his stomach. At the same time he stared at her, staring until Gu Jinli got annoyed. "What are you always staring at me for? Look somewhere else!"

To be safe, she wouldn’t even take off the acne patch on her face when sleeping. Right now her face was covered in pimples—what was he looking at? If he puked she was not taking responsibility!

Qin San Lang laughed and obediently looked elsewhere... Mm, his Xiao Yu had grown up. Compared to last year, her chest had filled out quite a bit.

Seeing his eyes drifting toward her chest, Gu Jinli’s face flushed. She snapped in irritation, "And here I thought you were a serious person. Turns out you were just pretending!"

What are you looking at? Never seen it before?

Qin San Lang held her and kissed her slender white neck. With a smile in his tone yet sounding very earnest, he said, "I’m only improper with Xiao Yu."

She was a little demon, always hooking his heart every moment, making his thoughts run wild without him even realizing it.

Hearing this, the corner of Gu Jinli’s mouth twitched. She was doomed; there was no way she could win a war of words with him.

Wisely, she shut her mouth. After rubbing his stomach for a while, she immediately turned over and lay down. "Sleep. Don’t bother me, I’m tired."

The roads in ancient times were uneven. Even though her family’s carriage was good, sitting in a carriage all day was still exhausting.

Knowing she was shy, Qin San Lang didn’t tease her again. He lay down with her, pulled her into his arms, tucked the quilt tightly around her, and said, "No need to rush with the face mask. I can handle this bit of cold."

Xiao Yu felt sorry for him and was already making him leather gloves; asking her to make a face mask too would be too tiring.

"A face mask is just sewing a few pieces of cotton cloth together, it’s simple and not tiring." Gu Jinli fumbled in the nearby chest and pulled out a cord. She turned over and said, "Don’t move, let me measure your face. Once I’ve got the size right I can make it."

Qin San Lang obediently let her measure. In no time she was done. Gu Jinli tied two knots on the cord as markers and put it back in the chest. "Okay, sleep."

With that, she burrowed into his arms like a little rabbit, nudged around twice, and found a comfortable spot to sleep.

Holding her, he felt a soft warmth spread from his arms straight to his heart, and he couldn’t suppress the smile that rose to his lips. The joy in his chest felt like it was about to overflow.

He’d always been quiet since he was small. Every time his eldest brother returned to the capital he would drag him out for a walk, and the place his brother went to most was the Zhou Family.

The eldest daughter of the Zhou Family was his brother’s fiancée. His brother liked Miss Zhou very much. Seeing her openly and properly wasn’t enough; he even climbed over the wall to see Miss Zhou and made him stand guard for him.

Every time he saw how enthusiastic his brother was toward his future elder sister-in-law, he grew curious. Once he couldn’t help asking his brother, "Do you become stupid after you like someone?"

His brother’s face instantly darkened, and he said angrily, "What do you mean by that? Are you calling your big brother stupid?"

He’d nodded at the time and answered, "Mm. Big Brother fights well in battle, and you study strategy under Lord Feng; you’re quite good at tactics too. But every time you see Sister Zhou you grin like an idiot and even do things like picking flowers, catching butterflies, and chasing fireflies for her."

A grown man, a battle commander at that—who would do things like picking flowers and catching butterflies?

He’d infuriated his brother then; his brother wanted to teach him a lesson. But he had Bai Jian. Dodging one of his brother’s attacks, he’d mounted Bai Jian and ridden off.

Thinking back now, it wasn’t that his brother was stupid. It was just a man’s instinct after he liked a girl.

As long as it could make the other person happy, never mind picking flowers and catching butterflies—he could even fake crying to win her sympathy.

Qin San Lang shifted his gaze and, by the torchlight outside, looked up at the wax plum hanging from the roof of the carriage. Mm, it was a bit withered already. Tomorrow on the road he’d see if there were still Meihua, and pick a few more branches to hang up for her.

After a while, seeing that she was sound asleep, Qin San Lang carefully got up, went out to extinguish the torch stuck outside the carriage, then quietly returned, pulled Gu Jinli into his arms, and went to sleep.

Clang, clang, clang!

At exactly the fourth watch the next day, the patrolling soldiers struck the gong on the dot and shouted, "Time’s up, hurry and get up to hit the road!"

They shouted several times in a row and only stopped beating the gong after people in all the camps had gotten up.

Before setting off, Aunt Xiong brought her three sons to deliver four bundles of wooden posts to Mrs. Kuang and the others. She said, "Mrs. Niu, this is what our madam told us to make. Stick these posts along the edge of your flat carts, then throw tent cloth over them, and the old folks and children on your side won’t have to eat the cold wind while traveling."

The Niu Family was poor and couldn’t afford carts with roofs. These past few days on the road they’d been taking the cold wind head-on; the old people and children couldn’t take it anymore and had diarrhea last night.

Ye Dakou came with San Qi and Mai Dong as well, bringing medicine for them. "This is medicine for cold injuries and diarrhea. It’s still hot, hurry and give it to the old folks and kids with upset stomachs."

She added, "The ones tied with red string are for children, the ones without are for the elderly. The dosages are different, you can’t mix them up, or it won’t work properly."

"Eh, eh, eh, we’ll remember, we’ll remember, we won’t mix them up." Mrs. Kuang was overjoyed. The Gu Family’s girl might be ugly, but she was generous. She’d merely had Wujin casually pass along to Bao Fukan that the old folks and kids on her side had caught the wind and gotten diarrhea, and the Gu Family girl had a servant deliver medicine first thing in the morning, already decocted no less.

This kind of medicinal decoction wasn’t easy to prepare. The Gu Family girl must have had her servants get up two hours early to brew it. She really was considerate. Even someone like Mrs. Kuang, who never tired of taking advantage, was almost moved.

"Qiaozi’s wife, Old Si’s wife, Liutong’s wife—Mrs. Qin had someone send medicine over. Get over here and take it. Move it, what are you dawdling for? It’s free stuff and you’re still not hurrying? You waiting for me to shove it into your old folks’ and kids’ mouths myself?" Mrs. Kuang shouted toward the women still packing up tents and cookware, and even threatened, "Get over here, if you dawdle any more I’ll just drink this medicine myself!"