Idiot

On the other side, when Xiaoguo returned to her residence, she realized that Jiang Danhe wasn’t the only one looking for her. Zhuang Zhuang, Xiaoyi, and Li Shouji were looking for her for a long time. When she bumped into Shao Zhan earlier, he was also on his way to look for her.

This made her feel even more guilty and touched at the same time. It seemed like she was no longer alone.

—-

Ever since the day she visited the cellar, Xiaoguo made sure to inform everyone when she went out. She wouldn’t leave without a word.

One fine day, she was making her way to the kitchen, to borrow the stove to make strawberry jam when she bumped into Yu Zhizhi, whom she had not seen for a long time.

Looking at the haggard woman in front of her, Xiaoguo was shocked. How did she become like this after just a few days?!

“Xiao… Madam!”

Yu Zhizhi had wanted to call her Xiaoguo, but she suddenly remembered what she had said—that she didn’t like being called by her name. Therefore, Yu Zhizhi addressed her as Madam again. Although Yu Zhizhi felt extremely reluctant, she had no choice. She had to get on Xiaoguo’s good side.

“Aiyo, Yu…” Xiaoguo frowned and tried to recall her name.

“…Zhizhi.” Yu Zhizhi forced a smile, but in her heart, she really hated Xiaoguo. She had spent so much time buttering her up, but she still couldn’t remember her name!

“Oh… Yes, yes, Yu Zhizhi.”

Xiaoguo clapped her hands looking like she had just managed to recall her name. She watched as the other party suffered another setback. Xiaoguo snickered to herself for a long time. Of course she remembered her name. She was just trying to tease her.

Getting back to the main topic, Xiaoguo looked at Yu Zhizhi from head to toe. “Why do you look so worn out?”

Yu Zhizhi looked at the other party’s rosy complexion and felt even more inferior. She took a few steps back and mustered her courage. She pretended to be relaxed and said, “I’m the physician that Mrs. Yang brought over. She hasn’t had a good appetite these past two days and she refused to let me leave her side. She even said that I can take better care of her health if I stay by her side.”

Xiaoguo was very impressed by how the woman could lie through her teeth without thinking. If she didn’t know better, she would have believed her.

Coincidentally, when she had nothing to do two days ago, she sat in the pavilion watching the two boys read and write. She fanned them and poured cold tea for them. While making tea in the kitchen, she overheard a few servants discussing among themselves. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but when she heard Yu Zhizhi’s name, she paid extra attention to the conversation.

The version she heard was different from what Yu Zhizhi had described. It was the complete opposite. Not that the Prime Minister’s wife was unable to leave her. Yu Zhizhi was the one who couldn’t leave the Minister’s wife.

The Prime Minister’s wife had gotten sick of eating seafood, so her appetite was poor over the past few days. Since Yu Zhizhi was considered as half a doctor, the minister’s wife asked her to prescribe some herbs that would improve her appetite. She even gave Yu Zhizhi the medicine box that she had brought along for the trip. She gave her permission to use any of the available medicinal herbs to come up with a prescription.

However, Yu Zhizhi had never encountered such rich-man’s ailments before. In this era, people were lucky to have three square meals. How could anyone suffer from such ailments? However, she was not entirely unreliable. After all, she had learned medicine before. She looked at the Chinese herbs in the medicine box and selected a few that were beneficial for digestion based on what she could remember. Those herbs were then boiled for the lady’s consumption.

When the pot of black medicinal soup was brewed and given to the Prime Minister’s wife, she didn’t get better after drinking it. Because of that, she immediately thought of sending Yu Zhizhi back, and summoning the original physician who had already recovered. However, how could Yu Zhizhi agree to it? She begged and made promises until Prime Minister’s wife reluctantly agreed to give her another chance. If she couldn’t produce results within three days, she would be sent back immediately.

However, she eventually managed to figure out the prescription and it really brought back the lady’s appetite. Only then did the Prime Minister’s wife allow her to stay.

Yu Zhizhi looked like she was bragging. Xiaoguo did not interrupt her nor agree with her. She just listened quietly.

Yu Zhizhi looked at her convinced look and felt a little proud of herself. “With her level of intelligence, Xiaoguo was so easy to fool. She actually believed everything I said. What a fool.”

However, although Xiaoguo’s brain was not working well, her appearance was really a pain in the butt. When Yu Zhizhi thought about the dark circles under her own eyes, she felt really jealous of Xiaoguo. It was really unfair that such a stupid person was so good-looking!

And that damn Lady Yang. Fortunately, she had racked her brains hard enough to recall an inconspicuous corner of a book that her father had given her. There was a section in the book that talked about stimulating the appetite. Otherwise, she would have been forcibly sent away before getting a chance to speak to Brother Jiang!

Thinking of Xiaoguo’s beauty and Mrs. Yang’s high and mighty appearance, a trace of jealousy and indignation slowly rose in Yu Zhizhi’s heart…

Xiaoguo also noticed the strange look in the other party’s eyes. The more she spoke, the more resentful she looked. Gradually, Xiaoguo lost her patience. She was starting to feel hot just standing there. She interrupted her, “Yu Zhizhi, I still have something on. I’ll get going first. We’ll talk again when there is time.”

When Yu Zhizhi heard this, she immediately perked up and pulled Xiaoguo back. “Don’t mind me. I’m free now. I’ll go have some fun with you. Where are you going?”

“The kitchen.”

“Let’s go together.”

Xiaoguo nodded in silent acquiescence. So be it. She was feeling bored anyway. It would be interesting to hear her brag.

Yu Zhizhi didn’t stop talking along the way. Faced with her constant chattering, Xiaoguo didn’t get impatient. Instead, she simply ignored her. She nodded and acknowledged everything that Yu Zhizhi said. Whenever the woman asked about Jiang Danhe, Xiaoguo would interrupt and change the topic.

Because of that, Yu Zhizhi did not manage to find out anything about Jiang Danhe. She could not help but feel a little discouraged, but she still followed Xiaoguo to the kitchen. Although she was not quite sure why XIaoguo was holding a plate of strawberries.

She watched as Xiaoguo cut the precious strawberries into small pieces before pouring them into the pot. A large spoonful of sugar was then added to the strawberries.

Since Yu Zhizhi had come into the kitchen with her, Xiaoguo couldn’t just let her stand there and do nothing. The additional pair of hands that she had brought along should be put to good use. Xiaoguo made her sit down and start the fire. This saved Xiaoguo from dirtying her clothes and smelling of smoke.

Yu Zhizhi was the one doing all the hard work. However, she was overjoyed. She thought that she had gotten closer to Xiaoguo and hence she burnt the charcoal in joy.

With the help of her free labor, Xiaoguo managed to make strawberry jam rather quickly. She tasted it to check the sweetness. “Alright, you can extinguish the fire now.”

“Okay!”

Yu Zhizhi agreed happily.

Xiaoguo turned her back and laughed to herself secretly. She must say that Yu Zhizhi was very naive. She was scheming, stupid, and naive.

While making her way back, Xiaoguo didn’t expect Yu Zhizhi to be so persistent today. She had told her many times to go ahead and get busy, but Xiaoguo didn’t know if she got the hint or not. Yu Zhizhi just continued to hang around her.

After dropping so many hints to no avail, Xiaoguo stopped. Yu Zhizhi was simply doing this in order to see Jiang Danhe. In that case, she would just let the woman follow her. In any case, Jiang Danhe was not around now. He would most likely return only in the evening. She didn’t believe that Yu Zhizhi would be so thick-skinned to stay until then.

However, the unexpected happened without any warning. Just as Yu Zhizhi entered the house with her, Jiang Danhe came out from the back room.

Yu Zhizhi gasped loudly. Xiaoguo could hardly pretend that she couldn’t hear her.

“Zhizhi, are you okay?”

“I’m, I’m fine.”

Yu Zhizhi hurriedly smoothed her hair. She was filled with regret. She was completely covered in the smell of firewood. If Brother Jiang smelled it, her image would be ruined. No, she couldn’t allow that to happen!

“Sigh, Madam, I’ll go back first. I suddenly remembered that I had something on. I’ll come and look for you later. Wait for me!”

After saying that, she ran off. Of course, no one wanted to keep her. Looking at the woman’s hurrying back view, Xiaoguo was curious. The man she had been longing for was here. Why did she run away?

“What are you looking at?”

Jiang Danhe was displeased that Xiaoguo was staring at a woman with dubious intentions. He turned her face away domineeringly and took the plate from her hand before she could react.

“Why are you home?”