Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Xie Wujiu learned very quickly.

So quickly that my father went from impatience to silence.

Others needed three days to memorize a text; he could recite it after hearing it twice.

Others’ writing was crooked; on his first day holding a brush, his strokes looked like knife cuts-ugly, but steady.

Xu Yuanbao sprawled on the desk watching him write and exclaimed, “You really never studied before?”

Xie Wujiu ignored him.

Xu Yuanbao was the son of a butcher; his face was round, and so was his heart.

He fished out two meat buns from his shirt and surreptitiously thrust one at Xie Wujiu.

“Don’t tell the teacher. My mother says studying wears out the brain; you’ve got to eat meat.”

Xie Wujiu looked at the bun but did not take it.

Xu Yuanbao whispered, “It’s not poisoned.”

Only then did Xie Wujiu take it, break it in half, and tuck one half into his shirt.

I knew that was for his mother.

His mother’s surname was Qin, originally a maidservant of an old family in the capital. Later, for unknown reasons, she had drifted to Qingshi Town. The townspeople called her the madwoman because she would often cry at night, clutching an old cloak, saying someone wanted to kill her child.

In my previous life, I never met her.

By the time I learned of her, she was already dead.

In this life, after Xie Wujiu got out of school, I followed him to the south of the city.

He noticed.

Halfway there, he stopped.

“Why are you following me?”

I hefted the medicine packet in my hand.

“To see your mother.”

His gaze instantly turned cold.

“No need.”

“The bun in your shirt has already gone cold.”

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m afraid you’ll kill someone later.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I was stunned myself.

Xie Wujiu looked at me.

I remedied without a change in expression, “If you get too hungry, you’ll snatch. If you can’t snatch, you’ll hit. If you can’t beat them, you’ll hold a grudge. In the end, you might just kill someone.”

He sneered, “You think far ahead.”

“Yes.”

I said, “I’m a person who thinks far ahead.”

He didn’t drive me away.

The dilapidated house in the south was even worse than I remembered.

The roof leaked, the walls grew mold, and a sour medicine smell hit you as soon as you entered. Madame Qin lay on the bed, her face alarmingly pale. At the sound, she suddenly opened her eyes.

When she saw me, her first reaction was to pull Xie Wujiu behind her.

“Who are you?”

I gave a bow. “Lin Wanzhao. My father is the teacher at the private school east of the city.”

Madame Qin’s eyes flickered. “A teacher?”

“Xie Wujiu is now studying at my home.”

She froze, as if not daring to believe it.

Xie Wujiu placed the half bun by her hand.

“Eat.”

Madame Qin did not move; instead, she reached out to touch his face.

“Did someone hit you?”

Xie Wujiu turned his head away. “No.”

“Liar.”

As she said this, she first gave a small laugh, then began to cough.

I put the medicine down.

“Aunt Qin, I know a little about medicine. May I take a look?”

Xie Wujiu immediately said, “How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“A fourteen-year-old doctor?”

“Better than none.”

In my last life, to save people, I had secretly studied for a few years under an old doctor at the clinic. I couldn’t cure major illnesses, but for treating chills and old injuries, it was barely enough.

Madame Qin looked at me for a long time, then suddenly asked, “Do you know who he is?”

The room fell silent.

Xie Wujiu’s face changed. “Mother.”

Madame Qin seemed not to hear.

“If you know, stay away from him.”

I lowered my eyes.

“I only know that he is now my father’s student.”

Madame Qin smiled.

“Student is good.”

She looked at Xie Wujiu, and a light suddenly came into her eyes.

“Ah Jiu, listen to the teacher.”

Xie Wujiu pressed his lips together and did not respond.

I noticed an old wooden box under the bed, with half of the character “Yan” carved on its corner.

My heart suddenly sank.

In my last life, after Xie Wujiu raised his army, the first banner the Black Armor Army raised was Yan.