Chapter 33.2

The next morning, after breakfast, the two quickly went down the mountain. Today, her master was leaving, and she had to go to Qing Song Dui to be busy.

Xu Hua’an had been waiting for Guan Yue since the evening before, but she hadn’t come to see him even by the time it was dark.

Early the next morning, after packing his things, he finally saw his tardy disciple. Xu Hua’an was so angry that he jumped up: “What were you doing? You knew I was leaving and didn’t even come to talk to me?”

Guan Yue quickly tried to change the subject with a cheeky smile: “Master, I really wanted to come see you, but I’ve been so busy, I didn’t have the chance.”

Xu Hua’an retorted: “What were you so busy with? I asked around. You weren’t busy at all yesterday.”

Guan Yue explained: “The sanatorium wasn’t busy, but I had other things to do. I was getting medicine for you.”

She signaled Gu Sui, who quickly handed over the medicine box. “All of it was prepared by Guan Yue yesterday.”

It wasn’t easy to prepare a half-box of medicine. Xu Hua’an immediately urged: “Guan Yue is doing this for you, so don’t scold her.”

Xu Hua’an grumbled: “Next time, don’t do this again.”

“Yes, definitely not again.” Guan Yue promised, patting her chest.

Gu Sui glanced at her, reminding her that it seemed a bit fake!

Guan Yue shot him a look in return, as if to say: “So what if it’s fake? As long as it works.”

A young man on horseback came to call them: “The car is here. Fang Lin is waiting for you down below.”

“We’re coming, we’re coming.”

When they reached the mouth of the valley and were about to leave, Xu Hua’an began to feel reluctant again, repeatedly telling Guan Yue to remember to write to him.

Guan Yue promised right away: “When the pigs I’ve raised grow up, I’ll slaughter one for the New Year, make sausages and bacon, and send some to you.”

“Not just a little, send more.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll send more. Hurry up, the driver’s been waiting for you for ages.”

Guan Yue walked her master to the door. They pulled and tugged for a while, but her master just wouldn’t get in the car.

Xu Hua Ping, who couldn’t wait to go back, stuck his head out of the car window, calling: “Hua’an, we’re going now.”

Gu Sui smiled slightly: “Master, don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Guan Yue.”

Xu Hua’an grumbled as he walked away: “That brat, now she doesn’t even care about her master at all.”

The car headed towards the town, and Xu Hua’an looked back through the rearview mirror. Guan Yue was still standing there in the same spot.

As the car moved farther away, having seen her master off, Guan Yue and Gu Sui didn’t return. They were heading to Qingsong Village.

Li Tao was pregnant, and Guan Yue wanted to go visit her, as well as deliver this year’s medicine to Zhou Bao and the others.

Gu Sui held a bundle of pills in one hand and some brown sugar for Li Tao in the other, while holding Guan Yue’s hand.

It was late spring, early summer. Everywhere around them, the greenery was lush. It was just a little past ten in the morning, and the air had a slightly warm breeze, already carrying the scent of summer.

Gu Sui said: “It’s been so sunny for the past few days. Summer came too quickly.”

“This is just late spring, and the sun is already this strong. Do you think we’ll have a water shortage this year?”

“We shouldn’t be short of water. Last summer there was a big flood, and rivers and reservoirs accumulated a lot of water.”

“Mm.”

In the past, Guan Yue had never paid attention to issues like droughts or floods, but when Qingxi Village was flooded last year, she started to care.

In this era, people felt so insignificant in the face of natural disasters, with little room to resist.

By the time they reached Qingsong Dui, the children playing at the village entrance saw them and immediately jumped up, running off to find the adults.

“Doctor Guan is here…”

Guan Yue let go of his hand, but Gu Sui didn’t do the same. Instead, he gripped her hand even tighter.

Guan Yue smiled and glanced at him. “What’s wrong with you? Last time we came, you didn’t even let me hold your hand. Now you’re not worried about what others might think?”

Gu Sui smiled back. “It’s different now. We’re engaged. We’re going to get married, so holding hands isn’t a big deal.”

Yang Guozhu and Zhou Baohe had just run over from the field. When they saw the two of them holding hands, they were momentarily stunned.

Yang Guozhu asked: “You two…?”

“We’re engaged.” Guan Yue replied.

“Congratulations, congratulations!” Yang Guozhu said with a smile.

But honestly, wasn’t it a bit much to be holding hands for an engagement? Even married couples usually walked with one person ahead and the other behind, trying not to appear too forward.

Zhou Baohe thought about it but didn’t voice his thoughts, not wanting to offend them. “Look at you two, you even came all the way here to deliver the medicine. Thank you so much.”

Gu Sui handed him the pill: “It’s the medicine according to the prescription you gave me.”

Zhou Baohe and the others had originally thought that Guan Yue, now a doctor at the sanatorium, would no longer exchange medicine with them.

Yang Guozhu said that they should still try, because Guan Yue wasn’t that kind of person.

They hadn’t been able to enter the sanatorium, so they wrote a letter to Guan Yue and had it delivered. The letter included a prescription, listing the medicines they wanted.

Yang Guozhu chuckled: “Doctor Guan is still good to our members.”

Guan Yue replied: “It’s an equal trade. I give you medicine, and you give me grain.”

Zhou Baohe quickly nodded: “We’ll send the grain to you after the summer harvest.”

Guan Yue said: “No rush. You can send it after the autumn harvest. When the time comes, just bring it to the mouth of the valley and hand it to the guard. They will bring it to me.”

They needed to return before noon, so they didn’t talk much longer. They still had to visit Li Tao.

When they went to He Wen’s house, Li Tao wasn’t working in the fields. She was at home resting.

Seeing that Guan Yue had come, Li Tao was overjoyed: “I didn’t expect you to come see me.”

Guan Yue replied: “I came to deliver the medicine, and I also wanted to check on you.”

Strictly speaking, in both of her lifetimes, Guan Yue had never had close friends, and Li Tao wasn’t one of her very close people either. But no matter what, Li Tao’s kindness toward her was something she cherished deeply.

A hundred years later, not even friends or classmates, let alone many blood relatives, had remained close. Her mother had always told her that, aside from her parents, if anyone was kind to her, it was something rare in life and worth treasuring.

Guan Yue said: “Don’t busy yourself. Sit down, and I’ll check your pulse.”

“Ah.”

After checking her pulse, Guan Yue smiled and said: “You’re in good health, and the baby is also doing well.”

Li Tao was even happier: “My parents-in-law and He Wen have been so good to me. When I said I wanted to go work in the fields, He Wen said, ‘Even when my eldest sister-in-law was pregnant, she was well taken care of. Our family is doing fine, so I can’t let you live worse than my eldest sister-in-law.’”

“Then you need to take good care of yourself! If anything comes up, ask He Wen to find me at the sanatorium. We won’t stay long today; we’ll head back first.”

Li Tao stood up. “I’ll see you off.”

Guan Yue didn’t let her, but Li Tao insisted on walking her to the corner.

Guan Yue and Gu Sui left. On her way home, Li Tao was asked by many people: “Oh, was that Doctor Guan and Doctor Gu just now? Did they come to see you?”

Li Tao smiled and lifted her chin. “Yes, they heard I was pregnant, so they came to check on me and took my pulse.”

“Doctor Guan is really nice to you!”

“Hahaha, Guan Yue is a good person.”

Since the sanatorium was built in Qingxi Village, Gu Sui had visited a few times to treat people. Apart from the day of her wedding, Guan Yue hadn’t come once.

People in the Qing Song Brigade would say that Li Tao was trying to be friends with Guan Yue, but Guan Yue ignored her.

Li Tao had always been holding back her feelings and couldn’t think of a way to respond, but today she finally felt relieved.

On her way back, she hummed a little tune, feeling utterly happy.

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Guan Yue and Gu Sui didn’t take the same route back. Instead, they crossed over Xiaoqing Mountain, traveling to a secluded part of the mountains. Guan Yue wrapped her arms around Gu Sui and they flew up into the trees.

Guan Yue felt refreshed, while Gu Sui kept his eyes on the ground, worried that someone from the Qing Song Brigade might be gathering firewood in the mountains and spot them flying in the trees.

Guan Yue reassured him: “It’s fine, by now, they’re all probably working in the fields.”

Soon, they passed over Xiaoqing Mountain, and Guan Yue saw a familiar figure. “Uh-oh, hurry, run!”

Before Gu Sui could react, Guan Yue had already grabbed him and pulled him in the opposite direction.

Gu Sui asked: “What’s going on?”

Guan Yue quickly found a spot, and they landed. She smiled awkwardly. “I just saw Xiao Ma.”

Gu Sui replied: “See? I told you so.”

“Don’t be mad. He probably didn’t see me. Let’s just walk past him now.”