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Zhou shi was taken aback by her daughter’s words. “You wicked girl, do you think I’m afraid of being dragged down with you? I’m doing this for your own good!”
Xie Jiu’er let out a helpless sigh. She truly wasn’t good at dealing with people, and she didn’t want to explain too much—mainly because this was something she couldn’t explain clearly even if she tried.
“Mother, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just didn’t want to scare you. I can’t explain everything to you right now, so just let it be. Anyway, I’m saving someone, not harming anyone.”
Zhou shi stood awkwardly at the doorway, her hands tucked into her frayed sleeves, strips of ragged cloth hanging down. Her nose was red from the cold. “Alright then! It’s getting late—I’ll go make dinner. Tonight, we won’t have to go to bed hungry. I’ll make porridge and mix in some ground moss.”
At the mention of food, Zhou shi’s face lit up with a broad smile. All her earlier worry was cast aside. Back when the villagers were still around and hadn’t fled from disaster, all they ever had was wild vegetable soup—who had porridge back then? Now, with the village nearly deserted, the meals the three of them had were actually better than before.
But at this moment, Xie Jiu’er had no appetite. Her mind was consumed with one thing—how to keep Xiao Jinyu alive. Never mind her personal motives—of wanting to leverage this act of saving his life to secure a better future. Just for the sake of the jade pendant he carried, she had to save him.
Why had she ended up here the moment she touched the jade pendant in the burial chamber? And what a coincidence—shortly after arriving, she just happened to encounter the tomb’s owner. If all this was merely coincidence, then it was far too convenient to believe.
“Jie, let me help you,” Wuyang said, hesitating for a moment at the door before stepping inside.
Xie Jiu’er was a little surprised. Ever since she arrived in this place, Wuyang had been quiet and withdrawn. This was the first time he had ever taken the initiative to offer help. “Aren’t you scared of all this blood and mess? There’s not much you can help with here. Why don’t you go help Mother thresh more foxtail seeds?”
“I already threshed a whole bunch at noon. You’re a girl and you’re not scared—why should I be?” Wuyang puffed up his thin chest with his dark, skinny hands, patting it earnestly. His sallow little face and frail frame trying to act all grown-up made Xie Jiu’er, who had been frowning with worry, burst into laughter.
“Alright then. I’m about to stitch his wound now. In the carrying basket by the door, you’ll find the dog milkweed I picked this afternoon. Pick some of the fruit, wash them thoroughly, and mash them to extract the juice. Be sure it’s clean—don’t let anything else get mixed in. I’ll need it soon.”
The dog milkweed berries she picked earlier were fully ripe. She remembered that they had anti-inflammatory properties, perfect for treating Xiao Jinyu’s wound.
Wuyang didn’t ask any more questions. The moment his sister finished instructing him, he happily trotted off to work, his obedient little figure making Xie Jiu’er smile fondly. “Little rascal, acting all grown-up already.”
With that, Xie Jiu’er turned her full attention to stitching the wound. There was no anesthetic, and she wasn’t a trained physician—but fortunately, Xiao Jinyu was still unconscious.
The knife wound on Xiao Jinyu’s leg extended from his knee all the way to the top of his thigh. To stitch it up properly, she would have to remove his trousers. Xiao Jinyu looked to be about twenty years old—undressing a strange young man in front of her Mother and younger brother was undeniably awkward. Xie Jiu’er had no choice but to think of a way to send them out of the room.
She took a pair of scissors and directly cut open one leg of his trousers. After wiping away the blood on his leg, she carefully checked to make sure there were no foreign objects embedded in the wound. Only then did she begin stitching.
Xie Jiu’er tried her best to imagine he was just a torn quilt cover. Once she threaded the needle, she began sewing with steady, methodical stitches. Even though he remained unconscious, the intense pain from her careful work caused Xiao Jinyu’s brows to furrow into a deep crease, like the character “川”.
Once she finished stitching up the wound on his thigh, she moved to inspect the arrow injury below his knee. This man was ruthless—even the arrow had been forcibly yanked out by himself, leaving behind a bloody, gaping hole.
His right leg was in terrible shape. Judging by the state of the wound, he must have fallen repeatedly while trying to escape. The arrow wound was filled with fine debris—dirt, fragments of dry grass—all of which Xie Jiu’er meticulously cleaned out. With no proper medical supplies at hand, she could only rinse the wound with boiled water, hoping that the sterilized water would be clean enough to stave off infection.
Once the wound was cleaned, she draped his outer robe over his legs to keep him covered and washed the blood from her hands. In the kitchen, Zhou shi was busy preparing dinner, while Wuyang, crouched under the eaves with his little bottom in the air, was patiently pressing the dog milkweed berries one by one into a bowl.
Xie Jiu’er leaned in for a closer look. The bowl was already half full of juice, and beside it lay a messy pile of squashed dog milkweed berries.
When Wuyang saw her approach, he looked up and gave a shy smile. “Jie, look—is this enough?”
“Yes, yes, more than enough. But why did you use your bare hands? It’s freezing out,” Xie Jiu’er said, her face softening with concern as she looked at his hands, now bluish from the cold.
“I washed them clean, I promise. Jie, you believe me, right?” Wuyang held up the bowl of medicine juice proudly, as if presenting a hard-earned achievement.
Xie Jiu’er quickly took the bowl from him. “You’ve helped me a lot. Now go warm up by the stove—your hands are like ice, you can’t even feel them anymore.”
Beaming with pride at being praised, Wuyang happily ran into the kitchen to warm his hands. His sister had praised him—how could he not be thrilled?
Holding the medicinal juice, Xie Jiu’er carefully dabbed it onto the wounds, bit by bit. After applying the medicine, she tore a strip of cloth from his inner garment to bandage the wound on his knee. As for the knife wound on his thigh, she simply wrapped it in the leg of his trousers and tied it loosely with a piece of string to keep it in place.
She couldn’t be blamed for how rough the treatment looked—there wasn’t a single spare scrap of cloth in the entire house. She had no choice but to improvise and tear fabric directly from his clothes.
Finally, she brought the remaining juice into the kitchen. After dinner, she planned to boil it so it could be taken internally as well. She could only hope her golden thigh** would survive the night. If he made it through till morning, he’d be out of danger.
**Note: “Golden thigh” (金大腿) is a slang expression referring to someone powerful or influential whom one can rely on for support or advancement—Xie Jiu’er is metaphorically betting on saving Xiao Jinyu to improve her own future.
While Xie Jiu’er busied herself tending to Xiao Jinyu’s injuries, Zhou shi had finished cooking the porridge. Wuyang squatted beside her, grinning broadly and flashing his bright white teeth. “Dinner is so fancy tonight! Not only do we have porridge, we even have vegetables!”
Hearing her son say that, Zhou shi also beamed with joy. “Yes, in the past it was always bland wild vegetable soup. Now we have such thick, hearty porridge—this is a real treat. Thank goodness I listened to your sister and didn’t run off with the rest of the villagers. Otherwise, we’d be suffering right now.”
Watching how easily satisfied they were, Xie Jiu’er smiled brightly as she looked at the half pot of foxtail seed porridge. In a world torn by chaos, finding a moment of peace and warmth like this felt all the more precious. “Mother, Wuyang, we’ll be able to eat even better food in the future, and wear warm clothes too. Believe me.”
Wuyang turned around and saw his sister standing at the kitchen doorway, her eyes sparkling with determination and full of life. Somehow, that moment filled him with trust. He nodded solemnly. Right then, he truly believed her—if they kept working hard, life would only get better.
Zhou shi swiftly ladled out three full bowls of porridge and placed them on the table. Then she set the mixed ground moss in the center. The three of them sat at the small kitchen table and began their meal together.
“How is he doing?” Zhou shi glanced at the room where Xiao Jinyu was resting as she raised her bowl. “I made an extra bowl of porridge tonight—just in case he wakes up and gets a chance to eat.”