Chapter 23

Jiang Chu Ting was slightly surprised, then he laughed. He didn’t expect Lin Zhi to be concerned about this. Knowing that Lin Zhi wouldn’t rest until he got an answer, Jiang Chu Ting replied, “I’m asking for… myself.”

“For yourself?” Lin Zhi’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion. “Why?” He had been in close contact with him many times and was very sure that the person in front of him was a genuine man!

Jiang Chu Ting explained, “I accidentally took this kind of medicine before, so I just wanted to ask the doctor about it, nothing else.”

Lin Zhi was in a bad mood for an entire evening, never expecting this situation. He grabbed Jiang Chu Ting’s hand tightly and urgently asked, “How did you accidentally take it? How could you be so careless? What did the doctor say? Will it affect your health?”

Why did he accidentally take it? Because he was in a hurry to find you. Jiang Chu Ting skipped over the earlier questions and shook his head, “It won’t have any effect. The doctor said it’s fine.”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“No.”

Only then did Lin Zhi let out a long sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease. “That’s good. I thought, I thought…”

Jiang Chu Ting followed up, “Thought what?”

Thought you were with another woman!

Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Otherwise, after waiting so long and carefully getting closer step by step, just when he was about to succeed, if someone had ruined it, he would have lost his mind and wouldn’t know what he might do. Lin Zhi said, “I thought you had some difficulties and were deliberately hiding it from me, so I checked the use of the ‘Wang Xian Cao’ and got a fright.”

Lin Zhi grabbed his hand and placed it on his chest, saying pitifully, “My heart was shattered, thinking you wouldn’t want me anymore. Luckily, it was just a false alarm.”

“Alright, now you know? Don’t overthink it.”

Lin Zhi looked deeply at him, “Chu Ran, I can’t live without you. Spend more time with me, look at me more, okay? Don’t have anyone else, I can’t take it.”

Kids have a possessive nature towards things they like, and Jiang Chu Ting felt that Lin Zhi’s feelings for him were probably similar. Fortunately, he didn’t find it annoying.

Jiang Chu Ting curved his lips into a smile, “You, you’re clingy. Once you get married, you won’t think like this.”

“Once I’m married, I’ll think like this even more. I’ll cling to you so tightly that you can’t shake me off, and I might even want to swallow you whole.” Lin Zhi tilted his head and chuckled, his beautiful eyes containing a peculiar light, staring at him without blinking, his tone slightly lowered, “What do you think? Are you scared?”

Jiang Chu Ting took it as a joke and couldn’t help but laugh, raising his hand to pat Lin Zhi’s head.

Lin Zhi moved his head, rubbing it against Jiang Chu Ting’s palm. After Jiang Chu Ting withdrew his hand, both of them suddenly fell silent, their eyes meeting.

“Lin Zhi.” Jiang Chu Ting was the first to speak, looking at him softly, “Do you… really think I’m that good?”

“Is there any doubt?”

“But, I’m not as perfect as you imagine. There are… sides of me you don’t know.”

Lin Zhi was a bit unhappy at having his feelings questioned and said firmly without hesitation, “I know, I know! No matter which side of you, in my heart, you’re perfect, the most wonderful and unparalleled in the world!”

Jiang Chu Ting whispered, “Really?”

“Really!” Lin Zhi said resolutely.

Jiang Chu Ting quietly looked at him for a moment, then lowered his eyes with a silent, faint smile, saying nothing more.

There were too many unnecessary tests tonight, making him feel unlike himself. Was he really so bothered by his indifference towards Lin Zhi?

Why was that necessary?

Despite the black-clad man’s dissuasion, Jiang Chu Ting’s nature wouldn’t allow him to stop investigating. The next day, he and Lin Zhi personally went around to investigate, and after half a month of visiting various brothels, they still found nothing, but they did a lot of good deeds along the way. Lin Zhi, influenced by Jiang Chu Ting, always lent a hand, making him feel like he was becoming kinder.

That morning, the two of them got up early to wander around the city. Passing through a secluded alley, they found a newborn baby girl.

Jiang Chu Ting couldn’t ignore such a thing. And just as they discovered her, the person who abandoned her hadn’t run far. Without Jiang Chu Ting needing to say anything, Lin Zhi used his lightness skill to catch the person.

The weather was getting colder, and it was just dawn, with a chilly wind blowing. Leaving the child in this secluded alley was clearly an attempt on her life. When Jiang Chu Ting picked her up, the baby’s face was already blue, but fortunately, she was still alive. Jiang Chu Ting had Lin Zhi take out a coat from their bundle to wrap the child up, then used his warm hands to gently cover her cold little face.

The person who abandoned the child was an old woman, dressed in coarse cloth, with a hunched back but a shrewd look. Seeing the two of them with swords, she was afraid but still put on a brave front, shouting, “Why are you grabbing me? Let me go! What, you want to kill me?”

Lin Zhi’s ears hurt from her shouting, and he tightened his grip on her shoulder, causing her to cry out even louder in pain.

Lin Zhi said coldly, “Shut up! Scream again, and I’ll tear your mouth apart.”

The old woman was so frightened that she shrank back, not daring to make a sound. Jiang Chu Ting, holding the child carefully, frowned and asked her, “Why did you abandon the child?”

He initially thought she might have some difficulties, but she straightened her neck and said righteously, “I abandoned her, so what? My daughter gave birth to her, and you have no right to interfere! Unlike others who throw them into ponds to drown, I left her by the roadside, which is already good.”

Her daughter gave birth to her? Could it be an illegitimate child, and she was afraid of losing face, so she abandoned her?

The old woman tried to struggle free from Lin Zhi’s grip, but she couldn’t match the strength of a young man. Lin Zhi didn’t even need to use internal strength to restrain her.

Lin Zhi had no patience for her, “If you keep moving, I’ll drown you in a pond, got it?”

The old woman was terrified and no longer defiant, trembling as she said, “If you two heroes can’t stand it, you can take her and raise her yourselves. I won’t stop you, just don’t come looking for us again!”

Lin Zhi sneered, “Your daughter gave birth to her, and you don’t want her, expecting us to raise her for you? How nice of you to think that! Where’s the child’s father? Take us to him.”

After Lin Zhi spoke, the old woman cried out, wailing loudly, “This can’t be done! If you find him, my daughter won’t be able to get married! You can’t do this! You, you give the child back to me, and I won’t abandon her.”

Lin Zhi had no interest in believing her nonsense, “Give her back to you so you can throw her into the water, right? Be honest, where’s your home? Lead the way.”

The old woman wiped her tears, still hesitating. Lin Zhi drew his sword halfway, the cold blade flashing, and the old woman turned pale with fear, her legs trembling, “I’ll, I’ll lead the way.”

She still tried to escape on the way, but Lin Zhi’s constant intimidation kept her in line, and she had no choice but to lead them back home.

The courtyard where the old woman lived wasn’t large or luxurious, but it wasn’t shabby either.

As soon as Jiang Chu Ting stepped through the door, the baby in his arms started crying like a kitten, probably hungry. Just as he was about to speak, a young woman with disheveled hair and only wearing a single garment ran out of the house, stumbling towards Jiang Chu Ting, staring at the baby in his arms.

Her face was haggard and pale. She took the child from Jiang Chu Ting, kissed her little face, and tears fell like rain, “My child, my child…” This should be the child’s birth mother, and it seemed abandoning the child wasn’t her wish.

Seeing her like this, the old woman slapped her thigh hard, shouting angrily, “Why are you crying? It’s your own fault for not being able to give birth to a boy! What are you going to do now?!”

She just held the child tightly, crying without responding.

The child’s mother was named Susu, just turned sixteen this year. She was very grateful to Jiang Chu Ting and Lin Zhi for helping her save her child, but her eyes were filled with deep sorrow.

After listening to her bitter story, Jiang Chu Ting finally understood the situation and remembered hearing about it before.

This city was called Jian’an, where most people were shrewd and skilled in business. After generations of accumulating wealth, almost half of the city consisted of wealthy families. Randomly grabbing ten people on the street, seven of them would come from rich families.

With some money, these people became arrogant. No one knew when it started, but there was an unspoken rule in Jian’an: to marry into a wealthy family, a woman must first give birth to a son. Only then would the family allow the marriage ceremony. If a daughter was born, some would keep her and continue trying for a son, while others would abandon or drown her. Some women who couldn’t give birth to a son were kept as mistresses or simply discarded.

Despite such harsh conditions, many people from this city and neighboring ones flocked to it, especially those from average families hoping to climb the social ladder. Like Susu’s mother.

Susu’s mother managed to catch the eye of a wealthy merchant’s young master, hoping her daughter could marry into wealth and enjoy a good life. But Susu gave birth to a daughter after ten months of pregnancy.

After the child was born, the wealthy young master didn’t even bother to look at her, sending a message to abandon the child.

Susu couldn’t bear to do it, but her mother made the decision herself, taking the child far away while Susu was exhausted and asleep, and abandoning her.

If Jiang Chu Ting and Lin Zhi hadn’t found her, the child might have frozen to death by now.

Before leaving, Susu expressed her gratitude to them again, then promised with red eyes, “I won’t marry, and I won’t let anything happen to my child. If something happens to her, I’ll die with her.”

Susu’s mother was still inside, crying and cursing. Jiang Chu Ting sighed. Fortunately, this child was lucky to have a mother who loved her. Hearing her words, he felt a bit of respect for her and said, “Take care.”

After leaving the house, the sky was already bright. Jiang Chu Ting and Lin Zhi strolled through the streets of Jian’an.

Lin Zhi couldn’t help but say to him, “If something like this happened in our family, they’d all be beaten to death.”

In the Lin family, women were respected. Lin Zhi, as a young master, was an exception, but among the servants, maids had a higher status than male servants. If there was any conflict between the two, the male servants were usually punished. When his grandmother, Lin Xuan, was still around, she set up Ming’an Hall in various places to shelter women in distress or help those in difficult situations, even teaching them to fight back and become independent. This act drew extreme dissatisfaction from those accustomed to controlling women, leading to many suppressions and disruptions, but she persevered.

Even now, with her gone, Ming’an Hall still exists, having helped countless people.

His grandmother despised men who trampled on women and women who trampled on other women. If she were still around, these people wouldn’t have a good ending.

Jiang Chu Ting listened to him, looking ahead, and continued walking silently.

Of course, he knew what kind of family the Lin family was. Back then, Zi Que had told him how oppressed he felt in the Lin family. Because, in this male-dominated world, the Lin family was just another extreme.

Jiang Chu Ting didn’t speak, but Lin Zhi kept glancing at him.

This was the longest time they had spent together since their reunion, eating, living, and traveling together every day. Before closing his eyes to sleep, he could see his face, and upon waking, he could immediately see him again, always hearing his voice and seeing him, without worrying about him leaving soon or waiting for those extra-long ten days.

Once this wonderful feeling seeped into his bones, it was hard to go back.

Of course, he didn’t plan to go back.

The two had been out since early morning, picking up and delivering the child, and hadn’t eaten yet. Lin Zhi pointed to a breakfast stall ahead and said to Jiang Chu Ting, “Chu Ran, let’s have some wontons there.”

Jiang Chu Ting snapped back to reality, looked in the direction he pointed, and nodded, “Okay.”

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My typing speed is getting slower and slower… =.=