Gu Liyue carried the boy on her back and held the basket of wild vegetables as she returned home. As soon as she entered the village, she saw her neighbor, Aunt Wang.
"Girl Gu is back? Hey, what's that on your back?"
Gu Liyue quickly replied, "Aunt Wang, I came across someone who was injured. I carried him back. Could you please help me find a doctor?"
Aunt Wang was reluctant. "Girl Gu, did you pick this person up in the mountains?"
Gu Liyue was naturally thin and had just recovered from a serious illness. Carrying the heavy child on her back was quite a struggle. She hoped Aunt Wang would lend her a hand, but the latter showed no intention of doing so.
"I'm not saying this for no reason. You can't just bring anyone home. What would a normal person be doing in the mountains?"
Gu Liyue said, "Aunt Wang, this is just a child. He seems to be injured and sick. We need to find a doctor."
Aunt Wang curled her lips. "No, no. Even if it's a child, it won't do. He might be some evil person hiding in the mountains, or maybe his parents have caused trouble and are being hunted down. If you save him, you'll get into trouble in the future."
Gu Liyue put the child down and wiped the sweat off her face. "We can't just let him die, can we?"
Seeing that she couldn't persuade Gu Liyue, Aunt Wang simply went back into her house and slammed the door shut.
Gu Liyue carried the child home by herself. Then she went back to pick up the vegetable basket. She didn't even have time to go to the market to buy ingredients for dumplings. Instead, she first boiled some water, wiped the child's face, and placed a cold, wet handkerchief on his forehead.
She also took off the child's dirty and wet outer clothes and covered him with a quilt. The outer clothes were so tattered and dirty that it was hard to tell their origin. But when only his inner clothes were left, she noticed that this child seemed to come from a well - off family. The material of his inner clothes was smooth silk, completely different from the fabrics they usually wore.
Gu Liyue remembered that when she was a child, she once went to a tailor shop and saw very delicate clothes that she didn't even dare to touch. The fabric of this child's clothes was even more exquisite than those she saw back then.
Maybe it was because of the jostling on the way back, the child was in a daze and suddenly vomited.
Gu Liyue was startled and quickly took a clean handkerchief to wipe the child's mouth.
"Water..."
Gu Liyue poured a bowl of water and carefully fed it to the child.
"Little brother, who are you? How did you end up here?"
The child opened his dazed eyes. Seeing Gu Liyue, he burst into tears. "Mom, I want mom. Mom, where's my mom?"
Gu Liyue hugged him and comforted him. "There, there. Stop crying, be a good boy. Your mom will find you soon."
After a long while of coaxing, the child finally stopped crying. Sobbing, he said, "My name is A Jie. I came here with my mom to see my dad. We climbed the mountain this morning, and I fell down."
His story was rather muddled. Apart from knowing his name was A Jie, Gu Liyue didn't get any other useful information. When she asked where his home was, he didn't know. When she asked who his parents were, he also didn't know.
Gu Liyue sighed helplessly. "A Jie, you should rest first. You still have a fever. We need to find a doctor. I'll go and get one."
A Jie immediately started crying again and clung to Gu Liyue.
Such a clingy child made it hard for Gu Liyue to be strict. She could only hold him and coax him for a long time, but he still refused to let go.
Fortunately, Aunt Yun came home early that day. She was quite surprised to see the scene in the room.
Gu Liyue explained, "I found this child injured and with a high fever when I was picking mushrooms on the mountain. Aunt Yun, please go and fetch Uncle Qiao to take a look at him."
Uncle Qiao used to be a doctor in the county town. But somehow, he misdiagnosed a patient and the patient died. He had to pay a large sum of money as compensation and had to return to the countryside to work as a makeshift doctor to make a living.
Aunt Yun didn't hesitate. She put down what she was doing and left.
Just then, there was a commotion outside. A group of people looking like guards came from the direction of the mountain and were searching around the forest and the village.
When they met the busy villagers, some guards grabbed them and asked, "Have you seen a five - year - old boy?"
Seeing the villagers looking blank, the guards were extremely impatient. "We're asking you a question. Can't you understand?"
The villagers shook their heads repeatedly. "No, we haven't seen..."
The guards were in a hurry. Some continued searching here, while others went in another direction, seemingly to report back.
Aunt Wang walked out of her house, craning her neck. She pulled someone and asked, "Hey, what's going on? Who are those people?"
"Who knows? They look so fierce. Are they the town constables?"
"They don't look like the ones from our town. They seem to have come from the other side of the mountain. They said they're looking for a child, a five - year - old boy. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did the boy do something wrong?"
Aunt Wang rolled her eyes and immediately said, "A child? That girl Gu who rents a house from the Chen family brought a child back today."
The villagers were greatly surprised and started discussing. "Could it be the child they're looking for? We should tell Girl Gu to send the child over quickly."
Aunt Wang added, "Don't do that. Who knows what those people are up to? What if they think we're hiding someone and hold our village responsible?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Aunt Wang thought for a moment. "Gu Liyue isn't from our village. She brought someone back for no reason. Isn't she just dragging us into trouble? No, we need to get an explanation from her about this!"
"But... Gu Liyue is an orphan. We've gotten along well with her on weekdays. It seems a bit much to ask for an explanation just because of a child... Why did Gu Liyue bring a child back?"
Aunt Wang curled her lips. She didn't mention that the child was injured and not fully conscious. She just shook her head and said, "Who knows if she tricked the child or was herself tricked. Are you going to do something about this or not? If it really drags us into trouble, it won't be good. Uncle Chen is really something. He could just leave the house empty. What's the point of renting it out for a little money? But he has no problem dragging us into trouble."
She was a gossipy person, and the villagers were used to it. But her words made everyone afraid. They felt they couldn't just ignore it, so they went to find the village head.
On this side, Aunt Yun quickly fetched Uncle Qiao. He examined A Jie carefully. It turned out that the boy had just been frightened when he fell from the mountain and had some minor skin injuries. Uncle Qiao left a packet of calming medicine, saying that the boy would get better after taking it.
Aunt Yun quickly boiled the medicine and brought it over for A Jie to drink.
However, A Jie refused. He covered his mouth and shouted, "I won't drink it. It smells bitter and fishy. I don't want to drink it."
Gu Liyue coaxed him gently. "A Jie, be a good boy. If you don't take the medicine, your fever won't go down, and you won't be able to find your parents."
A Jie said with teary eyes, "But I can't drink it..."
Gu Liyue took out a piece of candy from the jar. "A Jie, if you drink the medicine, sister will give you this candy."
A Jie just glanced at it. "I don't like candy. I don't want it."
Gu Liyue was shocked. How could there be someone who didn't like candy? During the Chinese New Year, there would be candy at home. Sometimes, her aunt would give a piece to Liu Qinting, and she was so envious that she would have been happy just to lick it.
This child actually said he didn't like candy?
Seeing that he wouldn't drink the medicine, Aunt Yun put the bowl on the table and made some gestures, indicating for Gu Liyue to go and have lunch. While boiling the medicine, she had also cooked lunch - brown rice buns and a bowl of mushroom soup, which smelled delicious.
"I'm worried about A Jie if he doesn't take the medicine. Aunt Yun, you go and have lunch first. Don't starve yourself."