“Sigh… Old Niu, tell me, how can someone be so unlucky?”
Liu Yao sat leaning against the clinic’s desk, a handful of sunflower seeds in one hand, chatting as she cracked them open.
Earlier that afternoon, the young woman had completed the first major stage of repairing the roof.
After leaving the horse gang, Ma Sao’s words about Zhao Yi’an kept spinning in her head.
The more she thought about it, the more bizarre it seemed, so she took a detour and strolled over to Doctor Niu’s medical clinic.
The girl looked at Zhao Yi’an, who was sitting not far away dazed, and couldn’t help but mutter, “To be honest, I’ve been out adventuring for so long, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone as unlucky as him.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen enough. There are plenty of people with worse luck than him.”
Doctor Niu didn’t even look up, continuing to sort his herbs.
Upon hearing Doctor Niu’s words, Liu Yao immediately became displeased.
“Hey! Who says? I’ve been traveling the jianghu for four years now. What kind of person haven’t I met?”
“Just take a lovelorn soul like Zhao Yi’an—I met one just like him last year! That guy…”
Doctor Niu didn’t say a word as the girl rambled on. He only waited for her to get tired and take a breath before interjecting.
“Only four years? What about before you started adventuring? How many people did you see in your life back then?”
“Little lady, you’re just too young. Once you’ve seen more in the future, you won’t bother thinking about these things.”
“Tsk… chatting with an old-timer like you is really no fun…”
Liu Yao curled her lip and didn’t continue the conversation, lowering her head to resume cracking seeds.
Doctor Niu wasn’t angry. He just glanced at her and went back to his herbs.
The sound of cracking seeds and the chirping of cicadas echoed through the medical clinic. No one else had come for a consultation at the moment, making the place quite peaceful.
After a long while, Doctor Niu finally finished sorting the medicine.
He looked up at Liu Yao, who was still sitting there eating seeds, and said with a face full of disdain, “Young lady, do you plan on cracking seeds here all afternoon?”
As he spoke, he pointed at Zhao Yi’an.
“And you, hurry up and take that dazed fellow away. He was supposed to go back and rest, but he stubbornly stayed here all night yesterday.”
“I don’t have the spare time to wait on him!”
“Hey! Don’t be like that. Isn’t a portion of the consultation fees this clinic earns from him? Can’t you be flexible and let him stay for a few more days?”
Liu Yao continued cracking seeds, acting like a bit of a rogue.
After all, with Zhao Yi’an getting a minor injury every three days and a major one every two, it wasn’t surprising that he was a regular at the clinic.
Moreover, she hadn’t finished fixing the roof of his house yet. She couldn’t very well let the man stay in a room full of holes.
As Liu Yao was thinking, Doctor Niu rolled his eyes and replied.
“Heh, letting him stay here last night was already doing him a favor based on our past ties.”
“Besides, the horse gang has so many brothers. Could they possibly lack a place for him to stay?”
Doctor Niu frowned, urging the girl to get up and leave.
“Go, go, go. Looking at the two of you here just irritates me.”
Hearing this, the girl stuffed the sunflower seeds into her pocket and stood up while patting her hands clean.
After straightening her clothes, Liu Yao curled her lip and reached out toward Doctor Niu.
“Where’s the medicine?”
“What medicine?”
“The medicine for Zhao Yi’an, of course. What else could it be?”
Just as Doctor Niu was about to say something, Zhao Yi’an, who had been dazed and practically invisible on the side, suddenly spoke.
“I have the medicine. Lady Yao doesn’t need to ask.”
Zhao Yi’an looked up. His eyes were lifeless, and his weary appearance made Liu Yao feel a bit surprised.
‘Wow, this guy… for the sake of one woman, is it really worth it?’
The girl muttered to herself, unable to resist stealing another couple of glances at Zhao Yi’an. She then let out a helpless sigh.
“Sigh—Brother Zhao, looking at you now, I’m really worried you’ll just drop dead. Can you actually walk?”
“Enough nonsense! I’ve never seen a fellow sturdier than him. He can walk just fine, so why worry?”
Seeing Liu Yao still dawdling, Doctor Niu urged her again.
Liu Yao didn’t get angry. She just looked at Zhao Yi’an, waiting for his signal.
The young man said nothing. He only nodded and propped himself up to stand.
Seeing Zhao Yi’an still looking so distracted, Liu Yao raised an eyebrow, feeling helpless.
“Sigh, what is all this?”
The girl turned her head and waved at Doctor Niu.
“Then Zhao Yi’an and I will be going. I wish you a prosperous business!”
“Get out, get out! Do you even know how to talk?”
Without waiting for Doctor Niu to shoo them again, the girl grabbed Zhao Yi’an and stepped out of the clinic’s main door in a few strides.
When Doctor Niu glanced at the entrance again, only a flash of long black hair remained.
“Runs fast, doesn’t she…”
Doctor Niu stared blankly at the entrance for a moment, then shook his head helplessly, preparing to continue organizing his counter.
But when he looked at where the girl had just been sitting, his face instantly darkened.
On the floor, around the table legs, and scattered everywhere were the sunflower seed shells Liu Yao had left behind.
“You wild girl—don’t even think about staying here next time!”
Doctor Niu’s roar burst out the door, even startling some confused passersby.
However, the only response he received was the distant sound of vendors hawking their wares on the street and a few wisps of the hot afternoon wind.
“Wow, it looks like he’s really angry.”
Liu Yao pulled Zhao Yi’an about ten steps away. Hearing that shout from behind, her footsteps paused, and she glanced back toward the clinic.
The girl curled her lips into a smirk and laughed at Zhao Yi’an.
“Teasing a serious-looking old guy like that is the best fun, don’t you think? It always reminds me of when I was still within the sect…”
Liu Yao turned her head to look at him, only to find that Zhao Yi’an wasn’t listening at all. His eyes were still blank.
She curled her lip and stopped talking.
Seeing the boy’s wretched appearance, Liu Yao felt a headache coming on.
‘Sigh—this is so annoying! This again!’
‘If I had known, I wouldn’t have listened to that old man’s gossip yesterday!’
The girl scratched her hair in frustration. As she scratched, her movements suddenly stopped.
She glanced at the distracted Zhao Yi’an beside her and thought of a familiar wine shop nearby.
***
A moment later, she let go of her hair and sighed.
“Fine, fine. I’m sick of looking at you in this state.”
She patted Zhao Yi’an on the shoulder and pushed him down into the shade of a tree by the roadside.
“Stand here and wait. Don’t run off. I’ll be back soon.”
Zhao Yi’an looked up blankly, and before he could react, Liu Yao vanished in a puff of smoke.
A short while later, she emerged carrying two jugs of wine, with a greaseproof paper bag tucked under her other arm containing some unknown side dishes to go with the drink.
She walked back to Zhao Yi’an and shoved a wine jug into his hand.
“Here, take it.”
“This is…”
Zhao Yi’an looked down at the wine jug in his hand, startled.
“Do you know how to drink?” Liu Yao raised an eyebrow, a teasing hint at the corners of her mouth.
“Don’t get so drunk you can’t find your way around like last time.”
“But I have injuries…”
The girl waved her hand with an air of indifference.
“Enough, enough. I can see you’re doing just fine. A little drink won’t hurt. At worst, I’ll carry you back!”
“Besides, I just can’t stand seeing you look like the sky has fallen. It always reminds me of a pathetic friend of mine.”
Liu Yao hooked her arm around the young man’s shoulder and leaned close to his ear, whispering softly.
“Anyway, you’ll just be dazing around if you go back like this. Why not find a place for a couple of cups? Once you’ve finished drinking, whatever is bothering you will naturally feel better.”
The breath brushing against his ear made Zhao Yi’an’s entire body freeze. He had never been this close to a girl before, and even his earlobes began to burn.
Seeing that the boy finally had a different reaction, Liu Yao nodded in satisfaction.
Releasing her arm from his neck, the girl didn’t care whether he agreed or not. She grabbed her own wine jug and began pushing Zhao Yi’an forward.
“Stop standing there like an idiot. Let’s go, let’s go!”
Zhao Yi’an was pushed forward. As he walked, he stared blankly at the wine jug in his hand, lost in thought.
But after a long while, he finally started walking on his own, nearly causing Liu Yao to stumble behind him.
“Geez… wait for me!”
The sun dipped toward the west, and the shadows of the trees lengthened. One after the other, the two walked toward the riverbank outside of town.
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