GHLCS Chapter80

When Yuan Ye left, he didn’t tell anyone. He quietly took his family on a ship and went to a country far away on the other side of the ocean.

 

He didn’t even tell Gu Fangfei.

 

The elders of the Gu family had already handed the marriage break-up letter to Yuan Ye, and Yuan Ye had no choice but to sign it. However, Gu Fangfei had a big fight with her family and then moved out of the Gu family and bought a house to live in.

 

It was as if this joyous event had never taken place in Hezhou City.

 

Duan Zhanzhou received the deployment mission and was about to leave Hezhou City. At the departure station, he smoked one cigarette after another: “Hezhou City has become much quieter ah.”

 

“When they were here, I always wondered who would kill whom. Now that they are all gone, it feels strange and lonely.”

 

“Brother, this is my last reminder to you.” He blew out a smoke ring and put out the cigarette butt. “The person you want to protect may not need your protection.”

 

Duan Yelin looked at Duan Zhanzhou, who looked haggard and many years older due to smoking and drinking, and said, “I would like to remind you one last time as well, take care of your body.”

 

Duan Zhanzhou smiled bitterly, “I know you don’t like to hear it. A person who can suppress all emotions, keep calm, not get angry when insulted, not complain when wronged, and give up friendship at will—such a mentality you and I may not be able to do.” He sighed, “Of course, it may also be a natural personality, but Xu Hang sometimes really makes me feel like he is not a human being.”

 

After he finished speaking, he smiled self-deprecatingly: “But it’s useless for me to say that. You hold him in your heart. Even if he really wants to kill you one day, you won’t blink an eye either.”

 

Like… if Cong Lin were to come alive and kill him, he would gladly do so as well.

 

Duan Yelin was more worried about Duan Zhanzhou than himself. He had lost all the vitality in life and had lost interest in everything.

 

The train has arrived at the station, and it’s time to set off.

 

“By the way,” Duan Zhanzhou stepped into the train, but half of his body turned back, “Two people in Hezhou fell one after another, and now you are the only one who is in power. The Chief of Staff is very afraid of you, and he must make some moves. I heard that his children were invited by Kuromiya Keiko and may come soon.”

 

Duan Yelin didn’t take it to heart at all: “Come if they want. When the enemy comes, we will fight them; when the water comes, we will block it with earth.”

 

————

 

Gu Fangfei was ill, with a cold that took a long time to heal.

 

If the maid caring for her hadn’t noticed how unwell she looked, she wouldn’t have gone to Heming Medical Hall to fetch Xu Hang.

 

She was sitting on a rattan chair by the window, with a pot of roses on the windowsill. She had lost a lot of weight since he last saw her. After feeling her pulse, Xu Hang found that there was nothing serious, just a little weakness.

 

She must be blaming him, blaming him for not telling her even though he knew that Duan Yelin was going to search the mansion, so she didn’t go to him for treatment.

 

Xu Hang wrote a prescription and asked the maid to go to the medical hall to get the medicine. As soon as the maid took the prescription, Gu Fangfei said, “Remember to bring some money. Don’t be reckless and take other people’s things without paying.”

 

The young maid was stunned for a moment, glanced at Xu Hang, turned around, took the purse, and went out.

 

Xu Hang never charged Gu Fangfei for his medical treatment, so naturally Gu Fangfei didn’t talk to him about such mundane things either. They always got along well with each other and had a tacit understanding.

 

Today, however, they feel alienated.

 

Xu Hang said softly, “You feel aggrieved but have nowhere to cry. If you feel better if you blame me, then that’s fine.”

 

Gu Fangfei’s face and lips were pale. When she raised her head, there was a hint of dark red in her eyes.

 

Xu Hang added, “Now that he’s gone, you have to take better care of yourself. Even if you don’t believe me, you have to believe him. He will come back.”

 

“I knew he would… so I waited,” Gu Fangfei’s firm tone showed her determination. “He didn’t want me to see him vulnerable, so I didn’t chase him. When he figures it out, he will come back. If it takes a month, I will wait for a month. If it takes a year, I will wait for a year until he comes back.”

 

Just like the flowers on the windowsill, they may wither today, but they will bloom again next year.

 

Gu Fangfei touched the fallen petals and leaves and asked, “Who is that golden hairpin killer? Even Xiaotong Guan can’t find out?”

 

Although Xu Hang could not see anything unusual in her expression, but he was inexplicably worried that she would do something bad, so he said, “Don’t think about those dangerous things anymore. Yuan Ye also doesn’t want you to get involved.”

 

“I just want to know who put me in this situation. What can I do?” Gu Fangfei buried her face deeply in her palms.

 

Seeing her exhausted appearance, Xu Hang wanted to reach out and touch her hair, but his hand hung there for a long time before he retracted it.

 

His hands were stained with blood, so he couldn’t touch anything too clean.

 

“Just bear with it for a while, alright?” Xu Hang said softly, like coaxing a child, “It will be over very soon…”

 

The longer it takes, the more people will get hurt. He should hurry up.

 

Because after summer comes cool autumn, after cool autumn comes deep winter, and after deep winter comes another Qingming Festival.

 

The burning of Shucheng was during the Qingming Festival, and he didn’t want to celebrate the Qingming Festival again.

 

After dusk, the number of customers in Heming Medical Hall gradually decreased. When it was time to light the lights, it started raining outside.

 

Although there was no thunder, the sound of rain was very loud. Xu Hang lit some sandalwood to get rid of the moisture and read a medical book under the lamp. Fortunately, Duan Yelin was busy with the matters left by Yuan Sen recently and had no time to come to Jinyan Tang.

 

Physician Hu came in with an umbrella, shook the water off the umbrella, and placed it against the wall.

 

Seeing that he was half soaked, Xu Hang asked, “Physician, you took the biggest umbrella in the medical hall, but why are you still soaked? Is it windy outside?”

 

“No, no,” Physician Hu said, grabbing a handkerchief to wipe his face. “Just now, I saw a blind beggar fall outside the door. I wanted to invite him in to take shelter from the rain. But I wonder if he might be a bit unwell in the head—he seemed so frightened that he ran off to hide from me…”

 

A beggar? With the wind and rain like this, even on a summer night, it’s easy to catch a chill.

 

“I’ll go take a look.” Xu Hang put down the medical book and walked out, and Physician Hu held an umbrella for him.

 

Sure enough, there was a person squatting at the door of the medical hall, curled up in a small ball. He was soaked, with his hair hanging on his face and his shoulders shaking.

 

That man was wearing a white shirt, but it was very dirty and torn in several places. He was squatting in the corner, looking very scared, with dull eyes. If anyone approached him, he would tremble non-stop.

 

“Don’t be afraid…” Xu Hang lowered his voice and tried to approach.

 

That man heard the sound and wanted to run, but because he couldn’t see anything, he twisted his foot and fell to the ground.

 

Water splashed everywhere, even spraying dirty droplets onto Xu Hang’s face.

 

“Be careful,” Xu Hang helped him up without caring about his own face. “Don’t be afraid, I’m just a physician. You fell in front of my door, so I came to see if there is anything I can do to help you.”

 

After hearing this, the man seemed to calm down a little, but his shoulders were still shaking.

 

Xu Hang wanted to take him into the medical hall, but as soon as he touched the man’s hand, he shook it off as if he had been electrocuted, then squatted down, hugged himself, and said in fear, “Don’t lock me up! I… I want to go back… I want to go back to Hezhou…”

 

Physician Hu followed and advised, “We are not bad people, we don’t want to lock you up, and besides, this is Hezhou!”

 

That person’s ears pricked up, and he said in disbelief, “Hezhou… Hezhou… Is this Hezhou?”

 

“Yes.” Physician Hu replied and then whispered in Xu Hang’s ear, “Head of the Household, I think this beggar is probably crazy, or maybe he committed a crime and escaped.”

 

Xu Hang lowered his head and just watched.

 

He felt that this person’s voice sounded somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, so he tilted his head to look at his face, trying to see his features clearly under the dirt. After a long time, he squatted down again with a little surprise.

 

Ignoring that person’s struggle, he held his shoulders and pushed the hair away from his face and finally saw him clearly.

 

“…Teacher Shen?”