Chapter 3: Medicine Chest
Chapter 3: Medicine Chest
This box wasn’t very big and it looked very shabby, as if it had been ruthlessly knocked over and fell to the ground somewhere. The surface was uneven and the paint had already worn off. One would think it was picked up in some garbage dump.
However, this small broken box gave rise to the infinite familiarity from the bottom of Gu Jiao’s heart.
Gu Jiao opened the box in a daze. When she saw the medicines inside, her brain buzzed immediately.
Was this for real?
It was her medicine chest!
Why was it here?
“Am I dreaming?”
Gu Jiao gave herself a pinch. It hurts! It wasn’t a dream!
The box was real, and the medicinal materials inside were all genuine!
Gu Jiao then remembered that this medicine chest was also at her side when the plane crashed. Was that why it came here, too?
It was just… How did it become so tattered? Where was its blindingly golden colour?
In the past, when the small medicine chest was still glittering in gold, Gu Jiao thought it was ugly. Now that it became worn out like this, Gu Jiao thought it was even uglier.
Nevertheless, Gu Jiao couldn’t resist the sense of familiarity that surged from the bottom of her heart. She hugged the box tightly and said, “This big sister will never hate you for being ugly again. Big sister will treat you well in the future!”
Gu Jiao carefully wiped the medicine chest clean. Fortunately, it was only the external that was damaged and nothing inside was destroyed.
Gu Jiao took several pieces of gauze and a bottle of Iodophor from the small medicine chest, disinfected the wound, and picked up an antibacterial ointment to apply to herself. Then she took two anti-inflammatory drugs. She thought she had to bandage the wound but later found it wasn’t needed.
After treating her wound, Gu Jiao felt a little hungry. She put the medicine chest into the cabinet and planned to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. But before that, she had to change into something clean and dry first.
Gu Jiao hesitated before walking across the main room and knocking on Xiao Liulang’s door.
“What is it?” Xiao Liulang’s cold voice sounded from the room.
Gu Jiao replied, “I want to borrow your clothes. The outer coats in my cabinet haven’t been washed yet so I don’t have anything to change into.”
Xiao Liulang didn’t reply for a long time. Just when Gu Jiao thought he would not lend her his clothes, the door opened and Xiao Liulang handed her a dry robe.
The fabric of the robe wasn’t very good and the color was slightly faded, but it was well starched and washed very clean.
If it was in her previous life, Gu Jiao would never wear a man’s clothes. But now, who told the situation to overpower the individual? If she didn’t wear this, must she wear the already moldy ones in the cabinet?
After changing her clothes, Gu Jiao washed the dirty clothes and went to the kitchen.
The kitchen was quite tidy. Xiao Liulang must have cleaned it up.
The rice jar was empty, but as Xiao Liulang said, there was still half a jar of cornmeal. Gu Jiao also found two eggs and a handful of chives in the cupboard.
Gu Jiao took the eggs out, made two cornmeal omelets and sprinkled them with the chopped chives. There was still a little bit of batter left, so she cooked half a pot of corn dumpling soup.
Gu Jiao brought the prepared food to the main room.
Xiao Liulang’s door was ajar.
In her memories, the two of them would always eat separately. Xiao Liulang would cook the meal and save a bowl of food for the original soul, but the original soul would go to the Gu Family to eat most of the time.
Gu Jiao paused and knocked at Xiao Liulang’s door.
“What’s the matter?” Xiao Liulang’s cold voice could be heard from inside the room.
Gu Jiao responded, “I made dinner. Would you like to eat together?”
Gu Jiao rarely cooked. Even if she did, she wouldn’t do his share. Therefore, he intended to wait for Gu Jiao to leave the house before he cooked his own meal.
Xiao Liulang looked suspiciously at the slightly open door.
“If you don’t want to, then I’ll eat first.” Gu Jiao wanted to wait for him, but she was so starving she felt like fainting.
She must replenish her strength as soon as possible.
Gu Jiao had just sat down and had yet to pick up her chopsticks when the door creaked open. Xiao Liulang stepped out of the room.
Xiao Liulang didn’t come out to eat. However, when his gaze inadvertently fell on Gu Jiao, he suddenly paused.
The robe that he gave Gu Jiao was something he could no longer wear. Yet it was still too big for Gu Jiao. With her thin and small physique, the robe seemed empty and it looked somewhat awkward.
Most probably for convenience, her hair and sleeves were rolled up, revealing a slender fair neck and thin wrists.
The former domineering and crazy air around her was gone. She just sat there quietly, eating the food in the bowl in earnest.
She seemed like a different person.
There was a slight pause in Xiao Liulang’s eyes, but eventually, he moved his gaze away with indifference.
At this moment, Gu Jiao noticed him and told him, “Come, ah. Sit down and eat.”
There was another set of bowl and chopsticks opposite Gu Jiao. It was clear that she didn’t just casually call out for him, but really cooked a meal for him.
But Xiao Liulang did not move.
Gu Jiao understood what he was worried about. The original soul wasn’t on good terms with him, so it was suspicious that she suddenly cooked him a meal. But Gu Jiao couldn’t just explain that she was now a different person.
After pondering for a moment, Gu Jiao said, “There isn’t much firewood at home. If you don’t eat now, you’re going to waste firewood when you heat up the food later.”
Whether or not this sentence convinced Xiao Liulang, he finally sat down opposite her.
The original soul was awestruck by Xiao Liulang’s appearance when she first met him, otherwise she would not have picked him up. In the eyes of outsiders, the original soul’s dislike towards Xiao Liulang was due to his leg problems, but it was different in Gu Jiao’s view.
The original soul was stupid, but Gu Jiao was not. There were some things the original soul could not thoroughly understand, but when Gu Jiao flipped through her memories, she understood everything.
Xiao Liulang deliberately angered the original soul.
He didn’t want to consummate his marriage with the original soul, and he didn’t want her to get close to him.
In fact, she also had the same intention.
Though it might seem she was taking liberties with him before, if you really ask her to do the deed with him, she feared it was impossible.
Gu Jiao was soon full. She took her bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen and headed outside with a basket on her back.
Xiao Liulang didn’t ask her what she was going to do, and Gu Jiao didn’t say anything to him either. This had always been the case between them.
But when Gu Jiao reached the door, she suddenly turned around and said, “I didn’t lie to you just now. We’re really running out of firewood. Before dark, I’ll go to the back mountain to chop some firewood. It may rain later. If I don’t come back, remember to collect the clothes.”
Xiao Liulang cast her a deep look.
The former Gu Jiao would neither see the change in the weather nor tell him where she was going.
After Gu Jiao went out, only Xiao Liulang was left in the house, as well as the food on the table he wasn’t sure whether to eat.
The family was poor, and no matter how much Xiao Liulang disliked Gu Jiao, it wasn’t to the point he would have trouble eating the food she made.
Frowning, he picked up the chopsticks and clamped a piece of cornmeal omelet with chopped chives.