Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Gu Jinli instantly understood; this was a case of thugs and gangsters coveting the girls here and planning to abduct them by force.

Xiao Ji was embarrassed to mention these things, but hurriedly said, "Little benefactor, Sister Li and the others are fine now, they've stopped convulsing."

Gu Jinli nodded upon hearing this.

"Benefactor, we've returned." Ah Shi and the others came back holding large and small packages. After setting down the items, she immediately ran to Gu Jinli, presenting the remaining silver to her: "Benefactor, here is the leftover eight taels and two hundred copper coins, please take it... The silver we spent, we will definitely find a way to earn money and repay you."

They weren't begging for a living; Brother Lang and the others also went to work every day, but since they had no household registration and were foreigners, no one was willing to hire them. At most, they could only carry sacks or wash dishes for restaurants and inns.

Even so, those shopkeepers would deduct their wages, and if they dared to argue, the shopkeepers would threaten to capture them and sell them to the government.

Not having a household registration meant they were considered vagrants, and in Great Chu, vagrants could be bought and sold at will.

Gu Jinli did not accept the silver, but said, "Keep it, you still need to get by."

The twenty taels of silver was originally a test for Ah Shi and the others; if they dared to keep the remaining silver, she couldn't accept such people even if they were offered to her for free.

Hearing this, Ah Shi's tears flowed even more fiercely, but she quickly wiped her tears away, thanked Gu Jinli, then sorted out the medicine for Sister Li and the other five patients, packaging them one by one before proceeding to boil the medicine.

"One of the packages is for medicinal baths. After they wake up, boil the medicine, and then pour a bowl of it into a basin of water for them to soak in for a quarter of an hour," Gu Jinli instructed.

"Eh, I've got it," Ah Shi replied, and, together with Ah Chun and the others, started to boil the medicine.

The herbal medicine needed to be boiled for over two hours to take effect. Gu Jinli stayed until Ah Shi and the others had finished boiling the medicine and had administered it to Sister Li and the others. She then watched over them for the better part of an hour, checking their pulses to ensure their conditions had stabilized, before she finally got up to return to the Jiang Residence.

Ah Shi brought over two bowls of cooked porridge: "Benefactor, Brother, after you two finish your porridge, you can leave. It's so late now, you must be hungry."

Gu Jinli had been out too long, and was afraid that Third Grandpa and the others would be frantic with worry, so she declined: "We have food where we are staying; you should eat it yourselves."

Ah Jiang was worried and pressed on, "Benefactor, Sister Li still hasn't woken up. What if... what if she really becomes foolish? Brother Lang only has this sister left."

When Brother Lang left, he had sworn to take good care of Sister Li. If something happened to her, how could he live up to Brother Lang's expectations?

Gu Jinli said, "We will come again tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Ah Jiang immediately smiled, hurriedly saying: "Thank you, benefactor, you must come tomorrow, we'll prepare breakfast and wait for you."

Were they expecting them to come right after waking up?

Gu Jinli nodded and followed Escort Master Qin San Lang as they left.

On the way, Qin San Lang said, "Third Grandpa and the others must be anxious by now. If they ask, we'll just tell them the truth."

Returning late after saving someone was much better than coming home late after playing until dark.

Gu Jinli nodded: "Hmm."

It was dark, and this place was mixed with all types of people. Qin San Lang, worried that someone might attack them and abduct Gu Jinli, stopped walking, turned, and grabbed Gu Jinli's sleeve, saying, "I'll hold onto your sleeve like this, so we won't get separated."

Then he extended his own sleeve to her: "Hold on tightly, don't let go."

Gu Jinli stared in surprise, first at his hand holding her sleeve, then at the sleeve he offered her, and his utterly serious face, and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Haha~"

Qin San Lang's face turned red with her laughter, urging her, "Stop laughing, hold on tight, let's go home."

They were getting older, and holding hands was not appropriate, but they could still tug at each other's sleeves.

Gu Jinli suppressed her laughter and reached out to grasp Qin San Lang's sleeve, looking at him as she said, "I'm ready, Brother Qin, please take me home."

Her smiling face, flickering in and out of visibility under the torchlight, caused Qin San Lang a moment of dizziness, reminiscent of the sensation he felt when at ten years old, he secretly drank alcohol without his family knowing, and how he felt while intoxicated.

Dizzy and yet exhilarated.

"Mm, let's go," responded Qin San Lang as he turned his head, one hand holding her sleeve, the other carrying a pine oil torch as they made their way towards the Jiang Residence. The autumn breeze was gradually cooling, but he felt uncomfortably hot, his face burning and sweat trickling down.

Gu Jinli watched his back and wanted to tiptoe to see if his face was red, but the light from the torch was not bright enough, so she gave up and continued holding Qin San Lang's sleeve earnestly, returning to the Jiang Residence with the cool autumn wind.

Bang!

Third Grandpa slammed his hand on the table and scolded Gu Jinli, "You girl's audacity is sky-high, coming home at such a late hour! Speak, where exactly have you been?"

He then glared at Qin San Lang, "Buying food? What kind of food takes this long to buy? If you're going to lie, make it a good one. Xiao Yu is a girl, not like you. If anything happens to her, she could suffer for a lifetime!"

Third Grandpa was truly angry. When he hadn't seen Xiao Yu at dinner time, Han Liu said she went to meet San Lang and told him to eat first.

Thinking that both children were adept at martial arts, and San Lang was especially skilled, he was not overly worried and had his dinner in peace.

But when he asked before going to sleep, "Have Xiao Yu and San Lang had their dinner? If the food has gone cold, go heat it up for them before they eat," the answer he got was that Xiao Yu and San Lang had not yet returned.

He was frantic, immediately searching for Old Cheng and others, and just as they were about to light torches to go looking, the two kids returned. What relief!

Qin San Lang didn't want Gu Jinli to be scolded, so he admitted his fault first, "Third Grandpa, please don't be angry; it's all my fault. I dragged Xiao Yu to save someone. Please punish me, not Xiao Yu."

Gu Jinli also quickly said, "Third Grandpa, I was wrong. I didn't get into trouble; we just went to save someone. Please spare me this time."

Her tone was as pitiful as could be. What a pity that her usual toughness simply could not move Third Grandpa.

Third Grandpa inquired, "Save someone? Who is so important that you needed to spend the whole night saving them?"

Gu Jinli, "It was only for a few hours."

Continuing, she said, "It was Qiu Lang's sister and her companions that we saved."

"Qiu Lang?" Third Grandpa paused, then said, "I remember now, the five little escort masters bought today."

Gu Jinli nodded and rapidly recounted the incident involving Sister Li and her companions.

After hearing the story, Third Grandpa's anger subsided somewhat.

Gu Daya, however, said anxiously, "You went to West City? You girl, that West City is a place…" A messy place!

She dared not finish her sentence, fearing that her uncle would scold Gu Jinli again.

"What's wrong with Daya?" Third Grandpa frowned and looked at Gu Daya.

Gu Daya quickly replied, "Nothing, it's just that when I was at the Li Family's place, I heard that there are many beggars in West City, and I was worried that Xiao Yu and the others might have had their silver stolen."