His lips were thin, and it was said that people with thin lips were often heartless. Gu Jun didn’t know if Lin Yue was heartless or not, but at this moment, he only knew that Lin Yue’s lips were soft and warm.
Gu Jun said, “Hus… husband…”
Lin Yue’s kiss was as light as a feather, just brushing against his lips before moving away. He lowered his eyelids, revealing only a hint of his dark eyes, quietly watching Gu Jun.
“Have we never been this intimate before? You seem quite surprised,” Lin Yue said, half-pinching Gu Jun’s chin, his thumb gently rubbing Gu Jun’s lips.
“We have.”
Gu Jun collected his surprise, opened his mouth to bite the tip of Lin Yue’s finger, slightly tilting his face up, revealing a bright smile.
“You kissed me so suddenly, I didn’t have time to react.”
Inside his mouth, it was moist and humid, and Lin Yue felt as if his fingertip had plunged into the stifling heat of a summer day about to rain. His whole body tensed up suddenly, and after a moment, he slowly relaxed. He slightly raised his eyelids, staring into Gu Jun’s clear and bright eyes, his voice low, “Let go.”
Gu Jun looked at him in surprise.
Lin Yue furrowed his brows.
Gu Jun complied, and Lin Yue withdrew his hand. In the orange-yellow firelight, his fingertip seemed to be coated with a layer of glistening honey. Lin Yue picked up the discarded leaf used for wrapping medicine and carefully wiped his hand.
“Do you… do you dislike me?” came an incredulous voice from beside him.
Lin Yue finished cleaning, stood up, walked to the branches, took down a linen robe, turned the other clothes inside out, and moved them back a bit.
The fire was burning fiercely, and the temperature of the flames was no less than that of a sunny day. At this moment, the robe was already dry, and the other clothes were almost dry too.
He draped the robe over Gu Jun, speaking gently, “Sleep, it’s late. I have something to ask of you tomorrow morning.”
Gu Jun tugged at his sleeve, “You’ve changed.”
Lin Yue said, “I’ve lost my memory. Once I remember, everything will be as it was.”
Gu Jun, with his medium-short hair, had tidied it with pond water while washing up, but after more than an hour of wind and fire, it was a bit messy again.
A few strands of hair, like weeds, stubbornly stuck up among friends and family, dancing with the heat.
Lin Yue raised his hand, pressed those few strands down, and said, “Sleep.”
Gu Jun let go, wrapped the warm robe tightly around himself, returned to his grass mat, turned his back to the fire, and closed his eyes.
Not long after, Lin Yue lay down as well.
Gu Jun heard the sound of Lin Yue lying down, understanding that he had completely escaped danger, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he truly fell asleep.
However, before sleeping, he sneakily lifted his sleeve and wiped his mouth. Being kissed by a man was still somewhat repulsive.
He slept dreamlessly, and Gu Jun got up early the next morning.
He remembered the wound on his chest, pulled open his clothes, and secretly looked. As he expected, it was bruised and blackened, but it was not a big deal, just a flesh wound.
Gu Jun was relieved.
The wood had burned out, but the fire hadn’t completely died, with a few scattered embers glowing red.
Gu Jun took a branch, poked out these embers, and reached out to warm his hands.
Last night was colder than the previous nights. He didn’t know when he had taken his hands out of the robe, but when he woke up in the morning, his hands were so cold they were numb, like touching two ice cubes when he tried them against his face.
Gu Jun stretched, curled, and turned his hands over the embers, gradually feeling warmth, but more quickly than the warmth, his sense of touch returned.
Gu Jun flexed his fingers, feeling happy. As he looked at the embers, he suddenly thought of a more economical food that could fill the stomach.
—Sweet potatoes.
From ancient times to the present, the yield of sweet potatoes has been higher than that of staple grains, and correspondingly, the price should be lower.
Gu Jun couldn’t help but smile, but as he smiled, his smile froze on his face.
He had never seen sweet potatoes in this place, and upon further reflection, he hadn’t seen potatoes either… which meant that this place didn’t have these two economical crops at all, and to expand on that, the entire Xuan Dynasty didn’t have these two economical crops.
Gu Jun’s smile completely disappeared, feeling that his life was bitter, even more bitter than a bitter melon.
Lin Yue got up and saw his expression of both smiling and worrying, reaching out to touch his forehead.
Gu Jun looked at him in confusion, “What are you doing?”
“Did you catch a cold?” Lin Yue asked.
Gu Jun: “…”
“No.” Gu Jun removed his hand, stood up, full of energy, “Husband, what do you want me to do?”
Lin Yue said, “It’s nothing major, wash up first, then we’ll talk.” After Gu Jun and he washed up, he said they needed to make a bamboo tube to hold water. The bit of soup and water they had at meals wasn’t enough to replenish fluids, and after working for a while, they would be thirsty again.
Upon hearing this, Gu Jun frowned, “Where to get a bamboo tube? Are you going to buy it?”
Lin Yue said, “Yes, buy it.”
The so-called thing he asked him to help with was to have him pay for something?
Gu Jun looked at him no differently than he would at a spendthrift, but working and being thirsty without even water to drink was indeed a bit much.
“How much for one?”
He was only telling him now because he thought if he had known earlier, he would have been worried and might have refused to give it later.
Lin Yue was really a cunning guy!
“Two wen for one. There’s an old man nearby who sells various bamboo products. I asked him about the price and gave him a bunch of dry firewood, and he agreed to sell me a water-holding bamboo tube for two wen,” Lin Yue said. “I have one wen on hand, you just need to give me one more.”
Gu Jun’s heart, which had been hanging high, fell.
Two wen, two wen was okay.
Gu Jun carefully took out the string of copper coins, which was now missing a few, untied the grass rope, took out one, and solemnly placed it in Lin Yue’s palm.
Lin Yue smiled, “Thank you, wife.”
Gu Jun put away the copper coins and nodded.
Lin Yue went to find the old man to buy the bamboo tube, and Gu Jun followed along.
The old man lived not far from the bridge hole, quite old, living with his son and daughter-in-law. When Lin Yue went to buy the bamboo tube, the old man took the money and even had his wife fill the bamboo tube with well water.
Buying a bamboo tube and getting water as a bonus, Gu Jun happily accepted it and hugged it to his chest.
Seeing him happy, Lin Yue, as if possessed, said, “Try the water.”
Gu Jun asked curiously, “What’s there to try?”
Lin Yue said, “The old man’s well is said to be a sweet water well, and the water drawn from it is sweet.”
The old man chuckled, “The young man has a good memory. I mentioned it in passing last night, and you remembered. Little lady, try it. No exaggeration, it really is sweet water. Many neighbors come here to draw water.”
Gu Jun opened the bamboo tube, poured a little water out, and wet his fingers. He lowered his head and took a small sip. It was indeed sweet, not the sweetness of added sugar, but a clear, sweet, and icy taste, similar to the water from the stream they drank before, but even clearer and cooler.
“Tasty,” Gu Jun gave a positive evaluation and handed the bamboo tube to Lin Yue, “You try it.”
Lin Yue took the bamboo tube, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Gu Jun’s lips, catching a glimpse of a moist, pale red. He lowered his eyelids, his Adam’s apple moving, and took a sip of water. It was indeed tasty.
The old man grinned widely, telling them, “If you want to drink more in the future, you can come and draw. Water isn’t worth much.”
Gu Jun nodded in agreement, sweetly saying that he had a face full of blessings and would surely live a long life.
When Gu Jun was with Lin Yue, he secretly learned to speak like him. After a few days, he spoke better, and when he spoke such long sentences, locals could understand without having to concentrate.
However, Lin Yue wasn’t a local, and his speech was different from the locals. Gu Jun, following his lead, picked up a bit of an accent from elsewhere.
It was getting late, and Lin Yue still had to go to Feng Laotou’s house. He closed the bamboo tube, took Gu Jun’s hand, and prepared to leave.
At that moment, not far away, from a dilapidated courtyard surrounded by a bamboo fence, came the sound of sorrowful crying.
Gu Jun looked up.
The old man, with his hands behind his back, also came out, his cloudy eyes glancing over there before withdrawing his gaze, saying:
“The son-in-law of that family is missing. The daughter brought her child back to her parents’ home, begging them to help find him.
“If you ask me, their son-in-law is fine. I’ve seen him before, and he’s really not much. But he got a job as a shop assistant, has an income, and pretends to be some kind of lord outside, hosting all sorts of banquets, and even has a few lovers on Flower Street.
“If you ask me, he’s probably having a good time in one of those lovers’ rooms!” The old man spat, “For the ten taels of silver the son-in-law’s family offered, they married their daughter off to suffer. Truly heartless.”
The old man’s son came out to tell him to say less and then saw Lin Yue and Gu Jun off.
On the way, Gu Jun was a bit absent-minded, thinking of Zhao Shuilai.
Could the missing son-in-law be Zhao Shuilai? Could there be such a coincidence?
Upon careful thought, it wasn’t really a coincidence. Zhao Shuilai was in the county town before the curfew, so he was likely a local. If he were to marry, it would be like everyone else, choosing someone nearby.
According to the old man, his character wasn’t good, so naturally, no good daughters in the county town would want to marry him. The next best option would be daughters from families near the county town.
There was still a difference in living standards between the county town and outside. Zhao Shuilai wasn’t a good person, but if the Zhao family was willing to offer a high bride price, there would definitely be families outside the county town willing to marry their daughters to him.
Gu Jun bit his back teeth, thinking: Dead men tell no tales. As long as he doesn’t say anything, who would know Zhao Shuilai is dead?
No, Gu Jun thought of Zhao Shuilai’s accomplice, the woman suspected of being a human trafficker. She was involved in this.
With Zhao Shuilai missing, she would surely guess that he was involved in Zhao Shuilai’s disappearance, maybe even guess that he killed Zhao Shuilai…
But so what?
That woman colluded with Zhao Shuilai to kidnap and sell people. Would she dare to expose it and make their conspiracy widely known?
In that case, it would be unclear who would suffer. After all, their kidnapping and trafficking were witnessed, but his killing wasn’t witnessed.
Unless she was willing to pay to bribe the county magistrate, ensuring her own escape while pinning the murder on him.
But from the conversation between the woman and Zhao Shuilai, their relationship wasn’t good, perhaps just strangers who had met a few times. If nothing unexpected happened, she wouldn’t spend a lot of money for Zhao Shuilai.
Gu Jun calmed down and went with Lin Yue to Feng’s house.
They set off early, and even though they were delayed at the old man’s place for a while, they still arrived early.
Feng Laotou hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet, let alone gone to work.
The servants at Feng’s house were yawning as they worked. Seeing Gu Jun and Lin Yue, they remembered Feng Laotou’s instructions from last night and quickly invited them in.
After sitting in the main hall of Feng’s house for a while, Feng Laotou got up, called Lin Yue, and the two went to the study to discuss matters. The study was really just a room with a few books.
Gu Jun sat in the main hall, waiting for Lin Yue.
A woman with a face that couldn’t be called beautiful or ugly, but unforgettable after just one meeting, came out with an elderly woman who looked like a servant.