Lin Wan could cure the poison.
She had once seen both the poison’s formula and its antidote recorded in an ancient medical text. The treatment itself wasn’t impossible, just troublesome. The process was complicated, and several ingredients in the prescription were both rare and extremely expensive.
Still, none of that was a major problem for Lin Wan.
For the time being, she could suppress the poison with acupuncture and slowly detoxify him afterward.
Lin Sheng immediately brought over the medicine chest. Lin Wan took out a set of silver needles and instructed,
“Go boil some hot water.”
“Alright!”
Lin Sheng answered and hurried off to the kitchen.
Since Lin Wan knew some medicine and often helped villagers with minor illnesses and prescriptions, Lin Sheng didn’t think anything of it.
After he left, Lin Wan sat beside the bed and loosened Gu Zhixing’s collar.
Holding a silver needle between her fingers, she swiftly began inserting it.
Had Lin Sheng been present, he would have noticed immediately that her medical skills were far superior to before.
The original owner knew a little acupuncture, enough to treat headaches, fevers, and other common ailments, but she certainly didn’t know how to detoxify poison.
Lin Wan’s movements were fast and precise.
Even the technique she used was different. The needles entered at unusual angles, some inserted against the natural direction of the flesh.
One reason she had sent Lin Sheng away was precisely because she didn’t want her secret exposed so soon.
Her fingers danced across the air as she inserted more than a dozen needles in rapid succession.
Only then did her speed gradually slow.
When Gu Zhixing’s breathing finally steadied, Lin Wan let out a sigh of relief.
She sealed several vital acupoints to prevent the poisoned blood from reaching his heart.
If the poison invaded his heart meridian, not even the finest medicines could save him.
Unfortunately, she currently lacked the necessary herbs. Using needles alone, this was the most she could do.
Gu Zhixing had long believed this attack would be his last.
Every time the poison flared up, it felt as though countless arrows were piercing his heart.
The agony had once been unbearable, but after enduring it for years, he had grown accustomed to it.
He knew he didn’t have much longer to live.
In fact, he spent every day waiting for death.
The only thing he regretted was the young woman who had bought him.
She had suffered a double loss.
Her silver was gone, and he was about to die anyway.
Did that mean he had incurred yet another debt before his death?
The thought made him laugh bitterly inside.
The burdens he carried only seemed to grow heavier.
In his haze, he felt a pair of cool hands pulling open his collar.
Then came the sharp sting of needles.
Strangely enough, as the stinging sensation spread, the violent pain raging through his body gradually eased.
Half-awake, he forced his eyes open.
Standing beside the bed was the slender young woman who had bought him.
She was completely focused on administering the acupuncture.
Her eyes were serious and pure.
For a brief moment, Gu Zhixing felt dazed.
Then exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he slipped back into unconsciousness.
After inserting the final needle, Lin Wan straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
For now, Gu Zhixing’s condition had stabilized.
However, if she wanted to eliminate the poison completely, she needed to gather the necessary medicinal herbs as soon as possible.
Her gaze fell on his face.
Even unconscious and pale as paper, his appearance remained stunning.
In fact, his illness only enhanced his beauty, giving him a fragile, broken quality that made people want to protect him.
When Lin Sheng returned carrying a basin of hot water, he saw his sister staring blankly at the man covered in silver needles.
Even though he knew nothing about romance, he could understand the meaning in her eyes.
“Sis!”
His sudden shout snapped Lin Wan out of her admiration.
She withdrew her gaze from the handsome patient and looked toward the doorway.
Lin Sheng walked in carrying the basin.
“The water’s ready.”
“Just set it down. I’ll wipe him clean in a moment.”
Gu Zhixing’s body was covered with wounds that needed cleaning and dressing.
Upon hearing that, Lin Sheng immediately objected.
“Sis, let me do it.”
Men and women shouldn’t have such close physical contact.
He knew his sister would eventually marry, but the man lying on the bed looked as though he could die at any moment.
There was no way he wanted his sister marrying someone like that.
Lin Wan shook her head.
“His wounds need treatment. You don’t know how to handle them. I’ll do it.”
She had already noticed Lin Sheng’s caution and hostility toward Gu Zhixing.
Still, she trusted her own judgment.
The man she had chosen wasn’t merely handsome; his character was undoubtedly sound as well.
From beginning to end, Gu Zhixing had spoken only two sentences.
One was asking her to put him down.
The other was complaining that she had awakened him by choking him.
Yet a person’s eyes could never lie.
Although his gaze had carried the stillness of someone resigned to death, it had also been clear and honest.
Especially back at the village entrance.
When Lin Wan declared that she would buy him, another man—someone like the scoundrel Zhao Qingyuan—would probably have leapt at the chance to escape the traffickers.
Gu Zhixing hadn’t.
Others might have mistaken his reaction for arrogance or indifference.
But Lin Wan had seen something else in the way he turned his eyes away.
Lin Sheng wanted to argue further, but Lin Wan interrupted him.
“Hurry back to school. Don’t delay your studies.”
Then she took the basin, soaked a cloth in the warm water, wrung it dry, and began carefully cleaning Gu Zhixing’s body.
Lin Sheng watched silently for a while before finally turning and leaving.
Lin Wan patiently wiped him down from head to toe.
Naturally, she avoided certain sensitive areas.
After all, they barely knew each other. Stripping him completely would have been inappropriate.
Once she finished cleaning and dressing his wounds, she removed the silver needles and tucked the blanket around him.
Only then did she leave the room.
The moment she stepped outside, she saw Lin Sheng squatting near the doorway.
Surprised, she asked,
“Why haven’t you gone back to school yet?”
The original owner had always attached great importance to Lin Sheng’s education.
Lin Wan agreed that studying and taking the imperial examinations was the best path for him.
Lin Sheng was exceptionally intelligent.
Though only twelve years old, he had already passed the Child Scholar examination.
Had the family’s circumstances not held him back, his achievements would likely have been even greater.
“Sis… I don’t want to go back to school anymore.”
He stood there with his lips pressed together.
After a long hesitation, he finally gathered the courage to speak.
Lin Wan looked puzzled.
“Why?”
Lin Sheng stared at her in surprise.
Every previous time he had mentioned quitting school, his sister had become angry.
This time, however, she remained calm.
There was only curiosity and concern in her eyes.
No anger at all.
Feeling reassured, he continued.
“I already know everything they teach there. Going is just a waste of time and money.”
Qinghe Village wasn’t small, but for whatever reason, not a single scholar had emerged from it.
The village couldn’t even support its own school.
The school Lin Sheng attended was located in a neighboring village and was run by an elderly xiucai, a scholar who had passed the county-level examinations.
The old teacher’s knowledge was limited.
Lin Sheng had already become a Child Scholar at the age of ten.
At this point, there was truly nothing more for him to learn there.
Lin Wan pondered for a moment before nodding.
“Then stay home and rest for a few days first.”
Education should be tailored to the student.
The neighboring village school was roughly equivalent to an elementary school.
Lin Sheng’s knowledge had long surpassed that level.
Keeping him there would indeed be a waste of time.
There were academies in the county town, some staffed by teachers who had earned the rank of juren.
If Lin Sheng wanted to succeed in the imperial examinations, he would eventually have to study there.
Lin Wan decided that in a few days, she would make a trip to the county town and inquire about the academies.