CH 8

Chapter 8: Why Did You Kiss Me That Night?

Qi Ci was woken up by hunger.

When he opened his eyes, he met with an unfamiliar setting. There was a simple, undecorated top beam of the bead, and he was covered with unfamiliar quilts and pillows. The air was filled with the delicious smell of steamed buns instead of the smoky ticklish fragrance of the brothel.

When Qi Ci turned his head, he saw Bian Zhonghua eating steamed buns. Once the latter saw that Qi Ci was awake, he didn’t hesitate to swallow the last steamed bun, and then proceeded to cover his bulging cheek with his hand.

Qi Ci: “…..”

Bian Zhonghua finished chewing, swallowed, and then said: “Don’t look at me like that. If you’re hungry, I’ll buy something for you later. I’m not that full either.” 

Qi Ci raised his hand and looked at the white gauze on his palm. The wound was covered with medicine, faintly tingling and it was slightly painful still. It was like someone was gently scratching his palm with a sharp blade. The bruises on Qi Ci’s body were all coated with blood-activating drugs that felt slightly hot and smelled of peppermint and dried ginger. 

Qi Ci looked at Bian Zhonghua, and before he could thank him, Bian Zhonghua spoke first: “No need to thank me. You and I were brought together by fate, maybe it’s a repayment from a previous life.”

Qi Ci paused and thanked him stubbornly. Then he tried to get up and sit down, but as soon as his right hand pressed on the bed, he suddenly felt a burst of pain. The pain was so intense that Qi Ci frowned and fell back to the bed.

Bian Zhonghua went to his side and helped Qi Ci sit up. After pressing the bones in his right wrist, he said with certainty: “It’s dislocated.”

Qi Ci’s mind lit up as he thought, ‘maybe when I fell from the willow tree after being pushed down by that guy, I accidentally hurt my wrist’.

“Come, come, come.” Bian Zhonghua sat on one side of the bed and held Qi Ci’s wrist full of smiles: “I’ll show you my orthopedic healing technique. Neither the old nor the young will be cheated! It’s guaranteed to cure any paralysis! If I can’t cure the wound, you won’t be charged! If you’re perfectly cured, I’ll give you money!”

Qi Ci: “What the hell??”

As soon as those words left his mouth, a soft ‘click’ sound came from his wrist.

As a miserable cry echoed through the sky, an old man, who was drinking tea under the sun outside the inn, got scared by the sudden scream making him shake his hand, spilling the tea all over himself.

It took Qi Ci a long time to get over it. After he shook off his hand, finding out that it didn’t hurt anymore, he stretched out his hand to Bian Zhonghua: “You’re cured! Let’s pay!”

Bian Zhonghua laughed heartily. His eyes were as warm and moist as water as he took out a copper coin from his bosom and handed it to Qi Ci.

‘You can’t buy anything with a single copper coin.’

Qi Ci took the copper coin and carefully guarded it in his bosom, close to him. Then he raised his head and asked: “Won’t you get in trouble for taking me out of the brothel?”

“Me? In trouble?” Bian Zhonghua laughed out loud, inclined his head to look out of the window, and then said: “Speaking of the brothel, I might as well be a good man in the end. So, I’ll go back two days later to resume my orders.”

…

The affairs of life were like a theatre. The brothel in the city, which offered entertainment by night and extravagant expenses every day, suddenly caught on fire overnight as the flames consumed the whole place. The place that was originally as prosperous as a dream, was now a field of dark wreckage and sorrow.

Just as everyone was talking about the matter, a small stall was suddenly set up next to the remains of the brothel.

The stall owner was an imposing young man with clear eyes as bright as stars.

Every time someone came close to the stall, the stall owner would always say: “Hey Dage1! Do you want to get rid of the Gu worm? I can get rid of all kinds of Gu worms, one or two silver coins are enough! Neither the old nor the young would be cheated!”

This stall has been set for most of the day, until finally, someone came to ask. It was a girl with a veil covering her face. As she lowered her head, she asked in a very soft tone of voice: “Can you really get rid of the Gu worm?”

Bian Zhonghua replied with a big smile: “Yes!”

At his side, Qi Ci suddenly understood what Bian Zhonghua meant by ‘being a good man in the end’.

As Qi Ci suddenly remembered the scene of Bian Zhonghua explaining his tricks to him that night, his eyes widened as he stared back and forth between the girl and Bian Zhonghua.

However, Bian Zhonghua didn’t do anything weird. He simply took out the silver knife from his sleeve, turned it into a brush, dipped it in the cinnabar, and wrote on the yellow talisman paper. Then he handed it to the veiled girl with a smile: “Burn it into ashes and drink it with water. Then spit out the dirty blood, and the Gu worm would be successfully out of your body.”

The girl bowed her head and thanked him. After she took the yellow talisman and paid the silver, she left in a hurry.

When Bian Zhonghua looked back and saw that Qi Ci’s eyes were almost out of their sockets, he asked: “What? Did you see a ghost?”

Qi Ci asked instead: “You clearly have this way of detoxification, so why did you kiss me that night?”