Chapter 22: Feeding medicine
Editor: Atlas Studios

The seriousness of the matter was clear to all four of them, they didn’t speak of it, but tacitly kept the situation a secret.

Gu Jiao asked Gu Xiaoshun not to come over for a few days, since even though the infectious power of the early multiple-bacillary leprosy wasn’t that strong, it still carried a certain risk.

Gu Jiao didn’t go back to the mountains to pick mushrooms again, she stayed home and took care of the old lady for several days.

Perhaps she did an excellent job in nursing, by the third day at noon, the old lady was fully awake, no longer in a hazy state, but her mind seemed not quite right.

When Gu Jiao asked her who she was, she stared blankly at her. When Gu Jiao asked her where she lived, she still stared blankly at her.

Could it be dementia?

“Do you remember what disease you had?” Gu Jiao continued to ask.

The old lady simply continued to stare.

Gu Jiao was helpless.

It seemed that the old lady not only didn’t remember who she was but also completely forgot about her sickness.

Actually, it was better that she forgot. Gu Jiao could keep her from going out, but she couldn’t prevent people from the village from visiting. If the old lady accidentally mentioned leprosy, she, Xiao Liulang and those who had close contact with her, would be in trouble.

As for how to settle her in the future, that was a matter for later. The urgent task was to cure her, she couldn’t let anyone discover she’d had leprosy.

With these thoughts, Gu Jiao took the medicine pot to make the old lady some medicinal soup.

She had to use the medicine in the first aid kit and the traditional Chinese medicine, otherwise, the secret of the first aid kit would be exposed.

As soon as the old lady saw Gu Jiao with the medicine pot, she turned her face away in disgust.

Gu Jiao could faintly hear a disgruntled humph, this old lady, even seemed to have a bit of a temper?

The medicine needed to be simmered on a low heat for half an hour. While waiting for it to be ready, Gu Jiao took out the small medicine box to check it.

She had used quite a lot of medicine these days and hadn’t had the chance to take a good inventory, she needed to see how much medicine she had left and what she could no longer use freely.

But when she finished checking, she blinked in surprise.

The anti-inflammatory drugs that were supposed to have been depleted, there was a new bottle. There was also an extra tube of antibiotic ointment, in addition to several potions she didn’t remember putting in there.

Gu Jiao looked at the unmoving small medicine box and touched her chin, deep in thought.

—

Nearing the end of the month, there was another exam in the academy.

Gu Dashun had entered the Class Alpha of Heaven as the second in the freshman class, and he truly lived up to expectations, performing exceptionally well. This time in the exam, he once again achieved the second place.

Master Chen was very happy, but Gu Dashun’s face didn’t reveal much joy.

Master Chen thought he was blaming himself for not achieving the first place and patiently reassured him: “Both you and Hanzhi are outstanding among the new students. Hanzhi is two years older than you and started learning earlier, reading several years of books more than you, so you don’t need to worry about your current grades.”

Of course, Gu Dashun was not worried about this. That student named Xu Hanzhi was just slightly ahead because he had read a few more books than him. However, his talent was not as good as his own. He was quite confident he could surpass him.

However, his ambition didn’t stop there.

He aimed to become the personal disciple of the dean, he hoped the dean could become his own teacher.

Since the last time, he had written many good essays, and Master Chen had presented them all to the dean, but the dean hadn’t summoned him again.

“What’s the matter? Is there anything else?” Master Chen noticed his hesitant expression.

Gu Dashun thought about it and gathered his courage to speak: “I heard that the entrance exam question was set by the dean, I wonder if the dean has any plan to accept disciples?”

“Indeed, there are such plans.”. Master Chen could also make sense of his intentions. However, unfortunately, the person favored by the dean was not Gu Dashun.

Gu Dashun saw a trace of regret in Master Chen’s eyes, his heart cooled, “Is it Xu Hanzhi?”

“Not him.” Master Chen shook his head, “This matter hasn’t been completely settled yet, you better not ask now. Even if you can’t become the dean’s disciple, the dean will still take the time to guide the outstanding students in the academy.”

How could that be the same? One was to inherit the dean’s legacy, become the dean’s successor, not only acquiring knowledge but also the dean’s connections.

The other was casual guidance, which was far inferior.

As a child of a poor family, he dreamed of soaring to great heights. If he himself were not good enough, he might have accepted it. But he has enough qualifications to be favored by the dean.

How could he be satisfied with this?

Gu Dashun wanted to press for more details, but Master Chen was reluctant to say more.

Zhongzheng Hall.

The dean looked at the aloof Xiao Liulang, saying gently, “Have you considered my proposal?”

Xiao Liulang replied indifferently: “Are you sure you want me, the third from the bottom?”

In this exam, Xiao Liulang was third from the bottom, which was not because he had improved by one rank, but rather there was a Gu Xiaoshun to occupy the bottom spot.

The dean cleared his throat and said, “I won’t force you. You can go back and think about it for a few days. Don’t rush to give me an answer. I’ll be in the academy before the end of the year. Whenever you make up your mind, you can come to me.”

The dean was very sincere in his words.

Although Tianxiang Academy was only a school in a small town, the dean was once the leader among the four great scholars in the Capital City. His fame and talent were beyond doubt. If it hadn’t been for an accident in his family, he wouldn’t have left the Capital City to teach in a small town like Qingquan.

Out of all the students he had seen, Xiao Liulang was the first one he had the impulse to take as a personal disciple.

“You want him just like that? Aren’t you afraid you can’t get this tough guy to fall in line?”

After Xiao Liulang left, the old man in civilian clothes behind the screen hummed dispassionately.

The dean bowed to the screen and laughed, “I’m really afraid I can’t handle him. So…why don’t you, master, take him as your disciple?”

The screen fell silent. After a while, the old man sighed faintly, “You forget, I said I will not take any apprentices in this lifetime.”

The young lord’s death, the permanent closure of Guozijian, his teacher’s heart had also died forever.

After school, Xiao Liulang and Gu Xiaoshun took uncle Luo’s oxcart back to the village. When they left the town, they discovered that there were several more checkpoints on the official road, all checking for leprosy patients, which made them more alert.

After Xiao Liulang returned home, Gu Jiao updated him about the old lady’s condition: “….She can’t remember anything.”

Xiao Liulang didn’t think this was a bad thing, at least not for the time being, she wouldn’t spill the beans if she didn’t know.

“Has she been making noise to go out?” Xiao Liulang asked.

Gu Jiao shook her head: “Not at all, I told her that she had tuberculosis and couldn’t go out in the wind. The red spots on her face were frostbites. As tuberculosis is contagious, she better stay in her room to avoid passing the infection onto others. From the looks of it, it seems like she got it, she has been quite calm all afternoon.”

Xiao Liulang went to check on the old lady in the room. Her condition had greatly improved, the skin lesions had faded a lot, and the red spots on her face were almost invisible unless observed carefully.

What Gu Jiao didn’t say was that after a few more days of treatment, her leprosy would no longer be contagious.

Soon it was the end of the month, and it was also the day Feng Lin and “Doctor Zhang” had agreed to treat Xiao Liulang’s leg.