Chapter 117: I Made Her Do More Work And Think Less
The next day, Mo Ziyuan, Gao Yong, Chu Yu, and Zhou Qi rode off from Willow Forest Village early in the morning.
Hearing the fading sound of their horses’ hooves, Lin Xin hugged the quilt in her arms tightly, and her mind uncontrollably conjured up many scenes: Mo Ziyuan and the others leading troops into battle, confronting people at the Imperial Court, sitting together discussing matters, and even them wounded and bleeding.
Lin Xin suddenly pulled the quilt up over her head, but she still couldn’t stop those scenes from swarming into her mind. She rolled over, simply threw off the quilt, and sat up.
She didn’t know that Mo Ziyuan and the others were discussing her too!
“Zi Yuan, why not let Miss Lin come to the Capital City with us? With her around, our chances of success would be much higher.” Gao Yong had been utterly convinced by Lin Xin’s abilities over the past three years and held her in the highest regard.
“Yeah! I thought you went last night to persuade her to come with us!” Even the usually taciturn Zhou Qi chimed in.
Mo Ziyuan pursed his lips. “I don’t want to drag her into this quagmire too.”
“Zi Yuan, you’re wrong. Ever since Tao Tao appeared in Miss Lin’s life, she’s already tied to us—there’s no escaping it. You know there’s no such thing as a leak-proof wall in this world. Although we still don’t know how you managed a round trip to the Capital City in a single day, if someone investigates with intent, there will always be some clues left behind. Have you thought about whether Miss Lin might face danger then?” Zhou Qi said seriously to him.
“Exactly! If she encounters danger and we’re not by her side, we really wouldn’t be able to save her.” Chu Yu agreed.
Mo Ziyuan gripped the reins tighter and tighter, but he held back the urge to turn his horse around and go back. He said dryly, “We’ll take her after we figure out the situation in the Capital City! If we bring her now and something happens on the road, that would be harming her.”
Hearing him say that, Gao Yong and the others stopped persuading him and urged their mounts to speed up.
After getting up, Lin Xin habitually walked into the kitchen. Only when she scooped rice into the water dipper and washed it did she realize she had washed enough for when everyone was around. Now that the main rice-eaters had left, these few would have to eat the congee made from this rice for days. She couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“Whoa, rice for breakfast this early! And such a feast!” Cui Shi walked in right on time, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the rice, pickled vegetables, stir-fried pork, and diced chicken on the table.
“Yeah! I didn’t pay attention and washed too much rice, so I changed the congee to rice.” Lin Xin walked over with the steamed egg custard she had made for Lin Tao and explained.
“Rice is great! I love eating rice—congee doesn’t fill you up at all.” Cui Shi went into the kitchen to help bring over the bowl and chopsticks, then promptly served himself a bowl of rice.
Meng Yichen, who had come in behind him with Lin Nan, first observed Lin Xin’s expression upon entering. Only after seeing nothing wrong did he quietly breathe a sigh of relief and sit down at the table nonchalantly.
Everyone ate the meal with their own thoughts weighing on them. The only one unaffected was Lin Tao—even Lin Nan felt a bit uneasy. After all, without those big men who always robbed for food at every meal, this one was just too quiet.
“I’m going into the mountain today. Tao Tao and Nan Nan can stay with you, no problem, right?” Lin Xin asked Meng Yichen after setting down her rice bowl.
“Into the mountain? What for?” Meng Yichen frowned and asked.
“Anyway, staying home is boring. I’ll go see if there’s any prey, so we can add a dish for everyone.” Lin Xin shrugged and replied.
“The wild animals in the mountain are all skin and bones after starving all winter, and they’re fierce too. Why would you go?” Meng Yichen looked at her disapprovingly.
Cui Shi chimed in from the side: “Yeah, wait a bit longer before going!”
Lin Nan and Lin Tao also looked at her with their big dark eyes—Lin Tao’s eager anticipation was impossible to hide.
Lin Xin felt helpless and had to give up. “Fine, no going then!”
“If you’re really bored, come help me grind those medicinal herbs. I’ll make some pills later.” Cui Shi suggested.
Lin Xin thought it was fine—staying put was just making her anxious anyway. She locked the courtyard gate and followed him. But as soon as she entered, she saw a mountain-like pile of medicinal herbs, her jaw nearly dropped, and pointing at the pile, she turned to Cui Shi and asked: “You don’t mean these, do you!”
The little old man smiled and stroked his beard, nodding. “Exactly these. Yi Chen, a scholar with no strength to bind a chicken, can’t help much. I was worrying about how to handle them, and then—”
“And then I automatically delivered myself to your door, right?” Lin Xin finished Cui Shi’s sentence for him.
“Hehe, if you insist on putting it that way, then sure!” Cui Shi said, grinning from ear to ear.
And so Lin Xin was deceived by him onto the pirate ship, spending the next ten days or so battling that pile of medicinal herbs—not only grinding them all into powder but also taking responsibility for rolling the pills.
“I mean, doesn’t this stuff have dosages or something? I’m just going by feel here—which ones are big, which are small—won’t that really affect the efficacy?” Lin Xin asked Cui Shi suspiciously while rolling the pills.
“No worries, these are all for treating colds, fevers, and the like. A bit more or less in the dose doesn’t matter—as long as it doesn’t kill anyone.” Cui Shi said indifferently.
Lin Xin’s eyebrows twitched. Was this the rigorous attitude a doctor should have?
“Right, once you’re done with the pills, help me bottle them up!” Cui Shi pointed at a large wooden basin of powdered medicine and said to Lin Xin.
“Are you trying to work me to death?” Lin Xin threw the wooden mold onto the table, planning to stop working.
“Oh come on, how could that be! You’re the capable one who should do more! Look at us: old, young, weak—you’re so capable, why not do a bit more! Right?”
Lin Xin: “······” I seriously suspect you’re deceiving me into doing more work.
“Sigh!” She sighed deeply, resignedly picked up the mold, and started making pills again. She knew these things were for sending to the Capital City for Mo Ziyuan and the others. To achieve that position, how could there be no bloodshed? She only hoped their sacrifice could be smaller, even smaller.
Watching her bury her head in work again, Meng Yichen pulled Cui Shi aside and whispered, “Old Cui, you’ve given Miss Lin so much work, and you’re just idling about—do you think that’s appropriate?”
Cui Shi lifted an eyelid to glance at him. “What do you know? Didn’t you see how this girl lost all her spirit when Zi Yuan and the others left? I’m making her do more work to think less. Doesn’t she look much better these past couple days?”
Meng Yichen rolled his eyes at him. “Old Cui, we’re such old acquaintances now—you can’t deceive me. Though your intention is partly as you say, it’s definitely not the main one. I think you’re just lazy.”
“Brat, some things you see through but don’t say! No braised pork for you at noon, hmph!” Cui Shi huffed, hands behind his back, and walked off.
