Fortunately,
Old Man Su was a doctor. He spent three days and nights bringing Huo Jue back
from the brink of death.
At that
time, Huo Jue's face was marked with long, thin scratches from rough branches
and gravel, making him look quite frightening.
Old Man Su
frequently left to gather herbs and treat patients. In his absence, only Su Yao
remained at the house, but she disliked Huo Jue’s scarred appearance and
refused to care for him.
Thus, the
responsibility of looking after Huo Jue fell to Jiang Li.
Huo Jue
remained in a coma for three months.
During
those three months, Jiang Li watched him transform from an "ugly
monster" into a rare, flawless jade.
From that
moment on, nine-year-old Jiang Li secretly fell in love with Huo Jue.
Back then,
Jiang Li thought she would wait for him to wake up so they could play together.
As the
operas sing: "The man rides a bamboo horse and comes, playing with the
green plum around the bed."*
To Jiang
Li, childhood sweethearts were destined to fall in love. But who would have
thought that just one day after Huo Jue woke up, Su Yao would smugly place her
hands on her hips and declare to Jiang Li: "Huo Jue has agreed to be my
child husband, so you’d better stay away from him!"
Su Yao’s
words hit Jiang Li like a bolt from the blue.
The first time Jiang Li ever liked someone, her hopes were crushed, leaving her heartbroken and defeated.
-----
The spring wind was still chilly, but compared to Huo Jue’s expression, the wind felt almost warm.
Despite Huo Jue's cold demeanor that kept strangers at a distance, it had no effect on Jiang Li. Her brows and eyes were alight with a smile, her beauty as radiant as a blossoming flower, and the dimples at the corners of her mouth shone brighter than the sun behind her.
“My mother made some wolfberry and yam cakes and asked me to bring them for Old Man Su,” she said.
Huo Jue stepped aside, allowing her to enter. “Uncle Su just woke up.”
Su Shiqing had only recently risen from an afternoon nap and was unaware of Su Yao’s earlier visit. Jiang Li assumed that Huo Jue wouldn’t mention it, so she kept quiet as well, instead entertaining Su Shiqing with strange stories she’d overheard at the tavern, which quickly lifted his spirits.
“A-Li,” Su Shiqing said with a smile, “when you and A-Ling are free, come by Old Man Su’s place and keep me company. Ever since Yao’er left, the house feels so quiet.” Having come close to death once, Su Shiqing feared the loneliness of an empty home, especially with Huo Jue’s reserved nature.
Jiang Li readily agreed and laughed, “Alright, Old Man Su! I’ll come often—don’t get tired of me!”
Leaving Su Shiqing’s room, Jiang Li found Huo Jue in the courtyard.
He was crouched on the ground, drying medicinal herbs with a bamboo basket beside him, filled with half-dried plants.
Jiang Li squatted down next to him and helped transfer the herbs into the bamboo dustpan.
Huo Jue glanced at her but said nothing.
Jiang Li studied him carefully. They’d had few interactions before, and she’d only see him when her mother sent her over with food for Old Man Su. This was the first time they’d worked side by side.
Thinking of this, Jiang Li couldn’t help but smile. If she visited a few more times, perhaps Huo Jue would start to feel comfortable around her.
Noticing her gaze, Huo Jue paused and looked sideways. “Are you inspecting my face for medicinal herbs?”
“No...no,” Jiang Li stammered, caught off guard. Her face flushed as she muttered, “I was just seeing if you felt...sad.”
“Sad?”
“Well, I
mean…don’t mind what Su Yao said earlier.” Jiang Li bit her lip, embarrassed at
how tongue-tied she became in front of him.
Huo Jue
merely murmured “hmm” with an impassive expression.
Jiang Li
lowered her gaze, feeling too flustered to look at him again.
His tone
was calm, but Jiang Li knew he was once Su Yao’s “promised husband.” Being
publicly cast aside by her today must have stung.
“Huo Jue?”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t feel
bad. Su Yao may not want you, but I do.” Jiang Li clutched a piece of dried
herb tightly, her voice soft with a hint of nervousness.
Huo Jue:
"..."
Seeing his
lack of response, Jiang Li worried that he wasn’t interested.
She bit her
lip and reluctantly added, “Besides me, there’s also Madam Xu from the
blacksmith shop, Madam Zhang from the hairdresser’s, Miss Lin from the flower
and fruit shop, and Miss Liu from the Dongyang bookstore. They all like you a
lot. Madam Zhang even said if she could take you as a child husband, she’d
build you a golden house!”
Huo Jue:
"..."
“And that’s
just the ladies on Zhufu Street,” Jiang Li went on softly, counting on her
fingers as if she could go on for days. “There’s also Nanyuan Street and Xiliu
Street—”
“Enough.”
Huo Jue stood up, casting a cool stare at her before he spoke in a low voice.
“Who said I wanted to be anyone’s child husband?”
“But…you
were Su Yao’s child husband before.”
Not long
after, Jiang Li found herself “invited” out of the Su family pharmacy by Huo
Jue.
-----
He stood in
the bright spring light, looking at her with eyes colder than the ice on
Kaiyang Lake. His slender fingers gripped the door’s edge, and with a sharp
“click,” he locked the door, leaving Jiang Li’s dismayed face outside.
Inside, Huo
Jue heard Su Shiqing coughing and quickly walked back into the room. He found
Su Shiqing flushed and coughing, and immediately went over to pat his back.
Once he’d calmed, Huo Jue helped him sit up and poured him a cup of hot tea.
The warmth
soothed Su Shiqing’s chest and lungs. He patted Huo Jue’s hand and said
hoarsely, “I’m fine, Jue. Don’t worry.”
Huo Jue
held Su Shiqing’s frail hand and replied gently, “The dean sent a letter to
Zhongzhou. Doctor Fang should arrive soon, and he’ll cure you, Uncle Su.”
Doctor
Fang’s medical expertise was unmatched, superior even to that of the imperial
physicians. However, his whereabouts were often unknown, making it difficult to
find him.
Su Shiqing
sighed inwardly. Though his own medical skills were modest, he knew his days
were numbered. At nearly sixty, he’d come to accept life and death, but he
didn’t want Huo Jue to worry. Despite his reserved nature, Huo Jue was a deeply
caring and grateful person.
“Alright,
alright. I’ll hold on until Doctor Fang arrives,” Su Shiqing smiled. “You have
your exams in a few months, so focus on preparing. Don’t worry about me—I’ll
wait to see you return as a successful Jinshi.”
Huo Jue’s expression softened, and he nodded slightly.
Footnotes:
·
"The man rides a bamboo horse and comes, playing with the green
plum around the bed": A traditional phrase from Chinese operas
symbolizing childhood sweethearts. "Bamboo horse" refers to a child’s
toy horse, and "green plum" evokes youthful innocence, suggesting a
deep bond from a young age.
· "Child husband":
In traditional Chinese culture, a "child husband" (童养夫, tóng yǎng fū) was a boy
raised within the household of his future wife, essentially being
"adopted" as a young groom-to-be. This practice, though rare,
reflects customs from past eras in which marriage arrangements could be made in
childhood.
· "Golden house":
This phrase stems from the Chinese idiom “金屋藏娇” (jīn wū cáng jiāo), which means "to hide one’s beloved in a
golden house." It’s a metaphor for providing comfort and luxury to a
cherished person. Here, it humorously implies that Madam Zhang would spare no
expense if she could have Huo Jue as a "child husband."
· "Jinshi": Jinshi (进士) was the highest and most
prestigious degree in the ancient Chinese imperial examination system.
Achieving the title of Jinshi granted one access to high-ranking government
positions, conferring social respect and honor on both the scholar and his
family.
· "Kaiyang Lake": Kaiyang Lake is a fictional lake, but in literature, lakes and water bodies are often used as symbols of serenity or cold detachment, as in this context, where Huo Jue’s gaze is described as being colder than the ice on a lake.
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