Chapter 13: Please Don’t Make Me Take the Medicine

Just as Zhao Chujio was secretly clicking his tongue in astonishment, a tremendous force abruptly kicked open the west room’s door again. He scarcely had time to glance at his buddy’s little wife before he saw Jiang Chengyan striding out, cradling someone in his arms, heading straight for the ox cart in the courtyard.

The young woman was still wrapped in a quilt. Jiang Chengyan placed Bai Yan gently onto the cart, then quickly set off toward the county town.

The whole episode happened in a flash. Apart from catching a glimpse of a small head, Zhao Chujio saw nothing at all.

Lowering his head to look at the list in his hand, a grass stem dangling from his lips, he muttered disdainfully, “So they really are going to hold a wedding feast!”

...

Bai Yan lay curled up on the ox cart, wrapped in her little quilt, her eyes red and swollen, shrinking into herself. She was silent now, making no fuss—just quietly huddled there, radiating a profound sense of insecurity.

The journey wasn’t exactly short, and having only just woken, Bai Yan soon felt the pangs of hunger.

Jiang Chengyan had brought some food along. Bai Yan reached out for one of the plump, white buns.

“Don’t touch that.” The man’s warning came instantly, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

Bai Yan clutched the bun pitifully, lowered her head, and sniffed at it, then whispered, “Why not?”

“The red spots on your body might be from eating pork. The filling in that bun is pork, too,” Jiang Chengyan explained. Before he could finish, Bai Yan had already put the bun down.

...

“Will I really get better? What if I stay ugly like this forever?” Bai Yan murmured. “Someday, if you find a stray cat, would you bring it home, too?”

She rambled on to herself, her voice growing more and more aggrieved until she retreated even deeper into the quilt.

Jiang Chengyan couldn’t be bothered to answer such impossibilities. He sat there, urging the ox to move faster, eager to get her to the clinic.

...

Jiang Chengyan carried Bai Yan on his back into the clinic. The old physician Wang, whose beard was already white, took her pulse and examined the rash. He nodded, “Don’t eat pork anymore.”

“Chicken’s fine, though,” Jiang Chengyan added, standing nearby with Bai Yan still gripping his hand.

“Well, that’s not so bad—at least there’s something you can eat.” Doctor Wang chuckled, then said to Bai Yan, “Alright, go get your medicine. Two doses a day for five days.”

At the counter, Bai Yan wrinkled her nose, sniffing at the medicine, then frowned at Jiang Chengyan. “It smells awful. Do I really have to take it?”

Jiang Chengyan nodded, leaving no room for negotiation.

Bai Yan pouted and, in a flash, darted out to lie on the ox cart.

...

Jiang Chengyan kept his eyes on her, wary that someone might try to abduct her. Only after paying did he collect the medicine and leave.

...

Not wasting any time, Jiang Chengyan and Bai Yan returned to Xitang Village by late morning. He made her a bowl of vegetable and mushroom noodles and brought in the freshly decocted medicine.

The pungent aroma of herbal medicine filled the air, and Bai Yan immediately made to bolt.

“Go ahead and run—just don’t bother coming back,” Jiang Chengyan said, his gaze cool.

At these words, Bai Yan froze for a moment, then hung her head and walked toward him.

Jiang Chengyan assumed she had resigned herself to taking the medicine, but instead, she wrapped her arms around his and pressed a kiss to his chin.

As she kissed him, Bai Yan murmured quietly, “If I kiss you, will you please let me skip the medicine?”