Life

4.

There was a steaming bowl of porridge by the table.

Jiang Yuan leaned against the head of the bed, staring at the porcelain bowl with a small hole in it, but he didn't intend to reach out his hand for a long time.

He has been here for a few days, and the wound on his body will probably heal after half a month of healing. That idiot with no roots seems to be no threat to him, and this is also a good place to hide.

Jiang Yuan stretched, then picked up the bowl of cold porridge, gulped it down.

Zhao Jiu also finished all the work at this time, entered the room and saw the empty porcelain bowl, he didn't say anything, just about to put it away for washing, when he bent down, he smelled a strange smell.

He frowned, shook his nose and took a deep breath.

Jiang Yuan was half-sitting leisurely, but also raised his eyebrows, in his heart, he just felt that the fool's expression made him look even more stupid.

Zhao Jiu picked up the bowl, paused for a while before murmuring a word: "Smelly..."

Jiang Yuan had a strange look on his face, and he sniffed it. It was quite smelly, and the smell came from himself.

He looked at Zhao Jiu, Zhao Jiu looked at him, and the scene was extremely awkward for a while.

Zhao Jiu finally went out to wash the dishes first, then lit the stove to boil a pot of water, and carried the big wooden bucket into the house.

Jiang Yuan didn't move, just sat on the bed with his arms crossed and his chest in a relaxed state.

Zhao Jiu stirred on the surface of the water, felt that the temperature was about the same, took a look at Jiang Yuan, then went out silently, closing the door behind him.

This idiot is a little interesting.

He just got out of bed, the wound was bandaged, and he couldn't get wet for the time being, he could only simply wipe his body with a cloth towel, and wash his dirty and knotted hair along the way.

The clothes on his body now probably belonged to that idiot. When he rescued him that night, the idiot cleaned and bandaged his wound, changed his clothes, and simply wiped his hair. It stinks.

On Jiang Yuan's body, large and small bandages almost covered his muscular body.

He bent down to pick up the clothes on the ground and sniffed them. There was a foul smell and he couldn't wear them anymore.

He frowned, shook his hair, stretched out his hand and pulled it back, and began to search around. There were many large and small cabinets in the room, and there were some sundries. He couldn't find a piece of clothing that could be wrapped around his body. .

"Fool!"

Zhao Jiu was chopping firewood in the yard, and trembled when he heard the sound.

He opened the door lightly, only poking his head out, his voice was faint, but he could hear a little bit of displeasure.

"I'm not an idiot."

Jiang Yuan wanted to laugh a little bit, but he restrained himself, he just hooked the corners of his lips slightly, and there was a bit of interest in his long and narrow eyes.

"You... find me a dress!"

He didn't have a thread on his body, but he didn't avoid suspicion, and he kept his body upright, ordering Zhao Jiu as he should.

Zhao Jiu didn't think there was anything wrong, closed the door behind his back, pulled out a large red-painted wooden box from under the bed, and handed Jiang Yuan a suit of clothes.

Jiang Yuan got dressed, but Zhao Jiu was still standing by the bed, propping his chin, dumbfounded, not knowing what to think.

At first he thought the fool was in a daze, but Zhao Jiu suddenly lifted the quilt and dragged him to the ground.

Jiang Yuan didn't say anything, just stood aside as if watching the excitement.

Zhao Jiu carried the dirty quilt out, pulled the quilt that he had spent the night on the floor onto the bed, and spread it neatly on the bed.

The quilt that Jiang Yuan slept on before was also a little smelly, but the quilt that Zhao Jiu laid on the floor was fairly clean these days, so he planned to throw the dirty quilt out to wash and dry it in the sun.

"Very capable, idiot."

Zhao Jiu picked up Jiang Yuan's dirty clothes and planned to wash them off together, but stopped again when he heard this.

Jiang Yuan could vaguely see that this fool was a little angry.

"I'm not a fool." Zhao Jiu said every word, his eyes were clear and glowing.

Just as Jiang Yuan sat down, when he heard this, he couldn't help raising the corners of his lips, and asked him with great interest: "Then what are you?"

"My name is Zhao Jiu."

"Huh? What's business as usual?"

It was just a casual question, but Zhao Jiu seriously put down the things in his hands, opened the chair and sat opposite Jiang Yuan, Jiang Yuan was stunned by his serious appearance, unable to react for a while.

Zhao Jiu wiped his hands, sprinkled some of the water in the cup on the table, and wrote two words on it with his index finger very slowly.

The two characters are crooked and not pretty at all. Jiang Yuan is also an uneducated gangster, but he vaguely recognizes the surname Zhao.

It turned out that this fool was called Zhao Jiu.

"Zhao Jiu?" Jiang Yuan called out with a little tentative tone.

"Ok!"

Zhao Jiu still had the same plain expression as usual, but Jiang Yuan could see that this fool was very happy now.

Jiang Yuan actually knew that Zhao Jiu just had a dull appearance and a dull personality, and knew that he was not a fool.

"Zhao Jiu." Jiang Yuan shouted again with a smile that he didn't even notice.

"Ok!"

"Zhao Jiu."

"Ok!"

A never-tiring shout, a never-tiring answer.

"Then what's your name?" The corners of Zhao Jiu's mouth gradually rose, and he lost a little fear of the man in front of him.

Jiang Yuan didn't answer, but his expression suddenly changed, the teacup in his hand accidentally fell on the table, and the table was splashed with water.

"Why do you ask this?" The air pressure in his body suddenly became low and cold, and he was a different person from before. His probing and suspicious eyes were like invisible sharp arrows, piercing holes in Zhao Jiu's body.

The hostility that had been suppressed between his brows and eyes burst out again, and under the half-closed eyelids was a chilling gleam.

Zhao Jiu shrank back instinctively, Jiang Yuan leaned closer, his sharp eyes stared at him and asked, "Ask you again, why are you asking my name?"

"I didn't...I..."

Zhao Jiu waved his hands, and started to stutter again, his whole body was exposed to Jiang Yuan's aggressive aura and had nowhere to hide.

The two confronted each other for a long time before Jiang Yuan sat down again, held the teacup back up, turned around and sat back beside the bed as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Jiu lowered his head and said nothing, as if he was frightened, and he didn't know why he was in a daze again.

The room was quiet for a long time before Zhao Jiu got up, not forgetting to take the bedding and clothes to wash and dry.

Sitting beside the bed, Jiang Yuan could just see Zhao Jiu who was sitting on a low stool scrubbing and washing his clothes. He could vaguely tell that it was his clothes, which had been stained with blood so that the original color could not be seen.

He quietly watched Zhao Jiu go through the water several times until his clothes could no longer get through the red dirty water.

Only then did Jiang Yuan look away, and said something lightly to himself, without a trace of disdain in his tone.

"A fool is a fool."

5.

At night, Zhao Jiu was in trouble.

There are two beds of bedding, one is washed, and one is left, but there are two of them.

Jiang Yuan actually didn't think it mattered, it's not impossible for two big men to share a bed, besides, he didn't really dislike this idiot.

But he was inexplicably happy when he saw the fool's face in trouble.

He yawned, took off his coat and rolled into the bed. Coincidentally, he was lying in the middle of the bed, and Zhao Jiu couldn't squeeze in even if he wanted to.

He lay comfortably on his back, as if he didn't know anything, just closed his eyes, and didn't care how Zhao Jiu fell asleep.

Jiang Yuan didn't intend to just fall asleep like this, he opened his eyes a little, wanting to see the fool's reaction.

As he expected, Zhao Jiu stood there at a loss, like a wooden man, extremely boring.

Jiang Yuan couldn't see the expression on his face, but in his heart he felt that his behavior of bullying this fool was childish and boring.

It's really what you become when you stay with someone for a long time.

Jiang Yuan didn't open his eyes, he rolled in with a muffled grunt, leaving a space for one person outside the bed.

There was a rustling sound of undressing, Jiang Yuan felt that the quilt was cold, and Zhao Jiu had already lifted the quilt and lay down on it.

The bed was not big. One of them slept against the wall, the other slept against the edge of the bed, separated by a distance as wide as a river.

It was very quiet tonight, even the wind at night was soft and gentle, the two people in the room breathed steadily, and each fell asleep.

6.

When Jiang Yuan opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the middle of the bed, the quilt on one side was already cold, it seemed that the idiot had been up for a long time.

He put on his coat and was just about to put on his shoes when Zhao Jiu came in from the door, still holding a bowl of porridge in his hand.

Jiang Yuan stretched out his hand naturally, ready to take it, but his gaze was pierced by the blister on the back of Zhao Jiu's right hand.

Zhao Jiu's skin is a bit dark, and the back of his hand is a little black and red. There are several large and small blisters, some of which are broken, and the festered dead skin is whitish. It has been growing for several days.

Seeing that he was in a daze, Zhao Jiu passed the bowl forward again, and Jiang Yuan took it. The white porridge was boiling hot, and when he touched the porcelain bowl, he was so hot that he wanted to let go. Fortunately, Zhao Jiu still held the edge of the porcelain bowl , this bowl did not fall down.

"The porridge is very hot."

As Zhao Jiu said, he nodded to him, indicating that Jiang Yuan would follow the edge of the bowl as well.

Jiang Yuan didn't answer, he was a little smarter, took the bowl by the edge, and blew on the porridge, the steam was so white that it blurred the face of Zhao Jiu in front of him for a while.

He now knows that the porridge is very hot.

Jiang Yuan only blew a few breaths, and finished the porridge like a starving ghost, his tongue was so hot that it was a little numb.

Zhao Jiu had already gone out, he was doing something in the courtyard by himself, Jiang Yuan went looking for him with a bowl, only to see Zhao Jiu sitting there peeling beans.

This time he didn't bother Zhao Jiu to wash the dishes, he washed them himself and put them back in the stove, he even dragged a small stool out from the stove and sat next to Zhao Jiu.

Zhao Jiu ignored him and focused on peeling the beans.

Jiang Yuan wanted to talk to him, but he didn't know how to talk to others.

After peeling a basket of beans, Zhao Jiu shook the soil basket and was about to stand up, but when he saw Jiang Yuan beside him, he showed a surprised expression.

It was only then that Jiang Yuan knew that this fool hadn't noticed him.

"I should change my medicine."

Jiang Yuan really had nothing to say, so he said something casually.

Zhao Jiu let out an ah, with a troubled expression on his face.

"The herbs are used up." He thought for a while and then continued, "I'm going up the mountain now to pick some herbs."

Zhao Jiu put the soil basket on the shelf against the wall, and was about to put on his boots and go up the mountain to collect herbs.

Jiang Yuan was also taken aback, "Do you know those medicinal herbs?"

"Yeah, I know a little bit." Zhao Jiu put a basket on his back and tied a straw hat around his neck, "Grandma taught me to recognize it."

Jiang Yuan didn't make a sound, he probably guessed that Zhao Jiu's grandma passed away.

"I will go with you."

Before Zhao Jiu could agree, he picked up another pair of boots hanging in the corner and put them on. Feeling that something was missing, he took a sickle out from the kitchen.

Zhao Jiu shook his head and said, "No need for that."

Only then did Jiang Yuan throw it back.

The two walked halfway up the hill, and the basket behind Zhao Jiu was already filled with flowers, leaves and roots, but Jiang Yuan didn't recognize any of them.

Seeing Zhao Jiu squatting down to pull the grass roots on the side of the road again, Jiang Yuan felt from the bottom of his heart that this fool still has some skills.

Zhao Jiu threw back the muddy roots and clapped his hands.

"Let's go back."

Jiang Yuan easily followed his pace, feeling that he was a little too carefree this time around.

"Is it all done?"

Zhao Jiu's voice came faintly in front of him, and it seemed a little ethereal in this empty mountain.

"It's still short of Baiji."

Jiang Yuan thought he had something to say, so he listened, but he didn't wait for Zhao Jiu's second sentence.

Jiang Yuan felt a little blocked, he always talked to this fool by himself, the more he thought about it, the more unhappy he became, so he didn't say a word at all.

The two returned to the foot of the mountain in such a silent manner, changed back their shoes, and Jiang Yuan directly passed Zhao Jiu and entered the room.

After waiting for a long time for anyone to enter the house, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but open the door to look. There was no one in the yard, so he went to the kitchen again, but it was also empty.

There were two pairs of mud-stained boots in the corner, but the pannier was nowhere to be seen.