Zhen Yubai woke up.

His forehead, neck, and wrists were all wrapped in white cloth as he lay resting on a bed frame specially made for the teacher by Liu the carpenter.

Fortunately, he was not badly hurt, only bruised with a few superficial wounds. Doctor Jin applied pain-relieving and hemostatic ointment, and he would recover after lying down for half a month.

"Here’s the medication for half a month. Change it once a day, and remember not to let the wounds touch water before scabs form. Keep a light diet, and since young people recover quickly, he will be fine soon enough."

Doctor Jin instructed while prescribing the medicine, glancing at the patient on the bed, he added: "The teacher might be a bit startled, please take good care of him." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After saying that, he took the two taels of medicine and consultation fees given by Qin Yao, slung his medicine box over his back, and left.

He needed to return to the town before nightfall.

The hired coachman was still waiting by the river. Qin Yao asked Liu Yang to escort Doctor Jin and also bring some daily necessities and vegetables, rice, and flour from her own home.

The villagers didn’t know when the teacher would arrive, so they only prepared a few simple pieces of furniture and a quilt; the rest of the place was empty and unfit for living.

Liu Yang said, "I’ll go back and ask my mother to make some food and bring it over first."

Qin Yao replied, "Let Mrs. Li make something and bring it over together, to save you an extra trip."

Liu Yang didn’t stand on ceremony with her, consented, and then led Doctor Jin out.

The newly built house had no signs of life, and today the temperature suddenly dropped, making the house cold and devoid of warmth.

Hearing the sound of coughing coming from the bed, Qin Yao turned around and saw Zhen Yubai huddled in the not-so-thick quilt, tears coming out of the corners of his eyes as he coughed, shivering all over.

"Are you okay?" Qin Yao tentatively asked.

"... Cold." He replied succinctly.

Qin Yao nodded in understanding, turned around, and caught Liu Ji, who was sneakingly peeping outside the door. "Go and make a fire."

Liu Ji mumbled, "Why me?"

Qin Yao retorted, "Should it be me then?"

Liu Ji barely pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile, with a tone full of sarcasm, "How could I dare to boss the village leader around!"

He clutched his sleeves, glanced sideways at the quietly coughing man lying on the bed, scoffed, and reluctantly headed to the empty house normally used to store bodies.

This was originally a kitchen, where villagers had stored a lot of firewood, thinking it would be convenient for the teacher when he came. Now, Liu Ji could save the effort to find firewood.

He bypassed the straw mat covering the coach and flipped around, failing to find a usable clay basin, he directly took the iron pot that villagers had pooled money to buy for the teacher from the stove, chopped wood, and made a roaring fire.

The iron pot, once brought into the east room, brought an instant warmth to Zhen Yubai, if one were to ignore that brand-new iron pot.

As his body gradually warmed up, Zhen Yubai finally had the energy to sit up and thank the person in front of him.

"You must be the village head of Liu Family Village, Miss Qin?" Though Zhen Yubai’s tone was inquisitive, his eyes were firm.

After all, he had never met a woman as candid as her; alone in a room with a man, without the slightest embarrassment, calm and composed, very different from the norm.

Qin Yao nodded and sighed, "The heavy rain last night made the road slippery, causing today’s accident, which none of us wanted. But as long as you’re fine, life still goes on."

Zhen Yubai detected a deeper meaning in her words, suddenly realized something, and looked around. Besides himself, there was only Qin Yao in the room, no one else, which made his heart sink. Eagerly, he leaned forward and asked:

"Where is my coachman? How is he?"

Qin Yao lowered her gaze, "Mr. Zhen, my condolences."

Hearing her address him as Mr. Zhen rather than Mr. Ding, Zhen Yubai looked slightly surprised, suppressing his regret and sorrow for the deceased coachman, he asked softly, "The village head already knows my identity?"

Qin Yao nodded, admitting she had looked through his belongings.

She also expressed her confusion: "The originally appointed Mr. Ding, just don’t know why it turned into Mr. Zhen, you coming instead."

"The original Mr. Ding fell ill, so I came instead. I also just got the news recently, perhaps the government hadn’t had a chance to notify the village head, which led to this misunderstanding..."

While speaking, perhaps thinking of his current predicament, Zhen Yubai’s mood grew increasingly depressed, finally leaning weakly against the bedhead, he sighed deeply.

"Village head, in my current condition, I’m unable to handle things conveniently. The coachman watched over me since I was young, akin to my family, yet I didn’t expect him to lose his life due to this mishap. I ask that you kindly give him a proper burial."

Zhen Yubai, holding back his pain, sat upright again and solemnly bowed to Qin Yao, pleading earnestly.

Qin Yao looked at him and felt he was strange in an indescribable way.

He didn’t seem to blame the Liu Family Village at all. After all, considering the circumstances, if he hadn’t come to be the teacher in Liu Family Village, he wouldn’t have come at all.

If he hadn’t come to Liu Family Village, the accident wouldn’t have happened today.

So, Zhen Yubai could very well blame the whole village for the accident, demanding compensation or an explanation.

At the very least, shouldn’t he question the coachman’s death a few times? But none of that happened; he was so magnanimous, not at all like a young, energetic twenty-something, calmly accepting everything.

Someone who can afford to use a Songshan Inkstone, is he really this humble?

Perhaps, he is a well-educated son of a wealthy family. Qin Yao couldn’t think of any other reason.

The government’s recommendation letter had an official seal, proving the individual’s legitimate background, leaving her with no doubts.

"Teacher, rest assured, you just focus on recuperating. The rest of the matters will be handled by all the villagers of Liu Family Village. We hope the teacher won’t feel too sad and recover soon."

Qin Yao nodded at him, added more firewood to the brazier to make the fire warmer, and then retreated.

Once she came out, Liu Ji, who was bored in the classroom, immediately approached her excitedly, gossiping about others’ family backgrounds, whether he was married, had children, and why he came alone.

Qin Yao: "Didn’t ask, don’t know."

"Are you not curious about these?" Liu Ji was baffled, he was positively dying of curiosity.

"You seem very free." Qin Yao gave him a cold glance, "Why are you hanging around here instead of going home? Have you finished today’s homework?"

With an exaggerated gesture of holding his heart, Liu Ji staggered backward two steps and, with wide eyes, asked incredulously, "Miss, you actually don’t know why I stay here? You’ve really hurt my heart."

"With such a big incident, you’re sharing a room with this unknown teacher, if I don’t stay, your good name will be gone. You still ask why I’m staying, do you think I’m full with nothing to do! Will the brazier in your room light itself?"

Qin Yao: "..."

A second before she raised her fist, Liu Ji with arms folded righteously said, "We are husband and wife, I won’t quibble about you hurting my feelings, tell me, what else do you need me to do?"

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yao suppressed the violence in her heart, and with gritted teeth, instructed, "Find a good burial spot for the horse and coachman and give them a decent burial."

Liu Ji extended his hand, "Money."

Seeing her gaze grow colder and colder, Liu Ji wisely yielded, "Forget it, I’ll collect the cost later after the deed is done."

As his words ended, he had already dashed a hundred meters away, heading into the village to gather manpower.