Chapter 2
To Have a Good Big Brother
Du Xiao Li slept until the afternoon, waking from a rumbling stomach. She noticed Du Xiu Heng laying on a straw pile to the side sleeping.
“You sure are a good big brother.” Du Xiao Li faintly said, with an indescribable admiration in her words.
Du Xiu Heng slowly woke up. Seeing Du Xiao Li looking at himself, he rubbed his eyes and said, “Younger sister, are you hungry? I’ll go make your medicine right away, and then make you porridge.”
Du Xiu Heng immediately got up and went out with the bowl, coming back with it filled with water. After he finished making the medicine, he placed it next to her, then afterwards, began making the porridge for her. He saw that Du Xiao Li was only looking at him, not saying anything, and thought that she must be starving, “Drink the medicine first, the porridge will be done real soon.”
Du Xiao Li didn’t speak and just nodded her head.
Very soon, Du Xiu Heng finished cooking the porridge. And Du Xiao Li watched him pour the porridge all into one bowl, “Big brother, how about dividing it into two bowls?”
“Two bowls?” Du Xiu Heng puzzlingly looked to Du Xiao Li, asking, “Why two bowls?”
“We each get a bowl.” Du Xiao Li replied.
“Don’t worry, I can just eat something else in a bit. You’re currently sick, so you need to drink more porridge.” Du Xiu Heng didn’t expect that Du Xiao Li would share half with him. He felt touched inside, and his face carried a smile.
“You can cook the vegetables and then split it into two shares too.” Du Xiao Li gazed to the remaining vegetables and said, “Patients also need to eat a lot of green vegetables. That way can get better quicker.”
“Really?” Du Xiu Heng skeptically asked.
“Of course it’s true. Doctor Niu told me.” Du Xiao Li could’t say this was her knowledge from the modern era, so she could only bring Doctor Niu out.
As soon as Du Xiu Heng heard it was Doctor Niu that said it, he believed it immediately. And just as Du Xiao Li said, he had the wild vegetables cooked and divided into two shares. The two of them, each with a share of porridge and vegetables. They simply ate their afternoon meal.
After drinking the medicine and eating the afternoon meal, and also because having continuously slept for an entire day, Du Xiao Li felt her body improved quite a bit, no longer feeling tired from just lifting her hand.
After eating the afternoon meal, Du Xiu Heng picked up a book and began reading it. Right now, it was raining, so he wasn’t able to go out anyways. He could only take out the books from before and read them. Du Xiao Li watched Du Xiu Heng earnestly studying, knowing that in the past, when their mother was alive, he never needed to work. He only needed to attend the private school. But now, in order to provide for the both of them, he had no choice but to leave school, and shoulder the responsibility of supporting the family.
She wrapped that so called quilt thing around herself and walked to the doorway, looking out to the scenery outside.
The house was situated at the waist of the mountain. Looking down, it was a drizzling sheet, unable to see the scenery below the mountain clearly. She could only see the barren ground before their doorway.
“Younger sister, your illness still haven’t gotten better yet, don’t stand at the doorway. Be careful of the cold wind.” Du Xiu Heng placed down the book in hand and said to the little figure at the doorway.
Du Xiao Li returned to the straw pile to lie down, looking up at the slanted sky. She couldn’t help but lament in her heart. She really didn’t think that one day she would be living in this kind of house where the sky was the roof. In her past life, even that period when she stayed in an rural area, it still wasn’t this dest.i.tute.
She sighed. Du Xiao Li had only been in this world for merely a day, yet she felt her life in her previous world was already very distanced from herself.
In her past life, before eight years old, she was a real estate big shot’s daughter. But because they were schemed against by others, their family’s properties were seized, and her father got ran over by a car. Her mother independently raised her, but not long after, she also pa.s.sed away from illness.
Afterwards, she was sent to a distant relative’s place. That was a hillside area, producing tangerines in abundance. Because her relatives didn’t like her, they often made her go up the mountain to work. That’s why since young, she’s been very knowledgable towards planting tangerine.
At the time, their neighbor was an elderly man. Rumor has it that he was a great master in the traditional medicine world. He came to the countryside to enjoy his retirement and was very good towards her. Every day after finishing farm work and whenever she was free, she would go to his house and watch him fiddle with those ancient medical techniques and medicinal ingredients. Sometimes, he would also teach her some traditional medical knowledge, and seeing that she was very gifted in this area, he even taught her his special acupuncture technique.
After living in the countryside for three years, she was accidentally eyed by an organization, and they forcibly took her away. They began conducting various training on her, teaching her all kinds of knowledge. And when she had the killing techniques mostly grasped, they arranged for her an ordinary college entrance exam, letting her freely choose her field of study. Because of her experience with medicine in her youth, she chose traditional medicine. And because her medical skills were very good, she was called the prodigy of the traditional medical world. After graduating, she opened a private little clinic in the city. And from then on, she began her double life of killing and saving people.
Just like that, on normal days, she would help see patients, and when she had an a.s.signment, she would close the doors and take on her a.s.signment. This time she had also been on an a.s.signment when she was sent here by someone using a bomb.
Thinking back to her own past life, because she had a high IQ, no matter what, she could learn it all very fast. Thus, the organization had her learn things in all areas. Can’t say she was proficient in all, but she’d dipped her fingers in a lot.
Her unique experience caused her to not have any deeply intimate friends. Recalling her life, she only felt sorrowful inside. Seeing the former host have such a loving older brother, she couldn’t help but envy.
In midst of dizziness, she fell asleep again. Du Xiu Heng stayed in the room reading the whole time. All the way until nighttime, when it was time to cook dinner, did she finally wake up, directing Du Xiu Heng to make leafy vegetable porridge.
She drank her medicine, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Two days later the skies cleared up. Du Xiao Li’s illness was also more or less cured.
“Younger sister, I’m going up the mountain to chop some wood, you stay at home and properly rest. Don’t go anywhere, understand?” Du Xiu Heng instructed a few words and then left with a rope and a machete.
Even though in her past life she liked peace, having laid on the bed for this many days straight, she still felt she was about to become moldy. That’s why, as soon as Du Xiu Heng left, she followed out the door in the next moment.
Since it rained for this many days, the mountain roads were unbearably muddy. She had only taken a few steps, and her shoes were already completely covered in mud. There was even a time where she almost fell over. If it weren’t for her balancing skills, she would have definitely already fallen on her face.
Because of this, she had no choice but to give up on her plans of going forward, slowly making her way back.
Standing outside the house, did Du Xiao Li finally see this shady house’s complete view. Crooked and slanted, she really worried it might collapse one day.
“Really…” Du Xiao Li felt that she didn’t even have the strength to complain about it. She vowed that she must build herself and this convenient big brother a big house.
At noon, Du Xiu Heng didn’t return, so she warmed herself some porridge, and after eating, she sat by the doorway basking in the sun. The early summer sunlight on her body was comfortably warm, making unconsciously narrow her eyes. Later, when the ground dried, she had the damp straws in the room taken out to dry in the dun. Afterwards, she continued to sit by the doorway, basking in the sun.
If it wasn’t that this house was too worn out, to be able to leisurely enjoy life like this, seemingly was also not bad. There was no killing, no clamor, just tranquility. It was like that period of time in her childhood when she lived in the village.
When the sun had set over the western hills, Du Xiu Heng finally came back carrying a bundle of wood. Du Xiao Li quickly went up to greet him, helping him put down the firewood.
Du Xiu Heng followed along her support and placed down the firewood. Looking at the rice straw drying on the ground, he said with a frown, “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the house and rest? How could you still do these things? What if you get exhausted?”
Du Xiao laughed, “My illness is already better. Taking these out to dry in the sun, so we don’t have to sleep on wet straw at night.”
Du Xiu Heng thought about it and realized it made sense. If they were to sleep on wet straws, she might even catch a cold again right after recovering.
“Big brother got a hold of something good today in the mountains.” After Du Xiu Heng thought things through, he was no longer angry and smiled mysteriously at her.