Volume 1: Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu Chapter 346

“Is that so?”

Zhang Xiaohua looked at Little Orange with a mischievous glint in his eyes and said: “Aren’t you afraid I might rob you two?”

“Ah?”

Little Orange’s face filled with fear as she trembled and asked: “Young master, are you… are you here to steal my virtue?”

Zhang Xiaohua’s face immediately flushed red. He slapped the head of his Sibu Xiang and fled in panic.

“I’ve been teased… I’ve been teased…”

Zhang Xiaohua muttered to himself as he ran.

Watching Zhang Xiaohua’s figure fade into the distance, Little Orange couldn’t help but smile. But when she turned and looked at her young lady, a trace of worry crept back onto her face.

Just then, Zhang Xiaohua’s voice drifted over from not far away: “Little Orange, tidy up the things in the carriage! I’ll be back to rob you later!”

“This guy~” Little Orange muttered as she stood up. Indeed, there were quite a few things inside this luxurious carriage. And since the young lady’s mountain estate was still far off, if she didn’t pack things properly now, what would they use for the rest of the journey?

Fortunately, tidying things was a maid’s job to begin with, and Little Orange was quite adept at it. In no time at all, she had everything cleaned up and was just waiting for Zhang Xiaohua’s carriage to come and fetch them.

But she waited, and waited, and still no sign of him. Little Orange began to grow uneasy. Could it be that her usually spot-on judgment of character had failed this time?

Had that seemingly honest country lad taken the silver and run off? And then, remembering the assassins that could appear at any moment, her heart clenched tight with anxiety.

Just as she was about to hop off the carriage and start drawing circles on the ground to curse Zhang Xiaohua, the sound of carriage wheels came from not far away. She looked up—and sure enough, there it was: a battered, old carriage being reluctantly pulled by the Sibu Xiang, Huanhuan, creaking and groaning as it slowly made its way over.

In that instant, the chill of early winter seemed to vanish. Little Orange even had the urge to jump for joy.

Huanhuan pulled the carriage slowly, as if deeply unwilling. But Zhang Xiaohua wasn’t in a hurry—he sat cross-legged atop the cart, letting it go at its own pace. When they arrived, he leapt down from the carriage and grinned. “Little Orange, you must’ve been getting anxious waiting, huh?”

“Of course I was, you scoun… Where did you run off to?” Little Orange blurted out, but immediately realized something was off. She quickly corrected herself, lowered her head, and glanced at Zhang Xiaohua from the corner of her eye. “Why did it take you so long?”

Zhang Xiaohua didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and said a bit sheepishly: “I’m not too familiar with this place, so I asked around a bit. There really aren’t many places selling carriages, so I had to search all over. In the end, I found a vendor and managed to pick up this carriage. Take a look, doesn’t it seem pretty inconspicuous?”

Little Orange was still preoccupied with her earlier slip of the tongue and wasn’t paying much attention. She just nodded absentmindedly. Zhang Xiaohua continued: “Also, Huanhuan was originally used for hauling firewood. Now we’re making it pull a carriage as a side job. Heh, it’s not too happy about it, so it’s moving a bit slowly.”

“Oh, I see. Huanhuan? Who’s Huanhuan?” Little Orange replied absentmindedly, then suddenly paused. The nearby Huanhuan, however, wasn’t having it. It let out a low neigh, as if to say, “Come on, I’ve already lowered myself to pull your carriage, and you don’t even know my name?”

Sigh, this beast is just like a person. Having just left behind the unbearable days in Songning Town, it’s already grown tired of the carriage-pulling life.

Only now did Little Orange realize that this Sibu Xiang was actually named Huanhuan. Normally, she would have bounced over, eager to see something so novel. But after last night’s events, which seemed to have catalyzed her sudden maturity, she just smiled and said: “Well, sorry to trouble your steed. Later, we’ll find something it likes to eat as a little reward.”

Zhang Xiaohua was overjoyed when he heard this. “That’s great! Huanhuan, aren’t you going to thank Little Orange?”

Huanhuan wagged its head and tail, stretched out its big head, and stuck out its bright red tongue, trying to lick Little Orange’s face. Startled, Little Orange quickly dodged aside. Huanhuan let out another low neigh, as if to say, “This girl, really doesn’t give me any face.”

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua chuckled inwardly and said: “By the way, while I was looking for the carriage, I also found a decent inn. I used the silver you gave me to book a small courtyard. We can head over there in a bit.”

Little Orange was delighted when she heard this and praised him repeatedly, “Ren Xiaoyao, you really think of everything! My lady’s illness will need some time to recover. Without a quiet courtyard, it just wouldn’t do.”

“Huh? What do you mean, it will take a while?”

Zhang Xiaohua was a bit surprised and a little disappointed.

Little Orange replied matter-of-factly: “It takes a hundred days for bones and tendons to heal. How could she recover without proper rest?” She didn’t hold back, treating Zhang Xiaohua as one of her own, not considering that he might have his own matters to attend to.

“Well… alright then.” Zhang Xiaohua could only respond speechlessly.

Then, he took a bundle from the small carriage and tossed it to Little Orange, saying: “Change into these first, and help your lady change as well. If you need my help, I don’t mind.”

Little Orange was taken aback, but caught the not-too-heavy bundle. When she opened it, she saw it was some clothes that weren’t exactly new, but not too shabby either. She immediately understood Zhang Xiaohua’s intent. Of course, she and her lady’s current attire matched that luxurious carriage, but if they switched to a small carriage, wouldn’t that just draw more attention? It was better to change both the carriage and their clothes.

Besides, she had just shown her face at the medical hall. If she didn’t change her clothes and was seen by someone, they’d immediately know she was the one who’d visited the clinic earlier. If an assassin came looking, a single inquiry would give her away for sure.

Why hadn’t she thought of this before?

Little Orange couldn’t help but pat her own forehead. Usually, she was the cleverest one in the entire manor, otherwise, her lady wouldn’t have brought her along. So, how come, in front of this Ren Xiaoyao, all her cleverness seemed to vanish?

Thinking this, she spat at Zhang Xiaohua with a “ptui” and said: “Self-reliance brings abundance.”

With that, she turned and climbed into the carriage. After a few moments of rustling from inside, a plain village girl emerged, Little Orange, now dressed in simple peasant clothes.

But when it came time to change her lady’s clothes, she ran into trouble. First, her lady was unconscious and couldn’t cooperate at all. Second, her wrists were splinted and couldn’t be moved carelessly. Little Orange tried a few times, but in the end, she simply couldn’t manage to change her lady’s clothes. At this, she bit her lip and thought to herself, “Sigh, I really do have to let that country bumpkin help. What a bargain for him.”

Little Orange poked her head out of the carriage and called: “Ren Xiaoyao, um… could you come up and help?”

“I-” Zhang Xiaohua nearly tripped. He’d only been joking earlier. Did she really want him to help? He didn’t know much about how servant girls from wealthy families attended to their young mistresses, but surely helping them dress was a basic skill. He’d even heard that when young masters got drunk, their maids would help them bathe and change, just thinking about it made him drool. Could it be that Little Orange was a fake, and didn’t know how to dress her mistress?

Of course, Zhang Xiaohua wasn’t foolish enough to think Little Orange wanted him to help her change clothes. Hehe.

Still, as Zhang Xiaohua was about to walk over, Little Orange called out with a troubled look: “But, Ren Xiaoyao, you have to close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes? Then how am I supposed to help?” Zhang Xiaohua finally understood; this kind of help was rather intriguing. Naturally, he asked: “Don’t tell me your lady doesn’t wear undergarments?”

“Ptui!” Little Orange’s eyes widened in anger. “You’re the one who doesn’t wear undergarments! How can you talk such nonsense? If anyone else heard, wouldn’t it ruin my lady’s reputation?”

“Whether I wear undergarments or not, you’d never know!” Zhang Xiaohua thought viciously to himself.

“Even if she’s wearing undergarments, if a man like you were to see, my lady’s reputation would be ruined all the same. So even if you help, you can’t look,” Little Orange explained.

“So troublesome! But… there’s no one else around here, what’s there to be afraid of?” Zhang Xiaohua said with a laugh.

“My lady always told us: ‘Whatever you do, the heavens are watching. Don’t worry about whether others are around or paying attention. The key is to stay true to yourself and have a clear conscience, that’s what matters most’.”

With a sudden “whoosh”, as if a spark had ignited something deep within Zhang Xiaohua’s heart, his state of mind began to grow at a perceptible speed, like a sprout breaking through the soil. Yes, last night, when he saw Little Orange and her companions being pursued, Zhang Xiaohua’s first instinct was strong aversion. If not for a certain impulse in his heart, or if those villains had simply left without killing anyone, he might not have intervened at all. It was all because he feared getting entangled in trouble and delaying his own journey. But now, Little Orange’s words had awakened him. If he truly hadn’t acted last night, could he really have faced his own conscience?!

Most likely, for a long time to come, he would recall that night again and again, asking himself: “Why didn’t I step in? What became of those two poor little girls?”

“Sigh, fortunately, I did act last night, and acted decisively and thoroughly,” Zhang Xiaohua thought with a faint smile. At this moment, he could vaguely sense that his cultivation, which had been somewhat stagnant, was now making progress again.

“What are you smiling about? Never mind, just stay over there, I’ll handle this myself.” Seeing Zhang Xiaohua suddenly break into a smile, Little Orange thought he was up to something and blushed, speaking with annoyance.

“Oh, Little Orange, you’ve misunderstood!” Zhang Xiaohua quickly realized her mistake and hurried to explain: “I was just thinking about what your lady said to you. It reminded me of something a friend from the academy once told me.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not making this up?” Little Orange was quite skeptical.

“It’s true! I knew a scholar, who loved reading, all sorts of miscellaneous notes, travelogues, tales of gods and monsters. He read countless books. One day, he suddenly wanted to write his own, so he started enthusiastically. Who would have thought, after nearly ten months and 1.2 million words, hardly anyone read his work. Yet he never thought to revise it or try a new subject. So one day, I asked him, ‘You’ve worked so hard for so long, and no one applauds you, why bother?’ Guess what he said?”

“What did he say? Could he be as wise as my lady, and say something so profound?”

Zhang Xiaohua clapped his hands in praise. “Exactly! That scholar smiled and said, ‘No matter how others see it, I have stayed true to myself and written the story I wanted to tell. I believe it’s as good as any book out there. If others don’t read it, that’s their loss.’ See? Isn’t that just as wise as your lady?”

“It really is. Such an extraordinary person, I wonder when I’ll have the chance to meet someone like that?” Little Orange said wistfully.

Zhang Xiaohua gazed off into the distance, as if looking through endless time and space, and smiled: “You will. That day will surely come.”