Chapter 23: To Change According To The Situation

Pinching my nose, I swallowed the brown concoction down to its last drop. The herbal aftertaste lingered on my tongue and I stared at Ji Kai with watery eyes. "Ugh, that was bitter."

With a satisfied smile, he unfolded his arms and held out a hand. A roll of hawthorn flakes rested on his opened palm. Snatching it up like a child excited by the sight of candy, I tore open the packaging and popped a few discs into my mouth.

"Can I be discharged already? I already feel stronger after being here for two days. I still need to carry on with the mission."

Ji Kai narrowed his eyes. "Didn't you say that you will leave after I explained things to you?"

"No, I can't leave yet." I shook my head and wagged a finger in his face. "I have been wondering about something the past two days. What if there is a way for us to have our cake and eat it too?"

"What do you mean?"

"For example, what if you negotiate a deal with your family to let you practice as a doctor in exchange for something that would be beneficial to them? I have some ideas on what you could bring to the negotiation table, but I have not fully settled on the details yet. But in theory it makes sense, doesn't it? So, if you let me stay beside you, I'll help you to find a way for you to have your cake and eat it too."

"You just want to stay in this book to have fun, don't you?"

Laughing nervously, I placed my right hand over my heart and said solemnly, "that's not true at all. I have been diligently performing my duty to the best of my abilities. You have no idea what kind of dangers and tough situations I have encountered. There has not been a single moment of fun." I hesitated for a moment before adding in a bashful yet teasing tone: "I just didn't want to part from you so soon when we've just reunited."

Rocking back on his heels, Ji Kai drew in a long breath. "How... have you been these few years?"

My lips curved up into a smile at his sudden change of subject. Replying casually with an almost flippant attitude, I simply said in several short sentences, "I've been good. I made other friends. I've graduated. I've entered society." Faced with such perfunctory questions all the time, I was an expert at answering them. But replying to Ji Kai in the same manner as I do to others, I wondered if I had really been a tad too flippant.

"I know," said Ji Kai.

"What?" Thinking that I had misheard, or misunderstood, him, I held his gaze for a long time hoping to find some answers from the minute expressions on his face.

But he only showed a bright grin. "Nothing. I'm happy to hear that you've been well."

"How about you—how have you lived the past few years? And what's with you and Yan Shuzhen?" I directed the question to him now, genuinely curious to know about the years of his life that I had missed out on. And of course, I did not forget to 'eat melons'.

"Having to live alone, I've learnt to be more independent," he said with a particular emphasis on the words 'live alone' and 'independent'. I almost laughed at the way he was clearly trying to avoid suspicions and prevent me from enjoying any melons.

"As for Shuzhen—she suddenly appeared in front of me one day in campus, saying that she wanted to help me out and be a partner-in-crime. So for the past few years, she also pretended as if she was studying in the US."

I put my hands together, still portraying an attitude which screams 'give me melons to eat'. "Ah, you must have been happy to have a partner-in-crime as a companion."

He retorted solemnly. "No, I'm a law-abiding citizen."

Again, he was quick to deny me any gossip material. Did he really have nothing special going on with her?

"She's even chased you all the way into the book. I wonder how many girls she has chased away from around you the past few years."

"I don't know. I wasn't in a relationship during these few years."

I gave a mirthless laugh. "Yea, that means that Shuzhen has been doing a good job."

***

"Fu Wanxi was brought to the General's residence a few days ago and is currently living there," said Ji Kai as we left the medical hall. "There has been some deviation from the book, and it could be due to a butterfly effect resulting from our appearance and meddling in the book. But there is no cause for concern."

He explained earlier that his first appearance in the book was after the attack on Sheng Yi and his exiled family. Before members of Wuchang Manor arrived at the scene, Ji Kai had "accidentally" stumbled upon a severely injured Sheng Yi and treated him. Both Ji Kai and Sheng Yi were brought to Wuchang Manor. Since then, Ji Kai had remained by Sheng Yi's side as his personal physician. When Sheng Yi, as Yi Yan, travelled to Da Jin Kingdom, Ji Kai naturally followed along. When Sheng Yi served in Da Jin's military as heir-apparent to the old General Yi (who was a loyal Wuchang Manor disciple living as a spy in Da Jin for decades), Ji Kai also followed along and became a military doctor who was also Sheng Yi's military strategist.

When old General Yi retired, Sheng Yi's military achievements and conquests near the border was recognised by the Emperor of Da Jin, who awarded him an appointment as a general. Sheng Yi's latest mission was to defend Guizhong City from Bei Yue troops. This was also aligned with his primary goals of taking revenge on the man who had schemed to have his family executed.

Sheng Yi ordered for the city gates to be opened to allow the refugees to enter Guizhong City, having already made preparations and implemented protocols in advance—on Ji Kai's recommendation. However, the food poisoning incident at refugee camp yi was unexpected. It appeared that someone dumped cold leftover rice into the rice porridge mixture without cooking it. It took some effort to calm everyone down, informing them that it was not a biological warfare strategy employed by the Bei Yue troops. When Ji Kai and a few of the other physicians in the city visited the temporary settlement to treat the patients, they found me in an unconscious state and I was taken to the city's medical hall.

A horse carriage waited by the medical hall. Upon seeing Ji Kai, the carriage driver who was taking a rest immediately got to work. Like a gentleman, Ji Kai offered to help me up the carriage, but I avoided his opened hands and gripped his forearm instead.

Sitting down beside Ji Kai, I had a sudden flashback to the life-threatening ride from a week before.

"I've already requested for your friend's husband to be transferred to the same camp so that their family can be reunited," he interrupted my thoughts. "Sanniang is fine, but her daughter is still at the hospital. But her condition is stable."

"Ah, thank you for doing that. Hope that Qu'er will recover soon," I whispered, praying in my heart that she would get well soon. Perhaps my concern for book characters may appear silly, but they were still people that I have lived with for a few days.

"If time allows, you can visit them again another day—as long as it doesn't impede the mission."

I raised my brows in surprise. "You're not going to scold me for cultivating relationships with the NPCs in a fictional universe?"

Sitting up straight, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "You do whatever you need to do to survive." But his tone of indifference soon morphed into one of a gentle rebuke as he pointed at my wooden card hanging from my waist. "I'm just more appalled at your recklessness in coming up with a fake identity—Shi Ah Yu, 18, from Wujia Village. Where did you even get your surname from?"

I scoffed loudly, rolling my eyes out of his sight. "Why do you care?"

"If you're from Wujia Village, shouldn't you have named yourself Wu Ah Yu? Almost all the families in Wujia Village would be Wus."

"Did you really think that I failed to consider that? I have some general knowledge too. Of course, I'd know that having a different surname in a village of Wus would attract suspicions and it would be easy to get caught if they had really wanted to check. But—it just happened that way."

Ji Kai stared at me with his dark quivering pupils for a moment before he closed his eyes slowly with a sigh, and did not question any further. He continued sitting in the same tall posture, head facing the front with his back never touching the back of the carriage. Seeing that he was shutting the world out again—some things never change—I didn't bother with him anymore.

I leaned back into my seat and closed my eyes as well, feeling the minor tremors as the carriage rolled on the uneven cobblestone roads. The space in the carriage was not large. Sitting side-by-side, our shoulders touched and bumped every time the carriage jolted. A faint fragrance drifted from Ji Kai's clothes. I took a whiff—it was a very gentle and comforting scent.

Rousing myself with a start, I frowned at my own thoughts. Despite his explanations, I had resolved to remain as uninvolved as I could with Ji Kai. When faced with someone like him who had poor social skills and would often (unknowingly) hurt the people—apart from the girls who one-sidedly admired him from afar and had their hearts broken by him—around him, it was better to keep my distance.

The rest of the ride went on in silence. But from within the extended silence I found an inexplicable stillness, a sense of peace.

When we arrived at the entrance of the General's manor, there was a petite figure standing outside, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the passengers in the nearing carriage. The moment the driver stopped the horse, I quickly jumped off the carriage without waiting for the steps to be brought over and landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Ah Xi!"

"Ah Yu!" Fu Wanxi flew over and her arms wrapped me in a warm hug. "I thought that I had lost you."

I stood still awkwardly for a second before raising one hand to pat her on the back.

From the corner of my eye, I watched as Ji Kai climbed down the stairs gracefully, one hand lifting up his long gown to reveal his shoes. He strolled past without casting us a glance and headed straight towards the house. But a few steps before his feet crossed the threshold, he turned around and called out in our direction: "Ah Yu! Are the both of you intending to spend the night out here?"

Pulling away from from Fu Wanxi, I pointed at the simple wooden plaque hanging above the doors of the house and asked, "How-how did you end up here?"

"Let's go in first! I'll tell you on the way in." Fu Wanxi giggled before tugging on my wrist and leading me into the General's residence. "I've prepared a simple dinner to celebrate our reunion."

***