On the way back, Gu Jiao was riding the Academy’s horse, with the horse king happily leading the way in the front.
Gu Jiao rode up to the carriage and asked Gu Yan inside, "Was it you who brought the first aid kit?"
Gu Yan looked baffledly at Gu Jiao, "I didn’t bring it. Why would I?"
Gu Jiao muttered, "Hmm, then how did it get into the basket?"
Gu Yan suggested, "Xiaoshun packed it?"
"It wasn’t me," Gu Xiaoshun said from the other side, "I left directly with the basket this morning and didn’t touch anything inside."
After thinking for a moment, Gu Yan looked at Gu Jiao and said, "You packed it yourself and forgot, right?"
Gu Jiao hesitated, "Then... probably, that’s what happened."
It couldn’t have been that the first aid kit went in there by itself.
Just now, when she realized that the medications in the first aid kit were not sufficient, she indeed wished she had the small medicinal kit, and now that it was indeed there, she was suspiciously questioning it.
Forget it.
Stop thinking about it.
"Liulang."
Mu Chuan rode over.
Mu Qingchen was on the other side of Gu Jiao, and when Mu Chuan came over, he did not make way.
Mu Chuan was a bit anxious, thinking, ’Can’t you be a little observant? Don’t you see I want to speak with Liulang?’
With the fourth brother not moving aside, Mu Chuan had no choice since he couldn’t beat the fourth brother.
Mu Chuan had to speak to Gu Jiao across Mu Qingchen, "Liulang, can you really perform medical treatments?"
Last time after their competition, when they encountered the fallen Duke near the Academy, Gu Xiaoshun mentioned that Xiao Liulang knew medicine and asked whether Xiao Liulang wanted to check on the Duke.
They assumed Xiao Liulang was just average, but today Xiao Liulang treated several seriously injured patients, and they were all extremely surprised.
Mu Qingchen was also waiting for Gu Jiao’s answer.
Gu Jiao merely responded with an "Oh" and said, "I’ve learned a bit."
"That’s not a bit," Mu Chuan raised his eyebrows.
Mu Qingchen, sensing that Gu Jiao did not wish to continue the topic, said to Mu Chuan, "Isn’t it hot squeezed in there? Weren’t you not returning to the Academy?"
Mu Chuan replied, "I am returning! If you are returning, so am I!"
Mu Qingchen didn’t say anything more.
Mu Chuan then continued to chatter with Gu Jiao across him, until the road narrowed after the city gate, and he had no choice but to split from them.
Mu Qingchen had always been puzzled about something but was unsure whether it was appropriate to speak of it. As they were about to part ways upon reaching the Academy, he finally called out to Gu Jiao, "Do you... know Su Xue’s roommate?"
"I don’t know her," Gu Jiao denied outright. "He simply learned about the incident in the attic from Qingkong and Dean Cen when he went to pick up Qingkong, and came over to see if there was anything he could help with."
"You’re not usually this talkative," Mu Qingchen remarked with a complicated expression.
Blinking, Gu Jiao candidly said, "Isn’t it just his good looks throwing me off? I’m a bit attracted."
This response left Mu Qingchen utterly speechless.
Every time he thought this classmate’s skin couldn’t get any thicker, he’d just add another layer.
Mu Qingchen frowned slightly and said, "You have a fiancée."
Gu Jiao arched her eyebrows, casually saying, "Everyone appreciates beauty. Having a fiancée doesn’t stop me from looking at beautiful people."
"I just think you really are..." Unable to agree with Gu Jiao on such a topic, Mu Qingchen rode ahead.
Watching his bristling figure, Gu Jiao thought to herself, are men in ancient times so intuitive? She and Xiao Hen hadn’t done anything, and they were nearly caught.
It seems she needed to be more cautious in the future.
After arriving at the Academy, Gu Jiao returned the horse to the stable, and then she went back home with Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan in Dean Cen’s carriage, bringing the horse king along.
"I guessed you would win, dinner is ready," Mrs. Nan said with a smile as she served the meals.
It was Master Lu who cooked, preparing several dishes the children loved like Candied Pork Hock, braised carp, sweet and sour bamboo shoots, and lotus seed soup that Mrs. Nan enjoyed. Of course, there was also the smelly mandarin fish that Mr. Meng had been talking about for a while.
The entire household was overwhelmed by the smell, even the horse king in the backyard rolled his eyes and lashed out his tongue, swearing he would never accompany that stinky old man again!
Today, Gu Yan was allowed to have a shiny piece of pork hock skin, and he was particularly satisfied.
"Did you give the pickled radishes to Liulang and Qingkong?" Mrs. Nan asked.
"I gave it to Qingkong," Gu Xiaoshun replied.
Mrs. Nan nodded, "I do miss Qingkong, and I miss Liulang too."
Gu Yan rarely objected.
When Qingkong was around, he always found him noisy, but now that Qingkong was gone, he felt their home was not lively enough.
"Hmph, that stinky monk."
...
Nightfall descended.
In a dormitory of the Linglong Pavilion at the Tianqiong Academy for Girls, Xiaojiu sat upright in his chair, in front of him were the dishes Brother Xiaoshun had brought him today.
He was quite picky and demanded that even the simplest dish must be presented with exquisite plating.
It was the time spent plating that delayed their dinner until so late.
"Can we eat now?" Xiao Hen asked indifferently.
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