The reason Zhao Baozhu fainted had a more scientific name in later generations: hypoglycemia.
His eyes remained tightly shut. Within the darkness, he felt something slightly cool touch his lips. Sugar water was fed through the gaps of his lips. Tasting sweetness, Zhao Baozhu gave a soft hum. Though still dizzy, he instinctively tilted his head up and sucked at the spoonfuls of sugar water.
“Oh dear, oh dear…”
Seeing him eat like a little puppy begging for food, a hand slightly roughened with calluses reached over and gently stroked his cheek.
“Where did this little lad come from? He’s really suffered.”
A somewhat aged female voice spoke beside his ear. Zhao Baozhu was still dizzy, and the sounds around him seemed muffled through a layer. It sounded as though someone else walked over and stopped beside him, a man’s voice: “Aunt Qi, this brat is filthy. Why are you holding him? I heard he’s a refugee from outside. Who knows what diseases he’s carrying–”
His tone carried obvious disgust and disdain. Hearing this, the older woman’s voice abruptly rose: “I’m willing to! If you’ve got nothing to do, get lost somewhere else!” Then she turned back and continued feeding Zhao Baozhu sugar water, muttering, “Times are hard enough already. All you black-hearted ingrates do is rely on the young master to support you. If you were thrown outside, you’d have been dealt with long ago.”
After being thoroughly scolded, the man only gave two disgruntled snorts and fell silent.
After drinking the sugar water, Zhao Baozhu immediately felt much better. His eyelashes trembled lightly. Opening his eyes, he saw an old woman looking at him with a face full of worry.
“I…” Zhao Baozhu saw glaring white sunlight wavering before his eyes, and even the old woman’s face split into several overlapping shadows. “W-what happened to me?”
Through his blurry vision, he saw the old woman open her mouth, seemingly about to speak. Yet before she could make a sound, Zhao Baozhu suddenly felt a tremendous force on his arm and was yanked upright from the old woman’s embrace.
The person grabbing him glanced at the filthy cloth clothes beneath his hands and clicked his tongue in disgust before shouting sharply: “Stand properly!”
Zhao Baozhu already had low blood sugar. Being abruptly dragged upright made him dizzy all over again. How could he stand steadily? His body went limp and slid downward, forcing the man to support him with both hands. The man’s expression immediately twisted.
“Filthy and stinking! Who knows why the young master picked you up–”
Complaining nonstop, he roughly dragged Zhao Baozhu inward, kicked open a door, and directly tossed him inside.
Splash!
Accompanied by crisp splashing water, Zhao Baozhu’s knees slammed into something hard, and he choked on a mouthful of hot water. Struggling, he braced himself against the bathtub with both hands. Only when he looked up did he realize he had been thrown into a large bath barrel.
Outside the room, a man in green robes covered his nose with one hand while glaring at him with raised brows.
“Wash yourself clean properly! If there’s even a little dirt left, you’ll regret it!”
After saying this, he slammed the door shut with a bang.
The side room immediately dimmed. Zhao Baozhu blinked, his mind gradually clearing. Looking down, he saw his clothes soaked and clinging to his body. Hurriedly, he stripped off the cloth garments that were barely better than rags and tossed them outside the tub. Moments later, he was soaking naked in the water.
Feeling the hot water enveloping his skin, Zhao Baozhu instantly felt the chill from earlier being driven away. Amid the moist steam, he lifted his head and slowly let out a breath.
So comfortable.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he had taken a bath. Zhao Baozhu thought. Boiling water consumed firewood, and in their small mountain village, the firewood reserved for winter could not be used lightly. In summer they could still wash in the stream, but in winter it wasn’t uncommon for people to go more than half a month without bathing. But his father doted on him, knowing that Zhao Baozhu liked to be clean, every other day in winter he would heat up a small basin of water for him to wipe his body.
Only, on this journey to the capital for the exams, without his father, he had truly suffered quite a bit. Sometimes he didn’t even have regular meals, let alone something as luxurious as bathing!
Zhao Baozhu wiped his face and let out a comfortable sigh, feeling that the fatigue from traveling for several days had eased quite a bit. To prevent himself from slipping into the water, he gripped the edge of the bathtub; the wood beneath his hand felt very solid. Zhao Baozhu patted the inner wall of the tub with some fondness, thinking that the material used to make this tub would be enough to make a pig trough.
The capital really was different. Even a random inn had such good conditions.
It was just that the waiter’s attitude was a bit poor.
Zhao Baozhu recalled the stern, scowling look of that man in green earlier and curled his lips. But thinking that the man had kindly taken him in when he had fainted, he couldn’t really complain. If it had been those more upscale restaurants just now, he would probably have been thrown out to fend for himself!
While thinking this, Zhao Baozhu also discovered a piece of soap horn beside the bathtub. Remembering what the waiter had said earlier, Zhao Baozhu scrubbed himself thoroughly from top to bottom, head to toe, making sure there wasn’t a speck of dirt left on his body before stepping out of the tub.
Only when he stood dripping wet in the room did Zhao Baozhu suddenly notice that his clothes had already turned into a pile of rags. He immediately felt troubled, this was the only set of clothes he had.
But soon, Zhao Baozhu spotted a neatly folded set of plain white clothes on a small wooden stool beside the tub. Not only were the inn’s conditions good, its service was also very attentive.
The last bit of resentment in Zhao Baozhu’s heart disappeared. He hurriedly put on the clothes, then tied up the hair that hung over his shoulders with a cloth strip before pushing open the door.
At the doorway, the man in green from earlier stood with his arms crossed, one foot bent and pressed against the wall, his expression extremely impatient.
Hearing the door open, he clicked his tongue, turned his head, and said, “Did you wash clean? If I find out–”
His voice suddenly stopped.
Zhao Baozhu stood at the door and blinked. Although this waiter had a bad attitude, Zhao Baozhu felt indebted after receiving help and food, so he said softly, “Were the clothes prepared by you? Many thanks.”
Over here, the man in green stared at Zhao Baozhu, unable to speak for a long while. After a long time, his lips moved; he looked away and muttered with his head lowered, “…after washing clean, you’re actually quite fair.”
His voice was very low, and Zhao Baozhu didn’t hear clearly what he said. “What?”
The man in green turned back, glanced at him, said nothing, and simply turned around, crooking his finger to signal Zhao Baozhu to follow.
Zhao Baozhu followed him, not understanding, thinking that this waiter’s mood shifted between cold and warm, he really couldn’t figure out the temperament of people in the capital. The man in green walked ahead, quickly passing through the corridor, the surrounding scenery retreating rapidly behind them. Following behind him, Zhao Baozhu looked at the carved corridors and painted beams around them, silently widening his eyes.
This inn was extremely large, all white walls and black tiles. In the cold and austere northern winter, Zhao Baozhu even saw several evergreen trees. Looking left and right, he had already lost count of how many courtyards they had passed through.
The man in green walked very fast, forcing Zhao Baozhu to jog to keep up. While thinking that northerners were indeed tall, he asked: “May I ask your honored surname? My humble name is Zhao Baozhu.” Zhao Baozhu tilted his head to look around. “Where are we going?”
The man in green didn’t slow his steps, glanced at him sideways; though his gaze still carried some disdain, his tone improved slightly. “My name is Fang Li. I’m taking you to your lodging now.”
Zhao Baozhu was stunned. “Then how much does a room cost per night here?”
Fang Li paused, turned back to look at Zhao Baozhu, frowning. “You still want money? Our young master picking you up and giving you food is already good enough! Someone like you–”
He looked Zhao Baozhu up and down twice with a critical expression. When his gaze reached Zhao Baozhu’s face, it paused slightly, and he swallowed back the harshest words. “You… there are plenty in the capital better-looking than you! Don’t push your luck!”
Zhao Baozhu was completely confused. “Elder Brother Fang, what are you saying? I’m asking how much it costs to stay here for a night.”
Hearing this, Fang Li froze. His anger got stuck midway on his face, making his expression somewhat comical.
“…W-what did you call me?”
After a long moment, he finally spoke.
Zhao Baozhu blinked twice.
“Elder Brother Fang.” He looked Fang Li up and down. “I thought you were older than me? Was I wrong? I was born in the ninth year of Yuanzhi.”
Fang Li looked at him with a somewhat stiff expression. Ninth year of Yuanzhi… that would make him sixteen. He stared at Zhao Baozhu and gave a light snort. “I’m naturally older than you. I’m already nineteen.” As he spoke, he glanced at Zhao Baozhu with disdain. “Calling me Elder Brother Fang, how pretentious.”
Unexpectedly, Zhao Baozhu immediately said crisply, “Then I’ll call you Fang Gege*!”
* Older Brother Fang
Fang Li’s eyes widened instantly. He looked at Zhao Baozhu in surprise. Seeing the boy staring at him with those round, dark, cat-like eyes, his expression sincere, his cheeks faintly reddened.
“…Call me whatever you want.” Fang Li turned his head and continued walking, muttering, “What do you take the Ye family for? As long as you honestly do your work well, you won’t go without food.”
Following behind him, Zhao Baozhu suddenly understood. So the inn’s owner had him work here to offset the lodging fee! For Zhao Baozhu’s current situation, this was simply perfect. Otherwise, he glanced at the beams around, seemingly made of fine stone, he definitely wouldn’t be able to afford to stay here.
That owner really was a good person. Zhao Baozhu thought of the young man in white he had vaguely seen before fainting. Not only was the owner dignified in appearance, his heart was also so kind. Another day, he should properly thank him in person.
Fang Li led him through layers of courtyard gates to the rear of the residence. By now, Zhao Baozhu was completely disoriented; looking back, he could no longer tell where he had come from.
“You’ll live here from now on.”
Fang Li led him to a room and pushed open the wooden door. Zhao Baozhu turned his head to look. Inside, there was a bed, a wooden table, and beside the table stood an eight-drawer cabinet. There was also a small window in the wall, through which strands of fresh air drifted in.
“Wow.” Zhao Baozhu couldn’t help exclaiming, “This is really nice!”
The room wasn’t big, but it had everything one needed. The items showed signs of use, but everything was very clean. Zhao Baozhu walked in excitedly, touched the wood at the head of the bed, and felt very satisfied. This was far better than his room back home!
Seeing him curiously touching this and looking at that, not the kind of vain, picky servant who would nitpick upon arriving at the Ye residence, Fang Li’s tightly drawn brows relaxed slightly. He raised his hand and knocked on the wooden door.
“Rest early today,” Fang Li said. “You’ll start working tomorrow. The servants in the back courtyard all get up at half past the mao hour every day. No slacking.”
Hearing this, Zhao Baozhu put down the bedding in his hands, turned around, and nodded. “Got it. I definitely won’t miss the time.”
Seeing his obedient manner, Fang Li’s expression finally softened somewhat. As he turned to leave, his steps paused, and he looked back. “…If you feel unwell at night, come find me.”
He pointed outside the courtyard gate. “Go out through two doors, then on the right, the room with the red lantern hanging at the entrance is mine.”
Zhao Baozhu watched him leave, thinking that although the waiter had been fierce at first, he now seemed like a good person. Oh right, he himself was now also a waiter. He wondered what kind of work there was in the inn, and whether he could handle it…
Only after Fang Li’s figure disappeared did Zhao Baozhu turn back and close the door.
He sat on the bed, looking over this place where he would temporarily stay before the spring examinations. Along the journey, he had encountered countless hardships; now, at last, there was a feeling of “after the darkest shadows, flowers and willows appear; the mountain road twists around each new peak.
Heaven never seals off all exits! Thinking this, a slight smile curved at Zhao Baozhu’s lips. Having fainted once today, he now wasn’t sleepy at all. He picked up his tattered cloth bundle that had been set aside, preparing to review his books.
However, just as he opened the bundle and took out the books, Zhao Baozhu suddenly froze. Then he hurriedly began rummaging through the bag.
Wh, where is his, his name card?!!
