Su Yaoguang’s illness suddenly made her the focus of everyone’s care, and she was not even allowed to leave her room, having to rest for five days before she could go out.
During her days of rest, everyone took turns looking after her.
This time it was Zhou Wangshu’s turn; he awkwardly expressed that he could stay and take care of the sick, so others could attend to Su Yaoguang.
However, the sisters of the Zhang Family wanted the two young people to have more time together, wishing to give up their turn to him, so how could they let Zhou Wangshu stay so far away?
Since the day he fed her medicine, Zhou Wangshu had been feeling awkward. Although Su Yaoguang was rather naive and didn’t notice his odd behavior, he couldn’t get past his own concerns.
Su Yaoguang repeatedly said she treated him like a brother, and he followed her words to treat her as family. But his inappropriate behavior nearly ruined their ’harmonious’ sibling-like relationship, and even at midnight, he couldn’t help but feel regretful, wanting to give himself a few slaps.
"What are you carrying?" Zhou Wangshu asked when he saw an aunt carrying a large basket with some fabric in it.
This aunt was responsible for laundry. Upon hearing Zhou Wangshu’s question, she replied, "Young Master Zhou, these are Boss Su’s personal garments, I’ve already washed and dried them, now delivering them to Boss Su."
Upon hearing they were Su Yaoguang’s clothes, Zhou Wangshu originally wanted to inspect them but withdrawn before touching the garments.
"Then you can deliver them..." Zhou Wangshu sniffed the air, his gaze fixed on the basket, calling out to the aunt, "Wait a moment..."
The aunt, unclear about his intentions, watched as Zhou Wangshu picked up the clothes and sniffed them.
These freshly washed clothes, what was there to smell? Did he think she hadn’t washed them properly?
The aunt felt a bit upset.
Zhou Wangshu detected a strange odor and asked the aunt, "These clothes have been washed, why are they still smelling?"
The aunt grabbed the clothes and sniffed them, faintly detecting some odor; after all, this place was full of sick people, even the air was scented with medicine. However, it wasn’t as exaggerated as he claimed.
"Young Master Zhou, we come and go among sick people, how can there be no smell? If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have noticed it. Are you just too tense?"
"You’re right." Zhou Wangshu accepted the large basket, "Just give me the items; I’m about to go inside, I’ll take them in as well."
"Alright then." The aunt handed the bamboo basket to Zhou Wangshu.
After the aunt left, Zhou Wangshu first spoke through the door to Su Yaoguang, saying he had to go out for a while for some matters but would soon return, telling her to stay dutifully inside the room, lest he get scolded because of her. Listening from inside, Su Yaoguang responded with annoyance and continued flipping through the medical book in her hands.
Since she couldn’t go out, she might as well use this time to learn something, which could be useful in developing new face cream products in the future.
Carrying the basket, Zhou Wangshu found Jiang Jing.
"Come and check if there’s any problem with these clothes."
Jiang Jing found it strange, recognizing the clothes as Su Yaoguang’s, and followed him into the pharmacy, carefully examining the garments, sniffing them at her nose like he did.
"Where did you get these? This kind of odor comes from an infected person, likely mixed with the garments of sick individuals. If worn, the chance of catching the plague is very high. Given Yaoguang is still unwell, she’s more susceptible to contracting the disease."
"Aunt Wang who is responsible for laundering brought them in. Though Aunt Wang owes her life to Yaoguang, she always respects Yaoguang and wouldn’t harm her; it’s likely someone else is behind this."
"Regardless of who it is, these clothes can’t be worn. Luckily you discovered this in time. If Yaoguang wore them, she would suffer greatly. See how these new sick people are covered in sores, even with many pustules on their faces? Even after recovery, it’s likely to leave marks."
"Whoever it is, we’ll wait until they reveal themselves." Zhou Wangshu suggested, "For now, I’m taking these clothes back."
"Wash your hands first." Jiang Jing brought over a basin of herbal medicinal broth.
Zhang Zhaodi and others bathed daily with such medicinal broth, even soaking their clothes overnight in it before washing them clean the next day. Thus, their garments carried the aroma of herbs, which was normal, but mixing with other scents became unusual.
Su Yaoguang saw Zhou Wangshu return with the bamboo basket, reaching out to take it, but he dodged.
"What’s the matter?"
"These clothes have issues, don’t touch them." Zhou Wangshu placed the bamboo basket by the window.
Su Yaoguang saw her intimate garments, her face turned a bit red, awkwardly stating, "These are my clothes, what issues could they have?"
"Big issues." Zhou Wangshu replied, "I showed them to Jiang Jing earlier, she said these clothes mingled with those of sick people. Someone wants you to experience the plague."
"Who did it?"
"No idea. But whoever can do such a thing surely wants to see you suffer; just act out and they’ll surface."
"Alright. I’m curious about who this sneaky person is behind this."
Jiang Yihuan dashed into the bamboo house. As she entered, she witnessed Wen Family feeding Xiao Yanci porridge angrily storming forward.
Just as she was about to overturn the bowl, Xiao Yanci looked at her with confusion, and upon seeing her, the smile on his face vanished.
At that moment, Jiang Yihuan calmed down.
Xiao Yanci liked the sweet, naive pure-hearted young girls, but the incident with the Wen Family’s herbal medicine tainted her image, compounded by the humiliating scene of falling into the cesspit witnessed by him. Not a trace of those three terms remained, so the light faded in his gaze towards her, and no longer did he cast the tender passionate gaze he once did.
Falling into the cesspit was pure bad luck, but the Wen Family’s herbal medicine accusation was a massive injustice. She hadn’t done any of it, why did everyone assume it was her? The medicine was even found on her, wasn’t this blatant framing visible to anyone? Do these people have pig brains? And Xiao Yanci, why would he rather trust that slut of the Wen Family over her? Was his affection for her so fragile?
"Brother Xiao, I found some books at the Buddhist Hall. Not sure if you’d like them, but I thought they might entertain you."
Xiao Yanci’s gaze softened upon seeing the few books Jiang Yihuan brought.
"Full of seriously ill patients over there, why do you keep running to that side?"
"I noticed you’ve been downcast recently, thinking it’s boredom. You don’t even know when you can go down the mountain. How depressing would that be? I don’t mind. As long as it brings you joy, I’d do anything willingly." Jiang Yihuan shyly said.
"Sister Huan’er is really wonderful; Mr. Xiao is truly blessed to have such a fiancée." Wen Family interjected, "Your happy occasion is approaching, isn’t it? My embroidery skills aren’t bad, I’ll gladly contribute, help sew the wedding attire or something."
Speaking, her eyes reddened, casting an aggrieved glance at Xiao Yanci.
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