Gu Jiao was very surprised by her dream. Not only did she actually have a dream, she also dreamt of a man.

"Am I that concerned about him?" Gu Jiao stroked her chin oddly.

But it was only a dream after all so Gu Jiao did not really put it to heart.

At this moment, the sky was getting bright, and a few stars could still be seen on the horizon. It seemed that it would be a fine weather today.

Gu Jiao didn’t remember how long it had been since she got up this early. She might have worked in a research institute in her previous life, but anyone familiar with her knew she was a complete night owl who did most of her research and surgery in the afternoon. As for the missions given to her by the organization, she rarely had any that required her to work at sunrise, most of the time it was during sunset and onwards.

Gu Jiao was wearing her own clothes today.

After Gu Jiao brought the brazier into Xiao Liulang's room last night, she dried her clothes around the brazier for a while. It was just that she moved so gently that she didn't wake Xiao Liulang up.

Gu Jiao went to the backyard to fetch water and wash herself up.

The door to Xiao Liulang’s room was open and he was no longer inside.

She thought she got up very early, but someone was actually earlier than her.

Gu Jiao walked around the house but failed to find Xiao Liulang. However, she noticed that a bucket next to the water jar was missing.

Gu Jiao looked at the half-filled water jar and stroked her chin without saying a word.

The bolt on the front door was still shut. Xiao Liulang had gone out through the back door in the kitchen and locked it from the outside. In this way, outsiders couldn’t come in at will while Gu Jiao could open the front door if she wanted to go out.

After washing up, Gu Jiao went back to her room, applied the ointment and consumed the anti-inflammatory drugs.

Xiao Liulang hadn’t come back yet, so Gu Jiao dealt with the last bit of cornmeal left first. This was the last grain reserve they had at home.

Gu Jiao had to find a way to sell the pheasants she had brought back to the town and buy some grains for the family. The problem was that the original soul had never been outside the village, so Gu Jiao had no idea how to get to the town.

Since she still had to let the dough rest for some time, Gu Jiao took a broom and swept the backyard and the main room, as well as her own room. Without Xiao Liulang there, she did not enter his room.

Only half of yesterday's clothes were washed and a few more were still in the cabinet. Gu Jiao took them all out and put them in a large wooden basin in the backyard.

This dynasty had a soap made of pig pancreas and plant ash. The original soul had seen it amongst the goods on a merchant’s cart before, but the villagers were poor and most of them could not afford to buy it.

Gu Jiao smashed the soap pod to bits and spread it on the clothes evenly. She kept beating them with the wooden club until a fragrant foam came out, then she began to scrub repeatedly. The soap pod’s decontamination ability wasn’t as strong as imagined, but Gu Jiao's obsession with washing clothes was very strong.Alas, she scrubbed a small hole in her dudou[1].

Gu Jiao, "......"

By the time Gu Jiao finished washing the clothes, she almost used up the remaining half of the water in the jar.

At the same time, the dough was ready. Gu Jiao made some buns with the cornmeal and steamed them in the pot.

Xiao Liulang still hadn't returned.

This village had two wells. The old well was at the end of the village, which was close to their house, but it was almost dried up. Gu Jiao guessed that Xiao Liulang must have gone to the new well at the entrance of the village to draw water.

It was only ten or so steps away from where Gu Jiao fell into the water yesterday. A normal person didn’t need a quarter of an hour to make a round trip. Xiao Liulang had problems with his leg, plus he was carrying a bucket of water. Gu Jiao calculated that he should have returned in two quarters of an hour, and it was long overdue.

Gu Jiao stood in front of the stove, looked in the direction of the front door, and finally opened the door and went out.

Gu Jiao found Xiao Liulang behind a large locust tree near an ancient-looking well. He was surrounded by several ferocious-looking bullies. The bucket fell on the ground and the well water spilled all over the ground.

The bullies each had two chicken feathers stuck on their heads.

An ancient version of Shamate[2]?

Gu Jiao recognized that these bullies were not only from their own village, but also from the neighbouring villages. Although they did mischief all day long, they wouldn’t go so far as murdering someone or committing arson. Still, they gave no less troubles to the neighborhood and villagers.

Xiao Liulang's crutch was taken away by a little bully. This bully wasn’t very old, only 13 or 14 years old based on his appearance, and yet he was very arrogant.

He pushed Xiao Liulang to the ground and pointed the crutch at his face, "How many times has this great one warned you? Don't show your face in front of me again! Are you f*cking deaf, huh? Hurry and get out of Qingquan Village for me at this instant!"

Obviously, the little bully was still in the stage of changing his voice. When Gu Jiao heard it, he found the voice somewhat familiar.

The little bully was about to hit Xiao Liulang with the crutch. Gu Jiao, without much thinking, walked up to Xiao Liulang, raised her hand to protect him, and kicked the little bully’s ass.

"Ouch! Who the f*ck dare to kick this great one’s—— " The little villain was kicked flat to the ground, turned around with a swear, but then suddenly choked up.

Gu Jiao didn’t care whether he was already choking or not. She snatched the crutch from his hand, trapped his hands, and strangled his neck with the crutch.

The little bully couldn’t bear the pain of being strangled and instantly cried out, "Big sis! Big sis! What are you doing!?"

Gu Jiao was stupefied for a moment.When the other bullies saw that their boss was being beaten, they immediately rushed to Gu Jiao.

The little bully bellowed angrily, "All of you, f*cking stop for this great one! This is my big sister!"

The bullies froze.

Gu Jiao... Gu Jiao finally remembered who this little bully was. He was Gu Xiaoshun, the youngest son of the Gu Family's second branch.

Gu Xiaoshun was 13 years old. He was the youngest among the grandchildren of the Gu Family and the only one who was close to the original soul. He didn’t dislike the original soul for being a fool, nor for being ugly.

The reason might be that Gu Xiaoshun was also a good-for-nothing. He refused to study hard and only knew to fool around all day long. His brothers and sister always scolded him and his parents always beat him. Only the original soul would foolishly hold his hand and coax him with the candy she already put into her mouth while telling him: Xiaoshun is good at fighting, Xiaoshun is really fierce.

Gu Xiaoshun was aware that Gu Jiao was acting this way because she was a fool, but he was not a smart one either.

He only thought that whoever was nice to him, he would be nice to them too.

"Big sis! Big sis! It hurts!" Gu Xiaoshun cried out in grievance.

Gu Jiao released him. Putting her right hand behind her back, she pulled him up with her left hand. Then she asked, "Why are you bullying your brother-in-law?"

"Brother-in-law?" Gu Xiaoshun suspected he had misheard her. "Didn't you tell me to beat him?"

"Me?" Gu Jiao asked doubtfully.

“Yes, ah!” Gu Xiaoshun looked at Xiao Liulang and said in a low voice, "You told me you don't want this little cripple anymore. You want me to get rid of him so you can be with Young Gentleman Qin!"

He thought his voice wasn’t loud, but everyone present heard it.

Xiao Liulang’s eyes were cold.

The bullies couldn’t bear to continue watching.

Gu Xiaoshun said, "Big sis, you haven’t forgotten, have you? You told me yourself!"

Gu Xiaoshun wouldn’t deceive her. It seemed that the original soul did say such words. It was just… how could this brother haven't forgotten a word when even the original soul no longer remembered it!

“I just... said that casually. You actually took it seriously?"

Gu Jiao felt her tooth ache.

"Then, what do I do?” Gu Xiaoshun realized that he had done something wrong and stood there with his head down like a little quail.1. ↑ — Undergarment covering the chest and abdomen 2. ↑ — Chinese transliteration of the word 'smart'. It’s a Chinese subculture of young urban migrants, usually of low education, with exaggerated hairstyles, heavy make-up, flamboyant costumes, piercings etc.