A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 17: I went to the hospital for treatment and just recovered, my wife wanted to sell Gui'

The doctor at the hospital recognized Gui'er as soon as he saw her and asked in surprise, "Why is this little girl back again?"

Song Xichen was speechless and had to say to the doctor, "I got caught in the rain last night and I have a fever again this morning. Could you please take a look at me?"

The doctor was even more surprised: "Getting caught in the rain? It hasn't rained at all these two days because the sun has been shining brightly." Seeing Song Xichen's evasive look, he didn't ask further. He just said that children's resistance is different from that of adults. They need to be well taken care of, otherwise it's easy to develop chronic diseases. Then he turned around and arranged for a nurse to give Gui'er an injection to reduce her fever.

Song Xichen sat on a long wooden chair in the corridor outside the ward, watching the nurses busying around Gui'er, feeling a little regretful. He could have stopped the third concubine last night, but he would have been scolded by his father if he had contradicted the elders at home. He found it troublesome, and he was also upset about the fact that Gui'er had secretly run out to find them yesterday afternoon and failed to catch the bandit leader. He didn't think Gui'er had any connection with the bandits, but he felt very uncomfortable when he heard Gui'er say that the bandit ran to find him because he looked like him.

I just wanted to teach this little girl a lesson, but now she's sick again, and I'm the one who's worried.

Song Xichen felt strange when he thought of this. He had been trained as an heir by his family since he was a child. He was sent out to study when he was just over 10 years old and had not returned home until recent years. He had long been accustomed to being independent and indifferent by nature. He was not too attached to the people and things around him. He had just rescued this little girl and didn't care much about her. It was just that his family couldn't arrange for her, so they let him come to his side. However, after spending some time together, the little girl was around him every day, which made him feel a little warm and at ease.

Song Xichen was lost in thought when the nurse came over and said to him, "The injection is done. Go get the medicine and you can go home. The wound on the child's forehead must not be exposed to water."

Song Xichen stood up and said, "Thank you," to the nurse. He sent Dagang off to get some medicine, then returned to the ward. He saw Gui'er had woken up, but still a little dazed. She groggily said, "Young Master, go to school."

Song Xichen walked over, touched her forehead and said, "Don't go to school today. I'll ask for leave for you later. You can rest at home for a day."

Guier weakly opened her eyes and looked at him, nodded, and closed them again.

Song Xichen carefully carried her back to the Song Mansion and told the servants to take good care of her before returning to the police station.

Gui'er was in a daze and felt dizzy. It was lunchtime, and usually she didn't need to be served at school. She thought that since she didn't have school today, she must show up, so she struggled to get up, changed her clothes and went to the front hall.

I just arrived at the front hall and found that the masters had not come yet, but the second young master came and his personal servant was standing behind him.

Second Young Master Song Xilun was sitting on the sofa in the front hall, legs crossed, waiting for dinner when he suddenly saw a little girl peeking in from the doorway. He recognized her as Gui'er from the eldest young master's courtyard and said with a smile, "Guier, why are you here?"

Gui Er then stepped forward and said cautiously, "In reply to the Second Young Master, I will serve the First Young Master his meal."

Song Xilun smiled gently and said, "Big brother usually doesn't come back for lunch."

Gui'er suddenly understood, bowed and said, "I understand, thank you, Second Young Master." Then she turned around and was about to leave.

Song Xilun stopped her and said with a smile, "I heard you were sick again. I have some jujube and yam cakes in my room. I'll have someone bring them over for you to try later."

Gui'er said quickly, "Thank you, Second Young Master." Then she turned around and wanted to go back to the courtyard, but found that three ladies were walking towards her from a distance. She looked left and right, and quickly dodged into the corridors on both sides, trying to move back a little, lowered her head, and stood there. There were other servants in the corridor. Gui'er hoped that the ladies would not see her. After the commotion yesterday, she was really afraid of the third lady.

Who knows what you fear will come true? She just happened to hear the eldest wife say, "Who? Standing there stealthily?"

The other servants all looked at Gui'er, so Gui'er had no choice but to step forward and say submissively, "Madam, it's me."

Before the first wife could say anything, the third wife stepped forward and said, "It's you again. I punished you yesterday, but it seems you haven't punished enough yet."

Gui'er quickly defended herself, "No, Third Madam, I wanted to come over to serve the eldest young master dinner, but when I learned that he wasn't coming back to eat, I prepared to go back to the courtyard."

"Look, she dares to talk back. Big sister, it seems we really need to help Xichen discipline the servants in their courtyard." The third wife pointed at Gui'er and said to the first wife.

"Mother, Second Aunt, forget it. I heard that the little girl got a fever after kneeling yesterday. My brother just took her to the hospital for injections and medicine this morning. If you continue to bother her and she gets sick again, my brother will be unhappy." At this time, the second young master Song Xilun walked out of the house slowly.

The Third Wife fell silent upon hearing the Second Young Master's words, but the First Wife, for some reason, suddenly became upset and said, "This Xichen is all about work, work, and the family, and he even indulges these servants in their misbehavior. It seems he really needs to be severely punished and set an example. It's unbecoming for a young master to be so concerned about a newly-accepted servant like this."

Then he turned around and called out, "Auntie Wu, Auntie Wu."

"Madam, I'm here." Aunt Wu hurriedly ran from behind to the ladies.

"Go find a matchmaker and sell this girl's house," said the eldest wife.

Gui'er felt the faces of the people around her suddenly change. Second Young Master Song Xilun was about to say something when Second Wife He Xiufang, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly spoke up: "Lun'er, children shouldn't meddle in adult matters."

Wu Ma called the servants who did the rough work and pointed at Gui'er and said to them, "You two take this little bitch to the woodshed and lock her up. I'll call the matchmaker over to take a look. But keep a close watch on the door. This bitch is very clever."

Seeing the two servants about to reach out and grab her, Gui'er stepped back and said, "You don't have to hold me back. I can walk on my own."

Then Guier was taken to the woodshed next to the kitchen and locked up. She was a little dizzy because the fever had just subsided, and now she felt even more dizzy.

Gui'er carefully recalled what the wife had just said to them in her mind: "Matchmaker, isn't this the same person who bought and sold servants in ancient times? Is the Second Wife trying to sell herself out?"

Gui'er was puzzled. She had no grudge against the First Madam, so why would she be so cruel to her? She suddenly remembered the incident with the Zhou family silk shop mother and daughter. This young lady seemed to be related to the Third Madam. Could it be that she was holding a grudge against her because of this? At this thought, she had an answer in her mind. But the most important thing now was how to get out of this predicament. The best way was to find someone to notify the Young Master to stop it.

Gui'er peeked through the crack in the woodshed door. She saw two bored servants guarding the room. Leaving through the main door was out of the question, so she began looking for other options. Besides storing firewood, the woodshed also contained some old furniture, a table with broken legs, and other items scattered about in a chaotic, messy manner. Gui'er moved the wood and the messy furniture aside, specifically checking the corners of the walls for any holes that might lead to contact with the outside world.

After working for a long time, Gui'er was covered in dirt. She felt that she was getting more dizzy and was sweating coldly. She might have started to have a fever again, but she didn't care. She picked up a long piece of firewood that was slightly more convenient to use and tried to pry the corner of the wall as quietly as possible. Suddenly, she found that there was a hole in the wall covered by the firewood. She reached out and touched it, and brought in a handful of mud. She realized that although this woodshed was made of bricks, the hole in the wall had been broken. Maybe the person who repaired it used mud, so it rotted again after a long time.

Gui'er was overjoyed. She pried the hole here and there with firewood, and made it a little bigger. She measured the hole with a piece of firewood and her shoulders, and estimated that she could get through. She went back to the door and found a way to look in through a crack in the door. She took off her coat at an angle and propped it up with some small firewood, and used other miscellaneous things to cover it. Now, through the crack in the door, people could probably see the back of her clothes, so others would think she was sitting there with her back to the door, and she could buy some time.

Then Gui'er crawled out through the hole in the wall. After coming out, Gui'er was very confused and didn't know who to ask for help. Even if she told the young master, he might not care because of the previous experience. But she was only nine years old now and it was impossible for her to survive alone in this world.

After much hesitation, she decided to run away first.