Chapter 1: Perplexity

  After some time and contact with Gao Huaiyuan, the arrow wound on Xue Yan's leg gradually healed under Gao Huaiyuan's care, without any festering. Although Xue Yan didn't say it out loud, he was very grateful to Gao Huaiyuan. As everyone became more familiar with each other, they started talking more.

  "What a heroic figure General Yue was back then, yet he ended up in such a miserable state! It's truly heartbreaking for all of us common people of the Song Dynasty. Alas, I, Xue Yan, also learned some martial arts, but had no chance to use them, and ended up as an outlaw. If not for Young Master taking me in, I'd probably still be a bandit now! Looks like I've got no other choice!" Xue Yan gazed at the city wall of Yongxiu County, overcome with emotion.

  "The ancients said, 'If you hear the truth in the morning, it's okay to die in the evening!' You're not even 30 yet, how can you be sure this life is over for you?" Gao Huaiyuan retorted.

  Xue Yan looked at Gao Huaiyuan with a strange expression, thinking to himself what he meant by this sentence. Now that he had become a household slave of Gao Huaiyuan's, could there still be any opportunity for him?

  Gao Huaiyuan didn't bother with him anymore, but instead said: "Don't say any more, past things are in the past, thinking about it is useless. Let's go to Yongxiu County first and fill our stomachs before talking. The sky is big, the earth is big, but the biggest thing is one's stomach! Today's journey was not short, I'm almost starving to death!"

  Huang Yan let out a loud whoop and took off running towards the Yongxiu county town. This guy had been complaining about being hungry just an hour ago, now that he was here, how could he still have the heart to listen to Xue Yan's words?

  A group of people quickened their pace, heading towards the county town. As they approached the county town, they saw a skinny child lying on the side of the road with a bag of bones, and next to him was a similarly pale and thin teenager kneeling and crying out: "Little brother, don't sleep! Whatever you do, don't sleep! Big brother will go find some food for you right away. If you fall asleep, you won't wake up again. Big brother only has you left as his family member, so please, whatever you do, don't sleep!"

  The little kid on the ground slightly opened his eyes, looking at his brother, and his gaze seemed a bit dazed. He struggled to open his mouth and let out a weak voice: "Brother, I'm suddenly not hungry anymore..."

  The older brother burst into tears and struggled to pick up his younger brother, shouting: "No! It's all my fault for not taking good care of you! Heaven, please save my little brother!"

  Just then, Gao Huaiyuan and his group walked up to their side. The young boy saw Gao Huaiyuan and the others stop and look at them, so he quickly put down his dying brother, scrambled over on all fours, and knelt in front of Gao Huaiyuan, crying out: "Good people save us! My little brother is going to starve to death! Please, good people, give him something to eat! As long as you save my little brother, I'll be willing to work like an ox or a horse to repay you!" Before he could finish speaking, he burst into tears.

  Gao Huai looked down at the young man with a mixture of emotions, they were both people of this era, although his own life had been tough, but compared to these two brothers, he no longer resented heaven for being unfair to him.

  Gao Huaiyuan hadn't spoken yet, when Liu'er hastily got off the carriage and grabbed a piece of flatbread they had prepared for the road. She walked towards the young man, stretched out her hand to give it to him, with tears in her eyes saying: "Quickly take it to feed your little brother!"

  The young man hastily bowed his head to thank Liu'er, stretched out his hand to take the piece of pancake that had been placed very hard, but at this time Gao Huaiyuan suddenly reached out and knocked away the pancake in Liu'er's hand.

  The young man was taken aback for a moment, and then he glared at Gao Huaiyuan with anger in his eyes, as if he wanted to pounce on him and tear him apart. The people around him, Xue Yan, Huang Yan, and Zhou Huan, were also shocked, and Xue Yan even glared at Gao Huaiyuan with anger in her eyes, as if flames were about to erupt from them.

  "Master, what's the meaning of this? I've been thinking you're a good person all these days and decided to follow you, but today you...!" Xue Yan pointed at Gao Huaiyuan and shouted angrily.

  "Shut up!" Gao Huaiyuan glared at Xue Yan, who was cut off mid-sentence. Although he wanted to continue speaking like an enraged bull, he was immediately pulled back by Liu'er's grip on his arm.

  "Xue big brother, don't say anything else, let the young master speak! The young master is not the kind of person you think he is!" Liu'er hastily advised him.

  Xue Yan finally stopped talking and stared at Gao Huaiyuan, looking at him to see why he wanted to do this.

  Gao Huaiyuan didn't bother to respond, and instead walked around the young man to the child lying on the ground. He bent down to take a look, then reached out to grasp the dirty wrist of the little one. The young man rushed over and grabbed Gao Huaiyuan's arm, shouting: "You heartless thing, don't touch my brother!"

  Gao Huaiyuan pushed the young man away and continued to stare at the little boy, saying sternly: "You'd better behave yourself. If you want your brother to die, then let him eat that pastry! You're all idiots!"

  Upon hearing Gao Huaiyuan's words, the young man finally stopped, but still glared at him in anger and said: "My brother is about to starve to death, not allowing him to eat anything, can he survive?"

  Gao Huaiyuan also ignored him and turned to shout at Li Tong, who was stretching his neck to look in one direction: "Li Tong, run a bit faster, go into the city quickly and buy two bowls of congee to bring back here! Hurry up!"

  Li Tong let out a cry and ran towards the city gate, Gao Huaiyuan's words were now more severe than an imperial edict, he didn't dare to be slow.

  After Gao Huaiyuan said that, the young man immediately stopped talking and his expression softened a lot. He silently knelt down beside his younger brother.

  "Bring water, and give him a drink first!" Gao Huaiyuan turned his head and instructed Xue Yan, who was looking embarrassed.

  Xue Yan didn't let up, and quickly turned to take down the water bag from the car, handing it over to Gao Huaiyuan. Gao Huaiyuan reached out to support the little boy's head on the ground, not minding the dirt on him, letting him lean against his leg, and poured some water into him, softly comforting him: "Hold on, little brother, your big brother is right, don't fall asleep! There will be delicious food for you soon! Sleeping isn't a good kid!"

  The child looked at Gao Huaiyuan with a somewhat dazed expression, his dry lips seeming to want to smile and say thank you, but after opening his mouth, he didn't say anything.

  The boy beside him looked at his brother's appearance and cried again.

  "Don't cry! You're his older brother, what will your younger brother think if you keep crying like this? Shut up!" Gao Huaiyuan glared at the young man.

  The boy immediately covered his mouth and choked back his sobs, no longer daring to make a sound.

  Gao Huaiyuan ignored him, lowering his head to talk to the child and encourage them. Before long, Li Tong rushed back with a large bowl in hand, drenched in sweat.

  Gao Huaiyuan took the large bowl from Li Tong's hands and saw that it was filled with a thick rice porridge. He nodded in satisfaction, quickly moved to the child's mouth, and fed him. After drinking one mouthful, the child suddenly gained energy, struggled free, grasped the bowl tightly with both hands, lowered his head, and began drinking greedily.

  But soon, Gao Huaiyuan snatched the bowl of porridge from his hand. The child was really hungry and cried out: "I want to eat more! Give me some!"

  The young man's eyes showed a hint of sadness again, and he quickly whispered to Gao Huaiyuan with a pleading tone: "Please! Let him drink a little more!"

  "Absolutely not! He can't drink too much now, or it'll be unbearable for him and end up harming him instead. You're also starving, hurry up and finish the rest!" As he spoke, he handed the bowl of porridge to the young man.

  The young man looked up with a distant gaze, very determined. He didn't dare to persist, and repeatedly thanked him, taking the bowl of porridge in one breath, drinking it all down until there was no more porridge left in the bowl. He still couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick the remaining rice grains on the rim of the bowl into his mouth.

  Gao Huaiyuan looked at the two young men, thought for a moment, then reached out and picked up the child, turned around and walked towards the mule cart, put the child inside the carriage, and then called out to the other young man: "I'm going into town to find a doctor for your brother, he's very weak now, if you keep carrying him, you'll both end up starving to death! You come with me too!"

  The young man's eyes showed a hurried expression, he hastily nodded his thanks and followed behind Gao Huaiyuan. The crowd immediately urged the carriage on, heading towards the city.

  "Master! I was wrong just now! I'm a rascal, I misunderstood you, Master! Just punish me!" Xue Yan walked up to Gao Huaiyuan with a guilty look on his face and apologized.

  "You just scolded me, and I'm glad to see that I wasn't wrong about you! You're not wrong, so why would I punish you? For someone who's almost starving to death, we can't give them anything hard to eat, nor can we let them eat as much as they want. Otherwise, their stomachs won't be able to handle it, and they might even die from being too full! We have to start with soft food to moisten their stomachs first, then gradually increase the amount. If not, our good intentions will end up harming them instead! Remember this for the future!" Gao Huaiyuan said calmly to everyone.

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and today Gao Huaiyuan taught them another lesson, letting them know the knowledge of rescuing people who are about to starve to death. They couldn't help but admire Gao Huaiyuan even more, and Xue Yan felt that following Gao Huaiyuan this time was not a mistake after all. He quietly limped his leg and followed behind.

  After entering Yongxiu County, they entered the inn and immediately took out money to let the shopkeeper find a doctor to come over and treat the child. They also asked the shopkeeper to cook some rice porridge and slowly feed it to the child. By the time the doctor arrived, the child was already asleep and his face looked much better, at least making people feel more at ease. His life is probably saved.

  "Benefactor, please accept my humble bow. Thank you for saving my younger brother's life! I kowtow to you! Please forgive me for my disrespect earlier, I will repay your great kindness today even if it means being a cow or horse for you!" After seeing that his brother was no longer in danger, the young man came before Gao Huaiyuan and knelt down with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing to him.

  "Get up!" Gao Huaiyuan sighed and reached out to lift the young man up.