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People of ancient times loved watching operas. After all, there wasn’t much else they could do, especially women.

In the countryside, it was quite difficult to see an opera. The nearest theater was in the town, and it would take quite a few copper plates to get in, a luxury the country folk couldn’t afford.

The elderly lady, though unable to sing, could narrate, and quite in detail too.

“Where did you hear these operas from?” Gu Jiao leaned in to ask.

“I don’t remember.” The elderly lady shook her head.

Seeing that the old lady didn’t look like she was lying, Gu Jiao continued: “Do you remember anything else?”

The elderly lady thought hard: “No more.”

Gu Jiao: “…”

Gu Jiao asked again: “Can you stop bamboozling people in the future?”

The elderly lady took her time to think again: “No.”

Gu Jiao: “…”

—

The end of the year was coming, and Gu Jiao became busier, having less time to constantly watch over the old lady. Although the old lady occasionally acted weird, she was mostly able to contain herself, not causing any trouble for Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang.

Gu Jiao went to the temple once more afterwards. The master in charge of the treasury had yet to return, so Gu Jiao decided to visit again after the new year.

The academy had another exam before the new year. Most likely due to the influence of the theft incident, Gu Dashun’s performance was significantly worse this time, dropping him to tenth in the class.

The performance of Gu Xiaoshun remained stable, perpetually at the bottom.

Xiao Liulang advanced one rank. But that was not because he did well, it was because the original second last and fourth last were absent due to illness, and he tied with Gu Xiaoshun for the bottom position.

Many teachers at the academy knew about Xiao Liulang’s admission essay. But since then, he had never written any essays, basically turning in blank papers during exams.

Some people suspected that he had exhausted his talents, others suspected that he cheated to get into the academy, but Headmaster Li remained steadfast, believing in Xiao Liulang’s talent.

No matter what others said, he didn’t want to give up on Xiao Liulang.

The imperial examination takes place every three years. The autumn examination will be held next year. If they miss it, they will have to wait for the next one after three years.

Those who participate in the autumn examination must be degree holders, that is, scholars.

There will be a county examination shortly after the new year. Headmaster Li hesitated for a bit, then took the initiative to register Xiao Liulang.

Gu Jiao, unaware of all this, was preparing for the upcoming surgery. She needed to ensure a good night’s sleep and adjust herself to be in top form.

She had performed this type of surgery countless times in her previous life, so she shouldn’t be burdened by it. But performing surgery on a stranger and on Xiao Liulang were two different things.

She couldn’t afford having any regrets on such a perfect person.

Before sleep, Gu Jiao checked the first aid kit. As expected, all the anesthesia and injections needed for the surgery had appeared.

These medicines were not the kind sold in pharmacies in her previous life, but were from the research institute. Gu Jiao seriously suspected that as long as the research institute doesn’t close, her medical kit would continue to be replenished.

Well, it’s good news!

Gu Jiao had a good night’s sleep, prepared breakfast after waking up, and started brewing the medicine for the old lady.

When Gu Jiao brought the medicine to the old lady’s room, the old lady hesitated, looking at the pills in the plate and then at the medicine in the bowl, she frowned, “Why do I feel that this medicinal soup is optional?”

“You’re overthinking it, the medicinal soup is as important as the pills.” Gu Jiao said, keeping a straight face.

The old lady cautiously drank the pills and soup, suffering from the bitterness, she severely suspected that Gu Jiao was taking revenge for her past eccentricities.

Gu Jiao once again left the old lady in the care of Xue Ningxiang. Then she and Xiao Liulang got on Uncle Luo’s ox cart to go to the medical hall.

Fen Lin naturally couldn’t miss such an important day.

He had been waiting at the medical hall early in the morning. As the weather was getting colder, he didn’t like to wait inside, thus freezing into a small icicle outside.

As soon as he saw the young couple on the ox cart, his face darkened.

He had an impulse to curse at the shameless couple. But he held back. Xiao Liulang did nothing wrong, it was just this woman becoming more and more shameless, always clinging to Xiao Liulang!

Gu Jiao, seeing Fen Lin, remained indifferent: “Didn’t you go home for the new year?”

Fen Lin hmphed, “My home is so far away. How would I go back?”

Only then did Gu Jiao remember that transportation in ancient times was inconvenient. A journey that would only take a day by high-speed rail in her previous life could take a month here. Fen Lin might not even have reached home when the new year holiday would end.

Gu Jiao: “Oh.”

Fen Lin, feeling like he had punched cotton: “…”

The surgery date had been fixed in advance, and the Shopkeeper Wang and the old doctor had been waiting in the consulting hall since dawn.

Fen Lin and Gu Jiao both followed them in.

The old doctor first asked about Xiao Liulang’s medicinal fumigation at home in the past few days.

“I have been fumigated with medicine before going to sleep every night.” Xiao Liulang truthfully responded.

Every evening when he would return from school, Gu Jiao would already have prepared his meal and medicine.

The old doctor nodded in acknowledgement.

Fen Lin said, “Doctor Zhang, is Xiao Liulang’s leg almost recovered?”

The old doctor replied, “We will only know after the surgery.”

“What? Surgery?” Fen Lin was dumbfounded.

A trace of astonishment also flashed in Xiao Liulang’s eyes.

Gu Jiao was worried about this kind of reaction, which was why she hadn’t told them. Surgery was not a common concept in this era, and public acceptance was low. Most believe it was only used on the battlefield.

Fen Lin said in alarm, “Doctor Zhang, you didn’t mention this before!”

Of course, the old doctor wouldn’t spill the truth, and instead said with a serious face: “We didn’t have the conditions to perform it at the time. Now, after a period of medicinal fumigation, Xiao Liulang’s meridians are open and he’s ready for surgery.”

But this was a big deal. It involved using a knife on a person’s body. Fen Lin was very hesitant, “Is there no other way besides surgery?”

“Hmm.” The old doctor nodded.

“Will it definitely be successful?” Fen Lin asked again.

“That can’t be guaranteed.” The old doctor answered honestly, “If it’s successful, he’ll be able to walk normally again. If it fails, he might be worse off than he is now.”

That was exactly what Gu Jiao had said earlier. Even if she was the most skilled doctor of the research institute, she couldn’t confidently say that there was absolutely no risk in any surgery.

“Xiao Liulang…” Fen Lin was looking to back out. He was a conservative and was not willing to take such a big risk.

However, Xiao Liulang gave a faint smile and lazily said: “Then let’s go ahead with the surgery. Thank you, Doctor Zhang.”

He agreed so quickly, that even Gu Jiao looked at him.

In fact, even after spending so much time together, Gu Jiao never really understood him. However, for a moment there, it seemed as if she felt a trace of cold indifference on him.

It was as if… he didn’t care at all if the surgery might fail.

Was he really that bold, or did he just not care about his own life?