Chapter 31: Chapter 31, Friend

“Sister Changxi, you're here to collect medicinal herbs!”

Seeing Hua Changxi coming to the warehouse to collect herbs, Li Meng greeted her enthusiastically.

Hua Changxi: “Is Brother Yu awake?”

Li Meng nodded with a smile. “He is. Brother Yu can even sit up on his own now.” As he spoke, he approached Hua Changxi and lowered his voice.

“The palm print on Brother Yu's back has completely disappeared. Sister Changxi, your medical skills are top-tier!” He gave her a thumbs-up.

Hua Changxi smiled. “It’s good that he’s awake. He needs to keep taking the medicine. Brother Yu's internal injuries are somewhat severe; he’ll need to drink it for at least five days.” With that, she moved to carry the herbs.

Li Meng hurriedly said, “Sister Changxi, come this way to take the medicine.”

Hua Changxi glanced at the herbs Li Meng was pointing to and shook her head. “I’ll take these ones.”

Anxious, Li Meng walked over and whispered, “The herbs you're picking are incredibly difficult to wash...”

Hua Changxi smiled. “It’s fine. I wash quickly, and cleaning these herbs isn't difficult for me.”

Every day, watching the laborers of the Sixth Bureau return to their rooms exhausted, seeing their toil, she sometimes thought that if she hadn't encountered her stroke of luck, she would be struggling just like them.

An ordinary laborer, performing heavy tasks day after day to earn a meager amount of silver.

Whenever she thought this, her heart held both relief for herself and sympathy for the laborers.

Since cleaning herbs was no trouble for her, what harm was there in doing a bit more of the difficult ones within her power?

Seeing Hua Changxi insist on taking the hard-to-wash herbs, Li Meng felt somewhat helpless. Once the other laborers had mostly left and he had nothing left to do, he went to find Yu Hui.

“Brother Yu, the wound medicine Sister Changxi made is truly amazing. Only one night has passed, and your wound has already started to scab. I must write this formula down; if we get bumped or bruised next time, we can use this medicine.”

Wan Xiaozhou carefully packed the crushed medicinal paste prepared by Hua Changxi into a porcelain jar.

Yu Hui was also surprised by Hua Changxi's medical skills. In the past, if he had been injured by a fourth-rank martial artist, he would have suffered for at least half a month, but this time, he hadn't suffered much at all.

Wan Xiaozhou added, “Brother Yu, once your injuries are healed, you must properly thank Sister Changxi. Setting aside the fact that she carried you back, just based on her treating you, we’ve saved dozens of taels of silver.”

Yu Hui’s expression became somewhat awkward. When the people in the warehouse targeted Sister Changxi, he had stood by and done nothing; she must hate him to death.

Noticing Yu Hui's expression, Wan Xiaozhou thought for a moment and said, “Sister Changxi is a person of character. If there is any misunderstanding between you and her, Brother Yu, it’s better to clear it up early.”

In the beginning, Brother Yu liked Sister Changxi very much, but later, for some reason, he suddenly stopped acknowledging her.

Yu Hui gave a low "Mhm."

At that moment, Li Meng entered the room. He first asked about Yu Hui's condition, and after learning he felt no discomfort, he began talking about Hua Changxi collecting herbs that morning.

“I don't know what Sister Changxi was thinking. I told her to take the easy-to-wash herbs so she could have it easier, but she insisted on taking the difficult ones.”

Wan Xiaozhou mused, “Sister Changxi cleans herbs very quickly. Other laborers are busy until night even with the easy ones, let alone the difficult ones.”

“Perhaps Sister Changxi wants to help the others? If she washes the hardest ones, it makes things easier for everyone else.”

Li Meng looked skeptical. “Is that so? In the past, we've only encountered people who are lazy and shifty. I find it hard to believe a girl would act so contrary to common sense.”

Wan Xiaozhou smiled. “There are still many kind people in this world. There are people like Sister Changxi who are cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and there are people like Brother Yu who step in to help.”

“If Brother Yu hadn't helped us, we probably would have been thrown into the Yong'an Canal by the dockworkers to feed the fish long ago.”

Both Wan Xiaozhou and Li Meng were country folk from villages near the capital, struggling to make a living at the Yong'an Canal docks at the South Gate. They had nearly been beaten to death by the manager just for accidentally offending him.

They were truly grateful from the bottom of their hearts to Yu Hui, who had rescued them and provided them with stable work.

Yu Hui felt compelled to speak up now. “Why bring this up again? We are all brothers in hardship; helping each other is only natural.”

Wan Xiaozhou chuckled. “I was just chatting with Li Meng and it came up.”

Yu Hui: "...Sister Changxi used to like taking only a tiny bit of every herb. When she comes to collect medicine, mention it to her and let her continue as she did before."

Wan Xiaozhou and Li Meng both smiled and agreed.

After seven days of recuperation, Yu Hui was fully recovered. He came to the warehouse to supervise the distribution of medicinal herbs.

Hua Changxi came to collect herbs as usual. Seeing Yu Hui, she greeted him with a smile, “Brother Yu.”

Yu Hui looked awkward. He hesitated for a long time, and only after Hua Changxi had moved all the herbs she intended to take onto the cart did he speak. “Sister Changxi, thank you for saving me.”

Hua Changxi smiled. “You're welcome. When I first entered the Laborer Hall, you truly did look after me, Brother Yu. I haven't forgotten.”

Yu Hui felt embarrassed. As he helped her move the herbs, he seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

Hua Changxi looked at him. “Brother Yu, is there something else?”

Yu Hui quickly shook his head. “No, it's nothing.”

Once the herbs were all ready, seeing that Yu Hui was still following her closely, Hua Changxi thought for a moment and finally asked, “Brother Yu, can you tell me if I offended you in some way before?”

Yu Hui paused, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “That... I thought you looked down on me.”

Hua Changxi looked surprised. “Why would you think that?”

Yu Hui became even more embarrassed. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke. “The people in the warehouse were teasing us. If you didn't look down on me, why would you have been angry?”

Hearing this, Hua Changxi was moved to laughter by sheer absurdity. She looked at Yu Hui. “You think I shouldn't have been angry?”

Yu Hui: “It was just a joke...”

Hua Changxi’s expression turned serious. “I do not like being the subject of jokes, and I am not anyone's joke.”

Seeing how serious she was, Yu Hui didn't know what to say.

Hua Changxi crossed her arms. “Brother Yu, if I threw you into a male brothel to be used for people's amusement and then told you it was just a joke, would you be happy?”

Yu Hui's eyes widened. “Sister Changxi! You are a young lady! How can you speak so casually about male brothels?”

Hua Changxi huffed. “Why can't I? You men can talk about brothels all day; of course I can talk about male brothels.”

Yu Hui looked around anxiously. “Stop talking! If someone hears you, it will be bad for your reputation.”

Hua Changxi snorted and turned her head away.

Seeing this, Yu Hui could only soften his tone. “Alright, alright, let's not talk about that.”

Hua Changxi looked back at him. “Why not? Since a problem has arisen, it must be resolved completely, otherwise, a grudge will remain in both our hearts.”

Yu Hui was truly overwhelmed. “It's not that serious... it's not that serious...”

“It is to me.”

Hua Changxi looked at him earnestly. “Brother Yu, I am very serious about choosing my friends. Do you know what you did wrong?”

Yu Hui's brain was struggling to keep up. Weren't they talking about how Sister Changxi offended him? How had it turned into his fault?

Hua Changxi raised her right hand and pointed her index finger. “Your first mistake is thinking that I shouldn't be angry.”

Thinking of her metaphor about the male brothel, Yu Hui felt he was in the wrong and nodded. “Yes, yes, I was wrong.”

Hua Changxi then raised her middle finger. “Your second mistake is that you had no communication with me. I didn't even know why you were angry, so how could we resolve the misunderstanding?”

Yu Hui continued to nod. “Yes, I was wrong.”

Seeing him admit his fault, Hua Changxi said magnanimously, “Fine. Since your attitude toward admitting your mistake is acceptable, I forgive you.”

Seeing her like this, Yu Hui muttered, “I have faults, but do you not?”

Hua Changxi glared. “What fault do I have?”

Yu Hui: “You have such a temper. When Mao Wei was giving you trouble, if you had come to me for help, could I have refused? Using that incident, we could have reconciled quite naturally.”

Hua Changxi: “When facing trouble, I prefer to solve it myself rather than beg for help. Furthermore, Brother Yu, I want to ask you a question.”

Yu Hui: “Ask away.”

Hua Changxi: “Do you want to be my friend?”

Yu Hui nodded. “Of course.”

Hua Changxi smiled. “Since we are friends, why would there be 'begging'? Shouldn't it be mutual help?” She looked at him very seriously.

“Brother Yu, when I first sought to be on good terms with you, I was somewhat eager and utilitarian, wanting to establish myself quickly in the Laborer Hall.”

“You have more seniority in the Laborer Hall than I do, and you manage the warehouse. Your status is higher than many laborers. In choosing whom to associate with, your options are much higher than mine.”

“You might have sensed my utilitarian intentions, and seeing that I am a young lady, you looked after me a little.”

“But in your heart, you didn't treat me as a friend; you treated me as someone who would depend on you.”

“Therefore, when the people in the warehouse teased me, because you felt it was nothing, you thought I shouldn't be angry.”

“And after you ignored me, you thought I should come running to beg you.”

“Brother Yu, do you think that is how friends act?”

Yu Hui looked at Hua Changxi, speechless.

Hua Changxi continued with a smile, “Brother Yu, there is one prerequisite to being my friend: we must be equals.”

“If you approach me with the mindset that I must depend on you, then I am telling you, we can never be friends.”

Having said that, she smiled, pushed her cart of herbs, and left.

Yu Hui stood there dazed, thinking about her words.

Wan Xiaozhou walked over. “Brother Yu, did you fail to clear up the misunderstanding with Sister Changxi?”

Yu Hui shook his head. “No.” He sighed. “In this life, I can only be Sister Changxi's friend—as a brother.”

He understood her words. And because he understood them, he realized just how proud a person she was.

Such a person was not someone he could ever subdue.

Wan Xiaozhou was confused. “Is being friends not a good thing?”

Yu Hui looked at him but said nothing.

After all, she was the first young lady to smile brightly at him and call him "Big Brother."

(End of Chapter)