Chapter 13: First Meeting with the Old Lady

In Quiet Bamboo Courtyard, the Old Lady leaned with some difficulty against the head of the bed, sipping medicine fed to her by Wang Mama.

From outside the door came the voices of maidservants, neither too soft nor too loud:

"Have you heard? The Second Young Lady is so overbearing and unreasonable; she hasn't the slightest respect for her elders!"

"Isn't that so? I heard the First Lady suggested she come pay her respects to the Old Lady, but not only did she refuse, she even angered the First Lady until she fell ill."

"I also heard..."

The Old Lady frowned. Wang Mama immediately stood up and scolded the two unfamiliar maidservants outside the door:

"Which courtyard are you two from? Do you have nothing to do? If you dare gossip about your masters again, I will certainly have you sold off!"

The Old Lady remained silent for a long while, then said with deep worry:

"I heard the Second Girl returned to the manor yesterday. I wonder if she is accustomed to life here."

Wang Mama comforted her:

"Rest assured, Old Lady. The Second Young Lady must have been delayed by something; otherwise, she surely would have come to pay her respects to you."

The Old Lady nodded slightly. Although she had been bedridden for many years, she was neither blind nor deaf, nor was she senile; Lady Wu was being far too impatient with this attempt to poison her mind. It seemed the Second Girl's return to the manor this time would not be peaceful, and she feared her own useless body would not be able to protect her... The Old Lady said no more, simply drinking her medicine in silence.

Jun Zijin stood quietly before the gate of Quiet Bamboo Courtyard for a moment before stepping into the courtyard. She had not sent anyone to announce her arrival, nor had she asked for a guide; the manor was filled with Lady Wu's people, and she did not want to be intercepted halfway.

Following memories both familiar and strange, she crossed the silent courtyard. The elegantly and simply furnished courtyard was not large, and before long, she arrived outside the Old Lady's sleeping quarters.

Jun Zijin stood under the veranda, waiting for a maidservant to go inside and announce her. Soon, Wang Mama came out to greet her with a smile:

"Second Young Lady, please come in. The Old Lady has been missing you dearly."

Jun Zijin glanced around. The room was simply furnished and filled with a thick scent of medicine, likely because the Old Lady had just taken her dose. A large bed was placed against the south side of the room, and the Old Lady was currently beckoning to her from the head of the bed:

"Second Girl, come here, let Grandmother have a look at you."

Jun Zijin raised her eyes to look at the Old Lady, seeing a face covered in deep and shallow wrinkles and a head of snow-white hair. Yet, despite the years of torment from illness, it was still difficult to hide the kindness and gentleness that naturally flowed from her eyes and brows.

For just an instant, Jun Zijin almost broke down; the Old Lady looked exactly like her grandmother from her past life.

In her past life, her parents' home was not far from her grandmother's. Her father was in a special forces unit in the military, and due to the nature of his work, she rarely saw him more than a few times a year.

Her mother lived alone, raising the eight-year-old Jun Zijin and her three-year-old younger brother. Her mother was soft-hearted and often bullied, and it was her grandmother who protected the siblings as they grew up.

But just as she had grown into an adult and finally had the ability to let the grandmother who had suffered so much for them live a good life, her grandmother passed away nine years ago. To this day, Jun Zijin's longing for her grandmother had not diminished in the slightest. She never imagined that in this world, she would see this face she could only see in her dreams and hear this voice she missed so much.

It was truly fate; there was an arrangement in the unseen. Jun Zijin could not hide the excitement in her heart. Feeling a pang of sorrow, she stepped forward and gently rested her head on the Old Lady's knees, calling out with a thick, nasal voice:

"Grandmother..."

The Old Lady gently patted Jun Zijin's bony back. Looking at her sallow, thin little face, the Old Lady's heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife. The Second Girl should be fourteen this year, yet she was not even a head taller than the ten-year-old Third Girl; this was a lack of growth due to malnutrition. Looking at her small hands, the backs were rough, and the palms even had a thin layer of calluses. The Old Lady could no longer hold back and cursed:

"Those damned things!" She then silently cursed her son, Jun Zhengming, several times over.

Jun Zijin comforted her:

"Grandmother, your granddaughter is doing just fine. Besides, haven't I returned now?"

"Yes, yes, you've returned, you've returned... From now on, with Grandmother here, let's see who dares to bully you!" The Old Lady said with tears in her eyes, her heart aching.

A warm current flowed through Jun Zijin's heart once more, and she said:

"Grandmother, has your illness improved at all over these years?" In the original owner's memories, after the Old Lady injured her leg in a fall, she was initially only inconvenienced, but for some reason, it grew increasingly severe until it eventually reached the point where she could not move at all.

"Grandmother is fine," the Old Lady said with a comforting smile.

Wang Mama sighed: "The Old Lady was left with a root of illness in her youth, and after falling a few years ago... her migraines are also sometimes better and sometimes worse; in recent years, they seem to have been occurring more frequently..."

In her youth, the Old Lady's husband was away on campaigns year-round, and she was widowed young. As a lone mother with an orphan, she must have suffered a great deal.

After asking for permission, Jun Zijin examined the Old Lady's leg. There was no knee-jerk reflex, and there was no sensation when she pinched it, but fortunately, the muscles had not atrophied. By all accounts... the Old Lady's illness could be treated, but... it seemed it was not as simple as it appeared on the surface?

Jun Zijin thought of something and took the Old Lady's pulse. It was just as she suspected! Jun Zijin's heart tightened. Now that she thought about it, she feared that fall had not been an accident. In the original owner's memories, the Old Lady's fall was caused by stepping on a few stones covered in moss. How could there be moss in a courtyard that was swept every day?

Jun Zijin decided not to speak of it yet and said:

"Grandmother, please rest easy. Your granddaughter's medical skills have improved during my years at the farmstead; I can try to treat your illness."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mama smiled and said:

"Old Lady, listen to that. Our Second Young Lady is truly remarkable now."

The Old Lady's face was full of smiles, and she was naturally happy to hear this. Although she did not take the child's words too seriously—many famous physicians in Jingcheng could not cure her illness, and while the Second Girl had learned some pharmacology from her mother for a time, she was still just a child.

The child was merely trying to comfort her. However, since the Second Girl wanted to try, she was naturally willing. The Old Lady nodded with a smile: "Good, I shall wait for my Second Girl to work her medical miracles! Hehehehe..."

After chatting for a while longer about daily life, Jun Zijin saw that the Old Lady looked weary, so she led the Mama and maidservants assigned to serve the Old Lady away, rising to take her leave and heading toward the small courtyard where she was staying. Just as she was about to pass a rockery, she saw someone coming toward her.