After the rain, the coolness of late autumn wafted through Clearspring Village.

Miss Gu Jiao chased him to the village entrance, sweating profusely. “Master Qin, Master Qin…”

Slurp!

As she slipped, she fell flat on her face.

Then, the carriage before her sped off, splattering mud all over her.

“Hahahahaha!”

The people surrounding her burst into laughter.

Gu Jiaoniang was the village fool. She had a crippled husband at home, but she ignored the honest man at home and kept chasing after Young Master Qin in town.

And who was Young Master Qin? His father was a minister, he was an exemplary scholar, and he had the looks to match. Why would he fancy some dirty tramp?

“Hah! A toad lusting after a swan’s flesh!”

“Exactly! Take a good look at yourself in the mirror! You think Young Master Qin will ever take a liking to someone like you?!”

“Whore!”

“Freak!”

“Moron!”

Miss Gu Jiao was furious. Perching her hands on her hips, she stammered back fiercely, “You… you people aren’t allowed to scold me…”

A child hopped out. “Hehehe! So what if we do? Moron, moron, moron! Freak, freak, freak!”

Humiliated, Miss Gu Jiao flew into a rage and pounced towards the child, but she tripped and fell into the water…

At the bottom of the ice-cold lake, the unconscious woman suddenly opened her eyes.

What’s going on? Didn’t I crash my plane into an iceberg during a mission and die? Why am I in the water?

Gu Jiao swam towards the shore with all her might.

However, she did not know if it was because she had fallen badly, but she could not exert much strength.

When she finally made it ashore, she felt like she was about to collapse.

When the villagers on the shore saw Gu Jiao sink, they were about to use their poles to scoop her up, but she had floated up on her own. Everyone looked at each other and dispersed in an instant.

Before Gu Jiao could understand what was going on, she saw a group of people in strange clothes running away.

She lay on the chilly grass and wiped the water off her face. Then, she was startled.

She looked at her hands in surprise.

These hands belonged to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old; but she was already twenty-eight years old. How could she have such petite hands?

Moreover, as the exquisite queen of the secret agent world, she knew how to take care of herself. However, her hands were covered in frostbite scars, and parts of her skin were even cracked.

Soon, Gu Jiao realized that not only had her hands changed, but even her clothes and figure had changed.

A bold guess flashed in Gu Jiao’s mind.

She went to the surface of the water to check her current appearance, but she almost fell in again.

What’s with all this garish stuff?

Gu Jiao took some water and washed the inferior rouge off her face. Unexpectedly, she looked even uglier after washing it off—not only was her face sallow and thin, but there was also a big red patch on her left cheek that extended to the end of her eye.

In her previous life, even a small pimple would have Gu Jiao hopping mad for three days. Now, confronted with such an ugly visage, she wished she could die on the spot again!

“Speaking of which, where is this? What dynasty is it?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a sharp pain in her head. A memory that did not belong to her surged forth.

It turned out that she had transmigrated to a dynasty that existed outside of history. This village was called Clearspring Village, and it was located at the foot of Clearspring Mountain.

The original owner’s name was also Gu Jiao, and she was the only child of the Gu family’s third branch.

Old Master Gu was a scholar when he was young. After passing the county examination to become a junior scholar, he became the administrator of Clearspring Village; he would hold this position for many years. Clearspring Village was poor and he did not earn much, but at the least he would not starve.

Old Master Gu had three sons, as well as a daughter who had left the family. The eldest son, Gu Changhai, had a son and a daughter with Madam Zhou. The second son, Gu Changlu, had two sons with Madam Liu.

The first two houses were considered prosperous, but when it came to the third house here, it was as if they had been cursed to be barren no matter what.

It was not easy for them to give birth to Gu Jiao, but she was a girl. Furthermore, she was ugly and born stupid.

As the villagers would say—she was a good-for-nothing. No one would buy her even if she put herself up on sale!

Ever since Gu Jiao was born, the third branch had no more children.

Rumors gradually spread in the village that Gu Jiao was inauspicious, that her birth had ruined any chance for the third branch to have any sons.

At first, the Gu family simply listened and did not take it to heart. It was only when Gu Jiao’s parents passed away one after another that the Gu family completely felt that this child was truly a jinx.

The Gu family pulled strings everywhere to marry Gu Jiao off. The problem was, who would dare to marry her?

Coincidentally, one day when Gu Jiao was strolling at the village entrance, she bumped into a man who had fainted from hunger and picked him up.

As Gu Jiao digested the memories in her mind, she walked towards a dilapidated straw hut in the west of the village.

That was the home she lived in now.

Ouch—

Halfway there, she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. Gu Jiao raised her hand and touched it. Her hand was covered in blood.

She must have hit a rock under the water just now and broken her scalp. There was still a lot of blood; she had to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.

As Gu Jiao thought about it, she entered her courtyard.

Although it was called a courtyard, it was actually just a small open space surrounded by a rickety fence. Other than the central room, there were a total of two rooms in the small straw hut. The slightly larger room in the east belonged to Gu Jiao.

It was not even as large as the coatroom she had in her previous life.

What a dismal transmigration…

As Gu Jiao sighed, she raised her hand and pushed open the door. However, the moment she crossed the threshold, she acutely sensed that there was someone in the room.

Judging from his breathing, it was a man.

The man was hiding behind the door, trying his best to hold his breath.

Gu Jiao’s lips curled into a cold smile. She walked into the house casually and slammed the door shut. Almost at the same time, she grabbed the man hiding behind the door and threw him to the ground.

The man was bigger than she had imagined.

In her previous life, Gu Jiao would not have been afraid no matter how tall he was. However, now that she had such a petite and frail body, she had to use a lot of strength while pressing her entire body against him to lock him down.

With one hand, she pulled off her headband and tied the other party’s wrists together. With the other hand, she grabbed the other party’s neck and said coldly, “Speak! Who are you? What are you doing in my house?!”

The man was stunned at first, then embarrassment surged to his head. “Gu Jiao, are you crazy!? It’s me!”

We know each other?

Committing a crime on an acquaintance?

That’s even more abominable.

Not only did Gu Jiao not let go of him, she pressed down on the man’s waist even harder.

“You… Get off me!” The man gritted his teeth and barked coldly.

“Pfft~” Gu Jiao sneered.

She had always been the one ordering others around; no one would order her around. Besides, this was her house, and she had yet to question him about what he was doing inside!

Gu Jiao raised her fist, planning to teach him a lesson, but her elbow accidentally knocked open the window behind her.

As the light shone in and illuminated the man’s handsome face, Gu Jiao’s eyes widened.

As a connoisseur of finer things, Gu Jiao had collected many handsome men in her previous life, but none of them… To be precise, all the handsome men combined could not compare to the one before her right now.

This person had a very clean face, and the corners of his eyes were as exquisite as jade. His eyes were very cold, as bottomless as a lake in winter.

His face was sickly pale, but it was flushed red from embarrassment, making him look a little alluring.

Moreover, with his age, rather than calling him a man, it seemed more suitable to call him a young man.

“Looked enough yet?” Xiao Liulang gritted his teeth and asked.

“Not quite enough, but…” Gu Jiao glanced at his body and narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t want to crush that body of yours. ”

With that, Gu Jiao got up.

However, although she had gotten up, her eyes were still glued to him.

“Gu Jiao, you…” Xiao Liulang was infuriated by her gaze.

“Need any help?” Gu Jiao reached out with a grin.

“No need!”

Xiao Liulang turned around coldly and stood himself up with a nearby chair.

It was obvious that he had trouble moving, but he still rejected Gu Jiao’s good intentions.

Afterwards, he ignored Gu Jiao and limped out of the house.

Gu Jiao finally remembered who he was. It was her Host’s husband, Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang was picked up by Gu Jiao. After he woke up, the Gu family asked him about his situation. When they realized that he was an orphan and had nowhere to go, they made a decision on the spot. “It’s improper for men and women to touch each other, and besides, our daughter saved your life. So why don’t the two of you get married?” Thereafter, they used their standing to force Xiao Liulang to marry Gu Jiao.

And, rather than Gu Jiao marrying into his family, it was more like he was married into the Gu family. The dilapidated house they were currently living in was given to them by the Gu family, and their farmland was also distributed by the Gu family. They were all of the worst kind.

When they got married, Gu Jiao did not know that Xiao Liulang was a cripple; when she found out, she gradually started to despise him. Turning her back on him, she would go and look for Young Master Qin in town.

Everyone in the village felt indignant for Xiao Liulang. They would say that it was like a fresh flower had been planted in cow dung; Xiao Liulang was that flower, and the cow dung was her.

Gu Jiao did not know how Xiao Liulang thought about all these, but to ignore her while she was in such a sorry state, it was obvious how much he hated the original Host of her body.

Gu Jiao opened the cabinet door and planned to change out of her wet clothes; sadly, she realized that there was not a single clean garment in the cabinet.

“Brother Xiao, are you there?”

A sweet voice suddenly came from outside the door.

The person who came was a young woman wearing a flowery purple coat. She had her hair in a glossy bun, with makeup on her face. A basket covered with a flowery cloth hung from the crook of her arm, making it impossible to see what it was carrying.

Gu Jiao quickly found this person in her Host’s memories—the young widow of Clearspring Village, Xue Ningxiang.

Xue Ningxiang was their neighbor, and she loved to visit their house, preferable when the original Host was not around, though they would occasionally bump into each other. As the Host was rather dumb, she suffered a lot at Xue Ningxiang’s hands.

It was also Xue Ningxiang who divulged the news of Young Master Qin arriving in the village to her Host.

“Oh, isn’t this Sister Ningxiang? It’s still so bright out, what brings you to my house?”

Xue Ningxiang was shocked by Gu Jiao’s sudden appearance. Then, she said in disappointment, “Why is it you?”

Gu Jiao smiled and rapped on the door. “This is my house. Is it so strange to see me? Why are you disappointed?”

Xue Ningxiang coughed. Obviously, she was disappointed not to see Xiao Liulang.

Xue Ningxiang looked at Gu Jiao again.

She was still the same person, but she had become a little unfamiliar. She no longer seemed as dull as before, and her eyes were spirited. Even though she was slopping wet, she did not make people feel that she was in a sorry state. Instead, she emanated an intimidating aura.

I must be seeing things. How would a fool ever change?

Xue Ningxiang raised her chin and said, “I’m here to look for Brother Xiao!”

Gu Jiao smiled faintly. “Brother Xiao? Calling him so intimately… Are you that close with my husband?”

“Get lost!” Xue Ningxiang could not be bothered with her.

“What if I don’t?” Gu Jiao stood in her way.

Xue Ningxiang did not take Gu Jiao seriously at all. She raised her hand and pushed Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao gently gave way and tripped her feet.

“Uwah—”

Xue Ningxiang fell flat on her face with her basket.

“You idiot! You tripped me!”

This tripping scene had happened many times in the past, but this time, the person who tripped was Xue Ningxiang.

Gu Jiao crossed her arms and leaned against the door, looking at her as if she was saying,?So what if I did? Trip me back if you can~

Xue Ningxiang seriously suspected that she was seeing things.

In fact, Xue Ningxiang and the original owner of the body had been at odds for a long time. Of the two women in the village who attracted the most gossip, one was the village fool, Gu Jiao, and the other was the widow, Xue Ningxiang. However, Xue Ningxiang was good-looking and diligent, and carried herself with more dignity than Gu Jiao.

When Xiao Liulang fainted at the village entrance, it was Xue Ningxiang and the Host who found him. The difference was, Xue Ningxiang was afraid of getting herself into trouble and went to the village to call for help, while the Host directly picked him up and brought him home.

After it was confirmed that Xiao Liulang was a guiltless scholar, Xue Ningxiang immediately regretted it.

Xue Ningxiang was about to start cursing when Xiao Liulang walked out with a cold expression.

When Xue Ningxiang saw him, her expression immediately changed. She cried meekly, “Brother Xiao, she bullied me! She tripped me with her foot!”

Gu Jiao looked at Xiao Liulang and spread her hands in innocence. “She pushed me first.”

Xue Ningxiang said excitedly, “Brother Xiao, listen, she admitted it…”

“Does Sister Ningxiang have any business here?” Xiao Liulang interrupted her.

Xue Ningxiang was taken aback.

She looked at Xiao Liulang, then at Gu Jiao. She picked the basket from the ground and said, “I… That… You helped me read the letter last time, but I haven’t been able to thank you properly. Didn’t you run out of food at home? I went to the fields to dig up a few sweet potatoes to give you…”

Xiao Liulang said, “There’s no need, Sister Ningxiang. We still have cornmeal at home. You should bring these back and have them yourself.”

Xue Ningxiang bit her lip. “But…”

Gu Jiao raised her eyebrows and said, “He already told you to take it back. Didn’t you hear him?”

Her voice was not loud, but there was a terrifying chill hidden in her half-smile.

Xue Ningxiang’s scalp went numb. She did not dare to stay any longer and left dejectedly with her basket.

Gu Jiao smiled at her husband. “I didn’t expect a cripple like you to attract women.”

Xiao Liulang glanced at Gu Jiao indifferently and returned to the house on his walking stick.

“Ouch—”

The wound hurt again.

Gu Jiao held her scalp and returned to her room.

She sat on the stool and touched the wound. It was a huge gash. Although it was not too deep, if not cleaned in time, it would most likely become infected. However, these were ancient times; where would she even find disinfectant?

“If only my medicine box was here.”

As soon as this thought flashed through her mind, Gu Jiao felt a sharp pain in her head again, causing her to faint.

However, when she woke up, she realized that another box had appeared on the table in front of her.

This box was not big and looked very battered and old, as if it had been repeatedly thrashed about roughly. Its surface was uneven and the paint had fallen off; those who did not know better would think that it had been picked up from some trash heap.

However, this small battered box gave Gu Jiao an infinitely deep sense of déjà vu.

Gu Jiao opened the box in a daze. When she saw the medicine inside, her mind buzzed.

Seriously?

It’s my medicine box!

Why is it here?!

“I’m not dreaming, am I?”

Gu Jiao pinched herself.?It hurts! It isn’t a dream!

The box was also real, and the medicine inside was all genuine!

Gu Jiao remembered that the little medicine box was also beside her when the plane crashed.?Was it because of that, that it came here?

But… how did it become so battered? Where’s that blindingly bright paint?

In the past, even when the medicine box was still shiny, Gu Jiao had already found it ugly. Now that it was all battered, Gu Jiao felt that it was even uglier.

However, she could not help but feel a sense of familiarity in her heart. Gu Jiao hugged the box tightly in her arms. “I won’t think of you as ugly anymore. Big Sis will treat you well in the future!”

Gu Jiao wiped the small medicine box. Fortunately, it was only broken on the outside, and nothing inside was damaged.

Gu Jiao took a few pieces of gauze and a bottle of saline from the small medicine box and disinfected the wound. She then picked out an antibacterial ointment and applied it on herself. Afterwards, she took two anti-inflammatory pills. She thought that she also had to bandage the wound, but later, she realized that there was no need.

After dealing with her injury, Gu Jiao felt a little hungry. She placed the medicine box in the cabinet and planned to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. However, before that, she needed to change into clean and dry clothes.

Gu Jiao hesitated for a moment before passing through the central room and knocking on Xiao Liulang’s door.

“What is it?”

Xiao Liulang’s cold voice came from the room.

Gu Jiao said, “I want to borrow some clothes. I haven’t washed my clothes in the cabinet, so I don’t have any spares to change into.”

Xiao Liulang did not respond for a long time. Just as Gu Jiao thought that he would not lend her his clothes, the door opened and Xiao Liulang handed her a dry garment.

The material of the long garment was rather poor, and its color was a little faded, but it was washed very meticulously.

In her previous life, Gu Jiao would never wear a man’s clothes, but the situation left her with little choice. After all, she would rather not wear the moldy ones in the cabinet!

After changing her clothes, Gu Jiao washed her dirty clothes before heading to the kitchen.

The kitchen’s quite clean. Xiao Liulang must have cleaned it up.

The rice jar was empty, but as Xiao Liulang had mentioned, there was still half a jar of cornmeal. Not only that, Gu Jiao also found two eggs and a handful of spring onions in the cupboard.

Gu Jiao took out the eggs and made two egg cornmeal pancakes. She sprinkled some chopped onions on them, then made half a pot of cornmeal soup with the leftover batter.

Gu Jiao brought the prepared food to the central room.

The door to Xiao Liulang’s room was ajar.

In her memories, the two of them always ate their own food. When Xiao Liulang cooked, he would always leave a portion in the pot for the Host, but the Host would go to the Gu family to eat most of the time.

Gu Jiao hesitated, but eventually knocked on Xiao Liulang’s door.

“What is it?”

Xiao Liulang’s cold voice came from the room.

Gu Jiao said, “I made dinner. Do you want to eat together?”

Gu Jiao rarely cooked, and even if she did, she would not make his portion. Therefore, he had planned to wait for Gu Jiao to finish first before making his own.

Xiao Liulang suspiciously eyed the closed door.

“If you don’t want to eat, I’ll eat first.” Gu Jiao wanted to wait for him, but she was so famished that her stomach was pressed against her back, and she was just short of fainting on the ground.

She had to replenish her strength as soon as possible.

Gu Jiao had just sat down; before she could pick up her chopsticks, the door creaked open.

Xiao Liulang walked out.

Xiao Liulang was not here to eat.

However, when his gaze inadvertently landed on Gu Jiao, he paused.

The long garment he had given Gu Jiao was one that was too small for him, but it was nonetheless still too big for Gu Jiao. Her thin body made the garment look baggy and clumsy.

Probably to make it easier for her to work, she had her hair and sleeves rolled up, revealing a fair and slender neck, and her bony wrists.

She was no longer as domineering and crazy as before. She simply sat there quietly, eating her food seriously.

She did not even seem like her anymore.

Xiao Liulang’s gaze paused for a moment, but in the end, he looked away coldly.

At this moment, Gu Jiao noticed him and said to him, “You’re here. Sit down and eat.”

There was another set of bowls and chopsticks opposite Gu Jiao. It was obvious that she was not calling for him as an afterthought; she had really made food for Xiao Liulang.

However, Xiao Liulang was motionless.

Gu Jiao understood what he was worried about. The Host did not have a good relationship with him, so it would be quite suspicious if she suddenly made food for him. However, Gu Jiao could not simply say that she was no longer the person she used to be.

After some thought, Gu Jiao said, “There’s not much firewood at home. If you don’t eat now, we’ll have to waste another batch reheating the food later.”

Perhaps this sentence had moved Xiao Liulang, but he finally sat down opposite her.

When the Host first met Xiao Liulang, she must have been stunned by his looks. Otherwise, she surely would not have picked him up. In the eyes of outsiders, the Host’s disdain for Xiao Liulang was because of his crippled legs, but Gu Jiao could see that it was something else.

The Host was stupid, but Gu Jiao was not. There were some things that the Host could not see through, but when Gu Jiao flipped through her memories she understood everything.

Xiao Liulang had been deliberately provoking the Host.

He did not want to consummate their marriage, and did not want the Host to get close to him.

Actually, it just so happened that she had the same intention.

Although she was teasing him, she probably could not do anything with him when it came down to it.

Gu Jiao was quickly full. She took her bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen and came out with a basket.

Xiao Liulang did not ask her what she was going to do, and she did not mention anything. It had always been like this between them.

Unexpectedly, when Gu Jiao reached the door, she suddenly turned around and said, “I wasn’t lying just now, the firewood’s really about to run out. It’s not dark out yet, so I’ll go to the back of the mountain to cut some firewood. It might rain later; if I’m not back by then, remember to bring the clothes in.”

Xiao Liulang gazed at her deeply.

The Gu Jiao of the past would not notice any changes in the weather, nor would she tell him where she was going.

After Gu Jiao left, Xiao Liulang was left behind with the food on the table which he did not know was even edible.

Their family was poor. No matter how much Xiao Liulang disliked Gu Jiao, he would not hold it against food.

He scrunched his brows, picked up his chopsticks, and picked up a piece of scallion egg pancake