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At Yuya'er’s exclamation, Xiao Heng lowered his head to look at his own legs.
He finally understood where that sense of something amiss came from when he was changing his clothes. He wasn't using a cane, and he wasn't limping. He... was walking like a normal person.
"Guye! Your leg is healed! Your leg is healed!" Yuya'er was so excited that she said it twice in one breath. If not for the fact that the others were still asleep, she would have repeated it three or four times!
Coincidentally, at this moment, Gu Jiao also got up and came out of the east room.
Xiao Heng immediately made a shushing gesture to Yuya'er.
Yuya'er was stunned, and Xiao Heng used his eyes to signal her to keep it a secret for now. Yuya'er finally understood. Her eyes flashed, and she nodded.
Gu Jiao walked over to the two of them, and Yuya'er continued to dry the quilts.
In fact, Yuya'er should have greeted Gu Jiao, as she was a polite little servant girl. However, she was helping her guye do something mischievous, so she felt guilty and dared not make eye contact with her own young miss.
Fortunately, Gu Jiao wasn't concerned with small details and didn't notice Yuya'er's unusual behavior. Instead, she noticed her husband, who hadn't worn his official attire for many days. Seeing him in it again, his strict and restrained aura was truly quite striking.
The sudden burst of good looks in the early morning left Gu Jiao drooling in place for several seconds.
Xiao Heng acted as if he hadn't noticed her reaction and greeted her, "Good morning."
"Yeah, good morning." Gu Jiao responded absentmindedly.
Xiao Heng suppressed a smile that almost surfaced and limped over to the well to fetch water.
Gu Jiao wasn't going to let him do heavy work. She took a few steps forward and tried to take the wooden bucket from his hand, saying, "I'll do it."
Xiao Heng's hand lifted slightly, causing her to miss the handle of the bucket and accidentally grab his hand instead.
Xiao Heng cleared his throat, glanced at Yuya'er behind him, and said seriously, "It's early in the morning. Please be more mindful."
Gu Jiao: "..."
After breakfast, Little Jing Kong and Granduncle went to the Imperial Academy while Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun went to Qinghe Academy. Everyone in the family was already aware of Xiao Heng's true identity, but they also knew that his matters were quite complicated. Therefore, they refrained from publicizing it and still addressed him as Xiao Liulang.
"I'm going to the Hanlin Academy." Xiao Heng, leaning on his cane, came over and said to Gu Jiao who was packing her little medicine chest and planning to go to the medical hall.
Thinking of something, Gu Jiao asked him, "By the way, how's your hand? Is it still painful? Can you write with it now?"
The stitches had already been removed, and he had been doing rehabilitation exercises these past few days. When eating, he had been using his left hand.
"It doesn’t seem quite good." Xiao Heng extended his right hand, saying without a change in expression, "It still doesn't have much strength.."
“Is that so? Let me take a look." Gu Jiao set down her little medicine chest.
Xiao Heng limped over to her and held out his right hand.
His hand was fair and clean, with slender fingers and well-defined joints. Even the nails had a lustrous quality. Gu Jiao couldn't help but marvel once again. In her previous life, this had to be the hand of a surgeon or a pianist.
She began to inspect the wound.
There was a faint layer scar ointment on the wound, which had faded slightly compared to the initial injury, but it still stood out on this otherwise perfect hand.
Gu Jiao pressed on the location of the wound and asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Hmm?" Xiao Heng was momentarily stunned, then, as if he quickly realized, he responded, "Yes, it hurts, but it's not very noticeable."
Gu Jiao asked, "Does it hurt even when not touched, or only when it’s touched?"
Xiao Heng replied, "It hurts when it’s touched."
Gu Jiao paused and then placed her hand in his, saying, "Squeeze my hand."
Xiao Heng gripped her hand.
Her hand was really small, and his large palm could completely envelop it. Due to her martial arts practice and manual labor, there were faint calluses on her palm and the web between her thumb and forefinger, unlike Princess Xinyang's soft hands. It was said that the hands of those noble ladies were very delicate, but he didn't like those delicate hands.
"Is this all the grip strength you have left?" Gu Jiao furrowed her small brow.
"My hand, is it the same as my leg now? Do I…" He sighed, struggling to find the right words.
"Let’s test it again." Gu Jiao found a writing brush and handed it to him, then spread out a piece of paper on the table. "Try writing."
Xiao Heng held the writing brush and, without much hesitation, wrote the character "娇" (Jiao).
It was truly a handwriting horrible to look at!
It was even worse than Gu Jiao’s!
Gu Jiao stared in astonishment. Was it really bad to this extent?
His expression showed some disappointment, "It doesn’t seem to be... too effective."
Gu Jiao frowned, "Then, we need to intensify your rehabilitation and add some hand massages."
Xiao Heng looked deeply into her eyes and nodded, "Alright."
Gu Jiao suggested, "I'll accompany you to the Hanlin Academy and give you a massage on the way."
Xiao Heng gently curled his lips, "Sounds good."
Liu Quan had returned after sending Old Chief and Little Jing Kong to Imperial Academy, and seeing that the two of them hadn't left yet, he said to Xiao Heng, "You haven't gone to the Hanlin Academy yet? Come on up. Don't walk there today, or you'll be late!"
In the past, Xiao Liulang often walked to the Hanlin Academy for his rehabilitation.
Gu Jiao had the exact same idea.
The two of them got into the carriage, and Gu Jiao sat next to Xiao Heng, taking his hand and placing it carefully on her thigh.
After the arrival of autumn, Yao shi had everyone in the family put on extra clothing to feel warmer, but the soft touch on Gu Jiao's leg clearly indicated that she had secretly left out one layer of clothing.
Xiao Heng couldn't help but have some distracting thoughts.
Gu Jiao had no idea that this seemingly innocent and restrained young man of their family was already lost in his wandering thoughts.
She pressed his hand with care, "Is this too heavy?"
"I don't feel it much." Xiao Heng replied.
"How about this?" Gu Jiao increased the pressure slightly.
"Um..." He furrowed his brow slightly and let out a low painful groan.
Gu Jiao quickly lightened her touch, "What about this?"
It took them half an hour just to find the right amount of pressure. They would reach the Hanlin Academy in another fifteen minutes, so Gu Jiao intensified her massage.
Her little expression looked extremely focused.
Xiao Heng watched her with a calm demeanor.
The pressure her hand was exerting was actually too light for him. Each touch felt as light as a feather, tickling his heart.
"Hiss..." He suddenly took a deep breath.
Gu Jiao looked at him strangely, "What's wrong? Did I press too hard again?"
Xiao Heng slowly exhaled, "No, you didn't. Keep going."
After a while, he suddenly blurted out, "Eat a bit more."
Gu Jiao didn't understand.
Why did he suddenly want her to eat more?
Had she lost weight again recently?
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