'But things were different now. She couldn't just leave her senior behind. Besides, even before the plane crash, she hadn't been able to bring him into her space, which proved it rejected outsiders.'
"Alright, don't overthink it. Your senior is here. No matter what, I'll find a way for us to survive." As Gu Yuan Yu said this, however, he felt completely uncertain. He secretly pressed a hand to his empty stomach. 'I've chugged a few big gulps of water, but what good is that going to do?'
Jin Qianqian thought about their new relationship and felt a wave of awkwardness. Unsure of what to say, she fell silent, staring at the ground as her feet moved forward mechanically.
"Here, eat this wild vegetable pancake first. Look at you, you're nothing but skin and bones. If you hadn't looked so similar to how you did when you first started university, I wouldn't have recognized you so quickly."
Gu Yuan Yu was worried. Jin Qianqian looked like a walking skeleton. He remembered how the upperclassmen had gone to great lengths to nurse her back to a healthy weight.
Jin Qianqian also recalled that dazed year when she had been so lost in sorrow that she'd completely ruined her health. 'And now I'm right back where I started.'
She looked at Gu Yuan Yu curiously. "When did you get here? Before me?"
Gu Yuan Yu scanned the roadside plants as he walked, searching for any edible vegetables he recognized. He multitasked, answering Jin Qianqian's question. "It happened the moment I found water. I was so excited I lost my footing, fell, and hit the back of my head. The body's original owner must have died right then, and I just lucked into it.
"Luckily, I was able to absorb his memories. Otherwise, I would've had to fake amnesia. Judging by your earlier reactions, you must have this body's memories too, right?
"We should keep a low profile for a while and try not to act too differently. Never underestimate the wisdom of the ancients."
Jin Qianqian nodded in agreement. Even though this era lacked the information explosion of their time, she didn't dare underestimate anyone. The slightest slip-up could be a fatal disaster for them both.
"Luckily, I still have the same name. You're not so lucky. Gu Yuan Yu... sounds like a girl's name."
Gu Yuan Yu glanced at Jin Qianqian, who was gloating at his expense. A smirk touched his lips. "Perhaps it's fate. This humble student studied for a few years, and my teacher gave me a courtesy name: Wenheng. Gu Wenheng. It's a perfect match, not a single character off."
Jin Qianqian's mouth fell slightly open. She had no idea there was such a story behind it.
'Then again, it's not surprising,' she thought. 'I'm in an era where a woman's virtue is her lack of talent. It's perfectly normal for a young village wife to be ignorant of these things.'
She looked up at the sky with a mournful sigh. 'All those years of hard study, and now I'm basically illiterate.'
"Wife, stop looking. It's not going to rain." Gu Wenheng also squinted up at the blindingly white sky.
That one word—"Wife"—shocked Jin Qianqian so much she froze mid-step. "Senior... I know our identities have changed, but this isn't what either of us wanted. Can we maybe... not use that term?"
Gu Wenheng glanced at her. "Do you think we can change our situation, now or in the future? Besides, I seem to recall a certain someone shouting that they liked me not too long ago. You're not planning to go back on your word, are you?"
Jin Qianqian averted her eyes. She had thought those were her last moments. Who could have predicted such a bizarre twist of fate?
"Did I? You must have heard wrong," Jin Qianqian said stubbornly.
Gu Wenheng was speechless. 'Still as shameless as ever!'
Seeing Jin Qianqian gradually slowing down, Gu Wenheng matched her pace. "I know you're a bit of a germaphobe, but this isn't the time to be stubborn. You need to rehydrate immediately, or your body won't be able to take it.
"Don't worry. I made sure to get the water from the middle of the source, where it's cleaner.
"There's no pollution in this era, so the water quality can't be that bad. You're not going to get all the diseases you're imagining."
Gu Wenheng once again unhooked the bamboo tube from his waist and handed it to her.
"But what dynasty is this? These memories don't include anything beyond the local town; I know nothing about the wider world." Jin Qianqian again lamented the drawbacks of her newfound 'illiteracy'. She was desperate to know what kind of era they had fallen into.
But Gu Wenheng decided to play hardball. "Drink the water first, and then I'll tell you."
Gritting her teeth, Jin Qianqian squeezed her eyes shut and forced down two gulps. The main reason was that she was at her limit.
"It's a little strange, actually," Gu Wenheng said, taking back the bamboo tube when he saw she didn't want any more. He didn't press her further. "This dynasty doesn't seem to exist in the history we studied. It feels like it's somewhere between the Yuan and Ming periods, but the current Royal Family has no record in our history books."
As he spoke, Gu Wenheng took a small sip from the same bamboo tube. Jin Qianqian's eyes fixed on it, her thoughts drifting.
Gu Wenheng raised an eyebrow, then continued, "This is the Rong Dynasty, which was founded not long ago. The founding Emperor, Hua Zhidong, passed away two years ago, and the new Emperor, Hua Shunming, has yet to fully consolidate his power. They say the court is rife with internal conflict, which is why there's been no disaster relief for our famine all these years.
"The written language hasn't changed much, though. As long as you know traditional characters, you're not really illiterate."
As he said this, Gu Wenheng shot Jin Qianqian a pointed, toothy grin.
Luckily, the young Gu Yuan Yu had once seen the old village scholar fall into a river and had saved his life by tossing him a bamboo basin. That act had earned him several years of free tutoring. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in any position to be teasing Jin Qianqian right now.
Unfortunately, just after he'd managed to pass the exam to become a child student, the old scholar's health had failed. He left the boy some books and then passed away.
With so many Gu Family Brothers and with Gu Dashishi and his wife getting on in years, they couldn't possibly afford to find him another teacher and pay the tuition fees.
Jin Qianqian was in no mood to deal with her senior's teasing. Her legs felt as if they were filled with lead, each step an immense effort.
To make matters worse, the water she'd just drunk was sloshing around in her empty stomach. All she wanted was to lie down and give up. She didn't want to be a damned refugee for another second.
The moment that thought surfaced, the willpower that had been keeping her going vanished, and she collapsed onto the ground.
A flicker of fear flashed in Gu Wenheng's eyes. He rushed to her side, his face etched with worry. "What is it? Are you feeling unwell?"
In his inherited memories, the young couple had only eaten a single, palm-sized ball of wild vegetables since yesterday, and they had shared it between them.
The pancake he had just offered Jin Qianqian was their very last bit of food.
Jin Qianqian shook her head. "I really can't walk another step."
Gu Wenheng looked anxiously at the column of people up ahead, then at the fellow villagers who passed by with blank, indifferent expressions.
If the two of them failed to keep up, no one else in the group would so much as ask after them. Everyone was struggling just to survive. People had already been abandoned along the way.