Jinbao Marries a Wife

1. After finishing his meal, the child didn’t care about anything and fell asleep. As he slept, he suddenly felt an unbearable weight on him, making it hard to breathe.

Struggling to open his eyes, he first noticed he was in an unfamiliar room. Then he saw a strange little face in front of him.

The face was quite comical and cute, with round eyes, a chubby round face, and very fair skin. The little mouth was red, resembling a chubby kid from festive decorations.

At that moment, this chubby little kid was sitting on his stomach, holding a brush, and grinning mischievously at him.

No wonder it was so heavy. The child took a deep breath and said, “Heavy… Why are you sitting on me? It’s so heavy.”

The chubby kid laughed heartily. Wang Erhu, upon hearing the laughter, realized he wasn’t the only child. Turning his head, he saw another kid standing next to him, with single eyelids and a bright forehead, looking very clever. This kid was resting his elbow on the bed and watching him eagerly, laughing along with the chubby kid.

Wang Erhu felt a bit scared. “What are you laughing at? Get off me quickly; it’s so heavy.”

The chubby kid got off him, rolled to the edge of the bed, and picked up a mirror to show him.

The child saw his face in the mirror, covered in ink, with the character “王” written on his forehead and big mustache-like marks on his cheeks. He knew what it was – it was how they drew “turtles” (a slang for “fool”).

Wang Erhu was furious. He jumped up from the bed, shouting, “How dare you draw on my face! Do you believe I’ll hit you?” While yelling, he tried to wipe his face, only making it messier, which made the two kids laugh even harder.

Fuming with anger, he lunged at the chubby kid, raising his little fist to hit him.

The kid with single eyelids shouted in surprise and quickly rushed over. “Idiot! What are you doing? How dare you hit the young master!”

When Wang Erhu heard the term “young master,” he felt a shiver run through him for some reason, and his fist froze in mid-air.

The chubby kid, initially frightened and curled up, saw the fist stopped in mid-air and thought that the young master’s status had intimidated him. He relaxed a bit and raised his chin, saying, “You’re new and don’t understand the rules. I, the young master, am magnanimous and won’t hold it against you. Hurry up and get up. You’re heavy enough.”

But the child seemed dazed, with a voice repeatedly calling “young master” echoing in his mind, unable to stop. The voice sounded so much like his own, sometimes happy, sometimes angry, sometimes crying. What was going on? Why couldn’t he remember?

The kid with single eyelids pulled him off the chubby kid and pointed at him. “Quickly greet the young master. From now on, you and I are the young master’s personal attendants. What are you standing there for? Can’t you understand human speech?”

Wang Erhu stared at him blankly. “Personal… attendant?”

“That’s right. You’ll be with the young master every day. We’ll also study and learn martial arts to protect the young master in the future. My name is Zhaocai. You won’t be called by your old name anymore. From now on, you’ll be called Jin Bao.”

“Jin Bao? Why? Why should I be called Jin Bao?”

The chubby young master straightened up, pointing a short, chubby finger at his forehead. “Idiot, your parents sold you to our Jin family. You’re now a part of our Jin family. This is the name my father gave you. From now on, your surname will be Jin, and your name will be Jin Bao!”

Wang Erhu seemed to finally grasp it. His parents had sold him, sold him, didn’t want him anymore. Suddenly, he felt like he had nothing left.

The child fell to his knees on the bed and suddenly burst into tears, the sound loud enough to shake the tiles and startling the two kids present.

Once he started crying, he couldn’t stop. Tears flowed like a fountain, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg, and his ink-stained face became even more blurred with tears.

The chubby young master and Zhaocai exchanged worried glances, both feeling a bit panicked.

“What… what happened to him?”

“I don’t know… Is he angry?”

“He gets angry so easily…” The chubby young master rolled to one side, picked up a snow-white handkerchief, and rolled back, trying to force it into his hands. “Hey, stop crying. What are you crying about? This can be wiped off.”

Zhaocai, seeing the child as if possessed, could only cry and picked up the handkerchief to wipe his face. “Stop crying. It really comes off. Look, the black is fading. It’s coming off. Stop crying.”

“Ai! Annoying! Stop crying! If you keep crying like this, I won’t play with you anymore!”

But no matter what they said, the child only cried with his mouth wide open, unable to stop. Both of them couldn’t take it and ran away.

The child sat in the dim, unfamiliar room, crying helplessly on the bed. His heart was heavy, not knowing what exactly was blocking it or how to release it, so he could only cry, desperately crying until his eyes were red and swollen, his voice hoarse, and his head buzzing.

At night, the child was still silent; no one paid him any attention, so he lay there, half-dead from suffering.

Zhao Cai, who lived in the same room as him, had to come back in the evening.

Upon entering, he saw the child still crying and felt a headache coming on.

“Will you ever stop? I wasn’t like this when I first came. Since you’re here, you might as well make yourself comfortable. The place is good, with plenty of food and clothing. The young master is quite righteous too. We were just playing a joke on you today. Is it really necessary to act like this?”

Wang Erhu looked at him with a sense of grievance and turned his head away.

Zhao Cai turned him around again. “Aren’t you thirsty or hungry after crying so long?” He took out a paper-wrapped package from his pocket and held it out, “Eat this.”

The child, reminded by Zhao Cai, realized how hungry he was. He sniffed, but his nose was blocked, and he couldn’t smell anything.

Zhao Cai peeled back a bit of the paper, revealing a golden-brown roasted chicken leg that looked very tempting. “It’s a big chicken leg I saved for you. Do you want it?”

The child looked at him a bit awkwardly.

Zhao Cai smirked, “If you don’t want it, fine.” He started to put it back into his pocket.

The child quickly grabbed it and took a big bite.

The savory taste of the meat was truly a remedy for his pain, especially for a child.

The child focused entirely on munching the chicken leg, feeling much better inside.

Zhao Cai watched his face covered in grease and dirt, struggling to hold back his laughter.

When the child finished eating, his face was covered in either dirt or oil, with no clean spot left. He then shyly said to Zhao Cai, “Thank you.”

Zhao Cai burst out laughing, pulling him along, “Come on, I’ll take you to wash your face.”

The first few days were still quite difficult for the child to adjust to.

He often couldn’t sleep at night, so he would sit up crying. Zhao Cai, with no other options, would take him around the courtyard, walking in circles until he was exhausted from crying and walking, then drag him back to sleep.

The little chubby young master, named Xiao Bao, almost came to play with them every day. Although he liked to cause trouble and sometimes bullied him, he often brought a lot of good food, and the child gradually found him less annoying.

In this way, the child slowly adapted to his new life in the Jin residence and gradually accepted his new name, Jin Bao.

Jin Bao’s life in the Jin residence was simple yet fulfilling. He and Zhao Cai were both required to study and practice martial arts from a young age. Their top priority was to protect young master Jin Xiao Bao.

Although it was sometimes hard work, there were many joys in their daily lives.

The three children were of similar ages and could play together in all sorts of ways. Young master Jin treated them almost like brothers, so Zhao Cai and Jin Bao were essentially considered half-masters, enjoying much better living conditions than the other servants in the household.

As Jin Bao grew up and matured, he understood that the Jin family was their great benefactor. His own family had already returned to Huaixi and was living well. Without the Jin family’s aid back then, they would probably have starved on the streets.

Thus, he was sincerely grateful to young master Jin. To him, the term “young master” seemed to carry a special significance, and he felt it was exceptionally intimate and important. Even if practicing martial arts was exhausting, he felt it was worth it because the young master was too lazy and pampered to protect himself; it was up to him to protect the young master.

The term “young master” meant more to him than anything else.

Time flew by, and thirteen years had passed in the blink of an eye.

The Jin family had transformed from a wealthy local household to the richest family in Jiangnan. The family was at the peak of its glory, and even Jin Bao felt proud, walking with his head held high on the streets.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last.

The Jin family’s long-standing financial strength and deep-rooted position in Jiangnan meant that many people depended on them, and no one could imagine such a powerful family would ever collapse.

But that day came suddenly.

It seemed that everything started to go awry when young master Jin brought back a mysterious young man. No one had anticipated the worst outcome.

The young man was extraordinarily beautiful, more stunning than Jin Bao could ever imagine. However, Jin Bao did not like him from the start.

Young master Jin had many romantic interests, and he was used to seeing him fall for attractive people, so he initially thought this would just be another fleeting infatuation.

But the infatuation burned so fiercely that it ended up burning the entire Jin family down.

Jin Bao watched as the young master’s feelings shifted from urgent desire to obsession, and then to genuine love, all within a few short months.

He could not bear to see the young master distressed but was powerless against that person, and every day he and Zhao Cai could only exchange frustrated glances.

Just when they were eagerly awaiting the return of young master Jin’s childhood friend, the resourceful and always superior Su Yun, to deal with that young man, the Jin residence was thrown into chaos overnight. The officials and soldiers were only a few miles away, and the master and mistress had dispersed all the servants in the household. In his confusion, Jin Bao only knew one thing: the Jin family was finished.

He and Zhao Cai planned to risk their lives to take the young master away, but in an instant, the soldiers surged into the Jin residence like a tide. The young master refused to leave the master and mistress, so they had no choice but to leave first and find a chance to come back and rescue them.

When Jin Bao saw Young Master Jin sitting on the ground, his face covered in tears as he left, his heart ached unbearably.

His mind was chaotic, flashing images he couldn’t recall. There was someone crying like that, reluctantly parting from him. He chased desperately, but couldn’t catch up, only able to watch as the tearful eyes grew smaller until they disappeared.

Jin Bao ran, crying as he went.

Zhao Cai and Jin Bao were at a loss, and could only go to the Su residence to seek help.

Coincidentally, Young Master Su had just returned from Yunnan and joined them to rescue the Jin family from their captivity.

However, after parting from Young Master Jin, everything seemed changed.

Young Master Jin had become gaunt and soulless, heavily poisoned.

Jin Bao was so distressed that he pulled his hair, unable to even cry.

Young Master Su had invited the renowned Jianghu doctor, Que Siming, to detoxify Young Master Jin. He asked Jin Bao and Zhao Cai to escort the Jin family elders to Jingxia Temple to burn incense. He had coordinated with the abbot to keep the elders there for a while to prevent them from learning about Young Master Jin’s condition.

Jin Bao had heard of Dr. Que.

Years ago, when people mentioned Dr. Que in Jianghu, they mostly referred to Que Linpei, Que Siming’s adoptive father. But Que Linpei had retired, and Que Siming had made a name for himself at a young age. Now he fully inherited Que Linpei’s skills. Although his reputation was not perfect, he was trusted by Young Master Su, so he would not harm Young Master Jin.

Jin Bao and Zhao Cai didn’t get a chance to greet Dr. Que and first escorted the elders to Jingxia Temple.

When they returned to the Jin residence that day, it was still bright.

Worried about Young Master Jin’s condition and eager to know if there was any hope, they hurried to Young Master Jin’s room.

Upon entering, they saw Young Master Jin with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

Young Master Su and a tall man stood facing each other, the atmosphere tense and charged.

The man had his back to them, dressed in black, with seaweed-like long hair tied in a simple bun, the rest flowing over his shoulders. He had broad shoulders and long legs, his waist cinched with a belt, his figure slim and straight, giving off an imposing presence even from the back.

The man slowly turned his head, his face covered by a pale mask. Only his high nose bridge, slightly pointed chin, and thin lips were visible, presenting a strikingly handsome appearance.

Jin Bao was momentarily stunned. Young Master Su, who was the most impressive person he had ever seen, was overshadowed by this man’s fierce and dominant presence.

Zhao Cai bowed beside him, saying, “Young Master Su, my lord and madam have returned. The abbot has been persuading them to stay for a while, saying they have a connection with Buddha. They are convinced but want to return and discuss it with Young Master Jin and Young Master Su.”

Young Master Su nodded in satisfaction and said, “Good. Once Xiao Bao wakes up, we’ll go over. You first…”

Before Young Master Su finished speaking, the man beside him had already moved in an instant, appearing right in front of Jin Bao. His long fingers had somehow grasped Jin Bao’s face, gripping his chin tightly.

Jin Bao was alarmed. Although his skills were decent, he was only a second-rate expert in Jianghu, and the man’s speed was so fast that he only realized it when the man was already close.

He gathered his strength, ready to strike back.

However, Young Master Su suddenly spoke up, “Don’t be rude. Greet Dr. Que.”

Jin Bao’s body jolted, and he had to forcefully retract his fist. His inner energy quickly dissipated, causing a very uncomfortable sensation, and his face turned red from the effort.

Dr. Que Siming looked down at him, his eyes shining brightly beneath the pale mask. The intense gaze seemed almost as if it could burn him. His fingers slid from Jin Bao’s chin down his throat and to his collarbone.

Jin Bao was puzzled. He had never had any interaction with Dr. Que, nor had he offended him, so what was this about?

The room was eerily silent, the tension palpable. Jin Bao dared not make a sound, fearing that offending this person might mean no hope for Young Master Jin.

Suddenly, Dr. Que Siming shoved him aside, nearly knocking him to the ground, and spoke in a low, husky voice with a distinct timbre, “You want me to stay? Then I want him.”

He pointed straight at Jin Bao’s forehead with an expression of cold determination.

Jin Bao was stunned and looked at Zhao Cai, who was equally confused, and even Young Master Su seemed surprised.

Dr. Que Siming, however, gave them no time to react and simply turned and walked away.