"Master, what's going on between you and Madam Han?" Unfated Tian set down the medical book, unhurried as ever…
"Master, what's going on between you and Madam Han?"
Unfated Tian set down the medical book, unhurried as ever.
"That's what you care about? Not my secret skills?"
Dou Doudou shrank back, grinding his pestle like he was smashing garlic. "Nope, not interested, not at all. Master—okay, I'll stop asking. If you never get married, you'll be stuck living with me when you're old..."
"Just an old bachelor, how tragic."
Doudou muttered loudly, and Yaoyao made a face.
Unfated Tian didn't bother teasing them further. The Water Lady and her boatman would never grow old; even at eighty, they'd still be the legendary pair on the river.
But these two kids—young, curious, always poking their noses into things—reminded him of another troublemaker back at Blissful Retreat.
If he hadn't seen Han Xiangxun raising a child years ago, he probably wouldn't have softened and taken these two in.
Kids and apprentices always come with strings attached.
Thinking of this, he straightened his back and put on his "master" face.
"Have you memorized the medical book? Balanced the accounts? Let's see: for yesterday's patient with joint pain, how much poria, saposhnikovia, and atractylodes do you add to the prescription?"
Unfated Tian was never one for strict discipline, so the two apprentices just grinned sheepishly and set to work faster.
Rumor had it around Blissful Retreat that Doctor Tian from Evercare Clinic and the owner of the tavern had something special between them.
Sometimes, patients would ask him about it—some outright, some just hinting. Unfated Tian would only smile, sometimes with a hint of sadness.
His friendly ways had put him in playful competition with Jiang Wulang for the role of Han Xiangxun's husband—all because whoever married her would get to help run the tavern.
People always found ways to connect them, and it was far better than living as strangers, never crossing paths.
"Today's job isn't like the usual. Not a word about this to anyone."
After they'd done that big job for Northern Vow, Han Xiangxun had leaned in close, her voice low and serious. The firelight warmed her face, making the cold underground seem less harsh.
Unfated Tian only smiled, gentle as ever. The money for ferrying souls had long since gone—it didn't matter to him.
What did matter was watching Han Xiangxun split with Chu Qingquan. Unfated Tian hadn't bothered hiding that he watched the whole thing.
Maybe it was foolish, but he felt a secret happiness.
The more secrets they shared, the closer they felt.
She trusted him, and he knew more about her hidden side than anyone else—more even than Chu Qingquan.
But that day, she was someone he'd never seen before.
He watched her pour jar after jar of wine into the lake; the endless stream looked like tears she refused to shed.
She stared at the ripples in silence.
Unfated Tian kept his distance.
In this life, only the Water Lady's boatman would never leave her—through all the storms, always there, if only she would turn and look.
But she never did.
Not as the sharp, capable owner of Blissful Retreat, not as the Water Lady with a new face, knife in hand by the river.
Not even now, by the water's edge—a woman mourning the past, heartbroken for love.
Just like Unfated Tian, who spent every night in the well, carefully disguising as a man.
They could be the doctor and tavern owner people whispered about, secret partners in the underworld, or the "perfect couple" the neighbors tried to match up.
But they could never truly be together.
In the end, two hearts could come as close as possible, but always stop just short—close enough to almost touch, forever a step apart.