Chapter 548 A Dream of Youth 80

On the third night of Xie Qi's schooling, he and his younger sister were both punished with a beating.

Chen Wanniang glanced at Xie Ning's swollen palm and glared at Xie Wangzhi. "This child is a bit greedy, why did you punish her so severely? Girls have delicate skin, what if you hurt her?"

Xie Wangzhi was also furious, but he didn't think he was wrong. He glared at Xie Qi, who was tearful and letting Zhang Mama apply medicine to her, and said, "Your sister has a weak spleen and stomach. You still bring her so much food. Isn't that harming her? Your mother watches her eat every day and doesn't dare to give her any more than necessary."

"And you, having money of your own, just buy whatever you want..."

Xie Ning glanced at Xie Qi, whose face was flushed, and thought the child was about to shed tears. She said weakly, "Father, it's what I wanted to eat..."

"Don't speak!"

After scolding her, Xie Wangzhi paused, then softened his voice, "Bao'er, you're not well, you should eat less fried food. Have your father and mother told you that?"

Xie Ning gradually lowered her head. She couldn't resist eating just one skewer, even though she had only planned to eat one.

"Alright, alright, you've already disciplined him, and the child has learned his lesson." Chen Wanniang tugged at Xie Wangzhi's sleeve, gesturing for him to go into the inner room first.

Then Chen Wanniang hugged Xie Ning and the two children and said, "Don't blame your father. When Bao'er had a fever that wouldn't go down, your father was almost frantic and sought medical help everywhere. Qi'er, do you still remember?"

"Remember."

Xie Qi sniffed. His younger sister had caught a cold because she had eaten a few skewers of barbecue when the adults weren't looking, and then caught a cold from the cold wind while on the boat.

That night, Xie Ning developed a sore throat, followed by a fever. Although her throat eventually healed, her fever persisted.

The two, one big and one small, stepped out of the east suite together, exchanged a glance, sighed, and enjoyed a delicious meal. Perhaps the beating wasn't for nothing.

"Baby, I won't be able to bring you food anymore."

Xie Ning nodded painfully. Actually, food outside wasn't that delicious, Xie Ning tried to convince herself.

The next day, Xie Ning was awakened by the faint sound of sawing wood. Because it was far away, the sound was very quiet, but it couldn't hide her keen hearing.

There was no clock now, so Xie Ning crawled into bed, took out a mechanical watch, and glanced at the time with a small flashlight. It was 4:56.

This watch was adjusted to reflect the specific time shortly after she arrived, based on the fire clock in her home. The fire clock wasn't a mechanical clock, but rather a type of incense with a specific burning pattern, called "Hundred-Carriage Incense."

The people here have a habit of burning incense day and night. The difference between this incense, which is used to tell time, and other incense is that it has "gradations". The "hundred-gradations incense" is to divide the incense into "hundred-gradations" of length intervals to correspond to the twelve two-hour periods of the day.

The music and books are indeed a treasure worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the days and months are spent leisurely enjoying their fragrance.

Xie Ning rolled around in bed for a while, but when she realized she couldn't sleep, she got up. Qing Li, who was outside, heard the commotion and came in, rubbing her eyes and getting dressed.

"Girl, why are you up so early?" As she spoke, the sound of a wooden fish drum came from outside.

Qingli became more awake. "So it's past midnight."

Then he turned on the light, took some clothes from the closet for Xie Ning to wear, and then went out to fetch hot water.

After Xie Ning finished washing up, she saw Xie Wangzhi burning incense in the main room. "Father."

"Bao'er, why are you up so early today?"

"I remembered I needed to practice swordsmanship."

Xie Wangzhi nodded.

After bowing and greeting her, Xie Ning picked up her small wooden sword and headed towards the garden. She was determined to exercise every morning without fail.

As Xie Ning passed by the east wing and saw that there was still no movement inside, he ran up and knocked on the door. "Brother! Get up and practice your sword!"

Xie frowned, his mind clearing somewhat. He instinctively pulled the blanket over his head to block out the outside noise.

Moqi, who was sleeping in the outer room, got up in a daze. Seeing that it was gray outside, she yawned, then quickly got dressed and opened the door.

"Ning-jie, the young master is still sleeping." After saying that, Moqi didn't close the door and went straight to the kitchen to get hot water.

Xie Ning raised an eyebrow, picked up his wooden sword, and charged in.

Xie Qi, who was sleeping soundly in her warm bed, was suddenly poked awake, "Baby!!!"