Chapter 137 I'll bring you something...
In spring, everything comes back to life, and even children grow up very quickly.
The old man said, "At twenty-three, you'll grow a bit taller." Zhao Xiheng felt as if she had grown an inch taller. Although she was still a little short of the extremely tall height she wanted, she was quite satisfied.
Zhizhi used a dagger to draw lines on the osmanthus tree in her new home to record her height. Every morning when she woke up, the first thing she did was to check if she was taller than yesterday.
Zhao Xiheng secretly laughed at her, wondering how she could use a living tree to record height. But she mischievously didn't expose her.
Last night's spring rain caused the osmanthus tree branches to flourish overnight, as if it had suddenly donned a new emerald green coat.
Zhizhi didn't even bother to comb her hair before running out and standing under the tree to measure her own height.
She measured it with her hand, and the little dumpling's face scrunched up. She thought she might have measured it wrong, so she measured it again.
That's right, she can't reach the line she carved yesterday anymore.
"Mother! I've gotten shorter!" she cried out loudly.
She had never heard of anyone who could grow taller and then shrink again!
Zhao Tulin ate and slept well every day, waiting to grow taller, so that Wei Li would give him a fright when he came back. Zhao Xiheng had long guessed that this day would come. She almost laughed out loud when she heard Zhizhi's anxious shouts, but she still put on a surprised expression with her, "What? How could you get shorter?"
When Zhizhi saw her, it was as if she had found someone to lean on. She anxiously pulled Zhao Xiheng over, saying, "She's just shorter. The scratch I made yesterday is here, and she moved up a little bit today."
Zhao Xiheng squatted down, gently pinched the tip of her nose, and said with some frustration, "What are we going to do? Our Zhizhi has not grown taller but has become shorter. Your father will definitely laugh at you when he comes back."
I don't want my father to laugh at me.
For the first time, Zhizhi was so anxious that she almost burst into tears.
"What should we do then?"
“But just as Zhizhi grows taller, so do the trees,” Zhao Xiheng explained to her. “Trees grow especially fast in spring, and of course Zhizhi can’t keep up with them. Besides, it looks ugly to have lines drawn all over the trees. How about we measure our heights by standing against the wall from now on?”
Zhizhi wrinkled her nose. "Mother, have you been waiting to see me make a fool of myself?"
...
Zhao Xiheng quickly waved her hand, "It's not me, I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense, why would I laugh at you?"
Zhizhi didn't believe it. It turned out that her favorite mother was just like her father; she didn't want to like anyone else.
Zhao Xiheng coughed awkwardly twice to divert Zhizhi's attention, "Then let's pack up and go to the beach, okay?"
Qingzhou is not like Pingzhou; it's already very hot in May, and you need to wear a thin gauze dress to feel slightly cool.
There's nothing more pleasant than going to the beach to feel the breeze at this time of year. You can collect lots of seashells and other seafood, as well as some pretty little stones, during low tide.
"Great!" Zhizhi clapped her hands and jumped up. Being young, she was indeed attracted to the attention.
She grew up in a place that was far from the sea and cold, so where could she collect seashells and enjoy the sea breeze?
Zhao Xiheng tied two simple little buns for Zhizhi with a string of pearls the size of rice grains, and the two of them put on sun hats and went out.
Zhizhi held Zhao Xiheng's hand and left a trail of tiny footprints on the soft sand.
She squatted on the beach, picked out a bunch of pretty stones, and pointed out the three prettiest ones to Zhao Xiheng.
"The biggest one is Father, the second biggest one is Mother, and the smallest one is Zhizhi! When the time comes, we'll put them in a box, and they'll never be separated again."
Zhizhi spoke her last words shyly, her face flushed as she fidgeted.
Qi Yan was initially worried that Xie Qingyu would come back and have a talk with her, but she felt there was nothing to talk about and hoped he would stay away for a while longer.
Xie Qingyu lived up to Qi Yan's wishes and went with Wei Li for two years, during which time they barely exchanged letters.
The messenger sent a letter saying that the battle had been won and that the troops would soon be able to return to the city.
Qi Yan grew anxious, hoping that Xie Qingyu had long forgotten the letter she wrote before leaving years ago.
But along with the news of victory came a piece of bad news.
In the final battle against the Xianbei, Xie Qingyu was seriously injured and on the verge of death. He insisted on returning to his homeland, and now, clinging to life, he has been sent back to Yongzhou.
When Qi Yan first heard the news, her hands and feet turned cold, and she was so frightened that she dropped her cup on the ground.
She really didn't want Xie Qingyu to die. The two of them were living a good life together, and he was also a very good father.
If Xie Qingyu were to die now, Yu Lin would be too young to shoulder such a heavy responsibility, and it would be difficult to guarantee that he and his mother would not be bullied.
When Xie Qingyu was brought back, he reeked of blood, his face was ashen, and if it weren't for the fact that he was still breathing and had a heartbeat, Qi Yan would have thought he was dead.
She was usually carefree, but seeing this scene, she couldn't help but shed a couple of tears.
The army doctor who returned later glanced at her secretly and said with a heavy heart, "Our lord's life hangs by a thread. You have all done your best. Now, if we take good care of him, whether he can be saved depends on fate."
"Does that mean you can still live?" Qi Yan wiped away her tears and asked in astonishment.
"There's only a very small chance." The military doctor lowered his head, looking even more somber.
Qi Yan calmed herself down. It was good that she wasn't really dead. If she tried her best, maybe she could be saved.
She offered a large reward to summon all the famous doctors in the world to treat Xie Qingyu.
As soon as Qi Yan left, Xie Qingyu, who was lying on the bed, coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of blood. Although he was weak, he didn't look like someone who was about to die. He leaned against the bedside, clutched his chest, and smiled bitterly with furrowed brows, "Will this method work?"
The medic quickly pressed him down. "That won't work, will it?" He gave a thumbs up. "Our lord is a master at winning over wives. You can't go wrong listening to him."
"Besides, brother-in-law, what are you afraid of? You are genuinely injured; at most, we exaggerated it a little. Lie down now."
Although Xie Qingyu's injuries were not life-threatening, they were indeed quite serious, and she needed to rest. So she obediently lay down and recalled the scene of the final battle in her mind.
He took an arrow for Wei Li, an arrow with barbs. He had never suffered such pain since childhood and thought he was going to die. So he held Wei Li's hand tightly by the bedside, almost entrusting his children to him, "Please take good care of my wife and children..." He was really regretful. He had promised to go back and have a good talk with Qi Yan, but he had died here.
People tend to speak kindly when they are about to die. They want to say anything they regret before they die, so as not to keep it bottled up inside and suffer the pain. "I think I like Qi Yan, but I haven't told her yet, and it seems she doesn't like me..."
After saying this, Xie Qingyu remained silent for a while, feeling that she still had the strength to survive, and then said, "Remember to continue using the hair growth formula I mentioned. I think it's quite effective..."
Wei Li's eyes showed surprise and a touch of emotion. After hearing what he said, he quickly waved his hand, "Quickly, before the wound heals, send him back to Yongzhou!"
Xie Qingyu, who was lying on the hospital bed on the verge of death, sat up abruptly and stared wide-eyed upon hearing his heartless words.
Wei Li leaned closer and whispered to him, "You do this and that... and that and that and that..." He patted Xie Qingyu's shoulder, "If you get caught later, just blame it all on me. Anyway, you were unconscious and didn't know anything. It was all my idea."
Consider it a way of repaying the debt.
Xie Qingyu seemed to understand but not quite, and was carried back all the way.
This time, Wei Li personally cleaned up the battlefield. Instead of shaving the Xianbei king's head as usual, he cut off his head, put it in a box, and sent it to Zhao Xiheng in Qingzhou by fast horse.
Shaving his head was too lenient for him.
He collected all the family letters from the past two years, which filled a whole box. He then ordered them to be carefully escorted away and ceded a quarter of the Xianbei territory to Yongzhou.
After all, he wasn't a beast. Xie Qingyu had been with him for two years without asking for anything in return, so he really had no face to give his brother-in-law even the slightest benefit.
It was the dead of winter, and the northern border was covered in snow. The wind whipped up icy blades, making it difficult to see anything within two steps. The world was a vast expanse of white, fierce and chilling, heartbreaking to behold.
With the weather freezing cold, all industries have suspended operations for rectification.
Since the establishment of girls' schools in Pingzhou, girls' schools have also flourished in various counties and prefectures, spreading everywhere, including Qingzhou.
At eight years old, Zhizhi was already a regular student at the girls' school, going to school at dawn and leaving at dusk every day.
The snow has been so heavy these days that it has reached Qingzhou, so natural science classes can no longer be held.
She has grown very quickly in the past two years, like a tender willow branch that grows tall when it is exposed to the wind. It is clear that she will be very tall when she grows up.
With a domineering personality and a refusal to listen to advice, she has gathered a group of students of all ages around her, looking just like a mountain king. Zhao Xiheng herself was not very well-behaved when she was a child, so of course she wouldn't use the standards of a lady to demand things of Zhizhi.
Moreover, Zhizhi is looking more and more like Wei Li. Her every fuss and commotion seems to be a deliberate act by heaven to let her enjoy happiness and make up for Wei Li's missing childhood. It's as if she is Wei Li living a second life, only with a different gender, growing up happily little by little.
The happiness that Wei Li lacked will be fulfilled by this child.
Zhao Xiheng held her in his arms, nestled by the glass window watching the snow fall outside, holding a bowl of hot sugar water in his hands.
Zhizhi loves to drink sweet water but doesn't like to drink tea.
The osmanthus tree was covered with layers of snow and streaks of icicles.
A dull creaking sound came from the courtyard, and a dark shadow gradually became clear from behind the tree, but the wind and snow were so biting that the person's face was still not visible.
Zhizhi straightened up, suddenly sat up, pointed out the window, and exclaimed, "Ah!"
Before Wei Li left, she didn't expect him to be gone for so long, otherwise she would definitely have had a proper talk with him and said goodbye.
Zhao Xiheng's heart was pounding wildly, growing more and more nervous and excited, yet her face remained surprisingly calm. Only her hands seemed to be trembling and weak, and her ears were ringing.
She put on her shoes and buttoned up her coat one button at a time, but the last one always slipped through her fingers due to her trembling hands.
She pushed open the door and went out, and the dark figure drew even closer.
The man held a bunch of plum blossoms in his hand, which were being blown about by the wind and looked like they were about to break. "I always have to bring you something when I come back."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com