Looking at Wen Heng lying quietly on the bed with bandages wrapped around his head, I finally breathed a sigh of relief after a mix of emotions. I can finally rest.
The next morning—
I was awakened by an itch. When I opened my eyes, I saw Wen Heng frowning and rubbing the scabbed wound on my chin with his fingers.
Isn't this kid being a little too nervous and worried?
"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt anymore. Let me sleep a little longer." I closed my eyes again and lazily tried to turn over and continue sleeping.
But then I suddenly remembered the appointment I had made with that young guard that morning, and I instantly sat up, wide awake.
At breakfast, Mr. Yuan prepared a table full of food for Wenheng and me.
There was a variety of dishes. Mr. Yuan was truly generous, as always. I stared longingly at the table of food, my mouth watering. This was the first time Wen Heng and I had eaten meat since the Zhou couple left. I was so excited that tears streamed down my face: "Uncle Yuan, you are truly our family. We haven't had a proper meal in so long."
Wen Heng, his eyes filled with heartache, wiped my tears with his sleeve. He frowned and said urgently, "Ahua, don't cry."
The tears I managed to squeeze out were wiped away by Wen Heng in a few quick movements, and I glared at him secretly.
But to our surprise, when Mr. Yuan saw us crying, he also burst into tears: "What a pitiful child, how did you end up begging on the street? This old Zhou, he never associated with me, but before he left, he would rather let you beg for a living than entrust you to me. He really doesn't respect me."
Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and said, "Don't worry, as long as Uncle Yuan is here, you'll have food to eat."
"Really?" I stopped sobbing, not expecting him to be so kind and so agreeable.
"Uncle Yuan, don't worry, Zhou Lang and I won't freeload here. We can help out at your pharmacy and do all the dirty and hard work."
As Mr. Yuan served me food, he confidently declared, "Of course! Needless to say, your father and I are very close. From now on, I'm family to you. What family member wouldn't abandon their own niece?!"
I was so excited I couldn't contain myself. Finally, I would never have to go hungry again.
Kind people will always be kind, those who love you will always love you, and your family will always be the ones who don't want you to suffer. I am so grateful that Old Man Zhou was able to meet such a close friend. He is so reliable!
After having breakfast, Mr. Yuan closed the pharmacy door, put up a sign saying it was closed for the day, and said he was going to the street to buy some offerings to pay respects to the Zhou couple.
My body had almost recovered, though it was still a little sore, so I took Wen Heng for a stroll in Mr. Yuan's small courtyard. Mr. Yuan's small pharmacy had no one else besides him and a shop assistant. The shop assistant said that he was an old man with no wife or children, all alone.
However, looking at his small courtyard, besides some medicinal herbs drying in the sun, there was a plum tree, a grand chair, a cage of bird feathers, and a fish tank. It seems that Mr. Yuan's leisurely life of playing with birds and raising fish has contributed to his plump and round figure.
I found an empty medicine bottle in Mr. Yuan's pharmacy, retrieved a dagger, and while Wen Heng wasn't looking, I lightly cut my hand, collecting the blood in the bottle. After thinking for a moment, I added a common tonic herb to mask the smell of blood and prevent the woman from becoming suspicious.
At the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the woman indeed arrived as promised. She crossed the courtyard wall and found me in the backyard, teasing the birds in the tree belonging to Mr. Yuan.
Noticing her light footsteps, just like the night before, I remained calm and continued to tease the bird as usual.
But her half-concealed blue mask was silently reflected in the fish tank in the courtyard, startling Wen Heng, who was leaning over the edge of the tank and playing with the fish.
I frowned and said, "Are you a thief? Why don't you use the front door and instead climb over the wall?"
Qingyan, however, was unconvinced. Her gaze behind the mask was sharp, and she went straight to the point, opening her palm in front of me: "I've come to get my secret formula and medicine."
I glanced at her unhappily, then flicked my finger and sent the medicine bottle out of my sleeve. Just as the bottle was about to hit the ground, she flipped over and landed it steadily in her palm before it hit the ground.
I raised an eyebrow and continued teasing the bird: "Not bad."
As she spoke, she mimicked me by flicking her finger, and a silver object flew rapidly toward me. My eyes flashed sharply, and with a slight lift of my arm, I caught the silver object between my two fingertips in an instant.
She smiled and said, "You're not bad either."
I looked up at the object in my hand, my eyes gleaming; it was a tael of silver.
I cleared my throat twice, feigning composure: "I already said this is a free trial, no money required."
"Oh, I forgot. Then give it back to me." She held out her hand in a feigned manner.
Once the money I threw out is in my pocket, why would I ever return it?
The broken silver in my hand spun around on my fingertips and then instantly disappeared into my sleeve.
"Oh, then you come and collect it?" I smiled, certain that she wouldn't lower herself to take money from me.
"..."
Sure enough, she rolled her eyes at me, speechless, for I was acting all innocent and shameless after getting the benefits. Finally, she turned around and leaped over the courtyard wall.
"Take care and don't come back~" After seeing off this God of Wealth, Mr. Yuan returned with bags and packages. When I saw his beloved bird feathers being poked by my fingers, chirping pitifully with nowhere to hide, and the fish pond being disturbed by Wen Heng, his favorite koi fish were forced to have nowhere to swim.
Without delay, they shoved us into a horse-drawn carriage that sped along, and in no time Wenheng and I were taken back to the graves of the Zhou couple in Xishan Village.
After getting off the carriage, I grimaced and rubbed my sore buttocks, which had been jostled around countless times, and clicked my tongue, saying, "The carriage is so much faster! What usually takes Wen Heng and me an hour to walk back here today took less than a quarter of an hour. It's just a bit tough on my butt."
Wen Heng, however, pouted with a resentful expression and covered his backside, refusing to help with the large and small packages of offerings that Mr. Yuan had prepared for the Zhou couple in the delivery truck.
I wonder what Mr. Yuan bought that made such a big fuss.
I saw him placing a bunch of colorful things around the graves of the Zhou couple and A Niu, filling them completely. He even flattened the small grave I had built for the Mountain God. I don't know if the Mountain God's spirit lives in that little mound of earth, but the tombstone I had casually erected for him tripped Mr. Yuan, making him stumble and almost fall.
Mr. Yuan, with his fiery temper, frowned and kicked the unsightly stone hard, sending it flying far away and disappearing from sight.
I was on the verge of tears, and could only silently pray, "Uncle Mountain God, please don't blame me, please don't blame me. Mr. Yuan didn't mean it. I'll definitely find you a super big tombstone to commemorate you another day."
Mr. Yuan, with a somber face, lit incense and burned some paper money in front of Old Man Zhou's grave. Then he sent Wen Heng and me to go play nearby for a while because he had some things he wanted to talk to Old Man Zhou about, which might take a long time.
Since that's the case, I took Wenheng to rest under a tree by a river not far away.
I leaned against the tree with my arms crossed, and saw Mr. Yuan after Wen Heng and I walked away.
He then set out a pot of wine, a few wine cups, and some side dishes in front of Old Zhou's grave, plopped down, and clearly heard him break down in tears in front of the tombstone, unable to contain his grief any longer.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com