Ding Qian was wearing cloth shoes made by Jian Ning. Jian Ning's stitches were thick, and Ding Youtian had only dragged him a few steps when the heels of his shoes were worn out.
No matter how smooth the roads in the palace were, they were paved with sand and gravel. The skin of the two-year-old baby was tender, and he had already started crying. Ding Youtian ignored him and dragged him just like when he fell into a dung bucket as a child and was taken to the river by Old Mrs. Meng to be washed clean. Then he let Old Mrs. Meng carry the dung bucket in one hand and drag him home with the other hand.
At that time, he was dragged by Old Mrs. Meng and beaten from time to time. His bare feet were also bruised by the stones.
Time has passed, and even if he remembered this childhood incident, he had long forgotten the pain at that time. When he arrived outside the palace gate, the fool who had calculated the time to come to pick him and his son came forward and found that Ding Qian's heels were rubbed bloody.
He exclaimed, hurriedly picked up Ding Qian, and hurriedly untied the ropes on him. This time Ding Qian cried even louder.
Oh no, Ding Youtian's eyes fell on Ding Qian's heels. All along the way, his mind was full of what Wei Dong told him. If Wei Dong hadn't been there, the kid would have really caused a big disaster. So he ignored the fact that Ding Qian was crying.
"You just keep crying. Why don't you tell Daddy that your shoes are worn out and rubbing your feet?" Ding Youtian took Ding Qian from Erlangzi's arms and looked at his feet carefully. "It's okay, it's just a little rubbing. You can blame yourself for it, not Daddy. Go back..."
He originally wanted to tell his mother not to tell her when he got home, but he changed his mind when the words were on his lips. If he didn't tell her, she might not betray him. But if he told her, she would definitely put the blame on him. So he changed his words and said, "Go back and ask your eldest sister to apply some medicine. I'll see if you can still follow Daddy next time."
"I'll go back and tell mom that Daddy tied me up and made my feet bleed!" Ding Qian was very smart and immediately grasped the key point from Ding Youtian's half-spoken words.
In terms of scheming, the four girls mentioned above resembled Ding Youtian a bit, while Ding Qian perfectly inherited all the strengths and weaknesses of Jian Ning and Ding Youtian. Although he couldn't understand why his father had tied him up after listening to Grandpa Wei's words, he knew that if his father tied him up and told his mother, he would probably get a beating from his mother.
Sure enough, Ding Youtian said, "Tell your mother you'll get a beating. Your mother beats people more harshly than your father."
As he spoke, Ding Youtian had already carried him into the carriage.
"Daddy." He put his arms around Ding Youtian's neck. "I won't tell Mom like my second sister. I won't tell Mom, and Daddy won't tell Mom either. Okay?"
Ding Youtian pulled his hand away, touched his nose, thought for a moment, and asked him, "What would you say if your mother found out your heel was broken and asked you how it happened?"
Ding Qian chuckled and said loudly, "I told Mom that it was my aunt and dad who did it for me."
Erlangzi's hand trembled, and the whip almost flew out of his hand. After recovering his composure, he shouted, "That won't do. You can't put the blame on me. If you want to blame me, even if Madam doesn't punish me, your aunt won't let me go. You mustn't make trouble for me."
"Don't make random accusations. If your mother asks, just say you don't know. Go back and your father will give you some medicine. We won't tell anyone about this, and your aunt and father won't tell anyone else either."
"Okay then, I'll do as Daddy says." Ding Qian spoke like a little adult, with a bit of the mature and dignified demeanor that Dabao had when he was a child.
"But there is one thing father still wants to tell you. You must remember it well. Trouble comes from the mouth. There are some things that cannot be said carelessly. Did you originally want to tell the Sixth Prince that everyone in the world should listen to father? Is that what you meant?" Ding Youtian lowered his voice and asked him seriously.
"Yeah." Ding Qian nodded several times. "Grandpa Wei pinched me, and Daddy also said I couldn't tell anyone. I understand. I won't tell anyone about it from now on."
"That's right. If you tell us, we'll all die. Are you afraid of death?"
Erniu and Sanniu had helped Ding Qian catch Yang Dingdings, and Xu Dali's son had also taken him to catch crickets in the bushes in the garden. Once, he accidentally let go of a Yang Dingding whose wings were broken by Erniu. When he tried to chase it screaming, Baimei flew to help him. He used too much force and separated Yang Dingding's head and body, and Yang Dingding could never fly again.
Sanniu said that Yang Dingding was dead and could no longer fly, so he had a vague understanding of death. "Don't be afraid! But if you die, you won't be able to open your eyes or eat delicious food. I promise not to tell you."
He also put two fingers together, which he learned from Erniu, who was taught by Jian Ning because she made the most mistakes and swore the most.
The father and son returned home, but Jian Ning and the others had not returned yet. Ding Youtian found some ointment in Jian Ning's medicine box and applied it to Ding Qian. He also changed his shoes for him. But after dinner, when Ding Qian's mother took him to give him a bath, she found that he had started to cry and carried him to Jian Ning.
"Oh, how did this happen?" Jian Ning hugged him and felt heartbroken. "Does it hurt, son? Hey, who gave you this medicine?"
"It doesn't hurt. I applied the medicine myself. I found it in my mother's medicine cabinet."
"How did you get hurt? Tell mom quickly."
"Mom, I'm fine. I don't remember how I got hurt."
"You kid, you don't even know how you got hurt. Don't move, let me take a look." Jian Ning already knew that he and Ding Youtian had gone to the palace. After a careful examination, she deduced that the injury must have occurred in the palace. Without saying anything, she picked up Ding Qian and went to find Ding Youtian.
Ding Youtian was in the study, sorting out the lessons for the little prince tomorrow, when he saw Jian Ning bringing Ding Qian in. The father and son exchanged glances, and he knew Ding Qian hadn't betrayed him. So when Jian Ning asked him if he knew how Ding Qian got hurt, he shook his head, pretended to lean over to take a look, and finally put the blame on Jian Ning.
"I told you your stitching was too thick, and the shoes you made wouldn't last. He must have been so lost in thought while playing that he didn't even realize his shoes were torn. He must have rolled around somewhere and got them broken. It's nothing serious, he'll be fine after a couple of days of rest. Bao'er used to get his legs scratched when he was little, collecting firewood in the mountains. This little injury on a boy is nothing, don't make a fuss about it."
Hearing him say that, Jian Ning thought so too. Compared to the suffering that Dabao and Da Niu had endured in their childhood, Ding Qian was much happier. This injury was really nothing. When Sanniu was over three years old, Meng slapped her in the face and made her deaf. She had spread the news so loudly to Dabao and the others, and they might not feel good about it, so they had to suppress it and not pursue it further.
Jian Ning and her mother gave Ding Qian a bath and applied medicine to him again. After settling Ding Qian down, she thought of Dabao and went to Dabao's yard, who had moved to the front yard.
Dabao was not in the room. The servant in his yard said that he had finished reviewing his lessons and went to the martial arts training ground. Jian Ning planned to go to the martial arts training ground to look for him. He passed by his study and walked in. He glanced at his desk and found a simple sketch he had drawn. Jian Ning recognized at a glance that he was drawing the childhood Ah Man, and it was still in the old house where they used to live.
There are two lines of words written on the painting:
May you travel for half your life and never forget your original intention when you return.
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