Chen Yuyuan, who had been listening intently to the mother and daughter's conversation, asked hesitantly at the end, "Abo, why is it your eldest cousin's daughter? When you have your own daughter in the future, will you also send her to the countryside to see the world?"
It was rare for Chen Yuyuan to say something so witty, and Chen Zhaoci laughed heartily. Xu Bai was speechless for a while, and in his anxiety, he kept blinking at Chen Yuyuan and Chen Zhaoci. Chen Zhaoci wiped away the tears of laughter from his eyes and said, "You silly child."
Xu Bai is over thirty years old across his two lifetimes, but he is still an innocent young man who has never thought about getting married and having a wife. He was caught off guard by Chen Yuyuan's words.
The three of them chatted for a while longer. Chen Yuyuan noticed it was getting late and decided to go to the teacher's place in the next courtyard to listen to his lecture. Xu Bai naturally wanted to go with him. Before they left, Bai Wei came in from outside and asked Chen Zhaoci about changing Qingqing's prescription.
After Qingqing came along, Chen Zhaoci settled her in the backyard so that the little girl could rest and recuperate.
Qingqing was about ten years old. Because of her family's poverty, she didn't get enough nutrition and her health was poor. Chen Zhaoci prescribed her a nourishing medicine. After taking it for two days, she felt that it was quite effective, so she thought about adding or subtracting two ingredients.
Chen Zhaoci looked at the original prescription, thought for a moment, increased the dosage of one of the herbs, and said to Bai Wei, "Take this prescription for two days first."
After Bai Wei left with the prescription, Xu Bai asked Chen Zhaoci, "Mother, when will Qingqing's leg get better?"
Chen Zhaoci said, "Don't be so disrespectful, you should call her Sister Qingqing."
Xu Bai said nonchalantly, "She's only a few months older than me, it's fine to call her by her name."
Chen Zhaoci said with a serious expression, "Brother Bai, Qingqing is now your great-uncle's granddaughter. Your great-uncle has been single for so many years, and it's not easy for him to have a granddaughter now. You must respect Qingqing properly and call her 'sister' when you should, understand?"
Xu Bai nodded nonchalantly, then pulled Chen Yuyuan toward the next courtyard, saying as they walked, "My mother is really something, she insists I call Qingqing 'older sister,' even though she's only a couple of days older, Qingqing isn't even as tall as me yet."
Chen Yuyuan patted Xu Bai on the shoulder and said, "Abo, age has nothing to do with height. You still have to call him that."
Although Xu Bai was young, he had been eating well since childhood and had been practicing kung fu since he was three years old. He was very tall and strong, half a head taller than Qingqing.
Seeing Xu Bai's unwilling expression, Chen Yuyuan persuaded, "Qingqing has had a hard time too. At such a young age, she worked with her grandmother to earn money. Now that her grandmother is gone, she has come to follow the teacher. We will be traveling with the teacher in the future, so we must take good care of her. Perhaps if we raise her well, Qingqing can grow very tall in the future."
Xu Bai naturally understood these principles. Seeing that it was not yet time for the evening lessons set by his great-uncle, he pulled Chen Yuyuan and said, "In that case, let's go to the backyard to see Qingqing."
Chen Yuyuan thought about it. Although he was already over seven years old, they had become quite familiar with each other after traveling together, so he agreed.
In the green courtyard, two rough-working old women were drying bedding. When they saw Xu Bai enter, they quickly bowed.
Xu Bai said, "Greetings, ladies. My cousin and I have come to visit Sister Qingqing."
Bai Mi, who was serving in the room, had already heard Xu Bai's words. She quickly came out, bowed, and said, "Seventh Young Master, Cousin Young Master, Miss Qingqing just took her medicine and is not sleeping right now. Please come in and have a chat."
Because her leg injury hadn't healed yet, Qingqing lay on the kang (heated brick bed) next to her bed. When she got tired of lying down, she could sit up and look at the scenery outside the window to relieve her boredom.
Seeing Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan come in, Qingqing smiled and said, "Why did you come at this time?"
Xu Bai said, "Sister Qingqing, my cousin and I went to my older sister's house. After having lunch, we came back to visit you, Sister Qingqing."
Qingqing smiled and said, "I'm fine."
Xu Bai said, "Sister Qingqing, take good care of your injury. Once your leg is healed, we'll go out and have some fun. I heard that there are many good things on Changbai Mountain nearby, so we'll go hiking there."
Qingqing nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go hiking with you guys then."
Xu Bai said, "Sister Qingqing, I have a few books to keep you entertained. I'll have Sister Bai Mi go over and get them for you to take a look. I've heard that if you're in a good mood while recovering from an illness or injury, you'll recover faster."
Qingqing thanked him again, and Xu Bai said a few more words to Chen Yuyuan before taking his leave.
Qingqing watched Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan's backs from the window. Bai Mi saw this and said with a smile, "Qingqing, don't worry. Once our leg injuries heal, we can go out and play everywhere."
Qingqing lowered her head, shook it gently, and said, "Sister Baimi, I feel very lucky that I was able to meet such good people as Grandfather Wu when I was desperate."
Bai Mi followed Qingqing all the way from Hexi to Liaodong, so she naturally knew about Qingqing's story. Bai Mi actually felt that Qingqing was quite lucky. If this group hadn't passed through that area, Qingqing would have been the only girl left in her family, and she had broken her leg. It's hard to say what would have happened later. After all, Bai Mi and the others were bought by the Xu family because they suffered a disaster, their families couldn't support them, and they were sold by their families, or their families were almost gone and they were sold by others.
Bai Mi sighed softly and said to Qingqing, "Miss Qingqing, since God has allowed you to meet Mr. Wu, it means that you have been given a chance to live a good life. We can't waste this opportunity."
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