After finishing his meal, the little dumpling went back to the doorway and squatted down. He didn't eat properly, just shoveled down a few bites to get by.
Inside the room, Cen Ang and Hua Luan watched as the boy cried uncontrollably.
"How could he have suffered so much? If I had known, I would never have given the child to the Prince of Zhennan." Madam Hua, who was usually so composed and shrewd, was now sobbing uncontrollably as she looked at Lan Tingche, who was still unconscious on the bed.
"I don't know where Tingche is going. He was looking for his mother when he fainted."
"mother……"
The boy on the bed mumbled those words in his sleep, and the two women cried even harder.
An hour later, the little boy slowly opened his eyes and saw two old friends whose memories had become slightly blurred.
"Tingche, do you still recognize your aunt?"
She seems unchanged, still the same aunt who was by her mother's side back then. The only difference is that her eyes and brows seem a little gentler.
The boy nodded, but didn't say anything.
"It's good that you remember...it's good that you remember."
"No matter what happened before, you have nothing to be afraid of once you come to your aunt's place."
Mother Cen hugged the boy tightly, her heart trembling with heartache. Ever since the young master disappeared last year, she had been trying to contact the secret guards left behind by the Crown Princess, but she couldn't find a trace of him, nor could she find any trace of the young master.
By a stroke of luck, Long'er brought him back. If my daughter hadn't gone out to play today, Tingche might never have come back.
—The door creaked open.
Hua Luan came in carrying a bowl of medicine. She put her arms around the boy, letting him lean against her, and then said...
"Come on, Tingche, drink your medicine. We'll get better faster if you drink it."
The spoon came to his slightly chapped lips, but the boy turned his head away.
Cen Ang and Hua Luan tried their best to persuade him, using kind words and gentle persuasion, but the person lying on the bed remained unmoved.
—Crack! He swung the bowl to the ground, spilling medicine and the bowl all over the floor, the brown soup spreading along the cracks in the bricks.
Huo Xiaolong, who was waiting outside and bored, was playing with leaves. He couldn't stand it any longer, so he went into the kitchen and poured the remaining medicine from the medicine jar into a bowl.
He strode in, pushed open the door, and saw his daughter's fierce expression. Neither Cen Ang nor Hua Luan dared to move, both staring at the little dumpling.
When has this child ever been so angry? He's usually either being naughty or mischievous; he didn't even throw such a tantrum on the day he was guarding the city.
Huo Xiaolong climbed onto the bed without even taking off his shoes, straddled the boy, pulled him out of Hua Luan's arms, pressed him to the head of the bed, and used one hand to pry open his mouth and force-feed him the medicine.
"Cough...cough cough."
Lan Tingche finally spoke, though it was a cough from choking. The two women were relieved, knowing that if he became mute, it would be difficult to treat.
"Let me tell you! I don't know who you are, but I saved you. If you make my mom cry again, I'll break your legs just like I did when they were healed!"
Before anyone could stop him, the little dumpling slapped the boy's handsome face. Lan Tingche, who had just been choked and had tears welling up in his eyes, now had his face turn bright red from the slap.
The boy covered his right cheek with one hand and nodded.
Looking at the little girl in front of me, who was baring her teeth and claws like a little tiger, I somehow felt inferior to her.
He thought his leg would never heal, and he could never practice martial arts like his grandfather or ride horses like his mother. Since that was the case, he might as well die. He threw back the covers, looked at his leg wrapped like a dumpling, and said...
"My legs are numb."
"You're covered in rotten flesh. We've scraped it all off and put on anesthetic! Otherwise, you'll be in excruciating pain!"
Huo Xiaolong was still angry. He was so annoyed. Ever since he came, Cen's mother hadn't stopped crying. He didn't care who she was. Aunt Hua and my mother had already tried so hard to coax him, so why was it so difficult for him to take medicine? He deserved a beating!
Cen Ang and Hua Luan went to the window to look at the moonlight. The prefect's wife glanced at Cen Ang a few times, as if to say, "Your daughter, you should control her. Ting Che is the young master, isn't he? Give her some face, don't slap her like that."
Cen Ang: I can't control it at all.
"My aunt told me that you are my younger sister."
Lan Tingche took the initiative to send a chat invitation to the sulking little dumpling.
“Yes, I am her daughter.”
"My aunt got married?" he asked, looking at Cen Ang.
Hearing the boy's call, Cen Ang leaned against the window and said with a smile.
"No, Long'er is my goddaughter. We agreed back then that you would be the bed-pressing boy when I got married, and your mother would sing a hymn for me."
A promise is a promise, and she has no choice but to either never get married or do this in her life.
"But my mother is gone."
Tears fell like beads from a broken string, pattering onto the blanket. The person is gone, everything has changed, so why cling to those useless words?
Cen Ang took a deep breath and went to the boy's side, saying...
“Then I will hold her memorial tablet, place the hymn in front of her tablet, and let her sing it for me.”
Lan Tingche didn't understand, but he respected it.
Since he was old enough to understand people, Aunt Cen and Aunt Hua have been by his side. Several years have passed since he last saw them, and they seem to have not changed much. Their appearances are the same as before, except that they both have their own families now.
Only him...
When his grandfather was in good health, it was fine, but when he wasn't, the gossip would pierce his heart. He never thought about vying for military power, nor did he ever think about becoming the heir of the Prince of Zhennan's mansion...
He just wanted his parents to come back, but the dead cannot be brought back to life.
"Stop crying, okay?" Huo Xiaolong said, crossing his legs and arms.
When he cried, Cen Ang and Hua Luan became envious, thinking they should have just kept their hands on the trash because it was so annoying.
“You’ll definitely be living here from now on. My mom will be your mom, and Uncle Zhao will be your dad. My mother will still be my mother, and my dad will still be my dad. I’ll give you half of mine, so please stop crying, okay?”
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