Chapter 013
"Hmm! Ruhi, whose child is this?"
After finishing his swordsmanship instruction to his disciples at the dojo, Rengoku Makijuro came here to see his wife and son, but he didn't expect to see a strange girl at home.
Qingxi looked over when the other person looked at her. Then, with a look of surprise, she turned her head to look at the face of the boy sitting next to her who looked like a flaming owl. Then, she turned back to look at the adult who had just come over...
"Ah, these... two owls, they really look alike." Qingxi murmured in a very low voice, "One is big, the other is small... they really look alike..."
The male genes in this family were too strong. She secretly glanced at Rengoku Ruka's face, but she didn't see any of his mother's genes in Kyojuro at all...
Rengoku Makijuro, who had excellent hearing and heard the girl's low sigh, said: "...never mind, forget it. My son looks exactly like me, as if they were cast from the same mold. Isn't this the kind of thing I'm used to? And having another little girl join the family won't hurt either."
Rengoku Ruka didn't hear what Qingxi said, but from her surprised expression and her son's behavior just now, she could guess it. She chuckled and pursed her lips, then introduced: "Her name is Qingxi, and she is the child who was assigned to help out at the clinic today."
The words were simple, but Rengoku Makijuro understood. Another child from a family destroyed by a demon?
"Well, I have no family. I'm an orphan." Every time she was assigned to the hospital, the atmosphere among one, two, or three people would become solemn. Qingxi, who could roughly understand the reason after just a little thought, felt that she needed to explain.
When the three people's gazes fell on her, she continued to briefly explain her situation. "So, since everyone else went to practice, I was assigned to the clinic here because of my physical condition and my limited medical knowledge. ... Perhaps, it's different from what Lady Ruka, Lord Flame Pillar, and Kyojuro have in mind."
Rengoku Makijuro turned around and sat down next to Rengoku Ruka under the eaves. He asked curiously, "Why don't you ask the lord to find you a family too?"
"If I stay at the clinic, I can treat Mr. Beimingyu, Youta, and Xiang if they're injured and sent here. If I leave, I won't be able to hear about their situation firsthand," Qingxi said bluntly. "Besides, I have skills, I can make money on my own, and I can live independently." So why would I need to find a family and tie myself down?
Who can guarantee that those "relatives" will not become greedy after discovering the gourmet backpack? The human heart is the most unpredictable. In this world, there is a Ubuyashiki Kōya who knows her situation.
Realizing that they had misunderstood, the Rengoku family looked at each other, and finally Rengoku Makijuro started laughing. The three of them laughed to ease the awkwardness at the moment.
Maybe the laughter here was too loud and disturbed the people in the house. At this time, a little boy ran out from inside.
His eyes swept across the corridor, and he was about to rush over to his brother and mother, but he stopped when he saw a strange little girl in the house.
The little boy shyly walked over and stood behind her. The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Just as Qingxi was sighing in her heart again at the strong genes of this family named Rengoku, and how they gave birth to owls one by one, the little boy walked up to Rengoku Ruka and asked curiously, "Mom, is there a little sister at home?"
Is it okay to be called sister by a little kid?
Of course not.
"Not sister." Qingxi corrected. Even though she had shrunk into a 1-meter carrot head, she didn't want to be the smallest one here.
After all, judging from what she had seen in the clinic that morning, if nothing unexpected happened, she was already the youngest one, and she didn't want to be called "sister" even when she went out.
She was about to say she was 10 years old, but when she pulled her height... emmmmm... she changed the subject and asked, "How old are you this year?"
Perhaps startled by the black-haired girl's sudden aura, the little boy stuttered before saying, "5, 5 years old."
"Then I am 6 years old and I have to call my sister."
It was as if the tone of a child who was just casually saying what he had determined to be his age made the two adults and the half-grown boy stunned.
Rengoku Ruka smiled so hard that tears were about to fall from the corners of her eyes. "How can you just randomly decide your own age?"
After laughing, she stretched out her arms and took Qingxi into her arms. Her voice was gentle with some care that only women could have. "Don't you know your date of birth?"
Qingxi froze all over when she was suddenly hugged in someone's arms. She had never experienced such an intimate gesture in her two lives. So the three men of the Rengoku family, one big and two small, saw that the girl who had become angry because of the question of whether she was a younger sister or an older sister, her cheeks turned as red as a boiled shrimp when she was hugged in Rengoku Ruka's arms.
Rengoku Makijuro placed his right hand under his chin, pretending to think, "Hmm, is this the type of personality you have? It feels like I'm raising a daughter."
He suddenly understood why his class A teammate Harada, who was also at the same time as him, would always mention the feelings of his daughter who was killed and eaten by a demon during breaks.
…My little Sakurako, she was only six years old at that time, so tiny and soft. Every time she saw me, she would come over with a bright smile and hug my legs, then call me in a sweet and sticky voice, saying "Dad, you have worked hard", "Welcome home", "Dad, Sakurako helped Mommy make vegetable rice balls, and she left a lot for Daddy"… My little Sakurako must have been in great pain when she was eaten by the ghost… My happy family is gone, and without a home, I am like a floating duckweed. Killing ghosts may be the only thing that can tie me down…
As long as I am alive and as long as ghosts have not disappeared from this world, I will never stop killing ghosts.
"Are we going back?" Rengoku Ruka's voice sounded.
Qingxi nodded: "I've been out for a long time. If I don't go back, Sister Ling will worry that I'm lost."
When Rengoku Makijuro came to his senses after his thoughts were interrupted, Qingxi had already jumped under the eaves. She was about to reach out and take the wooden basin beside her, but someone was one step faster than her.
"Hmm, let's go, I'll take you there." Following her, Rengoku Kyojuro also jumped down from the corridor.
She was naturally happy to have someone to help her carry the heavy objects. She waved to the three people sitting in the corridor. Qingxi took a few quick steps to catch up with Rengoku Kyojuro who had already walked ahead, and then she gradually slowed down her pace and started walking.
Just as Qingxi thought, when she and Rengoku Kyojuro were still some distance away from the clinic's entrance, they saw from afar Koharu Aya standing at the clinic's entrance, looking out from time to time.
"Sister Aya." Qingxi ran to the girl's side and apologized quickly: "I just met Mrs. Ruhu on the way back. Mrs. Ruhu invited me to her house for a while, so I came back a little late. I'm sorry for making you worry."
The worried words that were about to come out of Koharu Aya's mouth were instantly replaced by silence.
Should she say this little girl is lucky? She even met the Demon Slayer Corps on her first trip to Tokyo.
Her eyes fell on the wooden basin held by Rengoku Kyojuro and some daily necessities inside. She felt lucky for her. She was so small that it was difficult for her to hold a wooden basin, not to mention that she had put a lot of things in it. It would be great if someone could help her bring the things back.
"Thank you for your help, Kyojuro." Koharu Aya took over the basin of Kiyokuni from Rengoku Kyojuro, and placed her other hand on Kiyokuni's head. "This child just came here today. If the Anbu staff hadn't just suddenly sent in a new patient, I really wouldn't be at all worried about her going out to buy daily necessities alone. It's great to meet you and Mrs. Ruhi."
"Aki is so small. Seeing her walking alone with a wooden basin that's about the same size as her, I always feel like she'll fall down. It makes us want to help her get her things and take them home. However, we didn't expect Aki to be from the clinic," Rengoku Kyojuro said. He rubbed Kiyoki's head, imitating Koharu Aya. "Next time Aki goes out to buy a lot of things, you can come to my house first and I'll help you pick them up."
Just as he pulled Xiaochun Ling's hand off his head, someone else rubbed her head again. Qingxi: ...cat life is hopeless.jpg
I can’t bear it any longer. Do you have any high heels here? Give her a pair of 50cm high ones first!
In the end, Qingxi didn't "buy" her 50-centimeter high heels because they didn't exist at all.
After Koharu Aya "bushied" her head and thanked Rengoku Kyojuro, the three of them parted ways at the door of the clinic.
After marking her own wooden basin, Koharu Ling helped her put it in the bathroom, and she took the remaining toiletries to the room herself.
The room contained three single beds. As the first occupant, Qingxi decisively chose the one by the window. The bed next to it was against the wall. She had decided on a spot for that bed and would go out again to buy some boxes. She figured she didn't have too many things; two boxes, one large and one small, would be enough. Of course, she could also buy a wardrobe; she had seen one in a shop she'd been shopping for.
But she felt it was unnecessary. No, it should be said that a wardrobe was not essential for her now. Even if she really wanted a wardrobe of her own, she could wait until she was older and had her own room.
By then, the house will be hers, and no one can interfere with how she decorates her home.
But it’s not possible now. She is now completely a guest. If she makes so much trouble, it will firstly affect the wounded in the hospital, and secondly, it will probably arouse the disgust of others.
After all, she is a newcomer who just arrived today.
There was no box for Qingxi to put her clothes in, so she temporarily put her things on the single bed.
Thanks to the clinic and thanks to Maternity Housekeeper Yoya, the beds, mattresses and quilts used by the medical staff are all the same, so she doesn't have to go out to buy mattresses and quilts.
After simply tidying himself up, Qingxi went out.
Generally speaking, the first and second floors are relatively quiet. After all, this is a clinic. How can the patients recuperate well if there is too much noise?
But if there are so many patients sent in like in the morning, it is an exception.
After walking around downstairs and not finding anything to do, Qing Xiren was just thinking about going to the kitchen when Ueno Arata, who just came out of his room, called her.
"Ah Xi, come here and walk around the yard with me."
Ueno Arata waved at Qingxi, then raised his hand and knocked on his shoulder.
"Doctor Ueno, do you have something to say to me?"
Walking straight along the path outside Ueno Shin's room leads to the backyard. After accompanying him for a long circle in the backyard and watching him stretching for a while, Qingxi couldn't help but ask.
"Ah, nothing much. I just wanted to ask about that one you did today." Ueno Arata mimed pressing acupuncture points on a breathless patient's chest with a blood-pressure gun. "It's acupuncture. I've seen it in medical books. It's passed down from the neighboring Tang Kingdom. Can others learn yours?"
Qingxi wanted to say that what she learned was not the same thing as what he said, but forget it, since it involved the world of food, she just glossed over it.
"I'm actually not too sure about that." Qingxi couldn't give him a clear answer to the other party's question.
He took out a blood-stimulating gun from his wide sleeve, which was actually the food backpack everyone knew. "To be honest, my own skills are not very good, so I need to rely on assistance. The one I used before was just a universal blood-stimulating gun. In addition, my eyes are quite special, and they help me stimulate the patients' blood. Of course, this trick is not a panacea. It only works on those who have just died, and it is not 100% certain to make their hearts beat again. In my opinion, everything depends on God's will."
Having been a gourmet hunter for a long time, Qingxi felt that she shouldn't be too skilled at this kind of thing where she leaves half of what she said unsaid.
After all, it wasn't always smooth sailing when she went hunting for food in the wild alone. Everyone had their share of failures, especially when some of the hunting was commissioned by others.
"But if you're interested in this, Dr. Ueno, I can teach you. Of course, that's if you don't mind me being a bit of a novice."
Although Qingxi spoke in a tactful way, she was still an old fox. Judging from her professional technique in acupuncture in the morning, she was definitely a veteran. How could she be a half-baked person as she said? It was just a euphemism for not wanting to be entangled in troublesome matters.
Dr. Ueno smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Aki. As for the time..." He looked up at the sky. The sky at dusk in autumn is always blue-orange. To describe it in literary terms, the dusk in autumn carries a hint of melancholy, and this melancholy evokes different emotions depending on who is looking at it.
Some people may miss home and their families far away when looking at it, and some people who are far away in a foreign country may miss the country they live in, and so on.
As for what Ueno Arata is thinking about now——
"Hey! I don't know if there will be tempura for dinner tonight. I kind of want to eat that." Ueno Shin muttered.
Qingxi, who couldn't hear clearly because the voice was too soft, moved closer to him and said, "Doctor Ueno, what did you say? Your voice just now was too clear, I didn't hear it clearly."
"Nothing." He realized that if the little girl heard what he had just said, it would be a little inappropriate for his position as a doctor. He coughed twice and said loudly, "Can we set the time for two hours after dinner?"
Qingxi nodded, but immediately, as if she remembered something, she added, "If I want to take a shower that night, can I do it an hour later?" Fetching water, changing the water, and washing clothes were all difficult tasks for her now. She couldn't finish them in an hour.
In fact, if possible, she could come for another hour.
Whispering, the clinic has electricity, so why is there no washing machine? If there is one, even if we put one in the clinic, it will free up a lot of labor.
Ueno Arata also thought of it, and nodded, "Then let's move it back an hour, okay?" He always felt guilty about exploiting a child.
Qingxi: “Okay.”
The matter of clicking the blood is over, and it’s time to change to the next one.
Ueno Arata: "One more thing, are you selling the formula for your blood-replenishing pills?"
Qingxi: ...
Well, she really does.
However, it would be useless even if she had it, because all the medicinal herbs were products from another world and could not be found here, so even if she gave the formula of the blood-replenishing pills to Dr. Ueno, he would not be able to make it.
Facing the attack from Doctor Ueno's gleaming eyes, Qingxi silently turned his head and pretended not to see it. "I only have some finished blood-replenishing pills here. Doctor Ueno can take them and study them if you need them. As for the formula, my situation is rather special... and the lord also knows about it. If you have any questions, you should go and ask the lord."
Qingxi kept pushing it aside, and it was difficult for her to explain, so she had to ask Ubuyashiki Yoya, who knew her situation, to make it go smoothly.
Ueno Arata's mouth twitched, "Special circumstances." "Special circumstances." Just look at you, how many "special circumstances" did you encounter on your first day at the hospital?
The little girl is so cunning, now she even brings up the lord?
Really, if he hadn't known that you could stand in the sun and had no desire for human flesh and blood and was a living person, he would have regarded her as a ghost.
But, should he go and ask the Lord? Okay, after all, it was for the sake of the Demon Slayer Corps, so he went to ask the Lord.
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