Chapter 83 The Squirrel and the Dirty Cat It was my fault, I'll be gentler. ...
The Cold Chicken Powder was extremely potent. After taking the antidote, it would take at least six or seven hours to recover his strength. Therefore, Master Mei arranged a stone house for Li Xunhuan to rest.
It was late at night, but Tie Chuanjia was still keeping watch by his bedside. Although he had a headache and was exhausted, he felt very happy and cheerful.
As long as the young master is alright, he'll do whatever you ask.
Just then, a slightly heavy footstep sounded outside the door.
Before Li Xunhuan could even raise his eyes, Tie Chuanjia's gaze sharpened. He abruptly turned his head and said in a deep voice, "Who is it!"
An uninvited visit late at night is most likely not out of kindness.
The two brothers, Mei Da and Mei Er, had eccentric personalities, and he stayed by the young master's bedside because he couldn't bear to leave them alone.
"It's me," a timid voice rang out.
Tie Chuanjia looked closely and saw a pitiful little face, and his heart slowly calmed down.
He scratched the back of his head and said in a hoarse voice, "I haven't even had a chance to see you yet. How's your injury? It's getting late, why aren't you asleep yet?"
He didn't just not have time; he had completely forgotten about the girl.
She lowered her eyes, bit her lip, and said, "I can't sleep. I'm afraid that when I wake up, you'll have left me and gone far away. Then I'll never find you again."
The voice grew softer and softer until it was almost a murmur.
Tie Chuanjia's heart softened, and he quickly said, "Since the young master said he would keep you here, he will never abandon you again."
Her eyes lit up, and she suddenly looked at Li Xunhuan. Her eyes blinked, as if asking: "You really won't abandon me?"
She was born beautiful and had many wounds; who wouldn't feel pity for her?
Li Xunhuan simply smiled and asked, "What are you holding in your hand?"
As soon as she entered the room, she kept pinching things as if she was afraid no one would see her.
She chuckled inwardly, slowly holding the small medicine jar between her hands, and stammered, "It's ointment for treating frostbite and ulcers. Mr. Mei told me to apply it myself, but I can't reach my back to apply it."
Having said that, she looked at Li Xunhuan nervously. Her intentions were quite clear.
There were no women in Master Mei's residence. Since healing and saving lives transcends gender, especially with a young apprentice doctor present, it was rather inappropriate to have the apprentice apply the medicine, given the girl's young age.
"I thought it was something serious, but it's just applying some medicine. Give me the jar," Tie Chuanjia said.
In his heart, this little girl was still a child. If he and the young master had been born earlier, their own children could have played with her.
How could applying medicine to a child cause any discomfort?
She looked up incredulously and said, "You're not my father!"
Tie Chuanjia was taken aback, not expecting her to say such a thing. He shook his head; after all, she was still young, and children speak without thinking.
Upon hearing this, Li Xunhuan said calmly, "I am not your father either."
She knew he was going to say that, so she immediately bit her lip and said defiantly, "Then I won't apply it."
Li Xunhuan put down the book in his hand. It had only been a few hours, and he was already going to show his temper to him.
Since you've decided not to paint anymore, what are you still doing here?
He really wanted to rebuke her coldly, but this stubborn girl could actually keep up the fight without batting an eye.
Could Li Xunhuan really possibly be going to fight a child?
He remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Bring me the medicine."
Her lips curled up slightly, then quickly suppressed it as she hurried over to stand in front of him.
Li Xunhuan pondered for a moment, then looked at Tie Chuanjia and said, "Go and rest."
Although they are all elders, it's not good to have them all around you.
Knowing the young girl was shy, Tie Chuanjia stepped out the door without a word. He would stay in the courtyard and keep watch.
The room was pitch black, with only a few candles lit beside the stone bed.
Li Xunhuan shifted his body further in, closed his eyes, and said leisurely, "Pull your clothes up and find a comfortable position to lie down."
His strength has not yet recovered, and he is still unable to exert himself properly; otherwise, he wouldn't be fighting with a minor patient for a bed.
Luckily, the child is small, so he can squeeze in.
Upon hearing this, she was overjoyed and jumped onto the bed with a 'bang,' intending to snuggle into his arms.
Her hands barely tightened around his collar before Li Xunhuan braced himself against her shoulders, frowning as he asked, "What are you doing?"
She tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "Didn't you tell me to find a comfortable position to lie down?"
Li Xunhuan laughed, "So you snuggled into my arms?"
She nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Li Xunhuan sighed and instructed her, "Although you are still young, you are no longer a three-year-old child. You can't just snuggle into a man's arms, understand? Lie down on the bed."
He said this entirely for her own good. What if a little girl who has lost her memory is bullied by others while she is confused and clueless?
As an elder, he was determined to teach her properly and naturally wouldn't hesitate to take care of her as she grew up peacefully.
However, after being given such a rebuff, she was furious.
She pouted, "But..."
Li Xunhuan retorted without room for argument: "There are no buts. I've said what I meant, and you can't disobey me."
Having said all that, she had no choice but to turn away angrily.
The rustling sound of clothes fluttering filled the air. Li Xunhuan, with his eyes closed, asked slowly, "Is it done?"
She grabbed the pillow beneath her and bit it hard to vent her anger before mumbling, "Mmm."
The candlelight streamed across her snow-white back, illuminating the large ravines on the snowfield. Her tender skin was covered in mottled purplish-red stains, beneath which lay frozen blood.
Li Xunhuan drew a circle to retrieve the ointment from the jar. Layers of milky white ointment were stacked on his fingertips, seemingly about to fall, but he couldn't bring himself to do it for a long time.
The festering crevices on the white porcelain softened his heart. Though her eyes were cold, she was still too young; he shouldn't have acted this way.
Li Xunhuan let out a long sigh, the taste of which was hard to discern.
After a long while, she lowered her eyes and carefully applied the ointment, which she had rubbed until it was warm, to the ointment with her fingertips.
The moment his fingertips touched the reddened flesh, the snow-white skin trembled violently.
A tingling sensation spread from her spine, like a school of silverfish quietly swimming by, and her whole body went limp.
She let out a soft, cat-like moan, clutching the blanket tightly in her hands. Her arms suddenly began to tremble, startling a series of copper bell sounds.
Li Xunhuan didn't expect her to react so strongly, and frowned, saying, "Did I hurt you?"
Something seemed to be awakening in her heart, threatening to overwhelm her.
She buried her head in the pillow and sobbed, "I don't know."
Li Xunhuan thought she was ruthless and reckless. Seeing that she remained silent the whole way, he assumed she was truly unafraid of pain and became even more wary of her.
I never expected that just applying some medicine would cause her to tremble in pain like this.
This child is stubborn; it turns out he's been holding back all this time.
He pursed his lips, a thick sense of guilt slowly welling up in his heart, heavy and even making his mouth taste bitter.
He sighed, "It's my fault, I should have been gentler."
She turned to look at him and saw the candlelight climbing up his brow and falling into his sunken eye sockets.
Her heart was being pulled faster and faster as if by something, and she felt as if she was about to fall into those eye sockets.
In an instant, his slender fingers sank into the tender white flesh again.
Touching the remaining area brought a flush, and her pulled-up blouse slipped half an inch as she trembled. Suddenly, she struggled on his bed like a fish out of water.
The feeling was so strong it was pulling her into the deep sea, making her want to scream for help.
Li Xunhuan, of course, was unaware of her dampness. In his eyes, she was just a child who clamored to be his daughter; how could she possibly have any romantic thoughts?
They only knew that she didn't want to apply the medicine.
He spread the milky white ointment on his palm, placed it on her shoulder blade, and gently slid it down her spine to spread the ointment evenly.
"Ugh..." She trembled violently for a moment, her face flushed red, and the aftershocks spread down her spine, causing her calves to tremble spasmodically.
The intermittent sound of the copper bells continued to vibrate. She trembled on his bed, unconsciously rubbing against the quilt, her toes tense.
Seeing her in so much pain, Li Xunhuan frowned and said, "Remember the pain you feel today. Don't use methods that harm yourself to achieve your goals in the future."
She was breathing heavily, unable to utter a word, and collapsed onto his bed like a fish out of water.
Without waiting for her to respond, Li Xunhuan pulled down her coat and said seriously, "At my age, as Mr. Mei said, I am both your teacher and your father. I know you have an eccentric personality, and the reason I tell you to listen to me is because I'm afraid you'll go astray. From now on, I will treat you as a junior in the family and teach and take care of you, but I will never let you do whatever you want."
He paused for a moment, then said, "So what I teach you, you must remember. Understand?"
The sound washed over my ears like a tide, and in an instant, not a single word remained.
Her eyes were glazed over from the torment, and she uttered in a hoarse voice, "Mmm..."
Li Xunhuan said helplessly, "It's done. Get up."
Strands of hair brushed against her reddened earlobes as she tried to get up, her body limp.
It's strange that she could get up even when her skin was frozen and her flesh was stiff, but now her limbs feel like cotton.
Li Xunhuan watched her for a long time before finally going to help her up. No one knows how he managed it, but the more he helped her, the weaker her body became.
But it wasn't an act. He looked at her, both amused and exasperated, as she slumped in his arms and laughed, "I thought you were so capable, turning into a spineless wimp just by applying some medicine. It seems my eyes aren't as accurate as I thought."
She trembled in his arms, her eyes red, and said, "I don't know."
When she said this, her eyes were already red and looked like she was about to cry.
Looking at her, Li Xunhuan suddenly felt a pang of pity and tenderness, and for the first time, he truly understood that 'she is still a child'.
Her face was flushed, her eyes were burning hot like red-hot iron, and her frostbite, which looked like rotten apples, was covered with a thick layer of ointment. The candlelight flickered in her cat-like eyes, making them look like tears.
Looking at it like this, it really does resemble a dirty little cat that lost a fight over territory.
He lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, using his thumb to smooth out the smeared ointment from her face. "You look like a dirty cat."
When he smiled, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes furrowed together, as if they were trying to draw out the emerald green river water like a narrow channel.
The gentle voice that entered her ears made her so itchy that she almost curled up in discomfort.
He thought to himself: This child is indeed lovely. Having such a daughter for no reason doesn't seem like a big loss.
In the end, he has no desire to have children in this life.
He suddenly recalled that hazy old dream, and his back bent down silently.
Isn't that dream just like his long-unhealed ulcer?
Li Xunhuan stared at her, and thought bitterly to himself: Even frostbite can heal one day, but what medicine is there for his old ulcers?
Seeing his dejected expression, she suddenly reached out and pinched his cheeks, kneading them like dough and pulling them apart until the corners of his mouth were stretched into crescent moons.
She said, slightly drunk, "I like your smile."
Without thinking much, Li Xunhuan took the half-read book from the bedside and chuckled, "Since you've forgotten your name, I'll give you a new one, okay?"
-----------------------
Author's note: This episode is about Xiao Li's immoral behavior!!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com