“Someone actually managed to injure the General so severely! Tell me, who did it?!”
“It was several red-eyed people ganging up on him. Also, you’ve asked this question 387 times in the past four days…”
“Brother Qianqiao! I don’t want you to die!”
“If you keep slapping him with your chicken wings, he really might die…”
…
The noisy voices rushed in like flowing water, but gradually receded, and finally the room became very quiet.
The curtain was gently opened, and an extremely bitter, unpleasant smell mixed with the sweet aroma of food wafted over. Feeling a soft hand applying medicine to him, Lu Qianqiao finally couldn’t help but open his eyes with a red face.
In his vision was Xin Mei’s profile. She was turning her head to look at something while applying an extremely bitter-smelling medicine to him with one hand, holding a string of dumplings in the other, taking a bite from time to time – truly a high-difficulty maneuver. Seeing her hand move down his chest toward his abdomen, he felt this couldn’t continue, so he stopped her.
“You…” He tried to speak, only to discover his voice was dry and hoarse.
“Mm?” She turned her head in surprise, and seeing he was awake, couldn’t help but smile. “You’re awake? You slept for four days. How do you feel now?”
Lu Qianqiao blinked, his finger moving slightly: “Sauce…”
Although he hadn’t expected her to throw herself on him crying “You’re finally awake, I was so worried,” the fact that she was eating dumplings while dripping sauce on his hand seemed even more annoying.
“Sorry, let me wipe that off for you.”
She carefully wiped the sauce from his fingers with a handkerchief, then took a small-spouted pot, half-lifted his head, and carefully fed him a few sips of water.
“Now that you’re awake, I’ll go call Si Lan and the others. They’re all waiting at the door.”
Xin Mei put his head back down and was about to leave when he grasped her wrist.
“Sit.” Though seriously injured and speaking weakly, these two words were still said with undeniable authority. “Don’t call them for now.”
Xin Mei leaned against the bedside and giggled: “Oh? You want to be alone with me to pour out your heart?”
That’s how it’s always acted in plays, right? After a hero saves a beauty or a beauty saves a hero, when the injured one wakes up, there’s inevitably a tender emotional scene.
Lu Qianqiao remained noncommittal, one hand gently grasping her wrist without letting go.
“I told you to run, so why did you come back after running?”
His voice was very low, somewhat gentle, no longer carrying the cold pride from their first meeting.
She bit into a dumpling and mumbled: “If I really ran, you would have died. Now you owe me a favor – remember to repay it.”
Lu Qianqiao smiled: “Weren’t you afraid of being bullied again by coming back?”
Xin Mei snorted: “My father says it’s a blessing if I don’t bully others – no one in the world can bully me.”
…Worthy of Boss Xin, such insight. Lu Qianqiao recalled her various fierce deeds and the many poor souls who had been driven to tears, driven away, or fainted by her, and couldn’t help but sigh sympathetically.
“Lu Qianqiao, now that you’re fine, I need to go home. Tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday.”
She ate the last dumpling, wiped her greasy hands on his clothes twice, and tried to pull her wrist from his grasp, but he closed his five fingers and gripped tighter.
She looked at him puzzledly, but he still said nothing, eyes tightly closed with trembling eyelashes. After a while, they opened gently like butterfly wings, his deep black pupils fixed on her as if he had many things to say but hesitated whether to voice them.
Xin Mei leaned down: “Is there something else you want to say? Worried about the Yunwu Array? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
He was silent for a moment, his fingers tightening: “You… wait a moment. Bring the puppet and small knife from the bundle.”
She quickly waved her hands: “Forget it, your injuries haven’t healed yet!”
“My fingers aren’t injured.”
“…Alright then.”
She stood up and tried to move the wrist he was holding, but his fingers remained clasped without any intention of loosening.
Uh? She was confused.
“Xin Mei.” He smiled and called her name for some unknown reason.
Her fingertips began to tremble slightly, feeling both strange and bewildered. Because of his injury, his fingers were a bit cool. They slowly relaxed and gently grasped one of her fingers. It still had some bitter-smelling wound medicine on it, with a sticky, slippery sensation. He carefully wiped this hand clean with his sleeve.
“Go get it.” He slowly released her hand.
The rudimentary form of the Heavenly Lady puppet was already complete. This time it didn’t need movable joints, so the process wasn’t so complicated. He leaned against the bed, using the small knife to carve the puppet’s features bit by bit.
Like that day at Meishan Residence, she leaned her whole body over again, cupping her chin and watching intently at his every cut. Sunlight shone on her head, making her loose hair appear fluffy. He could smell the faint fragrance of her hair, the salty-spicy scent of sauce on her fingers, and the bitter smell of wound medicine.
The heat of the sunlight made these scattered scents drift up – surprisingly fragrant. He found he rather liked it.
A group of demons hid under the windowsill. Si Lan continuously performed the action of tearfully rushing forward to break through the window, being blocked back again and again. Tao Guoguo blushed as she tried to find a crack in the wall to peek through. Yinglian hid in the shadows, using lotus leaves to make a little person labeled “Xin Mei” and hammering it vigorously with nails.
Everyone was quite agitated, only Official Zhao stroked his thin beard with a lewd smile: “Did you hear that? Who dares say the General is a virgin who doesn’t understand women? Though he’s seriously injured and can’t use his body, he still has his fingers! You little brats should learn from this!”
When the sky was about to darken, Xin Mei woke up.
She had spent the whole afternoon lying by the bed watching Lu Qianqiao carve the puppet, and had fallen asleep while watching. She had been quite tired these past few days. Few of the demons in the Imperial Tomb knew how to care for patients, so in the end, aside from washing and other private matters, the tasks of changing medicine, feeding water, and watching over him all fell to her.
She yawned – sleeping in that position wasn’t comfortable, and now her whole body ached. Just as she was trying to twist her neck, she suddenly felt something heavy on her head. Lu Qianqiao’s hand was resting on her hair, gently stroking.
Xin Mei turned her head, and the thin blanket that had been covering her shoulders slipped down.
She didn’t move, just lay by the bed smiling as she tilted her head to look at him.
Someone had brought candles to the table, and that bit of light danced in his eyes. He gently stroked her head with such a tender expression.
“Lu Qianqiao,” she suddenly spoke, smiling, “do you like me?”
His hand paused but didn’t withdraw, nor did he speak. After a moment, he picked up a small, delicate yet colorful puppet from the bedside and placed it before her.
“A gift,” he said.
The completed Heavenly Lady stood gracefully before her with flowing hair, colorful robes, both majestic and beautiful. Xin Mei picked it up with delight, reluctant to use force, only touching its hair and clothes gently with her fingertips, murmuring: “It’s finished so quickly? It even has hair and clothes…”
“Official Zhao brought them.”
Xin Mei stared at it intently for a long time before looking up at him: “Mm, thank you, I really like it.”
Lu Qianqiao stiffly withdrew his hand and turned his face away: “Good that you like it. It’s getting dark, I’ll have Si Lan escort you home. Go quickly.”
Xin Mei stroked the Heavenly Lady’s hair absentmindedly for a while, then suddenly stood up, put the puppet in her bundle, and smiled: “Lu Qianqiao, this puppet doesn’t count as a gift – you promised it to me long ago. For my birthday gift, you need to give me another one.”
He was stunned.
“I also like the General from that play last time. Though he was terribly bad, sometimes he was quite likeable too. Help me make a General puppet – I’ll come get it in a few days.”
She giggled and turned to leave.
Lu Qianqiao remained sitting dazedly on the bed, suddenly touching his face: Terribly bad, but sometimes quite likeable? Right, where’s the mirror? Where’s the mirror? What kind of complex, tangled feeling was this? He needed to look carefully before deciding.
Si Lan had been crouching outside the door with red eyes. Seeing Xin Mei come out, he looked like a dispirited old dog, only glancing at her once.
Xin Mei stared at him for a long time until his whole body felt uncomfortable, then angrily said: “What are you looking at?! You… you shameless girl… actually… actually seducing the General…”
She sighed: “Your paralyzed face has gotten worse – now it’s become a resentful husband face. You should go see a doctor.”
Si Lan trembled all over as he went to lead the spirit beast, wanting to howl at the sky – why did the General have to fall for this kind of girl?!
Without a large group of spirit beasts as baggage, the return journey seemed particularly short. At a quarter to noon, Xin Mei was already above Xinxie Manor.
Si Lan kept a straight face, too lazy to pay her any attention, and left with the spirit beast as soon as he could.
Xin Mei waved goodbye from behind: “Thanks for bringing me home, remember to see a doctor soon.”
He nearly fell off his spirit beast.
Xin Mei smiled as she directed Qiuyue to land in Xinxie Manor’s courtyard. Xin Xiong, who had heard the commotion long ago, came running out expectantly. Seeing her return home alone without even the shadow of a man beside her, he immediately flew into a rage.
“What have you been playing around with outside for over a month?! Where’s the son-in-law? Where’s the son-in-law I told you to find?!”
Xin Mei calmly put away Qiuyue and waved at him with a smile full of regal dominance: “I’ve taken a fancy to one who lives near Wanlan Mountain. I’ll go capture him in a few days.”