Chapter 106.1
Zhao Heng woke up slowly, wrinkling her nose at the strong medicinal smell. After dinner and medicine last night, drowsiness had swept over her like a tide, causing her to lean over and fall asleep.
Now as she sat up slowly with a throbbing head and a sharp pain in her lower leg, she noticed that her leg was bound with a wooden board, soft gauze securing it around her calf, making it difficult to bend her knee.
Feeling puzzled, she wondered when the physician had bound her leg like this, but she couldn't feel anything.
"Awake?" Footsteps approached the tent, followed by a hand, its joints prominent, pulling back the curtain.
It was Li Wenjian, he reached out to touch Zhao Heng's forehead, furrowing his brow, "Still a bit feverish?"
Feeling groggy, Zhao Heng coughed violently a few times, her eye sockets tinged red from the coughing, involuntarily clutching her dress.
Li Wenjian's brow furrowed as he looked at her flushed face, then reached out to touch her head.
Their eyes met, the chaotic rain outside making a racket, the dim candlelight casting shadows on the boy's pale profile. He looked at her expressionlessly, his voice slightly hoarse, "This time, you also coughed."
"I'm sorry," Zhao Heng raised her eyes, but his face was half-shrouded in darkness, making it difficult to gauge his expression.
His cold breath suddenly drew nearer, his pupils reflecting the candlelight, as he gently patted her back, "Let's take our medicine and recuperate together."
She paused for a moment, nodding gently. But she couldn't understand, what was there to be happy about in taking medicine and recuperating?
Li Wenjian kept his word and stayed in Qingyuan to accompany her in recovery.
After breakfast, Ying Que set up a tea stove in the corridor and brought out two chairs. Li Wenjian sat on a chair reading while Zhao Heng leaned back on the chair trying to solve a Nine Rings puzzle.
Wei Zhan returned from his travels with many jade beads for Wei Wanyu. When Zhao Heng returned to Qingyuan, Ying Que brought out a small box, saying it was a gift from Young Master Wei Zhan.
She thought Ying Que was lying, but upon opening it, she found many interesting things inside. She initially wanted to return everything to Wei Zhan due to the incident with Li Wenjian, but Ying Que stopped her, saying that Wei Zhan always brought gifts for the children in the house, and he was just joking with Li Wenjian as usual, so she accepted it.
The box contained many Luban puzzles; she had solved a few, but some were too difficult and required careful consideration.
The heavy rain continued, dripping down from the eaves like a curtain of light.
Zhao Heng was stuck with the Nine Rings puzzle, trying various solutions but failing to unlock it. Feeling a bit disheartened, she sighed deeply while resting her chin on her hand.
As soon as she finished sighing, a piece of peanut brittle appeared near her lips, she bit into it and chewed slowly.
"Why are you sighing?" Li Wenjian turned to ask her.
Zhao Heng shook the Nine Rings puzzle at him, the jade stones clinking together, and said with a downturned mouth, "I've been trying for so long but still can't solve it."
Li Wenjian took the Nine Rings puzzle, looked at it, and said, "I know a book that has the solution for this."
Zhao Heng's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Li Wenjian nodded gently, "Yes."
He then instructed Mu Gui to immediately fetch the set of books from the top right of the Xuanzi bookcase in his study.
Mu Gui hurried to the study to fetch the book mentioned by Li Wenjian but was puzzled to find that it was actually a travelogue, not a book on solving the Nine Rings puzzle.
He scratched his head, hesitating for a moment, and then realized that most of the books on the shelf were travelogues. He was sure he hadn't grabbed the wrong one.
Reluctantly returning to Qingyuan, Mu Gui handed the book to Li Wenjian, who calmly approached Zhao Heng and said, "This is the one."
Mu Gui chuckled, amused that the young master was teasing her for not being able to read.
Zhao Heng sat upright in her chair, leaning slightly towards Li Wenjian, stretching her neck to read the words in the book. Li Wenjian elegantly flipped open the book, pointing to the words on the paper, saying, "First, take the fifth ring to the left side."
Zhao Heng didn't move, her eyes fixed on the book in his hands.
Seeing her hesitation, Li Wenjian turned to her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"This character is pronounced 'shan,' and this one is pronounced 'shui,'" Zhao Heng frowned. "There's no character for 'huan' here."
Looking into his eyes, Zhao Heng said, "Brother Shulang, you're lying."
Li Wenjian rubbed his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed at being caught in a lie. Avoiding eye contact, he pursed his lips and said, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Zhao Heng smiled, "You didn't know I've started learning to read."
Li Wenjian was genuinely surprised. "When did you start learning?"
"For a while now," Zhao Heng looked at him. "I asked Ying Que to teach me."
Li Wenjian nodded, a small smile unconsciously appearing on his lips.
Leaning closer to him, Zhao Heng asked, "Are you happy that I'm learning to read?"
Li Wenjian reached out to remove the piece of peanut brittle stuck to her lips, saying, "Yes, I'm happy."
Pausing for a moment, he asked, "Are you happy?"
"Very happy!" Zhao Heng nodded vigorously. "Your happiness makes me happy."
*
Zhao Heng had difficulty walking due to her leg, so Ying Que had a craftsman make a short crutch for her. She hopped around with the crutch, making a clanking sound on the ground, clearly audible from afar.
The physician had advised against excessive movement, so Ying Que kept a close eye on her, only allowing her to walk in the courtyard and not step outside the gate.
Every day, she circled the courtyard with her crutch, gazing longingly at the wall, often tempted to sneak into the vegetable garden. However, she refrained due to Ying Que's stern gaze.
One day, while Ying Que was busy in the backyard, Zhao Heng sneaked to the door, planning to visit the vegetable garden.
She ran into Li Wenjian carrying a bunch of daisies on the way.
"Ah Heng," he called out.
Zhao Heng hurriedly placed a finger on her lips, shushing him.
Arching an eyebrow, Li Wenjian noticed that Ying Que wasn't with her and said knowingly, "You sneaked out without Ying Que?"
"She wouldn't let me go to the vegetable garden," Zhao Heng explained. "Wanyu said our potatoes were flowering, and I wanted to see them."
Not sure if Li Wenjian would tell Ying Que, she hesitated for a moment, then pulled him close and said, "Don't tell her, okay?"
"The physician said you shouldn't move around freely," Li Wenjian remarked, glancing at the crutch by her side.
Thinking he was like Ying Que, forbidding her from going to the garden, Zhao Heng's expression turned crestfallen. "Oh..."
Li Wenjian touched her head, tucked the daisies into her arms, then crouched in front of her and said, "I can carry you."
With that, he looked back at Zhao Heng and gestured for her to climb on.
As the wind rustled, making eyes feel dry, Zhao Heng lay on his back, listening to his breaths.
Chewing her words, she said, "Brother Shulang, you're really nice."
"Yeah," Li Wenjian slightly turned his face, with glistening sweat on his temple. "Ah Heng, I want you to be happy because your happiness is mine."
She was indeed happy.
In the vegetable garden, she saw potatoes growing lushly, each bunch adorned with large flowers. During her absence, Wei Wanyu had diligently tended to the garden, weeding around the beanstalks, which now bore long strings of beans.
Looking at their progress, it wouldn't be long before they could enjoy stewed potatoes with beans.
The next day, Li Wenjian didn't visit as planned because he was feeling unwell. Zhao Heng learned from Chunxi that the doctor was examining him as he had sweated and felt unwell.
Feeling guilty for causing Li Wenjian's illness by making him carry her, Zhao Heng wished for Wei Wanyu to come and chat with her about the outside world.
When Wei Wanyu arrived with a basket of rice, they sat on the steps peeling the rice and chatting.
Glancing at Zhao Heng's legs, Wei Wanyu asked, "Is your leg still not healed?"
Zhao Heng squeezed her calf, replying, "The doctor says if all goes well, he will remove the board in a few days, and then I can walk freely. Is there something in the garden?"
"No," Wei Wanyu shook her head, mumbling to herself as if counting on her fingers, but ended up confusing herself. Finally, she asked directly, "Can you be better before the Dragon Boat Festival?"
Zhao Heng stuffed a handful of rice into her mouth, chewing slowly before saying, "I can."
"That's great," Wei Wanyu exclaimed cheerfully.
Zhao Heng blinked with her clear, watery eyes, curious, "What's special about the Dragon Boat Festival?"
"We're going to the Jade River to watch the dragon boat race," Wei Wanyu excitedly said. "I was worried you wouldn't be able to go due to your leg. You must get better soon so we can watch together."
Zhao Heng's eyes lit up as she remembered the lively dragon boat races along the Jade River every year during the Dragon Boat Festival. Previously, she had sold flower wreaths by the river during the festival, so she was excited at the prospect of watching the races this time with Li Wenjian.
In order to recover quickly, she no longer yearned to sneak outside during the day, obediently following Ying Que's instructions to only walk around the courtyard. She also behaved well when taking her medicine, not needing to be coaxed, and drank it all up without any fuss.
On the thirtieth of April, Li Wenjian brought a physician to remove the wooden board from her leg.
Removing the board was not difficult; it took less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. She walked around the room, feeling only a slight pain, and the doctor said she would be fine in a couple of days.
Li Wenjian patted her head and said, "In a few days, it will be the Dragon Boat Festival, and we will go boating together."
Zhao Heng smiled, her eyes squinting with joy as she agreed eagerly, "Great!"
With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, Xue Shi made many rice dumplings and sent Zhao Heng to deliver them to the various rooms in the An family.
Her health had improved significantly, no longer looking sickly as before. Initially, she had helped in the kitchen to repay An family's kindness for taking her in, but Hui-niang insisted on paying her.
Since she had food, drink, and shelter in the mansion, receiving payment was unnecessary. Taking advantage of this, she bought many ingredients and made various flavors of rice dumplings, which she delivered according to each household's preferences.
She took a basket of sweet date rice dumplings to Madam Bai.
The eldest daughter-in-law of An's family first branch, Madam Bai, seeing her small figure standing before her, exclaimed, "You injured your leg not long ago. Why are you walking such a long way after getting better?"
Without waiting for Zhao Heng to explain, she made her sit down and then grabbed a handful of candies from the sugar jar and placed them in her hand, saying, "You're so thoughtful to bring us rice dumplings. Try this candy."
Zhao Heng obediently put the candy back in her sleeve and said, "Thank you, Madam. I'll eat it later with my grandma."
"You're the most filial child!" Madam Bai praised her.
Just then, a voice called from outside, "Grandmother!"
Hearing this, Madam Bai's eyes creased with laughter. She hurried to the door, but before she reached it, a figure dashed into the room, as quick as lightning, and threw himself into Madam Bai's arms. "Grandmother, I'm back."
Madam Bai playfully flicked his forehead. "You've grown up, but you're still so mischievous. We have guests here."
An Xuzhi lifted his head, his gaze landing on Zhao Heng. Zhao Heng, in turn, met his eyes silently. The boy towered over her by half a head. He was clad in a well-fitting round-necked brocade robe, lending him an air of unexpected grace.
"What's a delicate little ornament like you doing here?" An Xuzhi impulsively reached out, his hand hovering near the decorative ball atop Zhao Heng's head.
Pulling his hand back, Madam Bai said, "She's your..."
"Ah Lin," the voice was interrupted by Li Wenjian's calm tone from outside the door.
A moment later, Li Wenjian entered the room with long strides. Seeing him, An Xuzhi immediately behaved, abandoning his playful demeanor and walking over to Li Wenjian to greet him respectfully, "Uncle Lang."
Li Wenjian's gaze swept past Zhao Heng's face as he patted his head, saying, "You've grown taller after going out for a while."
An Xuzhi chuckled and gestured, "Just below your chest now."
Li Wenjian nodded and exchanged greetings with Madam Bai. Seeing the beads of sweat on his temple, she handed him a handkerchief to wipe it and scolded, "You just recovered from illness, so why are you rushing around again? Look at all this sweat on your forehead. How can you recover if you fall ill again?"
"I heard Ah Lin had returned," Li Wenjian slightly lowered his eyelids, disguising the guilt in his tone.
After a pause, he looked at Zhao Heng, pretending not to know, and asked, "Why is Ah Heng here?"
"Aunt Xue was kind enough to make rice dumplings for us, and Zhao Heng came to deliver them to me," Madam Bai explained.
Li Wenjian responded with an "Oh."
"Do you call her Ah Heng?" Ah Lin turned to look at her.
Zhao Heng nodded obediently, "I'm Zhao Heng, and you?"
Ah Lin replied, "I'm Ah Lin, but everyone calls me Xiao Silang."
"Brother Silang," ShaoHeng's lips curved sweetly as she addressed him.
Upon hearing this, Ah Lin's eyes lit up. He was the youngest in the main branch of the family, with no younger siblings, not even an opportunity to be an elder brother.
Seeing how Big Brother Wei and Uncle Lang were followed by a bunch of younger siblings joyfully calling them "brother," he couldn't help feeling envious.
"Eh..." he drawled, "Oh my, oh my..."
His collar was tugged, and turning, he met Li Wenjian's indifferent gaze. Frowning in confusion, he asked, "What's wrong, Uncle Lang?"
Li Wenjian corrected Zhao Heng, "It's not Brother Silang, it's Xiao Silang."
Zhao Heng blinked and asked, "Why?"
"Because you called me brother, you can't call him brother too," Li Wenjian explained to her.
Zhao Heng looked surprised. "Can I only call one person brother?"
"Yep," Li Wenjian nodded.
An Xuzhi pursed his lips in silence, then looked at Zhao Heng, gesturing for her not to call Li Wenjian brother and instead to call himself brother. She didn't quite understand his gesture and simply smiled, "Okay, Xiao Silang."
Li Wenjian's lips curled with a hint of amusement as he paid no heed to An Xuzhi's displeasure, instead, gently tousling Zhao Heng's hair.