Li Xiqing’s wife, Song shi’s appearance was gentle, kind and hospitable. She brought Xie Liqing and Leng shi over to sit, and told the servants to prepare some tea.
Leng shi took the medicinal herbs from her maid servant. “Yesterday your house was brightly lit, so we had some people go over to check what had happened and found that the Young Master was heavily sick. Here I have some medicine for headaches and high fevers; after boiling and drinking it for three dawns, the next day his temperature should go down.”
Song shi was touched by the gift, and hurriedly had the maid take it.
Actually most of the Qing officials were reluctant to interact with the businessmen, so although the Li’s knew that the new Qing Zhou governor had moved in beside them, they did not visit them. However, they had never thought that Xie Liqing would visit them first. The Madame of Duke Ding’s Residence, on the outside, seemed perfect and aloof, yet she was actually willing to give precious gifts to them, making them feel moved.
Leng Chan Yu had the maids bring out the gifts, saying, “We came over on short-notice, and didn’t prepare anything particularly good, so both of you musn’t laugh.”
Song shi repeatedly denied it, saying,”All of these things cannot be found in Qing Zhou, for Madame to give us these, is already this commoner’s blessing…”
Song shi saw the two precious and adorable children, and had the servants bring out some small snacks to show her hospitality.
Like this, the two families struck up a conversation, and without their knowing, half an hour passed.
Seeing that it was nearly noon, Leng shi was worried that Xie Zhen would be lonely at home, and prepared to leave, only to see an old maidservant enter. “Madame, the Young Master has woken up!”
Song shi was also someone who tenderly loved her children, and immediately stood up, “How is he? Has the fever subsided?”
The old maidservant answered, “He still has a slight fever. Just now, he even mumbled some words deliriously.”
At this Song shi was somewhat worried. His fever had gone for a full day, what if it had managed to burn his brain cells? She sat uneasily, wanting to go over to see, but she also didn’t want to offend the Duke Ding Household.
Leng shi saw her dilemma, and called Xie Xun and Xie Rong over to her side, sensibly saying, ‘Children are most important. Song shi should quickly go over to see him, we were planning to leave before anyway.”
Song shi was also deeply anxious about her child, and stay longer than needed after sending them back and rapidly walking to the back hall.
The child really hadn’t gotten better, and Song shi was worried till her head spun. Remembering the medicinal herbs that Leng shi had brought over, she gritted her teeth and ordered the servants to quickly prepare it, hoping that it could save her child’s life.
Only after they had returned did they realise that Xie Zhen had already awoken.
The young girl was seated on the steps before the vertical chui hua door with her palm supporting her head, constantly staring outside. When she first arrived in Qing Zhou, her heart was always uneasy. Even though Shuang Yu had advised her to wait inside for very long, she still refused to move, until she saw her family. The moment she saw them, she excitedly welcomed them back, stood up and shouted, “Ah niang, Ah Tie!”
Leng shi saw her from faraway, and her lonely silhouette made her heart hurt, so she hurriedly walked forward and hugged her. “Why was little lamb sitting here?” She asked.
She pouted, saying, “Where did all of you go? Why did you abandon me alone at home?”
Leng shi explained, “We went to visit our neighbours at the Li residence. Just now you were still sleeping, so we didn’t ask anyone to wake you up.”
After she knew what had happened, she didn’t seem as despondent as before.
Regarding whose house they visited…She originally hadn’t even thought that much about it.
Children’s emotions come and go, and very quickly Xie Zhen was playing with Xie Xun like nothing had happened. Out of the three children, Xie Zhen was the most mischievous, and her laugh was the most clear and ringing. When she laughed, her eyes would curve into crescents, and it was as though even if she wanted the stars in the sky, nobody would have had the heart to reject her.
A few days later, the Li couple and their son Li Yu came over to visit Xie fu.
Due to the medicinal herbs, Li Yu finally recovered, and Song shi was thankful beyond words.
Leeng shi was at the front entertaining the guests, and Xie Zhen wanted to bring her little sister over to see, “Ah Xun, let’s also go over to the front hall.”
However, Xie Xun held no interest in those sort of things, and she squatted under a tree digging for earthworms, never lifting her head. “I’m not going; Brother said that if I could dig out some earthworms, he would bring me to fish.”
Xie Zhen stomped her foot, “What’s so fun about fishing?”
Raising her head, Xie Xun retorted, “What’s so fun about the front hall?”
The two girls stared at each other, and Xie Zhen sighed loudly, saying, “Then I’ll go by myself!”
Saying that she ignored Xie Xun, lifted her skirt and walked off in the direction of the front hall.
Shuang Yu shook her head, and helplessly followed.
Xie Zhen was a naturally lively person, and she always ran towards wherever there were people. Now that she’d heard that there were guests in the house, she would of course go over to look.
With a small body and short legs, she couldn’t walk very quickly. To go to the main hall it already took her an hour.
Voices could be heard from the main hall. She could hear Ah niang’s and another unidentifiable voice.
Just as she was about to step towards it, another person came out from the hall.
The other person had a powdered, snowy-white face, and long, thick eyelashes, making him look even more adorable than Ah Xun. It was only that he was a little skinny and small, his face sickly pale, and seemed to have been gravely ill lately. Xie Zhen blinked and took a second look before asking, “Who are you?”
The aforementioned person was actually the Li’s only son, Li Yu, who was five that year and wasn’t even as tall as Xie Zhen.
Li Yu saw her brazenly staring at him, and looked away saying, “I am Li Yu.”
Xie Zhen heard his name as ‘Li Yu’, with ‘Yu’ being jade, and as Ah Niang’s birth name also contained the word jade, she assumed that Li Yu was actually a girl. Since he was a guest, she treated him hospitably, saying, “You look very pretty! I’m five this year, what about you? How about I call you Little Sister Yu from now on?”
Li Yu blanched, and only replied after a while. “I’m not a little sister.”
Xie Zhen’s mind was incredibly quick. “Big Sister Yu?”
It wasn’t that Xie Zhen was oblivious or careless, as in actuality Li Yu’s appearance was too beautiful, and when one took a glance at him, all their attention would immediately be focused on his face, and they would ignore his male clothing. Furthermore, after his illness, he was also wearing a white robe, making him seem even more delicate…
Annoyed, Li Yu corrected her. “Yu is actually the Yu from wealth, ‘Fu Yu’. I am neither a little sister nor a big sister, in fact you should call me big brother!”
Xie Zhen then understood, and widened her eyes in incomprehension and doubt. A beaty like this was actually a male? She didn’t believe him! Her brain whirring, Xie Zhen remembered that when she was small, when she bathed with her brother, there was a place on her brother’s body that was different from a girls’. She sneakily raised her hand and groped Li Yu’s crotch.
For a long moment, all was silent.
Shyly, she drew back her hand. “Oh…”
Lifting her head, she saw that Li Yu’s face was rapidly changing from green to red, and his eyes almost seemed like they wanted to devour her in anger.
Translator’s Comments:
We have been approved by the mods on novelupdates! Yay! Also Xie Zhen needs to restrain herself HAHA poor Li Yu. I’ll be out tomorrow but we’ve translated about half of chapter 3.1 so the next chapter will probably be out by 1.00AM Friday GMT +0800.