RYEY – Chapter 238 Didn’t Even Know She Was Being Bullied

“So you did it on purpose… Are you really trying to match Lele with Guoqing?”

Li Huan nodded. Whether in Xiangyang Village or Xiangqian Village, he couldn’t find a boy more reliable than Guoqing.

There might be good boys in the county town, but city kids wouldn’t necessarily like a girl with a rural household registration. So that route wasn’t worth considering.

“But Guoqing is a soldier,” Cheng Qiao said.

“Being a soldier is good! Besides, Guoqing’s father is the regiment commander. If Lele marries him, who would dare cause trouble for the commander’s daughter-in-law? And in four years, the commander might even get promoted.”

Cheng Qiao nodded; she hadn’t thought about that aspect. She had only planned to wait until the college entrance exams resumed, then take Li Huan and her mother-in-law to the capital. After all, her grandfather had left her mother a courtyard house there.

Speaking of the courtyard house, she also thought of the twenty-eight boxes she had taken away. She didn’t know what was inside, and she couldn’t check on the train. She’d look at them when she got home.

Finally, the train arrived in Chun City. Little Cheng Li excitedly shouted, “We’re home!”

Li Huan picked up little Cheng Li and carried the large backpack, while Cheng Qiao held onto his coat hem so they wouldn’t get separated in the crowd.

Once in Chun City, Cheng Qiao didn’t go home immediately. She first went to check the house she had bought; seeing everything as before, she left feeling at ease.

When the long-distance bus arrived at the station, Cheng Qiao immediately saw Mother Li, Lele, and Xuhui waiting. They saw her too, their faces lighting up with joyful smiles.

“Second sister-in-law, you’re back!”

“Mom, you’re back!”

“Daughter-in-law, you’re back!”

All three spoke at once, crowding around her. Cheng Qiao’s heart felt flooded with warmth—it was the feeling of family.

“I’m back. Were you good? Did you listen to your mother?”

“Yes! I even got first place on my exams,” Li Le proudly said. Cheng Qiao’s heart skipped a beat; she had forgotten one thing—she had meant to show Li Le’s essay to Li Bing. What now?

Luckily, Li Le seemed to have forgotten too. She linked arms with Cheng Qiao and chattered on about everything that had happened at home.

“What? Xuhui’s grandmother can walk now?”

Xuhui shyly nodded. Grandpa Ye was amazing—just a few dozen silver needles and his grandmother could stand. She could only walk a few steps with help, but she was already very happy.

“Qiao Girl, you’re back.”

A bullock cart slowly approached. Uncle Niu smiled at Cheng Qiao and Li Huan, and at little Cheng Li in Li Huan’s arms. Just a few months apart, and the little one had grown.

“Uncle Niu, here, these are cigarettes from my father, and this wine too,” Li Huan said.

Uncle Niu looked at the three packs of cigarettes and the bottle of wine in his hands, thrilled but speechless. He loved these things, but cigarettes required coupons, and so did the wine—how could a bullock cart driver get them?

“Qiao Girl, thank your father for me. He’s truly a good man.”

Cheng Qiao and Li Huan exchanged smiles, realizing what Uncle Niu considered a “good person.”

On the way, villagers were everywhere, busy with spring planting. That Li Huan had taken time off in such a busy season to pick her up showed how much he truly cared.

At the doorstep, Uncle Niu helped carry the large packages inside and then drove off with his ox. Mother Li took Lele to boil water—her son and daughter-in-law had just returned and surely needed a bath.

“Mom, these are gifts for you. This is for Lele, this for Xuhui, and this one for your grandmother. This is for Chen Weidang, this for Aunt Wang, these for your good friends, this for Qiu Min and Shouhou, and these for Lele and Xuhui—let them give a candy to each child in the village.”

Cheng Qiao opened the two large packages, filled with clothes, shoes, socks, various nutritional supplements, and mostly fruit candies—her storage space was full of them.

Li Le and Xuhui cheered and ran outside. With candies in their pockets, they could share them with friends. Most children wouldn’t get candy until the New Year.

“I’ll go see my master first,” Cheng Qiao said, taking a small package and leaving the yard. Since she had left, Ye Jun had moved back to his own room, avoiding any awkwardness.

“Master, are you there?”

“Qiao Girl, come in. Why did you take so long?”

“Master, look.”

The small package she had was gone, replaced by a leather suitcase from Ye Jun—big enough to hold many things.

Opening it, she saw various precious herbs. Ye Jun’s eyes moistened. This child had collected extremely rare herbs—she must have put in a lot of effort.

But when he saw clusters of green Qilin Rebirth Grass, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Could this herb really exist?

“Master, please process these herbs, or their potency will be lost.”

“Why don’t you do it yourself?”

“There aren’t conditions for that right now. But Master, I have another gift for you. Don’t get too excited.”

Cheng Qiao took a large wooden box from her backpack. Opening the lid, a golden light flashed. When Ye Jun looked again, he saw six Rebirth Pills inside.

“Girl, you…”

“Master, keep them. You can give them away or use them yourself. They’re my gift to you.”

“You… you can actually make this many Rebirth Pills?”

“Master, the herbs I found could only make six pills. The rest of the Rebirth Grass wasn’t enough to make more.”

After these days of study, Cheng Qiao realized that the Qilin Rebirth Tree, after she had harvested herbs from it, had grown weak. It would take years before it fully recovered enough to grow more.

“Girl, taking you as my apprentice was the best choice I’ve ever made. Study hard every day. Traditional Chinese medicine is vast—no matter how smart you are, you must work diligently. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Cheng Qiao nodded repeatedly, chatted with Ye Jun for a while longer, then prepared to sleep. She was truly exhausted; if she didn’t rest, she’d collapse.

“Wait. I only need two Rebirth Pills. Keep the rest for yourself.”

Ye Jun took a jade box without argument, put in two pills, and returned the rest. No matter how much Cheng Qiao pleaded, he shook his head.

Back home, Cheng Qiao entered her space, quickly bathed, and lay on the warm kang bed, falling asleep immediately. When Li Huan finished bathing and came in, he saw her face flushed and sleeping soundly.

He gently stroked her face. Slowly, his hands began to wander, and by the end, Cheng Qiao remained asleep, completely exhausted.