TSWPF -Chapter 117 Returning

The old man had been gone for more than half a month, and there was no news at all. Li Qingling and Liu Zhimou were both deeply worried, though they didn’t dare show it on their faces, afraid it would make the children at home anxious.

That day, Li Qingling carried a stool and sat at the entrance of the courtyard, gazing toward the village entrance. Frowning, she said, “I wonder how the old man is doing over there? Is the illness very serious?” Serious enough that even the old man was at a loss?

Liu Zhimou stood beside her. Hearing her words, he reached out and rubbed her shoulder. “The situation isn’t clear yet. We can’t just go out and ask around, so all we can do is wait.” Ever since they had told the village head about the outbreak of plague in Shuangyang County more than half a month ago, the village had arranged for people to take turns guarding the village entrance every day, no longer allowing people to enter or leave freely.

This was to prevent anyone from bringing the plague into the village.

Li Qingling sighed softly. “I suppose that’s all we can do.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Qingning came running over with a series of pa-pa-pa footsteps and jumped straight onto her back. In her soft, childish voice, she asked, “Sister, are you waiting here for Grandpa to come back? When will he be back? I miss him so much.” She felt like it had been a very, very long time since she’d seen Grandpa, and she missed him terribly.

Li Qingling reached out and patted Li Qingning’s little bottom, smiling as she answered, “Very soon. Once Grandpa finishes what he needs to do, he’ll come back.” This little one came to ask her every single day when Grandpa would return.

And every day, she patiently gave the same answer.

But today, the little girl was not so easy to fool. Her tiny arms wrapped around Li Qingling’s neck, her little head resting on her shoulder as she pouted and retorted, “Sister, you’re lying. You said the same thing before, but Grandpa still hasn’t come back.” Sister always fooled children.

“…”

Now that this little one could speak fluently, her mouth had become quite sharp, chattering nonstop all day long.

It wasn’t so easy to coax her anymore. Look—now she was even saying her sister was lying.

“Grandpa hasn’t come back because he hasn’t finished his work yet. Once he’s done, he’ll definitely come back,” Li Qingling said, turning her head to glance at the little girl and gently coaxing her. “Let’s just wait for Grandpa at home, okay?”

Hearing this, the little girl’s mood drooped slightly. Like a little adult, she sighed and nodded helplessly. “Alright.”

Seeing her like this, Li Qingling felt both exasperated and amused. She reached out and pinched the little girl’s nose, scolding her with a smile, “You’re so young—why are you sighing like that? You’re like a little old lady.”

“I’m not a little old lady! Sister is mean,” the little girl said, pouting as she wriggled her small body.

Li Qingling laughed again. “Then who was sighing just now, hmm?” This little one—who knew who she took after—was already so clever at such a young age.

“I don’t know! Who was sighing? I didn’t hear anything!” As she spoke, she shook her little head from side to side, as if looking around to see who had been sighing.

“You naughty little imp.” Li Qingling helplessly patted her bottom again. “What are your big brother and sisters doing? Why aren’t you playing with them?”

At this, the little girl shook her head like a rattle drum and said that her brothers and sisters were practicing writing and shouldn’t be disturbed.

Hearing her speak so sensibly, Li Qingling’s heart melted completely. She reached back and lifted the little girl off her back, holding her in her arms. Lowering her head, she kissed the child’s cheek. “Oh my, our Mingming is amazing—she even knows not to disturb her brothers and sisters when they’re writing.”

The little girl puffed out her tiny chest proudly when she heard the praise. “Of course.” Big Brother had told her that when her brothers and sisters were writing, she mustn’t disturb them.

She was a good child who listened to her brothers and sisters.

“So good!”

Li Qingling kissed her chubby little cheeks twice more.

Perhaps because they had lost their parents, the children at home were all so obedient and sensible that it made one’s heart ache.

At the same time, Li Qingling felt a sense of pride. The children she had raised were so well-behaved and thoughtful—something others could only envy.

The little girl giggled from being kissed. She lifted her small face and kissed Li Qingling’s cheek twice in return. After that, she tried to wriggle down from Li Qingling’s arms, wanting to go to the study to see if her brothers and sisters had finished writing their big characters yet.

But before she could move, a carriage came into view at the village entrance.

When Li Qingling saw the carriage, she stood up with the little girl still in her arms and strained her eyes to look. “Brother Zhimou, do you think that’s the old man coming back?”

“Don’t rush—let’s go take a look,” Liu Zhimou said, squeezing Li Qingling’s hand before striding toward the village entrance.

Two villagers on guard saw the carriage approaching and, suppressing their fear, stopped it.

“Who are you? The village isn’t allowing people to enter freely right now.”

The one driving the carriage was Liu Yi, the same man who had come to fetch the old man that day. Seeing the villagers’ stance, he frowned and opened his mouth, about to scold them, when the old man poked his head out of the carriage.

The moment he appeared, Liu Zhimou saw him and cried out in surprise, “Grandpa!”

“Boy Mo…” The old man smiled when he saw Liu Zhimou and jumped down from the carriage.

Turning to the two villagers, he said, “Gentlemen, I live in Zhimou’s home. May I pass?”

When Liu Zhimou arrived and heard this, he quickly added, “Uncles, he really is my grandpa who lives with us—he’s not an outsider.” After a pause, he continued, “He’s an imperial physician. He left over half a month ago because His Majesty summoned him to treat the plague. Now that he’s back, the plague should have been cured.”

Hearing that he was an imperial physician summoned by the emperor to treat a plague, the two villagers’ hearts started pounding. They swallowed nervously and kept asking Liu Zhimou if it was really true.

Understanding that their caution was for the good of the village, Liu Zhimou smiled and replied, “You can go ask Grandpa Village Head. He knows about this too.”

“Well…” The two villagers exchanged glances. Out of caution, they apologized to Liu Zhimou. “S-sorry about this. Please wait a moment. I—I’ll go ask the village head.”

As soon as one of them finished speaking, he took off running.

“What’s going on?” the old man asked, looking at the villagers before turning to Liu Zhimou.

Liu Zhimou smiled and gave him a brief explanation. Just as he finished, Li Qingling arrived with the little girl in her arms.

She asked in confusion, “Why are you still standing here? Why aren’t we going home?” She had waited and waited at the gate, and when they didn’t come back, she couldn’t help running over.

“We’ll go back in a moment,” Liu Zhimou said, glancing at the villagers standing awkwardly nearby.

Li Qingling immediately understood. She nodded and didn’t insist.

After all, this rule had been set by the village head. If she casually broke it, it would be like slapping him in the face.

That wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Grandpa, hug…” Seeing the long-awaited Grandpa finally back, the little girl twisted in Li Qingling’s arms like a wriggling dough rope, wanting the old man to hold her.

The old man missed her dearly too and reached out instinctively to pick her up. But then he remembered that he’d come straight from a plague-stricken area—who knew how many germs he might be carrying? He immediately withdrew his hand and smiled gently to comfort her. “Wait until Grandpa goes home, washes up, and changes clothes. Then I’ll hold Ningning, alright?”

Children were delicate. If she got infected and fell ill, that would be terrible.

Seeing him pull his hand back, the little girl’s mouth drooped. “Nooo… I miss Grandpa. Hug…” Grandpa had been gone so long, and now he wouldn’t even hug her—she felt wronged.

“Ningning, be good. Grandpa will hug you in just a bit.”

“Stop fussing. If you want to get sick and drink bitter medicine, then let Grandpa hug you now,” Li Qingling said.

At the mention of bitter medicine, Li Qingning immediately pulled her hands back and shook her head vigorously. “No bitter medicine!”

The old man glared at Li Qingling. “Don’t scare Ningning like that. If she stops being close to me, I’ll beat you.” Then he smiled again and explained to Li Qingning, “Be good, Ningning. Grandpa’s clothes are dirty right now, so I can’t hold you. After Grandpa bathes and changes clothes, I can hold you.”

Hearing this, Li Qingning nodded happily. “Okay! I’ll wait for Grandpa to bathe and change clothes, then hold Ningning.” She could wait a little longer.

“Imperial Physician Xue, time is short. You…” Liu Yi hesitated but couldn’t help reminding him.

This time, the old man had cured the plague—a great achievement. He needed to return to the capital to be granted an audience with the emperor.

He had rushed back this time only because he worried that the children would be anxious. He wanted to come back and reassure them in person.

“It’s fine. This won’t take long,” the old man said dismissively, waving his hand. He hadn’t even seen the other children yet—how could he leave so soon?

Hearing this, Liu Yi could only nod silently and didn’t dare urge the imperial physician any further.

“Grandpa, are you… are you leaving again? Has the plague not been cured?” Liu Zhimou asked.

When one of the villagers heard this, his face changed drastically, and he stumbled back several steps.

Liu Zhimou and Li Qingling glanced at him but said nothing, turning their attention back to the old man.

“It’s cured. I’ve made some merit, so I have to go to the capital to see His Majesty,” the old man said with a smile, comforting Liu Zhimou. “I hadn’t been back for over half a month and was afraid you’d be worried, so I came to tell you before heading to the capital.”