“Someone has hurt the General so badly! Say, who did this?!”

“It was some red-eyed people who did it. Besides, you’ve asked me this question for 387 times in these four days...”

“Big brother Qianqiao! I don’t want you to die!”

“If you beat him with your chicken wings again, he might die ...”

…………

The noisy voices came and went like running water, but they gradually subsided, and at last, the room became very quiet.

The curtain was gently opened. A bitter and unpleasant smell mixed with the sweet smell of food drifted to his nose. Feeling a soft hand smearing medicine onto himself, Lu Qianqiao could not help but blush and opened up his eyes.

String of Meatb.a.l.l.s
Source Xinshipu

In his field of vision was a side view of Xin Mei’s face. She turned her head and he didn"t know what she was looking at. While giving him a very bitter and unpleasant medicine, she was holding a string of meatb.a.l.l.s on her other hand, which she would take a bite from time to time--it was really a difficult move. Seeing her hand going down again to his chest and almost touching his abdomen, he felt he could not keep on like this, so he stopped her.

“You ...” He tried to speak, only to find his voice was dry and hoa.r.s.e.

“Huh?” She turned her head in confusion. When she saw that he finally woke up, she felt quite joyous, “You wake up? You have slept for four days. How do you feel now?“

Lu Qianqiao blinked and his fingers moved slightly, “Sauce ...”

Though, he did not expect her to burst into tears and cried, “You finally woke up. I was so worried.” However, the fact that she was dripping sauce on his hand while eating her meatb.a.l.l.s seems to annoy him very much.

“Sorry, I’ll wipe it for you.”

She carefully wiped the sauce off his fingers with her handkerchief, then she picked up a small jug with a thin mouth, half picked up his head, and carefully fed him some water.

“You’ve awake. I’ll get Silan and others. They’re all waiting at the door.”

Xin Mei put his head back, got up and was about to leave when he grasped her wrist.

"Sit down." Despite his serious injury and still weak in speech, these two words, just like before, seemed like could not be defied. "Don"t call them for the time being."

Xin Mei leaned forward by the bedside while grinning, “Why? Do you want to be alone with me and pour your heart out?“

That was how it performed in the play, wasn’t it? After a hero rescued a beauty or a beauty rescued a hero, the injured one would wake up, and there was bound to be a sentimental moment.

Lu Qianqao did not answer as one of his hand gently grasped her wrist, never letting go.

“I told you to run. Why did you come back?”

His voice was very low, a little gentle, no longer cold and arrogant like the first time they met.

She bit at the meatb.a.l.l.s and murmured, “If I really run, you would really have die. Now you owe me a favour. Remember to return it back to me. “

Lu Qianqiao smiled, “Not afraid of being bullied again after running back?”

Xin Mei snorted, “My father said he would be grateful if I didn’t bully others since no one in the world has been able to bully me.”

.....So worthy of being Boss Xin, very understanding. Lu Qianqiao recalled all her tough deeds, as well as those poor people who were angered till they teared, ran away and fainted because of her. He could not help but sighed sympathetically.

“Lu Qianqao, you are all right now. I must return home, since tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday.”

She ate the last of the meatb.a.l.l.s, and wiped her oily hand on his clothes, twice. She tried to pull her wrist out of his hand, but he closed his fingers and held it even tighter.

She looked at him doubtfully, but he still didn"t say anything. His eyes were tightly closed and his eyelashes trembled slightly. After a while, he opened them gently like fluttering b.u.t.terfly wings. His dark eyes were fixed on her. He seemed to have a lot to say but hesitated whether to say it or not.

Xin Mei leaned over and said, “What else do you want to say? Afraid for the secret of Mist Formation? Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.“

He was silent for a moment and his fingers tightened. “You... wait for a minute. Bring the doll and the knife from my baggage. “

She quickly waved her hand, “Forget it. You’re totally not well yet!”

“My fingers aren’t injured.”

“……okay then.”

She got up and tried to move her stuck wrist. His fingers still clasped on it and would not let go.

Eh? She was at loss.

“Xin Mei.” He smiled. He had no idea why he even called out her name.

Her fingertips trembled slightly. She felt strange, and at little lost. Because of his injury, his fingers were a little cold. Slowly they stretch and gently hold onto one of her finger. His fingers also had a bittersweet smell and sticky oily touch from the wound medicine. He carefully wiped her hand clean with his sleeve.

“Go get it.” He slowly let go of her hand.

Now that the prototype was ready, there was no need for the doll to move its joints, so the next procedure wouldn’t be that complicated. He leaned against the head of the bed and bit by bit cut the doll features with his knife.

Like that day in Meishan’s residence, Xin Mei leaned over with her whole body and looked at each of his knife movement with her chin in her hand. The sun shone on her head, and her hair was s.h.a.ggy. He could smell the light aroma of her hair, the salty and hot smell of sauce on her fingers, and the bitterness and astringency of the precious wound medicine.

The heat of the sun made these odd smells more fragrant, which he felt a little fond of.

Under the room windowsill, a group of demons was hiding. Silan continued to burst into tears as he tried to break through the window. However, his attempts kept being blocked over and over again by others around him. Tao Guoguo with a flush face, tried to find a crack in the wall to peek in. While, Yinglian was hiding in the shadow, tying cut-out of a little person with lotus leaves. Afterwards, she wrote the words “Xin Mei” on it and then smashed it hard with nails.

Everyone was not calm. Only Lord Zhao stroked his thin beard and smiled in a vulgar way, “Did you hear that? Who dares to say that the General is a boy who does not understand women? When people are seriously injured, they cannot practise what they preach, but they still have fingers! You kids should learn more from this! “

When the sky was getting dark, Xin Mei finally woke up.

She spent the whole afternoon lying in front of the bed watching Lu Qianqiao carved the doll and then fell asleep. These days, she felt a little bit tired. Only a few monsters in the Imperial Mausoleum knew how to take care of patients. In the end, except for privacy matters such as bathing, the works of changing dressings, feeding water and taking care of him were left to her.

She yawned. She had fallen asleep on her stomach in an uncomfortable position, and now, she was sore all over her body. She was trying to twist her neck when she suddenly felt her head got a little heavy. She found out that one of Lu Qianqao’s hands was on her head, slowly stroking her hair.

As Xin Mei turned her head, the thin blanket that had been covering her shoulders slid down.

She didn’t move, just leaned forward on the bed and smiled at him.

The light of the candle which had been placed on the table leaped before his eyes, as he gently touched her head with a gentle expression.

“Lu Qianqiao,” she said suddenly with a smile, “Do you like me?”

His hand paused, but he did not withdraw it, nor did he speak. For a moment, he picked up a small and exquisite but colourful doll from the head of the bed and put it in front of her.

“A gift,” he said.

The already finished heavenly maiden, Ping Ting, stood in front of her with its long hair huge like a cloud and adorning colourful clothes. It was awe-inspiring and beautiful. Xin Mei picked it up with a pleasant surprised, unwilling to exert force on it,  as she only touched its hair and clothes lightly with her fingertips and mumbling, “Ready so soon? And even hair and clothes also ... “

“They were send over by Lord Zhao.”

Xin Mei stared at him for a long time, then she just looked straight at his eyes, “En, thank you. I like it very much.”

Lu Qianqao stiffly withdrew his hand and turned his face away. “It’s good that you like it. It’s getting dark. I"ve told Silan to take you back. Leave quickly.”

Xin Mei touched the heavenly maiden’s hair for a while. She then suddenly got up and put the doll in her bag. She smiled and said, "Lu Qianqiao, this doll is not a gift. You already promised to give it to me earlier before. You have to give me another one as a birthday gift."

He was taken aback.

“I also like the general in the last play. Although he was a bad person, but he sometimes was quite flattering. You can help make me a general doll and I will come pick it up in a few days.”

She cheerfully smiled and turned away.

Liu Qianqiao was left sitting in a daze on the bed. Suddenly, he started touching his face: bad as h.e.l.l, but sometimes flattering? By the way, where was the mirror? Where was the mirror? What kind of complicated feeling was this? He had to look carefully and made up his mind.

Silan, who had been squatting outside the door with his red eyes, saw Xin Mei come out. Like a spiritless old dog, he only glanced at her.

Xin Mei stared at him for a long time till he got goose b.u.mps all over his body. He angrily said, “What are you looking at?! You, you shameless girl... actually, actually dare to seduce the General...”

She sighed, “Your facial paralysis has become more serious. Now it has turned into a disgruntled face. Please go see a doctor.”

Silan trembled all over his body and went to fetch his spirit beast. He couldn’t wait to shout at the sky, why would the General had a crush on such a girl?!

This time, without a large number of spiritual animals to do c.u.mbersome work, the way back seemed particularly short. A moment before noon, Xin Mei had already arrived at the House of Xin.

Silan kept a straight face and didn’t bother to talk to her. He led his spirit beast around and left.

Xin Mei waved goodbye from behind, “Thank you for bringing me back. Remember to see the doctor as early as you can, okay.”

Silan seemed to be falling off the back of the spirit beast.

Xin Mei smilingly ordered Qiu Yue to land on the House of Xin compound. Xin Xiong, who had long heard the movement, ran out expectantly and saw that his daughter had came home alone. There was not even a shadow of a man around her. He was so furious.

“What have you been playing outside for more than a month?! Where is your husband? What about the husband you have been looking for?!”

Xin Mei put away Qiu Yue calmly. She shook her head at her father, and gave out a smile filled with an air of a tyrant ruler, “I’ve got my eye on one who lives in a nearby Wanlan Mountain. I’m going to settle with him in a few days.”