Chapter 21: Is Xiao Fu Bao Disliked? The Whole City Loves Me With Their Lives
**Chapter 21: I Also Made a Lantern for My Brother**
Listening to Suisui's cautious yet hopeful tone, Physician Liu smiled affectionately and said, “Of course, your brother will definitely be very happy to see it.”
Suisui couldn't help but feel excited upon hearing Physician Liu's words. “Really?”
Physician Liu patted her shiny little head and responded with a smile, “Of course. Come on, Grandpa Liu will take you there.”
Suisui obediently followed Physician Liu.
She had been up and about last night but, being in better health, she didn't develop a fever.
The spot on her head that was previously injured had scabbed over, and now it no longer needed bandaging. She just needed to apply medicine daily to avoid scarring.
As for other scars on the child's body...
Physician Liu was already contemplating the prescription his master had given him. He hoped to prepare the ointment with sufficient medicinal ingredients after returning to the capital, to apply to the child.
The lantern didn't need to be made from scratch. The steps Suisui needed to follow were quite simple.
She only needed to paste the painted design onto the prepared bamboo lantern.
During the process, attention had to be paid to handling the edges, such as the border and creases.
To make it look nicer, it was essential to handle the glue properly and avoid spreading it everywhere.
The lantern that Feng Xuanrui made for Suisui previously, though not perfect, had its glue handling well done, with almost no visible edges.
Suisui, being young and inexperienced with such detailed work, wasn't sure if she could achieve that level.
But she would try her best!
Physician Liu had previously explained the details to Suisui. Now, with a bit of recollection and guidance from the system, and occasional assistance from Physician Liu, Suisui gradually understood.
The little girl worked slowly but meticulously, seemingly hoping that her careful work would make the final result satisfying.
She repeatedly checked every edge and corner before applying glue.
Physician Liu watched on, his eyes shining with admiration: What a wonderful child!
Good focus and patience—she's definitely a good candidate for learning medicine.
He thought it was unacceptable to not bring her back to his house.
No, he had to make an effort to bring this child home!
Suisui was unaware of Physician Liu’s intention to adopt her as his granddaughter. She was earnestly working on the lantern, being cautious with every step.
She thought if she worked carefully, maybe the heavens would hear her prayer and her brother would get better soon.
Suisui, being small and slow, took a whole day to complete the lantern.
A few times, her fingers were scratched by the edges of the bamboo lantern. Suisui endured the pain, sucked on her fingers to stop the bleeding, and continued.
By evening, the lantern was finally done and dry, ready to be handled.
Looking at the pretty pink bunny lantern, Suisui nervously asked Physician Liu, “Grandpa Liu, is this okay?”
Physician Liu carefully examined the lantern before smiling and nodding, “Very good, Suisui. You did a great job.”
Suisui blushed with happiness at Physician Liu’s praise.
She held the freshly made lantern and went with Physician Liu to see Feng Xuanrui.
In the afternoon, Feng Xuanrui had been burning up repeatedly.
By evening, the fever had subsided, and he was in good spirits.
When Suisui and Physician Liu entered, Feng Xuanrui was bargaining with the doctor about whether he should take medicine tonight.
Hearing his strong voice, Physician Liu finally felt relieved.
Feng Xuanrui had been triumphant, proudly showing off, but when he saw Physician Liu, his smug expression instantly disappeared.
However, upon seeing Suisui, he joyfully jumped out of bed, running over without his shoes on, and happily exclaimed, “Sister!”
Qingshan quickly followed, helping him put on his shoes and outer robe, before finally feeling at ease.
Suisui, excitedly presenting the lantern she had worked on all day, said with bright eyes and an eager voice, “Brother, this is the lantern I made for you!”
Remembering the auspicious words the system taught her, Suisui quickly added, “May the heavens bless my brother and keep him safe.”
Suisui had not mastered complex auspicious phrases, so the system had taught her the simplest ones.
Feng Xuanrui was surprised that Suisui made a lantern for him.
Although the pink bunny didn't quite match his heroic image, it didn't matter.
What mattered was that this was made by his sister, something others didn't have!
He happily and contentedly hugged the lantern as if afraid someone would take it from him, then pulled Suisui back to the bed, carefully placing the lantern on the side of the bed.
The onlookers: ...!
They hadn't said they wanted to take it!
Well, considering how lively he was, he should be feeling better, right?
Everyone sighed in relief.
Suisui, unaware of the adults' thoughts, softly boasted to Feng Xuanrui about how quickly and well she made the lantern!
She seemed to know that even if her work wasn't perfect, her brother would never laugh at her.
Her brother would be gentle, encourage her, and praise her.
Listening to Suisui talk about the lantern-making details and thinking about the injuries he had when he made his own lantern, Feng Xuanrui, with tears in his eyes, looked at Suisui’s hands.
His eyes turned red upon seeing the old scars on her small hands.
A tear fell onto Suisui’s hand, startling her.
Suisui, not understanding, thought her brother might be feeling unwell and gently blew on his hand, saying, “Suisui will blow for Brother, and Brother won’t hurt!”
Feng Xuanrui, feeling anger towards Chen Dalang’s family, wiped his tears and forced a smile, saying, “Mm, with my sister here, it doesn’t hurt.”
With a smiling face, Feng Xuanrui’s heart was cursing: Damn it, they should have been sent to the southwest to quarry stones, it would have exhausted them!
Not wanting his sister to remember past sorrows, Feng Xuanrui wiped away his tears and began discussing the lantern release with Suisui.
Previously, people released lanterns in the city because a wealthy family’s daughter was celebrating her birthday, and many young ladies went to join.
Suisui, who was sick and couldn’t attend, heard later that it was quite a lively event.
Feng Xuanrui didn’t want Suisui to have regrets, so he was considering that if it was just him and Suisui, it wouldn’t be enough.
So, Physician Liu and the others needed to go too.
Including Uncle Qingwang and the guards, it should be lively enough, right?
However...
How to persuade Uncle Qingwang to agree?
What other people’s brothers have, my brother must have too.
—Suisui's Journal
(The end of this chapter)
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment