Chapter 73

Chapter 73

As June arrived, the weather grew hotter day by day. Sweat began beading on their skin as soon as the sun rose, making the sticky heat downright miserable.

In recent days, Little Yuanbao had developed prickly heat. The folds of skin around his neck and joints had reddened considerably, and the itchiness and discomfort made him whimper and fuss constantly.

Li Shi, her heart aching for her grandson, chewed out the two nannies, blaming them for not taking better care of the child.

In truth, it wasn’t entirely the nannies’ fault. The child was chubby and prone to sweating. Originally, Wang Ying had placed two ice containers in the room, but Li Shi, fearing the child might catch a chill, had them removed.

Wang Ying suggested, "Why not put the ice containers back? If you’re worried he might get cold, we can add an extra blanket at night."

"Alright, but we must keep a close eye at night. If his belly gets exposed, he might end up with diarrhea."

The nannies hurriedly agreed.

Soon after, Chen Rong and Lin Qiu arrived. Seeing the prickly heat on Yuanbao’s neck, they picked him up for a closer look. "Poor little one, suffering like this. Prickly heat is actually quite easy to treat. Buy some honeysuckle, steep it in water, and bathe the child with it. When Sui Er was little, she had it too, and it cleared up after a few baths."

Upon hearing this, Li Shi immediately sent a servant to the pharmacy to buy honeysuckle.

The adults took turns comforting Little Yuanbao until he finally fell asleep. After putting the child down, they left the room and gathered under a tree to chat.

Li Shi said, "Last time the county magistrate came, he mentioned helping Qing Yan with the investigation. I wonder how that’s progressing."

Wang Ying replied, "These things take time. The fastest it might take is three or four months, but it could be next year before we get results."

"Still so long! Good thing we didn’t tell Qing Yan in advance, or he’d be worrying constantly."

Chen Rong, sitting nearby, added, "All good things take time. As long as it gets resolved properly, it’s all that matters. Going through all this might not necessarily be a bad thing for Qing Yan." She paused briefly before continuing, "I wonder when Cao Kun will be back. He said he’d return in two months when he left, but it’s already June and there’s still no word."

Lin Qiu had been getting anxious for a while. Since their marriage, Cao Kun had never traveled too far away, usually returning within ten days to a couple weeks at most. This time, he had been gone for over two months, and Lin Qiu couldn’t help but worry if he had encountered any dangers along the way.

Wang Ying reassured him, "Don’t worry. He might have been delayed by something. It’s the rainy season in the south now, making travel by boat or cart tough."

Lin Qiu nodded, feeling slightly comforted.

As the three of them were discussing this, Lin Zai came running from the front yard.

"Madam, Mistress, your husband is back!"

Hearing this, Lin Qiu excitedly hurried toward the front courtyard. The others, startled, hurried after him, worried because Lin Qiu was pregnant and shouldn’t be running like that.

In the front yard, Cao Kun had returned with a horse cart. At first glance, he was almost unrecognizable—he had gotten really tan, grown a considerable beard, and lost a significant amount of weight, making him look weathered and worn.

"Xiao Qiu."

Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Qiu’s eyes teared up. He hurried forward in a few quick steps and grasped Cao Kun’s hand. The couple seemed to have a thousand things to say to each other.

Chen Rong quickly interjected, "It’s hot outside. Come inside and sit down to talk!"

Wang Ying went to the kitchen and asked Aunt Chen to prepare lunch, buying more food since they had guests.

Once inside, Cao Kun sat on a chair and gulped down a large cup of tea. After catching his breath slightly, he carefully looked over his husband and asked, "How have you been during this time? Did the child give you any trouble?"

"No, but why have you lost so much weight?"

"The road was exhausting, but it’s nothing…" Cao Kun didn’t dare tell him that this trip to the south had been extremely dangerous and that he had nearly lost his life.

The journey there had been smooth, but on the way back, they encountered river pirates. He had thought mountain bandits were difficult to deal with, but river pirates were even worse.

While passing through the Chuzhou area, their boat was rammed by the bandits, flooding the cabin and causing everyone to fall into the water.

Cao Kun knew how to swim, so he was fine, but during the struggle in the water, he was stabbed twice by the bandits—once in the shoulder and once in the arm.

It was only after fighting off the bandits that he realized he was injured. Fortunately, the wounds weren’t life-threatening, but he developed a high fever for several days and barely made it.

On the way back, Cao Kun reflected deeply. Before marriage, he had been bold and fearless, risking his life to earn money.

But now that he had a husband and a child on the way, risking his life again would be irresponsible. If something really happened to him, what would Lin Qiu do?

So he decided that after this trip, he would resign from his job at the Porter Guild. He couldn’t keep risking his life for money. It was better to stay home safely with Lin Qiu and focus on running their shop.

He had already planned the shop’s business: in winter, they would buy vegetables wholesale from his sister-in-law, and in summer, they would sell sundry goods. Most importantly, he would stay by Lin Qiu’s side and help raise their child.

After lunch, Cao Kun mentioned his decision to leave the Porter Guild to Lin Qiu, who unexpectedly started crying.

"What’s wrong? Don’t you want me to leave the Porter Guild?"

"I’m crying from happiness! I’ve been wanting to suggest you leave the Porter Guild but was afraid you wouldn’t like the idea. During these two months you were gone, I worried day and night, fearing you might encounter danger."

Cao Kun pulled him close. "It won’t happen again."

After holding each other for a while, Cao Kun suddenly remembered something. He took out a money pouch from his chest, inside which were two round, shiny gold ingots!

"This… this is gold?"

"Yes, ten taels of gold in total. It’s the reward for our trip to Jiangnan."

Under normal circumstances, ten taels of gold could be exchanged for a hundred taels of silver. But gold was rarer than silver, especially in small towns like theirs, where its value was even higher. If sold to a jewelry store, ten taels of gold could fetch at least a hundred and ten taels of silver.

"Keep it safe. Such valuable items must not be lost."

"You hold onto it. It’s savings for our child."

Lin Qiu touched his belly and said, "We still don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. What if it’s a ger…"

"A ger is even better, sweet and thoughtful like you." Cao Kun kissed his forehead. "No matter what, I’ll love them all the same."

*

Cao Kun stayed only one day. The next day, he took Lin Qiu, Lin Sui, and Chen Rong back to the county seat.

After they left, the house suddenly got quiet again, with only Li Shi and Qing Yun coming to the backyard every day.

Little Yuanbao also seemed to notice that people were missing. Whenever Li Shi held him, his little head would turn around, looking around for someone.

"Good boy, he must be looking for his great-aunt!"

Wang Ying ruffled his son’s little head. At such a young age, he already recognized people.

Summer passed amidst the constant buzzing of cicadas. In the blink of an eye, Yuanbao was already over six months old and could now sit up in bed and play by himself.

A few days earlier, Chen Qingyan, missing his son, had returned to town and taken him to the street to buy many toys.

There were hand drums, little wooden carved tigers and ponies, bronze puzzle rings, and a cricket woven from bamboo strips—incredibly lifelike that it even made sounds when shaken. It was astonishing how skilled the artisans were.

Among all the toys, Yuanbao loved the cricket the size of his palm the most, hugging it and getting it all slobbery as he gnawed on it.

Wang Ying deliberately snatched the toy and hid it, leaving the little one wide-eyed in disbelief.

"Hey!"

"What's with the 'ah'? Can't I play with it, Father?"

Little Yuanbao lowered his head and looked at his empty hands, showing he had nothing.

Wang Ying found him adorable and handed the bamboo cricket back to him. The little one beamed, his eyes crinkling into happy crescents, then resumed holding and chewing on it.

He had been playing perfectly fine during the day, but that evening, as soon as Wang Ying entered the Experimental Field, he heard knocking and hurried out, asking, "What's wrong?"

The elderly maid outside sounded anxious. "Young Master, the Young Master seems to have a fever…"

Hearing this, Wang Ying immediately got up and went next door. Little Yuanbao was still asleep, but his face was unusually flushed, and his body felt hot to the touch.

"When did the fever start?"

"He was fine during his evening feeding, though he ate a bit less than usual. But just now, when I went to tuck him in, I noticed his hands and feet were cold while his forehead was burning."

"Quickly, send someone to fetch the physician."

Not long after, Li Shi rushed over, wearing her outer robe. "I heard Yuanbao has a fever?"

"He was playing fine during the day. I don’t know why he suddenly developed a fever at night."

Li Shi took him into her arms and touched his forehead and neck. "He’s burning up! What’s wrong? Yuanbao, Yuanbao, wake up—Nai Nai is here."

Wang Ying also called out, "Yuanbao, open your eyes and look at Father."

Little Yuanbao stirred, dazed, and reached for Wang Ying, wanting to be held.

Wang Ying quickly gathered him into his arms, gently rocking him. "My poor baby, you’re not feeling well, are you? Father’s here—don’t be afraid."

Yuanbao, clearly uncomfortable from the fever, pressed his face against Wang Ying’s chest and let out weak whimpers.

Soon, the physician arrived. He first asked about the child’s diet over the past few days, then carefully examined Yuanbao.

"It appears to be a common childhood fever. I’ll use acupuncture to induce sweating, and he should recover. Make sure he drinks plenty of water these next few days. Medicine is 'three parts poison,' and since the child is so young, avoid giving him medication if possible."

"Understood. Thank you, Physician."

Wang Ying laid the child back down. The physician heated a silver needle over a candle flame and applied acupuncture to Yuanbao’s Dazhui (a point at the base of the neck) and Hegu (a point on the hand).

The child cried out in pain, wailing loudly. Wang Ying couldn’t bear to watch and turned away.

Ancient times were different from the modern era—medical facilities were primitive, and even a common cold could prove fatal for a young child. This is why elders often say children have no "waist"—the word for "waist" (yāo) sounds like "to die young" (yāo), reflecting fears of early death.

After a while, the physician removed the needles. The child was still sniffling, but the treatment seemed effective—he began to sweat, and his hands and feet warmed up.

Wang Ying picked him up and finally understood what it meant to worry oneself sick. He wished he could have taken the illness upon himself.

That night, Wang Ying didn’t let the maid stay with Yuanbao. Instead, he brought the child to his own room and cared for him personally. After sweating, the child’s temperature dropped, and he drifted back to sleep.

Wang Ying slipped into the Experimental Field, where Chen Qingyan was already waiting.

"Why are you so late today?"

"Yuanbao had a fever."

"How did he get a fever?! Is he okay now?!"

"He’s fine now, don’t worry. The physician came, gave him acupuncture, and the fever broke."

"Then go back quickly and keep an eye on him."

After a brief exchange, Wang Ying quickly left the Experimental Field and returned to the bedroom. Little Yuanbao, sensing his father’s presence, whimpered and nuzzled against him. He clutched Wang Ying’s arm with his tiny hands and peacefully fell asleep again.

Fortunately, the fever didn’t return the rest of the night, and the next morning, the child woke up looking much livelier.

Early the next day, Chen Qingyan returned. Worried all night, he hadn’t slept and had Dun Zi prepare the carriage before dawn to rush back to town.

Only after seeing his son safe and sound did he finally relax.

Strangely, even though Chen Qingyan spent little time with Yuanbao—seeing him only once a month—the boy was especially attached to him. Perhaps it was the bond of blood.

Rarely having time with his child, Chen Qingyan wished he could carry him on his shoulders every single day.

Wang Ying watched, eager to join in, and reached over to tickle Yuanbao’s sensitive spot. The little one, clinging to his dad’s head, burst into uncontrollable laughter.

As they played, Chen Qingyan suddenly froze, his expression shifting.

"What’s wrong?"

"Yuanbao peed…"

"Ah? Hahahahaha…"

Wang Ying burst out laughing. Little Yuanbao, perched on his shoulders, giggled innocently, while Chen Qingyan shook his head in resignation.