Chapter 121 City Streets 21

Chapter 121: City Streets 21

The courtyard gate creaked open, and Fang Liuyin peered out, her face expressionless, her gaze cold and silent as she looked at Qin Banban.

Once again met with a cold shoulder, Qin Banban remained unfazed. She simply handed over the basket of food she was carrying, a warm smile on her face. "Doctor Fang, this meal was prepared by my brother. Please, have a taste."

Fang Liuyin’s cold eyes narrowed, and at last, she spoke. "I am not Doctor Fang."

Qin Banban insisted, "You are Doctor Fang! I recognize you—I saw you at Huichun Clinic!"

Fang Liuyin’s lips twisted into a faint, emotionless smile. "You recognize me? Then why didn't you recognize me earlier?"

Qin Banban: "Uh..."

The question left Qin Banban utterly frozen. She truly hadn't recognized him earlier. How could she have imagined Fang Liuyin to change so drastically in just a month?

She had only met Fang Liuyin twice before and wasn't familiar with him. At the time, she hadn't dared to enter the clinic and disturb him, only sneaking glances from outside.

Back then, the Fang Liuyin Qin Banban saw was always dressed simply yet elegantly, always smiling, treating patients gently and patiently.

Not like now—her hair was disheveled, her skin sallow, dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes bloodshot like spiderwebs. Who knew how many sleepless nights she had endured.

Seeing Qin Banban fall silent, Fang Liuyin spoke first.

She still looked at Qin Banban, tilting her head slightly, and said with a faint laugh, "I know. I've changed so much that even if you knew me before, it’s normal not to recognize me now."

After saying this, Fang Liuyin took a step back, her gaze dropping from Qin Banban to the ground. Her hand pressed against the door as she began to push it shut.

"I appreciate the gesture. Please, go home."

Seeing the door about to close, Banban quickly jammed her hand in.

"Ah!"

This time, she wasn't as lucky. Fang Liuyin was in a hurry to close the door, moving faster than before, and inadvertently pinched Qin Banban’s hand. Although she eased up in time, it still hurt enough to make Qin Banban yelp in pain.

"Banban!"

Cui Lanfang cried out in alarm, quickly pulling her hand over to examine it. Several fingers were already red.

"How is it?! Did it break any bones?!"

Banban gasped a couple times, pulled her hand back, shook it, and then looked at Fang Liuyin, who had finally stopped closing the door with a frown.

She said, "Just appreciating it isn’t enough—you have to accept it with your hands!"

As she spoke, she pushed the basket of food forward again.

Cui Lanfang, worried about her daughter, quickly added, "It’s just a small token. Please take it. As neighbors, we’ll inevitably need to look out for each other in the future."

Fang Liuyin frowned, but her eyes couldn’t help but glance at Qin Banban’s injured hand hidden behind her back. After a long moment, she finally reached out and said, "Let me take a look."

Before Qin Banban could react, she instinctively extended the hand holding the food basket.

Fang Liuyin’s frown deepened, but her hand had already reached out, directly taking Qin Banban’s other hand and pulling it closer for a careful examination.

"Fortunately, it didn’t break any bones. Go back and apply a cold compress. If it swells or bruises by tomorrow, you’ll need to see a doctor for medicine."

Her voice was cold and emotionless, her face showing no expression, but her instructions were detailed.

"Don’t stick your hand in the door crack next time. It’s dangerous. If the force had been stronger, your fingers could have broken."

Just hearing this made Qin Banban’s pinched fingers ache even more, as if the pain had seeped into her bones.

She pulled her hand back and, before Fang Liuyin could close the door again, raised the food basket and said softly, "...What about the food?"

"Will you try it? My brother is really good at cooking! I also packed some lotus seeds—freshly bought."

Fang Liuyin paused in closing the door, hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take the basket from Qin Banban. She nodded and said, "Thank you."

She took the food basket and closed the courtyard gate.

Seeing that she had accepted the food, Qin Banban immediately broke into a happy smile, her eyes fixed on the narrowing gap of the door. She excitedly added,

"Doctor Fang, I believe in you!"

Fang Liuyin showed no further hesitation in closing the door, as if she hadn’t heard.

Cui Lanfang was still worried about Qin Banban’s hand and pulled it over to examine it again, urgently saying, "Let’s go, let’s go, hurry back. I’ll get a cloth to apply to it!"

Qin Banban was so happy she felt her hand didn’t hurt as much anymore, and she just nodded cheerfully at Cui Lanfang.

Meanwhile, inside the courtyard, Fang Liuyin didn’t immediately take the basket back to the house. Instead, she first looked down at it.

There was a full bowl of lotus root and pork rib soup—the lotus root soft and tender, the ribs falling off the bone, the aroma of the soup enticing. There was also a bowl of rice with vegetables and a bowl of tofu pudding drizzled with spicy oil and sauce, all looking very appetizing.

Fang Liuyin hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time. Carrying the food, she walked slowly back to the house, her steps heavy, her eyes empty, as if lost in thought.

When she entered the main room, she noticed that the long cloth that had been hanging from the beam hadn’t been tied properly and had been blown down by the wind. One end lay on the lonely high stool in the middle of the room, the other on the floor.

Fang Liuyin stood at the doorway for a long time, as if finally understanding something. She stepped across the threshold again, one foot stepping on the cloth on the floor, and walked over it step by step.

She carried the food to the small table, took out the bowls and chopsticks one by one, and ate everything.

*

The next morning.

A series of barks echoed through the Qin family’s courtyard, startling everyone inside and sending them rushing out.

They saw it was their neighbor, Chen Qiaoyun, peeking cautiously at the gate, frightened by the barking and stumbling back several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

"Laicai!"

Liu Guyu immediately scolded the dog and hurried forward to shoo it inside and shut the door.

Cui Lanfang also rushed to comfort Chen Qiaoyun, holding her hand and patting it repeatedly, her face full of apology. "I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! This is our dog. We brought him from the village. He’s still getting used to the new place and barks at strangers! I’m really sorry he scared you!"

Chen Qiaoyun’s face was pale with fright. With Cui Lanfang patting her back and soothing her, it took her a while to calm down.

She said, "What a big dog! My, you’ve raised him so well—so big and strong!"

As she spoke, she patted her chest. "No one in our alley keeps dogs, so it gave me quite a fright! But a dog is meant to guard the house. If it doesn’t bark at strangers, it’s useless!"

"It’s also my fault. I saw your gate was open and thought I’d come in to call for you. I didn’t know you had a dog. The moment I stepped inside, he charged out! He scared me to death!"

Chen Qiaoyun had come to ask Cui Lanfang to go grocery shopping with her. The two had agreed the day before to visit the market together today.

Cui Lanfang comforted her a few more times before asking, "Sister Chen, have you eaten? We just had breakfast. Would you like to join us?"

Chen Qiaoyun had already eaten before heading out, but she couldn't resist Cui Lanfang's enthusiasm and was pulled inside and handed two red bean rolls.

"Mmm! These are delicious! You've got great skills!"

Cui Lanfang immediately replied, "Oh, not at all! That was all my son's doing!"

Chen Qiaoyun followed Cui Lanfang's gesture and looked at Liu Guyu, then asked curiously, "Your boy's so talented! I heard you say yesterday that the meat pies you gave out were also made by him, right? With skills like this, he could open an eatery!"

Cui Lanfang nodded with a smile, "That's his trade, actually. He's already rented a shop on Spring Street, and after some tidying up, it should open next month!"

Chen Qiaoyun had only meant to offer a few polite words and compliments, never expecting she'd actually hit the mark!

She paused in shock, glanced at Liu Guyu a few more times, then clapped her hands and laughed, "Well, that's wonderful! Once it opens, I'll bring my whole family to support your business!"

Aunt Chen's enthusiasm was overwhelming; even Liu Guyu found it a bit hard to handle. He simply nodded modestly and said, "You're too kind, you're too kind."

Right then, Qin Rongshi suddenly stood up and patted Liu Guyu on the shoulder.

"Let's go."

As Liu Guyu was about to respond, Chen Qiaoyun spoke up curiously first.

She asked, "Oh, where are these two young men off to so early in the morning? Your mother hasn't even left for the market yet!"

Before Liu Guyu could answer, Cui Lanfang spoke first.

She gave Chen Qiaoyun an apologetic look, handed her another red bean roll, and finally said, "I never found the right time to bring this up earlier, but our Erlang actually took the academy exam this year and now holds a scholarly rank. He’s received a letter of recommendation from his teacher and is also going to study at Xiangshan Academy."

Chen Qiaoyun was stunned again, forgetting to chew the red bean roll she had just bitten into, and simply stared blankly at Qin Rongshi.

Qin Rongshi remained silent, offering only a polite bow. Liu Guyu also stood up and headed out, saying to Chen Qiaoyun before leaving, "Please, make yourself at home a bit longer. I’ll take my leave now. Please, have some more."

As the two walked away, Chen Qiaoyun watched their receding figures and exclaimed, "So he’s a scholar too!"

She snapped out of her daze and smiled at Cui Lanfang, "Oh! Why didn’t you tell me earlier!"

"No wonder! Your Erlang's quite the talented and good-looking young man—he really stands out! Being a scholar is wonderful. My son is also a scholar!"

Cui Lanfang nodded in agreement, "That’s great, that’s great. From now on, they’ll be at the same academy. I hope your son can keep an eye out for him!"

Meanwhile, Liu Guyu and Qin Rongshi had already left the house and were out of Fruit Lane.

"Aunt Chen sure can talk—even more than me!" Liu Guyu muttered under his breath.

Qin Rongshi glanced at him and chuckled softly, "You know you talk a lot yourself, right?"

Liu Guyu nodded proudly, "So what if I talk a lot? It keeps things lively! After spending time with me, Mom and Banban have become more talkative too, and they’ve perked right up! But you’re still such a quiet old stick-in-the-mud!"

Qin Rongshi nodded along with him and replied, "Alright, I’m a stick-in-the-mud."

As they bickered, the two made their way toward Xiangshan Academy.

Xiangshan Academy was built on a mountain in the northern part of the city, in a pretty remote spot. Riverbank Street was also off the beaten path, and coincidentally, the two remote places were close to each other. The journey from their doorstep to the foot of the mountain was only a fifteen-minute walk.

This was one of the reasons Liu Guyu had chosen the house in Fruit Lane.

Liu Guyu had originally thought that reaching the foot of the mountain would take only fifteen minutes, making it very convenient for Qin Rongshi to commute to and from the academy.

But no matter how much he had calculated, he'd forgotten one thing: Xiangshan Academy was built at the mountain’s summit. Reaching the foot of the mountain was only the beginning of a new journey.

The entire path was uphill, and the climb took nearly half an hour, until Liu Guyu’s legs were shaking.

Mopping his brow, he glared at Qin Rongshi and asked, "Did you know we’d have to climb a mountain? Is that why you asked me to come with you yesterday?"

This truly wronged Qin Rongshi. He immediately looked at Liu Guyu and explained, "This is my first time here too. How could I have known?"

As he spoke, he took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Liu Guyu to wipe his sweat, adding, "If you’re tired, let’s rest for a bit before continuing."

Liu Guyu had been waiting for those words. He immediately stopped, wiping his sweat while peering ahead up the mountain path. Then he spotted someone driving a donkey uphill.

He sighed, "If I’d known we’d have to climb a mountain, we should’ve brought Cuihua the donkey. You’re going to have trouble from now on, making this climb every day!"

Just as he finished speaking, he spotted someone on a trail through the woods. Liu Guyu excitedly called out and grabbed Qin Rongshi’s arm.

"Look, someone's over there! Come on, let’s go ask if they know a shortcut! They’re taking a small path—that must be a shortcut!"