Extra: 2.2
The doctor knitted his brows and switched to another hand to examine for a while, then asked, displeased, "From the pulse, it seems she"s expecting. If I didn"t make a mistake, it"s already three months old. How could you let her fall like this?"
Song Liangzhuo felt disbelief upon hearing this. They hadn"t delayed anything and had even tumbled half the night with fire-like pa.s.sion, but Xiaoqi didn"t seem unwell at all. Song Liangzhuo thought back carefully. Roughly, probably, it seems, it"s been a long time since he saw her period come…
Mother Song didn"t inquire in depth either. Her eyes lit up and gleamed as she asked, "It"s two again?"
Song Liangzhuo rubbed the tip of his nose, a little worried. Two is really not that good. From the start, Xiaoqi didn"t have a big physique. During her first pregnancy, she was already incapable of turning over on her own by the eighth month. Every night, Song Liangzhuo had to support her stomach before she was able to flip over with difficulty. During that period of time, Xiaoqi seriously suffered. Every time Song Liangzhuo recalled it, he felt more heartache than joy.
The doctor shook his head. "How could there be so many twins? This time there"s only one, however, it"s probably a girl. This is pretty good too, there"s sons and daughters."
Mother Song happily paced back and forth a little, then hastily exhorted, "Doctor, please take another close look. If it"s a granddaughter, that"s naturally good."
The doctor had already withdrawn his hand and he looked at Xiaoqi"s nose again. "If lao fu would make a mistake telling between a boy or a girl, this reputation will be ruined by my own hand. As for this nose, should lao fu wash it or will Song da ren wash it himself?"
Song Liangzhuo pressed his lips together. "I"ll do it myself."
The doctor nodded. "Don"t hold back out of worry. Remember to wash all the dust out cleanly. If it"s left inside the flesh, it"ll cause a scar. You must use boiled water that has cooled to wash it, then rub a layer of wine on to prevent inflammation before dabbing on some medicinal powder. In a bit, lao fu will leave the medicine with a maid. This wound isn"t anything to worry about. However, before the scab falls, don"t let it touch water again in order to prevent inflammation."
Giving birth last time took a lot out of Xiaoqi"s body and there was no activity again for many years. Mother Song was already quite satisfied with getting two grandsons in one go and slowly stopped worrying about increasing the number. Upon being suddenly told she was going to be able to hug a grandson again – wait, no, it was granddaughter – Mother Song was a little overwhelmed with joy. After she exhorted Song Liangzhuo a little, she ran to the ancestral hall to offer incense.
A maid swiftly brought in warm water and a towel that had already been boiled, then placed a small goblet of wine down before leaving. Song Liangzhuo started to realize he was out of ideas. How was he supposed to wash this nose?
Song Liangzhuo leaned over the head of the bed and looked for a long time. Then, he gritted his teeth and helped Xiaoqi up. Xiaoqi opened her eyes dazedly and pouted. "Don"t let Ruoshui and the others see."
"Yes, not allowed to look. Let"s wash it clean first, otherwise it"ll leave scars."
Xiaoqi obediently went with Song Liangzhuo"s movements and laid down on his leg. In reality, it didn"t really hurt aside from the initial pain when the water made contact with her nose. Song Liangzhuo"s movements were gentle as a feather. He first coaxed her as he wiped the surrounding area around her nose before cupping the water and rinsing off the dust on her nose. The places where the dust was deep, he used the towel and wiped it off little by little. From start to finish, Xiaoqi didn"t feel much pain. Song Liangzhuo took advantage of the time she was off-guard to pour the wine on her nose and only then did Xiaoqi screech and jump up.
Song Liangzhuo wrapped his arms around Xiaoqi and cupped her face as he hastily said, "It"s done, it"s done, it"s just this once. It"s really done. It won"t hurt anymore."
Xiaoqi wailed as she cried. Only after a long time was she able to catch her breath enough to say while sobbing, "Y-you, hateful. I"m sleeping with Mom."
Song Liangzhuo felt so much heartache his brows furrowed as tightly as locks. However, he flatly vetoed it outright. "I already said so before that you"re not allowed to sleep in a separate room anymore."
"Wuuwuu, I"m going to sleep with Yi er and Yu er."
"That"s not allowed either!" Back then, when she first had the babies, she cherished them to no end. Wasn"t it enough that she had hugged them the entire day to play everyday and ignored him for that long?
Xiaoqi kept her mouth open to suck the cool air and sobbed for a long time before saying, "Then I won"t sleep. Wuuwuu, you can go sleep by yourself."
Song Liangzhuo stopped wasting words and patted Xiaoqi while hugging her the way he would a child. He waited until she slowly stopped crying before saying in a warm voice, "I"ve given Qi er everything you"ve asked for. If Qi er gets a daughter, you"re not allowed to hug it without letting go again, alright?"
Xiaoqi couldn"t change her expression too much. She blinked her eyes with a wood-like face.
Song Liangzhuo thought for a bit before saying, "Qi er is expecting. Don"t randomly run around with Yu er anymore."
Xiaoqi blinked her eyes and laughed while keeping her expression the same. Her appearance was indescribably strange.
"Husband, what should we call the baby?"
"What does Qi er want?" Xiaoqi"s way of speaking was growing even more like a heavenly steed that soared across the skies. Song Liangzhuo seemed to have adapted to it and no longer felt that her train of thought leaped around too fast.
"Song, Shilitaohua!" (10 miles of peach blossoms)
The corners of Song Liangzhuo"s mouth twitched. "At the very start, peach flowers blossom without a master, but should one love the deep red or the light red? Let"s take one word, "light"(qian, means light/shallow/faint). It"s simple."
"Song Qian? Gift money?(h.o.m.ophones送钱)?" Xiaoqi opened her eyes wide and thought for a while. "Gifting money works too, as long as one meets a good person. Hohoho."
Song Liangzhuo didn"t get the chance to wrap his head around it before Xiaoqi"s gaze had ambiguously drifted onto his body.
Xiaoqi ate three days of porridge in a row and ate to the point her face was turning white. Once the thick scab finish forming on her nose, she was finally allowed to have steamed buns again. However, if she made too big of a movement, she would still tug her nose and pain herself to the point her tears fell with "huala"s.
Xiaoqi didn"t let anyone else see her nose this entire time. Every time she headed out, she would wear a veil. Meals would be held in her own room with Song Liangzhuo feeding her. However, veils always had their unreliable moments, like right now. As Xiaoqi placed candied fruit in her mouth, she accidentally tugged off the veil covering her face. The people in front of her instantly became petrified.
Lu Licheng was the first to recover and used his gaze to cut off the words Lu Liu was just about to say, then turned to the side, pretending he didn"t see anything. Ruoshui stared at Xiaoqi"s nose with unblinking wide eyes. Liu Hengzhi who was next to her spurted out his tea and covered his mouth, suffering pain from stifling his laughter.
Xiaoqi just pretended not to see any of this. In any case, Song Liangzhuo said it looked really good. But, but, Lu Chongzi and that eldest son of the Liu family actually started laughing while holding onto their stomachs.
"Haha, red-nosed little monster!" Liu Mushui hopped around as he laughed.
The kid"s sentence was no doubt the last straw. Liu Hengzhi couldn"t hold back anymore and slapped the table as he burst out laughing. Xiaoqi was angered to the point her tears fell continuously with "hualala"s. Song Yi and Song Yu became unhappy. They shared a glance, then charged towards Liu Mushui.
A gale swept the dead leaves up as Liu Mushui fell so hard his p.o.o.pie got stuck in his b.u.t.t. Following that, Song Yu stuck out his b.u.t.t, plopped down on Liu Mushui"s stomach and maliciously shifted his weight, crushing Liu Mushui to the point his fetus died in his abdomen. Song Yi folded his hand behind his back and towered above him. With much the look of pa.s.sing judgment, he declared, "You"re not allowed to laugh at my mom. If you dare commit the crime again, await the punishment." Afterwards, he pulled Song Yu up and they moved to Xiaoqi"s side, each taking one hand to pull her to the back courtyard before the person on the floor had the chance to react.
Xiaoqi hid inside the room again and stowed away for half the month, all the way until her nose"s scab fell off. But the "red-nosed little monster" stuck as a nickname. Due to this, Song Yi, who has always been mild and scholarly, led his younger brother to battle with the son of the Liu family many times. They dug trenches and made so many hidden pitfalls that even Mother Song had to be careful when she went out.
Afterwards, by the time the antagonism between the two brothers and the son of the Liu family grew into friendship, Liu Hengzhi was already preparing to bring Ruoshui home.
After many years, Liu Mushui still said this when introducing Xiaoqi to his littler sister: "Little Sis ah, this is our red-nosed Aunt~" o(∩_∩)o~~
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Ocelot
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
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