Chapter 54 Saving the cannon fodder brother in wuxia drama
“I used to be muddleheaded, but now I’ve come to my senses.” Fang Tianluo smiled bitterly. “If it weren’t for you and Huairou, I’m afraid that I’d already be a pawn in the Xiao family’s hands, and I wouldn’t know my mistakes until I died.”
Li Huaike sighed. “Hah, Brother Tianluo, your biggest problem is that your heart is too soft. Let’s change everything in the future!”
Fang Tianluo nodded.
“Don’t think too much. Take a break early, and I’ll start to repair your veins tomorrow. This process is very hard, so you have to be prepared!” Li Huaike patted Fang Tianluo’s hand and thought, After curing Fang Tianluo, there will be no more trouble, and I can prepare for Sike’s labor at ease.
He’d like to have a daughter, and so would Sike. What he’d prepared were girl’s clothes, but Sike was carrying a boy. How should he tell Sike about this beautiful misunderstanding?
On the second day, Li Huairou slept until three poles of the sunrise. In the yard, Liu Sike sat under an old tree, sewing clothes for the child, while Auntie Zhang was preparing the vegetables for cooking.
“Huh, where’s my brother?” Li Huairou looked around, but didn’t see Li Huaike or Uncle Zhang.
“You’re awake? Come and sit down,” Liu Sike greeted her when she saw her awake.
Auntie Zhang immediately got up to fetch water and have Li Huairou wash up. After Li Huairou washed up, Auntie Zhang brought breakfast. Today’s breakfast was a bowl of red date porridge with a few slices of scallion pancakes.
Li Huairou took a bite of the porridge and a bite of the pancake. “Auntie Zhang, you might not know this, but what I miss the most when traveling is the delicious food you make. It’s true. I don’t want to go out anymore—the food outside is too terrible and expensive!”
Auntie Zhang smiled and sat next to her. Of the children, Huairou was her favorite. Although she’d taken care of Huaike since he was a child, that child had no requirements for food as long as he could fill his stomach. So Auntie Zhang often felt that her skills were useless. But Huairou was different; she had an appetite, loved to eat, and also could eat a lot, and she often gave her suggestions. This made Auntie Zhang fond of her.
Liu Sike smiled. “Don’t go out in the future.”
“Mm. By the way, where’s my brother?” Li Huairou finished a bowl of porridge. “Auntie Zhang, I want to have one more!”
Aunt Zhang joyfully carried the bowl away.
“In the medicine room. He says that he’s going to treat Fang Tianluo.” Liu Sike had a bad impression of Fang Tianluo from the beginning until now, but she had a gentle personality and never expressed her happiness or anger easily.
“Oh!” Li Huairou’s reaction was flat. She quickly finished the scallion pancake in her hand.
Liu Sike thought for a while. “Huairou, do you still have feelings for Fang Tianluo? If so, boldly confess your feelings, and your brother and I will support you.” If it wasn’t because of feelings, how could the things Huairou did for Fang Tianluo be explained? If affection was anything, it was probably this!
Fang Tianluo was really harmful!
“Huh?” Li Huairou had an expression of “I must have heard it wrong”. She said, “Me, still holding affections? Do you think my brain is broken? I don’t have any feelings for him, sister-in-law. Don’t insult my IQ, okay? Does he deserve it at all?”
“Then why are you helping him over and over again…” Liu Sike asked. “Affection does not need a reason, so don’t be embarrassed.”
“I did it because of my brother! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered to pay attention to him. I wouldn’t want secondhand goods like him even if you give them to me for free! If I hadn’t gone, my brother would’ve had to go. With my brother’s temperament, when he goes outside, with no one to look after him, he’d help others count the very money made from selling him! Sister-in-law, please don’t talk nonsense! I plan to stay in Happy Valley for the rest of my life, so don’t drive me out!” Li Huairou stood up agitatedly.
[Being used by others. Not only does this person not know they’re being used, they even feel that the other person is helping them, and they feel grateful. Usually used to describe a person who is too innocent and looks stupid]
Liu Sike didn’t whether to laugh or cry. “I didn’t mean that—I thought… Forget it, if you say you don’t have any affection, then let it be. It’s my misunderstanding, and I won’t bring it up anymore in the future. Don’t get excited—be careful of your wound!”
Li Huairou sat down again. Auntie Zhang came with the porridge, and Li Huairou began to drink it again.
“However, Huairou, what do you mean by secondhand goods?” Liu Sike asked curiously.
“In a literal sense, things that have been used by others are secondhand goods!” Li Huairou replied without raising her head.
Liu Sike was shocked. If Huairou had these kinds of thoughts, she would indeed not be able to get married. There were not many innocent men like Huaike in this world.
After breakfast, Li Huairou looked content. “So comfortable.”
Auntie Zhang moved the recliner and opened the bed blanket. She patted the recliner and motioned for Li Huairou to sit on it.
Li Huairou smiled and laid down, Aunt Zhang covered her with a blanket. The warm sun shone on her, and Li Huairou unintentionally fell asleep again.
Ten days later, Li Huaike finally walked out of the medicine room, and Fang Tianluo came out with him.
Fang Tianluo stood at the entrance of the medicine room, feeling the sun, the earth, and the fragrance of the grass in the air; once again, he felt the joy of being able to stand on solid ground.
“Congratulations to Brother Tianluo for regaining his life!” Li Huaike said with a smile, patting Fang Tianluo on the shoulder.
Fang Tianluo also laughed. After this, the bond between him and the Li family could no longer be summed up in a few words. In this life, the debt he owed the Li family was unclear.
“You’re already fine?” Li Huairou was surprised when she heard the movement. She remembered that the description for this in the original story was that it was very difficult! How was it so easy?
But then she understood. The reason why it had been so difficult was probably due to a bitter trick that had been played.
“Not only is he better, but Brother Tianluo’s internal strength has also improved,” Li Huaike said with a smile.
“Huaike, Huairou, I will probably practice in seclusion for a while. I apologize for the inconvenience,” Fang Tianluo said. He needed time to understand the secrets left by his parents. When he finished handling everything, he would come back here and spend the rest of his life repaying the Li siblings.
“Alright. There’s a cave in the back mountain; it is very quiet, and you can go there for seclusion. I will send you three meals a day. Don’t worry,” Li Huaike said with a smile.
Fang Tianluo didn’t say much. He turned to look at Li Huairou, smiled at her, then strode towards the back mountain.
“I always get the feeling that Fang Tianluo is a little different from before,” Li Huairou said, touching her chin.
“A person after rebirth is naturally different from before. Don’t talk about him. I haven’t been around these days—have you taken medicine on time? How is the wound recovering? Let me see!” Li Huaike said, leaning on Li Huairou’s shoulders.
“I’m fine! No need to see.” Li Huairou quickly broke free from Li Huaike’s shackles, turned around, and scurried away.
When Li Huaike saw her like this, he knew there must be something and looked helpless. “Auntie Zhang, you can’t spoil her too much. Give her less spicy and greasy food, which is not conducive for wound healing.”
Auntie Zhang only pretended that she couldn’t hear anything.
Liu Sike smiled and said to him, “She only ate it one time. I watched and didn’t let her have too much.”
Li Huaike put his arms around Liu Sike’s waist and touched her belly. “Is the baby obedient? The next thing is to prepare for your delivery.”
Liu Sike smiled softly.
When Fang Tianluo came out from seclusion, it coincided with the time Liu Sike was giving birth. Li Huaike, Li Huairou, and Auntie Zhang were all helping in the delivery room. Uncle Zhang was in the yard, listening to the wailing from the delivery room, pacing around.
Fang Tianluo originally had a lot to say, but in this situation, he could only anxiously wait with Uncle Zhang in the yard.
From noon to night, only until the middle of the night could the cry of a baby could be heard from the delivery room, accompanied by Li Huairou’s surprised voice: “The baby is born! It’s a boy!”
Then came another dumbfounding sentence: “Ugly!”
Four days passed before everything settled down.
Li Huaike stayed in the house with his beloved wife and son.
Auntie Zhang went to the kitchens to prepare food for Liu Sike.
Li Huairou came out, exhausted, and sat on the steps. After this, she became more determined not to marry and have children. It was horrible!
“Tired? Take a sip of water.”
Li Huarou took the teacup and began to drink. When she looked up, it turned out to be Fang Tianluo. “Huh, are you coming out from seclusion?”
“Mhm. You just said he was ugly?” Fang Tianluo asked with a smile, sitting down beside her.
“It’s really ugly. If I hadn’t seen him coming out with my own eyes, I would have suspected that it was a mistake. You said that my brother and my sister-in-law are both pretty and good-looking, but how come the child born is so ugly! Wrinkled, thin and small, like a mouse—and crying, also like a mouse!” Li Huairou said immediately. Although Li Huairou knew that all newborn children were like this, she still thought it was ugly!
Li Huaike couldn’t bear it anymore. “Huairou! When you say bad things about my son, can’t you do it somewhere else?”
Liu Sike didn’t have any strength, but she laughed. To be honest, she also thought her son was ugly. When she first saw him, she felt fortunate—fortunately, the child was a son. If the child were a daughter and looked like that, what if she couldn’t get married?
Outside the house, Li Huairou gave Li Huaike the cold shoulder. “Ugly and doesn’t let people talk.” But she obediently walked away.
Fang Tianluo held back his laughter and followed her. “Huairou, I want to discuss something with you.”
“What’s the matter?”
Fang Tianluo thought for a while and then said, “Previously I gave you a jade pendant. Do you remember? Can you return it to me?”
“That? Alright, no problem. You wait, and I’ll get it.” Li Huairou said after thinking for a bit. Then she turned around and went to her room, took the jade pendant out, and gave it to Fang Tianluo.
“Aren’t you going to ask for the reason why?” Fang Tianluo asked as he touched the pendant.
“What’s the point of asking? It must be useful to you!” Li Huairou replied indifferently.
Fang Tianluo smiled and stretched out his hand to crush the jade pendant. The pendant was broken into several pieces, revealing a pea-sized object inside.
“This is?” Li Huairou frowned curiously.
“I was thinking that there are so many sects in the jianghu, and there are too many more advanced secrets out there than the ones my Fang family has. Why did the Baiyue Sect choose me? I think this is probably the reason!” Fang Tianluo laughed at himself.
“What do you mean?” Li Huairou asked.
“I haven’t told anyone before, but my mother was a descendant of the former royal family. Within the jianghu, there have been rumors that the former royal family left a fortune for their descendants, in case of an emergency. The specific place of this hidden treasure was only known by the emperor, and every emperor would pass this secret to the new emperor before his death. The last emperor of the previous dynasty—that is, my mother’s ancestor—usurped the throne, so the location of this treasure became a secret. After investigating my mother’s ancestral line for many years, my mother finally found the whereabouts of the treasure in her hands. But my mother had already met my father at the time and had me, so she had no desire to take on such an important task as the restoration of the country. She just pretended not to know about this important task. This matter was not even clear to me. I don’t know how the Baiyue Sect learned about it, but I think this is why Xiao Lingling chose me,” Fang Tianluo softly said under the cold moonlight.
“You mean, this is a treasure map?” Li Huairou said, pointing to the pea-sized object.
