Chapter Twenty-One: The Secret of the Exchange (1/4)

Click.
The door opened just a crack.
Under Saeko Busujima’s gentle smile, Liu Mengchao stepped inside.
“Wait for me a moment,” Saeko said, nodding toward Liu Mengchao, her eyes curiously landing on Alice, who stuck to Liu Mengchao like a shadow.
“She seems to like you very much,” Saeko leaned against the wall, her gaze brimming with playful teasing.
“I’ve always been popular with girls,” Liu Mengchao replied, but as soon as the words left his lips, Saeko broke into laughter.
“Yes, boys who wet the bed until they’re five always awaken a girl’s motherly instincts,” Saeko’s slender fingers covered her mouth as she laughed softly before him. “Don’t make that face; there’s nothing shameful about bedwetting.”
“That’s right! Brother, I don’t wet the bed anymore, but I used to,” Alice chimed in. “But later, Mama told me that as long as I went to the bathroom before bed, I wouldn’t wet the bed in my sleep. Mama never lied to me!”
“Qi Xiaoxiao…”
Liu Mengchao’s twin sleeve-daggers slid in and out of their sheaths, mimicking a pot of boiling water. In truth, his feelings now were just as turbulent. “Care to explain this…?”
Pfft.
The two women couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Liu Mengchao’s expression.
“What are you all laughing about, big sis?”
“Alice,” Qi Xiaoxiao said with a smile, walking over to her side, bending down to gently pat her head, “bedwetting is a girl’s biggest secret—never tell anyone else, okay?”
“But brother already knows.” Alice looked at Liu Mengchao, worry clouding her face, her cheerful smile vanishing. “Big sis, what should I do?”
“That’s why I told you his secret too. If anyone asks, you have to keep it safe, just like he keeps yours.”
“Okay!”
Alice finally broke into a grin, tears still hanging at the corners of her eyes, but she reached out her little hand, delighted.
“Brother, pinky swear!”
“Yes, pinky swear.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Liu Mengchao laughed as well. He cherished this feeling; the endless scheming of the outside world only made him feel weary and appalled.
“Qi Xiaoxiao, here’s the medicine you wanted.”
Liu Mengchao opened the iron box on the table.
It was a drawer-style box, divided into three layers.
The top was filled with licorice, glycyrrhiza, euphorbia, sargassum, and genkwa. Liu Mengchao then pulled out the next layer, revealing aconite, fritillaria, trichosanthes, pinellia, bai lian, and bai ji, all packed inside.
The bottom layer was entirely filled with hellebore, ginseng, adenophora, salvia, scrophularia, asarum, and peony.
“It’s a bit messy. I hope you don’t mind,” Liu Mengchao said with a smile.
After all, the medicines inside were not sorted as Qi Xiaoxiao had requested: one qian each of licorice, glycyrrhiza, euphorbia, sargassum, genkwa; two qian each of aconite, fritillaria, trichosanthes, pinellia, bai lian, bai ji; three qian each of hellebore, ginseng, adenophora, salvia, scrophularia, asarum, and peony.
“You can’t blame me for this,” Liu Mengchao said with an innocent look. “Truth is, I can hardly tell one from the other. If it weren’t for Alice, I’d have ended up hauling the entire cabinet over.”
“Big sister, I didn’t get a single one wrong!”
“Aren’t you going to praise her?” Liu Mengchao echoed Alice, wearing the smile of an ordinary child.
He relished this sense of normalcy.
Qi Xiaoxiao glanced at the expectant Alice, then at the shameless Liu Mengchao, sighed, and stepped to the table.
Qi Xiaoxiao’s palm was large, but her fingers were slender. Liu Mengchao once heard that women with large palms are always strong.
Like a film in fast-forward, Qi Xiaoxiao’s hands deftly picked out the mixed herbs one after another, under Alice’s wide-eyed amazement.
Before long, eighteen different herbs were neatly sorted before her.
“Big sister, you’re amazing!”
Alice clapped her hands in delight at the display.
Qi Xiaoxiao said nothing, but rolled her eyes at Liu Mengchao, wiped the sweat from her brow, and exhaled in relief.
“I’ll take these then.”
“Want me to get you a pot?” Liu Mengchao asked with a grin.
“No need.” Qi Xiaoxiao nodded to Saeko Busujima and gathered the herbs into her arms. “They’re for external use.”
With that, she went upstairs without looking back.
As soon as Qi Xiaoxiao opened the brown door, her brows knitted in a frown.
“How are you two here?”
Saeko Busujima just smiled.
“Brother said he was worried you’d faint, so he brought me to help support you.”
“Liu Mengchao…” Qi Xiaoxiao sighed, turning. “Don’t stay here.”
“All right, all right. Saeko, let’s go.”
Liu Mengchao’s expression was that of a mischievous child who’d gotten away with a prank, cheerfully grabbing Saeko’s hand.
“Don’t be like that. If you stay, Qi Xiaoxiao will be too embarrassed to undress.”
“What about me, brother? Why are you taking my hand?”
Deliberately ignoring Qi Xiaoxiao’s almost explosive look, Liu Mengchao crouched down, patted Alice’s head, and said with a cheeky grin, “We have to set a good example for children! You’re still little, but you’ll grow up soon enough.”
Bang!
As soon as he finished, Liu Mengchao grabbed Saeko and Alice by the hand and dashed out of the room.
“Liu Mengchao, you scoundrel.” Qi Xiaoxiao looked at the now empty room and, to her surprise, laughed softly. “It’s so good to see you here.”
With those words, she closed her eyes.
The incompatible herbs lay in a row before her. There was nothing more she needed to do—only to give this last bit of strength for her brother.
No matter how abrasive your words, I still like your smile.
While applying the medicine to her battered body, Qi Xiaoxiao endured the searing pain that tore at her from within.
The prescription Mother left behind—it really does seem to work.
Gradually, color returned to her pale cheeks, and a healthy flush spread across her face. Beads of sweat began to form at her temples.
“Hoo…”
Qi Xiaoxiao straightened her back, a series of crackles sounding from within her body, like a sudden, furious downpour.
“Ha!”
Suddenly, her center of gravity dropped to the base of her spine. Her whole body reacted like a startled cat: every hair stood on end, goosebumps erupting across her skin, and all the sweat and heat seemed to retreat into her core.
Her spine arched like a dragon’s tail, the weight of her body falling, every hair bristling.
“Let me use martial arts to shield you, little brother who never holds his tongue,” Qi Xiaoxiao whispered, eyes shining with unwavering light. Not as a martial arts master, but as a sister who deeply loves her brother.
“No matter who or what, I want you to survive!”
Her lips parted, her breath sharp as a blade.
Qi Xiaoxiao retied her ponytail, confidence brimming from every pore.
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Did I forget to say yesterday that today would be a big release day?
Whispering—can I just pretend I don’t know…
By the way, this is the first update… The next one will be at ten in the morning…
And today, it seems, the book will drop off the New Releases list… Thank you, every reader, for your devoted support! I wanted to write a special note… but it felt too sentimental…
Thank you to Earnest and You’ll Lose, Digging Pits for Myself, The Tranquility of Mountains and Rivers, Maybe Still Nostalgic, Victorique8, Dreaming of the Moonlit Sea, A Cup of Cloudy Wine, That Silly Guy of Yours, Xuanyuan the Killer, Ling????, Rainbow’s Transition, The Story of the Starry Sky, Natsume and Nyanko, Cold Moon and Ice, Dragon’s Contract, Bone-chilling Cold, music《Old Drunkard, and Reader 121029215451525 for your tips and support.