The Lady’s Sickly Husband

Early in the morning on the next day, Mo Qianxue just arrived at Tong mansion when the housekeeper reported to her with excitement what Tong Zijing had done after she left yesterday.

Yesterday since Mo Qianxue left, Tong Zijing first sat there numbly for a while, then he picked up a piece of cloth to tear for a moment just like before, but he quickly lost the interest. Then, he began to gaze at the story scrolls of crane and fox drinking water.

Although he still laughed, it was no longer the former titter. It was another kind of smile.

The housekeeper thought for quite a long time and wasn’t able to describe what kind of smile that was.

So he only said that young lord got up very early today, saying nothing though, his eyes were unconsciously brought to rest on the door.

Mo Qianxue smiled. It seemed that Tong Zijing’s condition wasn’t as serious as she had expected.

When she entered his room again, she found the feeling of depression disappeared.

Mo Qianxue pushed the door open, and though Tong Zijing didn’t came up to greet her, his eyes blinked with joy.

Mo Qianxue walked to him, smiling, “I’m here brother. Shall we begin telling stories?”

Tong Zijing nodded.

“We’re good friends now. Can I call you Jing? Jing brother?”

Tong Zijing nodded again.

“That’s great, then you call me sister. Remember, my name is Qianxue.”

Mo Qianxue started to tell stories just like the day before. But there were only two of them in the room. Mr. Tong had been dismissed.

Finishing the stories, she collected the scrolls, saying, “We are good friends, right? Friends should help each other, just like the story goes. Right?”

Every time she asked a question, she needed to repeat at least three times, but she never got impatient, because the best way to treat an autistic boy was to give him more than enough love and avoid rough and simple neglect.

“…Yes.” Tong Zijing seemed to think for a while before giving his answer.

“I’d like to have fun outside, because it’s so boring in the room. Will you go with me?”

The friendliness of Tong Zijing was blown away by wind at once. He took a glance at the guards at the door, lowering his head and shaking it after a long while.

“But if Jing don’t go with me, I’ll feel bored and lonely.” Mo Qianxue was so sad at the sight of his alerted expression and waved her hand to let the guards leave.

She believed that he must have tried to go out but was forced back by the guards.

Mr. Tong had promised that now she was the boss in the yard. Therefore, as she waved her hand, the two guards left quickly only after hesitating for a second and exchanging a look.

Seeing that the guards had retreated and hearing Mo Qianxue’s invitation, Tong Zijing restored his desire to go outside.

In view of this, Mo Qianxue held his hand and walked outward.

Tong Zijing glanced at the hand holding him, subconsciously tried to rid but wasn’t willing to do so, so his eyes, from where tears welled up, were fixed on the hand. Finally, by Mo Qianxue’s guide, he walked out of the door.

There was no one in the yard. She took him by the hand and strolled along corridors.

At first, Tong Zijing lowered his head out of fear, but later as he peeked around and found nobody, he instantly got relieved.

He was a child by nature and rarely came out, so certainly he found everything new and interesting. Looking here and there, he tried to touch and play anything but didn’t dare to let go of Mo Qianxue’s hand.

This made Mo Qianxue heartbroken. Back in modern times, she also had a younger brother. Alright, now she could regard Tong Zijing as her own brother.

While being heartbroken, she was also in rage. How should a normal person be locked up for more than a decade?

What a failure and loser Mr. Tong was as a father!

Doctors had long asserted that Zijing had no physical conditions and was merely too scared to talk, but his father should treat him as a psycho for a dozen of years.

He should be a handsome elegant man receiving the best education and enjoying his life. But just because of he was injured and stopped talking, no one had communicated with him anymore nor knew his feelings.

He had spent over ten years in a small space, either tearing cloth or throwing bowls. How dull that was!

And the so-called treatment he had received was medicine soup day after day. The so-called paternal love he had been offered was merely self-righteous compulsion.

She held him tighter and continued to wander in the corridors.

Her hand was so light and so soft. Tong hoped that the sky would never be dark again and that they could walk forever in the corridors.

He also unconsciously held her hand tighter. Mo Qianxue smiled at him, “Want to play with snow?”

In a daze for a second, Tong Zijing shook his head slightly.

For ten years more, he hadn’t been out of his room. He even forgot what snow was.

Mo Qianxue released his hand, ran to the bushes that were covered with a thick layer of snow, collected a handful of snow and turned to Tong Zijing, “Come and feel it. This is snow.”

With curiosity, Tong Zijing reached out to feel it. The cold touch made him draw back his hand, but his child nature of curiousness compelled him to reach out again.

“Look at the white. It’s snowflake. In one year, there are four seasons and there will be spring flowers, winter rain, autumn fruits and winter snow.” Mo Qianxue held his hand, stooped down to let him feel the cold while giving him knowledge about the world.

Tong Zijing first touched the snow under her guide, and then as the new feeling intrigued him, he stuck out the other hand and imitated Mo Qianxue to spoon some snow in his palms.

“Shall we play snowballs?”

“Snow…balls?” Since he hadn’t talked for very long, he paused every few syllables like a child.

Mo Qianxue worried that he might be scared, so she threw the ball gently to the cornor of his clothes.

“Like this. I throw at you, and you throw at me. This is how we play snowballs!”

Tong Zijing followed suit and waved his arm, but he couldn’t control his strength accurately, and on other hand, Mo Qianxue was unprepared, so the snowball happened to fall on her head.

Actually, Tong Zijing didn’t suffer mental retardation that she had worried about. There seemed to be a big chance to totally cure him. As long as she taught him more and helped him adapt to the world, he would soon live a normal life.

Thinking of this, Mo Qianxue, with snow on her head, laughed, “Excellent, my little bro! Now it’s my turn…”

In this way, the two interacted, running about and hiding and throwing snowballs at each other. They laughed and really had a great time.

“Ah…ha…” He wasn’t able to express himself clearly in words, so when he got excited, he shouted out simple syllables to express his feelings.

Mo Qianxue also hadn’t enjoyed herself so carefreely, so naturally she was immersed in the game in hearty fun.

On a higher position in the garden stood two people.

“It seemed that we were wrong before. We had walked into a dead end!”

“Yes, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have valued face more than anything else.”

…

“However, now he only smiles and talked to that girl and still ignores me. I guess I was way too wrong… Will he hate me when he becomes normal?”

“It takes time for his scar to be healed step by step. As I understand it, these days is the most critical stage. In a few days, Jing will get much better, not different from normal people.

As for hatred, he is your son after all. There is no overnight vengeance between a father and a son. Be nice to him. Try to control your tyrannical temper…”

As the two talked, the housekeeper climbed onto the place, reporting, “Master, the seventh young lord is here.”

“Oh, Qi is here? Take him here.”

“Yes.”

The housekeeper left. Mr. Wang saw his friend having a guest and said, “I shouldn’t meet him, so I have to go now. As for Mr. Ning’s disease, I’ll cure it. I just need one more medicine that I have to find for personally. Since Jing’s condition is promising, I’m so relieved. As soon as I get the medicine, I’ll go to the Wang village to clear Mr. Ning’s poison.”

Mr. Wang laughed, “For a year, lord Ning has been looking for me everywhere. Haha, since I can’t get away from him, just give him a hand for his wife’s sake.”

Mr. Tong was in a good mood today and laughed with him, “Old buddy, just leave. Why do you have so much to say?”

The skinny old man disappeared in a flash. Su Qi walked over from afar, greeting, “Granduncle, how are you recently?”

“Great. Good to see you visiting me.”

“Grandma sent me a letter to let me visit you. I also want to see whether uncle Jing’s getting better.”

“Your uncle is playing over there.”

Mr. Tong excitedly pointed to the open space below where two people were playing snowballs, “Your uncle is indeed getting better. Remember to tell this to your grandma. Thanks for her concern.”

Su Qi was a little shocked but maintained a grinning face, looking over in the direction Mr. Tong was pointing.

Tong family had had single-son for many generations, so when Mr. Tong’s grandfather wasn’t able to have children after years of getting married, he adopted Su Qi’s grandma as his daughter. It was quite later that Mr. Tong’s father was born.

Su Qi’s grandmother and Mr. Tong’s father were more intimate than ordinary sister and brother. Therefore, Tong Zijing’s condition wasn’t a secret to important people of Su family.

For so many years, granduncle and grandma had been searching for famous doctors. Even the well-known strange doctor had come but couldn’t help. After these years of suffering that kind of disease, how could it be so easy to get better so soon? Granduncle must be lying to himself as a comfort.

Following Mr. Tong’s finger, Su Qi looked over. When he saw clearly the two playing figures over there, the smile on his face stiffened at once.

Wasn’t that…?