The rice paper was stained with ink. He would have to rewrite it.
Meng Ruqing had just changed the paper when he heard the shout again.
"Pretty Uncle, Handsome Grandpa."
This time the voice seemed to be right outside the tent.
Meng Ruqing's hands trembled uncontrollably, his mind almost blank: "Brother Xuan."
He turned around and saw that Qin Hengxuan had already stood up, looking outside in utter disbelief.
It wasn't a hallucination.
Meng Ruqing froze for a few seconds. The moment it hit him, all the blood in his body seemed to boil and surge, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from his chest. He shot to his feet, and despite a brief wave of dizziness, ran outside. He knocked over the table and sent reports scattering across the floor, but paid no attention. Qin Hengxuan threw down his brush and followed close behind. Seeing Meng Ruqing so agitated that he nearly fell after two steps, Qin Hengxuan hurried to steady him. Meng Ruqing regained his footing and kept rushing out, almost in a panic.
"Ah! Pretty Uncle."
Something seemed to explode in his ears. Meng Ruqing looked toward the sound.
Guaizai came running toward him, fast as a little firecracker.
His little face was flushed red, still only as big as a bun, his height barely changed, his little appearance just the same as four years ago.
Meng Ruqing couldn't believe it. He froze in place.
"Guaizai?"
"Pretty Uncle." Guaizai was overjoyed. Like an ant on a hot pan, he hopped twice in excitement before throwing himself at Meng Ruqing, hugging his leg tightly, tilting his head up and calling loudly.
"Pretty Uncle."
His voice was milky and soft, and the feeling on his leg was real—not a dream. Meng Ruqing's vision blurred, and his eyes filled with tears almost instantly.
Tears fell in that instant. He scooped Guaizai up into his arms.
He held him so tightly it almost hurt, but Guaizai didn't complain. He reached up to wipe Meng Ruqing's tears, his small palm instantly soaked.
"Pretty Uncle, why are you crying?"
Meng Ruqing stared at him without blinking, not daring to, his voice trembling beyond recognition as he answered, "Because Uncle is happy."
Guaizai laughed crisply: "Guaizai is happy too! Pretty Uncle, did you miss Guaizai?"
Meng Ruqing's voice shook: "Yes." Very much. He thought about him almost every day, missed him so much his heart and lungs felt like they would burst.
Qin Hengxuan patted Guaizai's head. Guaizai reached out to him, and when Qin Hengxuan leaned close, Guaizai threw his arms around his neck: "Handsome Grandpa."
Qin Hengxuan pinched his soft little cheek with one hand and held Guaizai's little hand tightly with the other. He wanted to hold him, but knew he couldn't at a time like this: "You little rascal, how did you get here?"
"Grandpa is hurt." Guaizai said: "Guaizai came to see him."
Qin Hengxuan was full of surprise, looking at him deeply: "When your Grandpa Qin knows you're here, he'll be so happy."
Zhang Quan came running up just then, panting. Guaizai really ran too fast — gone in a flash.
He was the head of the imperial guard at Xia Jinghong's side. Qin Hengxuan naturally recognized him.
But he'd heard this man had been sent to Hezhou to protect Fang Zichen. Seeing him now, Qin Hengxuan immediately guessed why he was here.
Meng Ruqing had one arm around Guaizai's legs, the other wrapped around his little body. Zhang Quan noticed that when Meng Ruqing saw him, he took two steps back and hugged Guaizai tighter, pulling him into his embrace, in a guarding posture, as if afraid he would snatch the child away.
The Qin family had always sent things to Guaizai. Zhang Quan had always known they liked him, but seeing this now — it was far more than just liking.
Judging by Meng Ruqing's behavior, if the Qin family were bandits, Fang Zichen would probably already be resting in peace.
Qin Hengxuan spoke first: "You're Guard Zhang?"
"Yes." Zhang Quan snapped back to himself and bowed with cupped fists. "Greetings, Young Master Qin, Zhujun."
"No need for formalities." Qin Hengxuan saw that Meng Ruqing wouldn't let go of Guaizai and said directly: "Shall we go to Father's place?"
"Mm!"
Old General Qin's tent was just behind them, not far away, guarded outside by soldiers of the Qin family. At the moment, he was being fed his medicine. His high fever had lingered for days and refused to break. An ordinary person would have already lost consciousness, but Old General Qin had been unconscious for several days now.
After taking the medicine, Old Madam Qin was just about to hand him water to rinse his mouth when Qin Hengxuan lifted the tent flap and barged in excitedly.
"Father, Mother, look who’s here."
His voice was full of excitement. Old Madam Qin was about to ask who it was when Meng Ruqing also came in carrying Guaizai.
"Grandma, it’s Guaizai."
Old Madam Qin’s hand trembled, and the teacup clattered to the ground.
Even Old General Qin's eyes went wide. He raised his right hand to rub them, then, as if his tongue had tied itself in a knot, said, "Guaizai??"
"Grandpa."
Old General Qin was both astonished and overjoyed. He forced himself to sit up, coughing violently as he reached out toward him. "Guaizai, come here, come here… let Grandpa take a look at you."
Guaizai climbed down from Meng Ruqing’s arms and ran over with pattering steps. "Grandpa, lie down quickly."
Old General Qin caught him and rubbed him. "Aiyo, it really is Guaizai. Grandpa isn’t dreaming."
Guaizai helped him lie back down. When he saw the bandages wrapped around him, his little face turned gloomy. "Grandpa, how is your health? Does it still hurt?"
"It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. Seeing you, Grandpa doesn’t hurt anymore." Old General Qin kept smiling. A moment ago he had still felt weak and limp, but now it seemed he had taken some divine panacea. It was as if he suddenly had inexhaustible strength, as if fighting three hundred more rounds would be nothing. He wanted to hug Guaizai, but because his body made it inconvenient, he could only pat the bed and say, "Come, sit beside Grandpa. Let Grandpa have a good look at you."
Guaizai climbed onto the bed and obediently sat beside Old General Qin. Considerately, he pulled the blanket over him. "Grandpa, your hands are hot. Sure enough, what Father said was right. Grandpa definitely won’t be cold."
Everyone in the tent: "…"
Old General Qin was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily, his voice sounding full of vigor. Old Madam Qin was afraid he might tear his wound, but seeing how truly happy he was, she did not say more.
Guaizai added, "Guaizai’s father predicts things like a god. Seeing that Grandpa is fine, Guaizai can finally relax."
Old General Qin pinched his little nose. "Grandpa is useless, making our Guaizai worry."
"That’s not true. Someone ambushed Grandpa. Guaizai knows all about it." Guaizai raised his fist. "Grandpa, tell Guaizai, who hit you?"
"What do you want to do?" Qin Hengxuan asked with a smile.
"Beat him to death," Guaizai said. "Bad people deserve a beating."
Qin Hengxuan teased him, "That person is very formidable. A little guy like you probably can’t beat him. One kick from him, and you’d probably be gone."
Hearing this, Guaizai became unhappy. "A man with ambition doesn't need to be tall. When Guaizai grows up, he'll be a man who can hold up the sky. And Handsome Grandpa, you might not know this, but Guaizai is actually very fierce. Father took Guaizai to suppress bandits. Guaizai went whack, one with each staff, one with each staff, beat them until they broke and ran, howling. Father said Guaizai was very brave and rewarded Guaizai with one hundred taels."
At this point, he puffed out his chest. "Guaizai is young, but he already had a huge sum of money. So awesome. But the silver was all spent by Guaizai. Otherwise, Guaizai could have married more than ten wives. And Father also taught Guaizai how to practice shooting!"
"Is that so?" Old General Qin played along enthusiastically. "Then our Guaizai must be even more formidable."
"Father said the same." Guaizai swung his little feet happily. "Father said, if you put Guaizai on a mountain, with Guaizai’s abilities, Guaizai could already command a troop of monkeys. Ordinary people don’t have that ability. Only Guaizai does."
Everyone in the tent burst out laughing. Earlier, Old General Qin had been badly injured. Although he had woken up, his high fever had not subsided, and no one dared to take it lightly. Everyone had been holding in their worries, and the whole tent had felt lifeless, the air heavy. But now it seemed to come alive all at once, full of vitality.
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