Chapter 168 - 158: Don’t Share the Pear
Chapter 168: Chapter 158: Don’t Share the Pear
The Tang father and son had absolute faith in Xiao Man’s words. First, there was the precedent of Mr. Gu. Then, they had watched her take a pulse, and later, witnessed her unique acupuncture technique. Old Mrs. Tang’s spirits had clearly improved. She kept saying the pain was mostly gone, that she felt light and comfortable, as if her illness was already cured... What was there to doubt?
Although Mr. Tang didn’t understand medicine, he knew a thing or two about herbs. His family even had a small collection of rare and precious ones. When he saw the herbs Xiao Man took out to prepare the prescription, he couldn’t help but marvel. ’The old sayings are true: there’s always a heaven beyond the heavens, and a person beyond the people. The girl is so young, and her medical skills are already this incredible before she’s even completed her apprenticeship. I can’t even imagine what kind of person her master must be. I recognize all these herbs, but their quality and age are anything but ordinary!’
Xiao Man was staying with the Tang family, so she personally decocted the first batch of medicine. Before leaving, she planned to leave behind a porcelain jar of spiritual spring water. She would add a few drops of lotus leaf water to it, creating a medicinal solution that would act as one of the ingredients. She would seal it tightly and have Mr. Tang ladle some out each day to brew the medicine.
After drinking a bowl of the medicinal soup, Old Mrs. Tang felt even more comfortable and at ease. It was as if she could see the illness that had tormented her for so long being driven far, far away!
She couldn’t wait to get out of bed and walk around. She wanted to get closer to Xiao Man; she had so, so much she wanted to talk to the child about!
Tang Qingshan and Xiao Man persuaded her to stay put. It was almost noon, so they suggested she take a nap first. When she woke up, her energy would be even better. Tonight was New Year’s Eve, and she could even stay up with everyone until ten o’clock to celebrate the festival!
This suggestion made Old Mrs. Tang both happy and full of anticipation. Only after confirming that Xiao Man wasn’t leaving did she obediently lie down to rest.
Xiao Man followed Tang Qingshan out of Old Mrs. Tang’s room and began discussing something with him. She wanted to get a large wooden basin to boil another batch of medicinal soup for Old Mrs. Tang to soak in when she woke up.
"We don’t have a large wooden basin at home," Tang Qingshan said. "And today is New Year’s Eve. It’s already noon, so the stores have probably closed for the holiday. Would a bathtub not work?"
Xiao Man said, "Medicinal baths usually require a wooden basin. Without one, a bathtub would work, I guess. But bathtubs are cold and slippery, the water will cool down quickly, and I don’t think that would be good for Grandma."
Tang Qingshan reached out and ruffled the little girl’s hair, sighing with a smile. "You really are your grandma’s own granddaughter! Alright, leave the wooden basin to Dad. I’ll definitely find one. As for you, our family’s great hero, you must be tired too. Go rest for a bit. Dad will take you to your room!"
"I have a room?"
"Of course! We set it up for you overnight. This morning, when I went to the Gu’s to pick you up, I asked Aunt Xiao Zhang to go to the morning market and buy you some things to use and wear. Come and see if you like it."
Tang Qingshan led Xiao Man to the left side of the second floor. Here, there was another living room, simply and elegantly furnished. Several landscape photographs hung on the walls. It looked like the area where Tang Qingshan lived.
Sure enough, Tang Qingshan said, "The third floor is where your uncle, aunt, Xuanxuan, and Hao Hao live. You’re my child, so you’ll live with me. That room in the front is the study. It’s very large, and Shao Jin sometimes stays in there when he comes to look for books. The other room is my bedroom, and this one is yours!"
He pushed open the door to reveal a room bathed in brilliant sunlight. There were light, elegant floral curtains, and a large balcony with wide glass doors. Unlike the Gu Mansion, the furniture in this room was surprisingly all European-style. One look was enough to tell it hadn’t been made in recent years, but was instead passed down through the family!
A large, soft bed with an ornate four-poster frame and pink canopy, a delicate vanity, a fabric sofa under the window, a carved long table, and a wall-length wardrobe...
Tang Qingshan opened the first door of the wardrobe. Seeing only four or five new outfits hanging inside, he said apologetically, "It was a bit rushed. Everyone’s busy with the New Year, so we couldn’t find anything better... Just make do with these for now."
Then he opened the inner wardrobe doors, revealing that they were filled entirely with qipaos!
Inlaid with pearls and jade, threaded with gold and silver, brilliantly embroidered in dazzling colors, so elegant and exquisite they were a feast for the eyes... There were at least fifty or sixty of them!
Seeing Xiao Man’s mouth finally fall open, her eyes sparkling with surprise, Tang Qingshan smiled. ’This little girl really isn’t easy to impress!’
"Everything in this room was part of your grandmother’s dowry—and this is only some of it. She said that since I’m the eldest son, my daughter gets to choose from her things first. That’s why Xuanxuan, despite being so grown up, has never even had a look. It’s all for you to decide. Keep whatever you want!"
Tang Qingshan left to look for the wooden basin, leaving Xiao Man to explore the room by herself. She lovingly touched the beautiful qipaos, unable to put them down. Although she wasn’t tall enough to wear them yet, just admiring them was satisfying enough. ’To think the frail old lady had kept so many wonderful things!’
At the bottom of a vanity drawer, she found a beautiful picture book filled with images of elegant ladies from the thirties and forties. It turned out to be a collection of hairstyles and makeup techniques, as well as clothing pairings... ’This is basically a fashion magazine from that era,’ Xiao Man thought. She carried it over to the sofa, lay back, and started flipping through it. She noticed a beautiful crystal fruit bowl on the coffee table in front of her. Unfortunately, it was empty. On a whim, she summoned two large, golden pears from her space. She started munching on one and placed the other in the bowl to admire. And then, tragedy struck—Old Tang walked in and saw it!
"Um, Grandpa Tang, why didn’t you knock?"
"I did knock. You didn’t hear me!"
Xiao Man: "..."
’You obviously didn’t knock, and I’m not deaf.’
"Your father won’t be back for a while, so Grandpa came to call you for lunch." Mr. Tang walked closer, his eyes fixed on the large, juicy pear with thin skin and tender flesh in Xiao Man’s hand. He swallowed hard, then unceremoniously picked up the one in the fruit bowl. "This is a pear, isn’t it? Why haven’t I seen this variety before? It looks a bit like a Northeast Yanbian yellow pear. Did your father give it to you?"
"No, it’s a genuine local pear from the mountains in the South. It was left on the branch for a long time and only harvested after winter began, that’s why it looks like this!"
Xiao Man was telling a half-truth. There were indeed some pears in the southern mountain villages that were left on the trees through winter, but those were sour pears that nobody particularly wanted. If a sour pear managed to withstand the frost and snow without falling, children would climb the trees to knock them down during the New Year festival. One bite would release a mouthful of sweet juice, and they were delicious!
But she had underestimated Mr. Tang’s sharp mind. The man was wise and clearly skeptical. "A pear this big, with such thin, crisp skin... and the birds didn’t peck at it?"
Xiao Man had no choice but to continue her story. "Mhm, we cover them with little bamboo baskets so the birds can’t get to them!"
Mr. Tang was finally convinced. "You brought these from your home in the South? How many did you bring?"
"The pears are heavy, so I only brought two in case I got thirsty on the way. Here, Grandpa, you eat it!" Xiao Man said tactfully.
Mr. Tang chuckled, with no intention of putting it down. "Good girl. In that case, we’ll just eat these two pears here, the two of us. We won’t tell the others."
Xiao Man: "..."
’Shouldn’t we share some with them?’
"Share the pear? The expression for ’sharing a pear’ sounds just like the word for ’separation.’ It’s bad luck! There are plenty of apples and snow pears in the house. They can eat all they want of those."
As he spoke, Mr. Tang sat down next to Xiao Man and took a bite of the pear. An unparalleled sweet and refreshing flavor instantly filled his mouth. He closed his eyes to savor it, a look of pure bliss on his face. After a few more bites, his conscience finally got the better of him. He stood up and said, "This pear is too good. Grandpa can’t enjoy it all by himself. Let’s save it for now. We’ll eat it together when your grandma wakes up!"
"Didn’t you say sharing a pear was bad luck?"
"Mhm, we won’t cut it with a knife! Grandpa will bite off half, and your grandma can bite off the other half!"
’That works?’
Xiao Man looked at the pear in her own hand. ’Should I save half for Tang Qingshan?’ she wondered. ’He’s been so good to me, and I feel inexplicably drawn to him... Sigh. If I had known, I would have just taken out a couple more!’