Chapter 10: Tiantian

When Bao Ning brought the porridge over, Pei Yuan was already tossing and turning in his sleep. She forced him to wake up and drink the porridge, but he was still very unwilling. Annoyed, Bao Ning quietly pinched his arm.

After feeding him the porridge, she wiped his face, hands, and feet, and changed the medicine on his leg wounds before returning to her room.

The little puppy curled up in the blanket, tilting its head up waiting for her. Bao Ning smiled and gently rubbed its head.

After tossing and turning most of the night, Bao Ning still couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking about the injuries on Pei Yuan’s leg.

Actually, from the beginning, she found it strange how Pei Yuan’s leg ended up like that. It shouldn’t be an illness—if it were, his leg would be paralyzed, but he shouldn’t feel pain. There were many knife wounds on his leg, but that alone wouldn’t cause his entire right leg to be immobile. Knife wounds hurt, but they don’t paralyze a whole leg.

Bao Ning thought it over and over but couldn’t come to a conclusion. In her heart, she held some hope, thinking maybe Pei Yuan’s leg could get better in the future.

She had learned some medical skills from Aunt Ming in the manor since she was young, and knew Aunt Ming’s grandfather used to run a clinic treating such conditions.

Some elderly people get strokes and suffer hemiplegia, unable to lift their hands or walk. Aunt Ming said many times such illnesses can be corrected with internal medicines, external application to the affected limbs, regular massage, and assisted walking. Some mild cases could recover 70-80%, and even severe cases could regain 20-30%.

Pei Yuan was still young and physically strong; if he persisted with treatment, it should be effective. But he definitely wouldn’t agree. Bao Ning could already imagine that if she went to him suggesting treating his leg like those elderly stroke patients, he would be angry, put on a sour face, maybe even scold her and kick her out.

That man’s mood was sour like the sky in June — it can change suddenly. He might be smiling at you one moment and flip out the next. Bao Ning didn’t dare touch that bad luck.

Besides, medicine must be prescribed according to the symptoms. Pei Yuan wouldn’t say how his leg became like this, so there was no way to prescribe medicine.

Bao Ning sighed and thought that when their relationship got closer later, she’d try to persuade him. For now, the urgent thing was to focus on good nutrition and daily wound care so his injuries could heal first.

And also, quit his drinking!

The little puppy didn’t know what Bao Ning was thinking about, got bored, and went up to bite her fingers. It was teething, its mouth itchy. It held Bao Ning’s wrist with both paws tightly and wrapped its small mouth around her finger. Its tongue’s tiny barbs tickled her fingers.

“Have I not given you a name yet?” Bao Ning scratched under its chin, thinking for a moment. “Since you like licking so much, let’s call you Tiantian ¹ Sweet .”

The puppy blinked at her. Bao Ning kissed it and smiled, asking, “Tiantian, do you like this name?”

The puppy blinked again.

Bao Ning felt her heart melt, holding its little head and rubbing it, then tucked it into her arms and blew out the light. “Sleep now.”

…

The next day, Bao Ning woke up from pain. Her neck and wrist were burning painfully. When she opened her eyes, she saw the wrist was already bruised purple. It was from Pei Yuan’s grip yesterday.

Bao Ning was startled and hurried to find a mirror. Her neck was not as severe as her wrist, only slightly red, but her fair skin made it look alarming at first glance.

She put some powder on her neck and tied a gauze scarf around it, finally covering it up. But the wrist was harder to hide, so she pulled down her sleeve as much as possible to conceal the bruise.

That man was really… so rough and careless.

Bao Ning dared not get close to him anymore. She thought to herself she must keep three steps away from Pei Yuan from now on, whether he was awake or asleep, to avoid him going mad again.

Her wrist still hurt after applying medicine, probably sprained tendons, so she couldn’t make big movements.

Breakfast was simple: spinach meatball soup, using the leftover meatballs from yesterday, quick and easy, soft and refreshing, very tasty. She also made a few scallion flower rolls for extra flavor.

While the soup was cooking, the things she bought yesterday arrived. Two sets of brand new pear wood furniture, several bolts of cloth, all kinds of rapeseed, plus rice, flour, grains, and oil, air-dried pork leg meat, and most importantly, a brood of baby animals.

Ji Yun had paid enough money, and the delivery men were very polite, helping Bao Ning move everything into the courtyard, even chatting with her:

“Little madam, your place is really simple. When the young master and I brought the stuff here yesterday, I thought I heard wrong.”

Suddenly being called “Little Madam,” Bao Ning was a little stunned, not knowing who he was referring to.

Another said, “You don’t understand. Rich people these days like quiet places like this — it’s called ‘returning to simplicity.’”

Bao Ning felt a little embarrassed.

She thanked them and sent the delivery men off, still savoring the sound of “Little Madam” as she walked back, feeling that the title was a bit shy and unfamiliar.

She had lived with Pei Yuan for several days and treated him as a companion, almost forgetting that there was such a relationship between them.

By rights, Pei Yuan was her husband, and she was his wife, but their relationship was quite special. Bao Ning thought not only her but probably Pei Yuan hadn’t thought much about it either.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kicked her out a few days ago or been so rough with her last night.

However, living like this was pretty good—peaceful and harmonious. She cooked, he ate; as long as Pei Yuan didn’t lose his temper, it was fine.

Bao Ning was lost in thought and only remembered halfway home that the pot was still cooking. She hurried back.

Fortunately, it hadn’t burnt. Bao Ning added some water, stirred it, and went to check the brood she bought yesterday.

Ten chickens, five ducks, and two geese. They were still tiny chicks, about half the size of a palm, fluffy like little yellow balls. They had a strong group awareness, dividing into three groups, snuggling with their little companions, sound asleep.

A few of them were very lively and awake, their black eyes like shiny black beans, occasionally making a soft, delicate “ji—” sound.

Bao Ning imagined how they would look after growing up in about a month—running around the courtyard busily and noisily, laying eggs. That would be so wonderful.

All the little ones were kept in a big basket placed on the warm kang. The basket was lined with dry grass and cotton scraps, very soft.

Tiantian (the puppy) lay by the basket, gnawing on a piece of wood while staring at those yellow fluffy little balls. Maybe it was a dog’s nature, but Bao Ning always felt that its gaze wasn’t very kind—it had a fierce glint.

She had to cook and couldn’t keep watching. Worried, she warned it, “Tiantian, you have to behave, no biting around, okay?”

The puppy ignored her. Bao Ning frowned, anxious to get on with her work but worried it would cause trouble. After thinking for a moment, she put Tiantian inside the kang, away from the basket, and placed a quilt between them before she left, feeling reassured.

The dough had already risen. She rolled it out, spread oil, sprinkled spices and chopped scallions, rolled it up, and cut it into sections. With a press and a lift of the chopsticks, a flower roll was made.

Bao Ning was focused on her task and didn’t look toward the kang until she heard a series of noises coming from there and realized something was wrong.

She looked over and saw Tiantian somehow climbed over and was sitting in the middle of the little ones, acting like the king of the hill, with a little goose’s neck in its mouth, shaking its head back and forth.

“What are you doing?” Bao Ning’s heart jumped; she didn’t even care about the flour on her hands and hurried over to rescue the little goose.

Tiantian had only a few teeth, so the little goose wasn’t injured—just scared and trembling nearby. Bao Ning was so angry she spanked the puppy a few times on the butt. The puppy, however, didn’t seem to think it had done anything wrong; it tilted its head, looking at her confidently and unapologetically.

Bao Ning suddenly felt it looked exactly like Pei Yuan last night.

“Do you think I can’t handle you?” Bao Ning pinched its ear. “I’ll take you to find someone who can tame you. Let’s see who’s fiercer!”

In the east wing, Pei Yuan was still asleep. Bao Ning quietly placed Tiantian by his pillow and pushed the puppy’s rump.

Tiantian was clever and obedient, crawling onto Pei Yuan’s face, its soft fur rubbing against his cheek, its little bottom wagging back and forth.

Pei Yuan felt itchy on his face, like something was there. He reached out to swipe it off, but the thing clung tightly and wouldn’t let go.

Annoyed, Pei Yuan opened his eyes and met a dog face sticking out its tongue, about to nibble his nose.

His hand twitched, “What is this!”