Chapter 54: How Long Are You Planning To Make Me Your Cook?
“What’s going on?” Cui Shi moved closer to Lin Xin and asked in a low voice.
“Her daughter bumped into her, causing a miscarriage. The village doctor can’t treat it, and her mother-in-law is unwilling to spend money to find a doctor in town.” As she spoke, Lin Xin glanced at him. “You’ve walked right into this yourself.”
“Ah?” Cui Shi was stunned for a moment. Even someone as experienced as him had never encountered such a bizarre situation.
As if feeling his shock wasn’t enough, Lin Xin nodded toward the side. Cui Shi looked over and saw a fair-skinned little young lady staring at Meng Yichen with red-rimmed eyes. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She just shouted in the crowd that you are Lin Nan’s master and asked me to find you to save someone.” Lin Xin quickly explained the situation in the simplest terms possible. She had to be quick—He Luan’er was already walking over here with teary eyes.
“So, should I treat her or not?” Cui Shi twirled his beard and asked Lin Xin.
Lin Xin shrugged and spread her hands. “This isn’t my business. You handle it yourself.”
After saying that, she stepped back as if to avoid suspicion, putting some distance between herself and Cui Shi.
“Hey, you brat, why are you dodging like that?”
Cui Shi asked and immediately understood why. The little young lady who had been staring at Meng Yichen was now standing in front of him. She lifted her skirt hem and performed an awkward noble curtsy, then spoke in an affected, pretentious voice:
“You must be Lin Nan’s master. Could you please save his aunt? Third Aunt Lin is dying. As a doctor, you surely have noble medical ethics and would never abandon someone to die like some people, right?”
Cui Shi had seen all kinds of scenes in his time. He saw through the little young lady’s trick at a glance—she was highlighting her own kindness and politeness while subtly insulting Lin Xin, trying to ruin the brat’s image in his mind.
Cui Shi shook his head inwardly, but in the end, he picked up his medicine box and walked to Zhou Shi’s side. It wasn’t because of He Luan’er’s words, but simply because he was a doctor and couldn’t just stand by and watch a life slip away before his eyes without doing anything.
He Luan’er didn’t understand his intention and thought her politeness and kindness had moved him. She shot a triumphant glance at Lin Xin while also making sure to show off to Meng Yichen. She ran up to him and performed another awkward noble curtsy, then lifted her skirt hem and followed Cui Shi.
Meng Yichen was baffled by her. He turned his head in confusion and asked Lin Xin, “Does she have a problem here…?” As he spoke, he pointed to his temple.
Lin Xin was amused by him and laughed, shaking her head. “I don’t know either.”
Seeing that Lin Xin was willing to talk to him properly, Meng Yichen was delighted. The huge stone weighing on his heart finally fell. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt an itch in his throat and began coughing uncontrollably. Lin Xin sharply noticed spots of red on the handkerchief he used to cover his mouth.
She used her supernatural ability to sense him and couldn’t help but frown. The vitality in his body was even weaker than last time. He would probably need a long period of rest.
Lin Xin furrowed her brows and carefully recalled the plot. Her eyes suddenly widened. No wonder the name had sounded familiar—Meng Yichen, the youngest son of the imperial merchant Meng family, who had been frail since childhood and raised like the apple of their eyes.
He had an older brother, Meng Yixuan, who was a great general and a staunch supporter of the crown prince. He had once been injured and comatose for a long time, and though he woke up, he was left with severe sequelae.
When the crown prince’s power waned, the northern nomads invaded the border. To protect the military power in the crown prince’s hands, Meng Yixuan and Mo Ziyuan went to the battlefield together. The end result was one dead and one injured—Meng Yixuan died, and Mo Ziyuan was wounded.
His elderly parents couldn’t bear the blow and passed away a few years later, leaving Meng Yichen alone.
Dragging his frail body, he joined the third prince’s faction. With his outstanding intelligence, he quickly became the third prince’s advisor and earned the right to stay by the third prince’s side.
The former crown prince’s faction despised him deeply, and the brothers who had once doted on him as their younger brother became strangers. Meng Yichen silently endured it all until his brothers left one by one for various reasons.
When news came from the Mo family that Mo Ziyuan had died from a relapse of old wounds, he was in the third prince’s study discussing how to deliver the final blow to the crown prince. By then, Meng Yichen had earned the third prince’s full trust, and only the two of them were in the study.
That day, Meng Yichen used all his strength to plunge his hair pin into the third prince’s throat, while simultaneously being pierced through the chest by the sword in the third prince’s hand.
Tsk tsk. After recalling everything, Lin Xin clicked her tongue in disdain twice. But looking at Meng Yichen now, she felt an inexplicable pang of sourness in her heart. Going undercover like this—whether it was frustrating or frustrating, she didn’t know!
After thinking for a moment, she stepped forward, raised her hand to support his arm, and slowly channeled a thread of wood element ability into Meng Yichen’s body from where they touched, slightly repairing his nearly ruined body. “You should still come in and sit down! I’m afraid if you keep going like this, you’ll cough up your internals.”
Meng Yichen smiled, not minding it. With her support, he dragged his limp body into the courtyard and sat down.
“Yi Chen, how are you? Are you feeling very uncomfortable?” Ling Qing walked in carrying a bag of rice and saw him slumped over. He hurried over to ask.
“I’m fine, much better already.” Meng Yichen replied. He really did feel much better—the heaviness in his chest was gone, no longer like a thousand-pound stone was pressing down, and his throat no longer felt clogged with cotton when he breathed.
Ling Qing carefully observed his complexion and saw it was indeed better than when he arrived. Relieved, he patted his shoulder and went back to carrying things.
Lin Xin looked at the various daily supplies already piled on the ground, helplessly rubbing her forehead. She shot Meng Yichen a displeased glance. “You’ve brought so many things. How long do you plan to have me act as your cook?”
Meng Yichen coughed lightly in embarrassment. “Um, these are all gifts for you siblings.”
Seeing Lin Xin’s clearly disbelieving gaze, he coughed lightly again and said, “Cough cough, we’ve already planned to build a house in the village, at the foot of the mountain not far from your home. That way, we can be neighbors, so… so…”
“So when you have time, you can come to my house for free meals, right?” Lin Xin finished for him.
“Cough cough…” Meng Yichen responded with a string of coughs.
Lin Xin: ……
She turned and went into the house. It was a waste of time talking nonsense with him here—better to interact with her soft and cute younger brother instead!
As soon as she entered, she met Lin Nan’s sparkling eyes. “Sis, is it Master and Mister who came?”
The most painful thing in the world is a knife from a loved one. Lin Xin gritted her teeth and nodded. “Yeah! They came. Is Nan Nan happy?”
Hearing the gritted teeth in his sister’s voice, Lin Nan quickly hugged her neck. “Nan Nan likes Sis the most! If Sis is unhappy, Nan Nan can ignore Master and Mister!”
Lin Xin: ……You sure know how to shift the blame!
Thanks to book friends 2024122243960, Song of the Goat and Story of the Eyes, Fu Ze, Soul on the Run!, caroletu, Mmy Dang, Borrow for votes cast. Thanks to caroletu for the reward. Thank you all for your support, thank you!
