Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

Li Guihua was particularly fond of the Little Red Carp. Her eldest son and daughter-in-law had a baby girl last year, but since they were at their work unit, she couldn’t see them often. Her heart ached with longing! When the Little Red Carp showed up, Li Guihua felt as if she were seeing her very own granddaughter.

Zhao Nuanyue handed the Little Red Carp over to Li Guihua, then went inside with Li Qiong.

When Li Minglan saw Zhao Nuanyue and Li Qiong arrive, she quickly got up to pour them some tea. ”Oh, Ms. Nuan Yue, Sister Qiong, you’re here!” she said with a smile. ”You didn’t have to bring anything. My, it smells wonderful! I could smell it the moment you came in.”

”They’re shortcakes,” the Little Red Carp replied. ”My sister and Ms. Qiong made them. They’re delicious.”

”Oh, has the Little Red Carp had some?” Li Minglan asked with a grin, pinching the girl’s chubby little cheeks.

”I ate lots and lots! My tummy is full,” the Little Red Carp said, patting her stomach. She was bundled up in so many layers, looking like a little cotton ball, that her belly was completely hidden.

Li Qiong had already taken out four bags of shortcakes. ”Aunt Li,” she said, ”we used the award flour you gave Nuanyue to make a few different kinds of shortcakes. They’re delicious! Here are four bags for your family, four for Village Chief Miao’s family, and two bags each for the accountant, the security chief, and the two production team leaders. If you have a moment later, would you mind delivering them for us?”

Hearing this, Aunt Li was overjoyed.

”Oh, I’ve had Nuanyue’s shortcakes before! They’re even more delicious than the ones I’ve bought in the county seat,” Li Guihua said with a cheerful laugh. ”It’s so kind of you to bring them over, so I won’t stand on ceremony. Alright, while they’re still warm, I’ll make the deliveries for you. Just wait for me here.”

With that, Li Guihua slung a basket over her arm and set off to make the deliveries.

Only Li Jianjun, Li Minglan, Zhao Nuanyue, Li Qiong, and the Little Red Carp remained in the house.

Li Minglan had a very cheerful and lively personality herself. She put aside the shoe she was making and started playing with the Little Red Carp.

”Ms. Nuan Yue, why didn’t Nuanyang come with you?” Li Minglan asked, unable to resist after glancing around and seeing no one else. In the past, Zhao Nuanyue always brought Zhao Nuan Yang along when she visited.

Zhao Nuan Yang was handsome and tall, not dark and brawny like the other young men in the village. He looked just like a handsome scholar from a storybook. All the young women in the village, married or not, loved to steal extra glances at him.

”Haha, Nuanyang’s at home reading,” Zhao Nuanyue chuckled. She was aware that the village girls stole glances at her brother, but she saw it as the innocent, hazy crush of youth. She wouldn’t point it out, nor would she try to stop it.

’In any case, her blockhead of a brother wouldn’t get into any special relationships with those girls.’

Li Minglan’s eyes lit up. ”Oh, what a coincidence! I’ve been studying lately, too,” she said brightly. ”I’m learning high school math from my brother, and it’s so much harder than middle school math. If it were literature, I could teach myself just by reading and looking things up in a dictionary!”

”Oh, you’re studying high school textbooks too?” Li Qiong said, surprised. ”You can’t even take the college entrance exams right now. Why are you all studying?”

Li Minglan laughed. ”It’s winter, so we don’t have to work in the fields. We have a lot of free time, and I can’t just sleep all day. I saw my brother studying, so I decided to learn a little, too. My eldest brother wrote me a letter telling me not to fall behind in my studies.”

Hearing this gave Li Qiong a surge of hope. The more forward-thinking people around her were all saying that studying was a good thing, and that the major exams might be reinstated. Maybe one day, they really could go to college.

”Haha, it’s actually a good thing. Reading makes the days feel less empty,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. ”What you learn will always be useful someday.”

”Yes, my mom says the same thing. She’s always encouraged my brother and me to study,” Li Minglan replied. ”My brother came from a rural background, and the reason he was able to make it to manager isn’t just because he’s handsome—it’s because he’s highly educated!”

”That’s impressive!” Zhao Nuanyue praised. ”Talented people are always in demand, it’s just that things have changed these past few years. No one studies anymore, and the schools have closed. It’s not so bad in the countryside, since we can still farm, but in the cities, a lot of young people are just idle and unemployed.”

Li Jianjun remained quiet, sitting a short distance away and kicking a shuttlecock back and forth with the Little Red Carp, amusing her.

Zhao Nuanyue, Li Qiong, and Li Minglan chatted about things young women talk about.

Before long, Li Guihua returned, beaming. She loved doing these sorts of things; it made her look good to everyone involved.

They spent the rest of the afternoon there, and it wasn’t until later that Zhao Nuanyue and Li Qiong took the Little Red Carp back to the Dragon King Temple.

Zhao Nuanyue led Li Qiong and Zhao Nuan Yang in cleaning the Dragon King Temple from top to bottom in preparation for the New Year.

One by one, return gifts started arriving for Zhao Nuanyue. She received about two pounds of red dates from Village Chief Miao’s family, a few pounds of peanuts from Dong Sanshu’s wife, and the families of the two production team leaders each sent half a sack of sweet potatoes and some carrots.

These were all return gifts for the shortcakes she had sent out.

It was a matter of courtesy demanding reciprocity, a give-and-take.

The atmosphere was more relaxed this year. Old Sir Qian and Old Madam Qian no longer had to hide in their room all day and could sometimes come out for a walk or to sweep the snow. Old Madam Qian even managed to dissolve a few White Rabbit milk candies in water to make a lightly sweet milk, which she then used with eggs and flour to make a batch of steamed cake.

The taste was simply divine!

”Grandma Qian, you’re incredible! You can make such exquisite cakes,” Zhao Nuanyue praised. The Little Red Carp at her side had no time for compliments; she’d offer them after she’d eaten her fill.

Old Sir Qian chuckled as he ate. ”It would be even better with a cup of coffee or black tea.”

”Haha, you’re too kind. It’s just something I learned while studying abroad,” Old Madam Qian said with a laugh. ”I don’t have an oven, and ingredients are scarce. Otherwise, I could make all sorts of cakes and cookies. I do hope things settle down soon so we can return to our jobs and go back to our old way of life.”

”They will,” Zhao Nuanyue said encouragingly. ”I’m sure it will be soon. Please take good care of your health. When we get back to the city, I’ll visit you often for dessert.”

”Alright!” Old Madam Qian nodded. ”When that time comes, I’ll make you all kinds of treats.”

This Spring Festival, the absence of Hua Yusen left Zhao Nuanyue’s heart feeling a little empty. She missed him and wondered how he was doing.

Still, the peace and quiet of Nianqiao Village helped calm her spirit. The arrival of the Little Red Carp felt like gaining a new family member. And what made her happiest of all was that her brother had almost completely recovered from his illness.

’Now, her brother was a normal young man—handsome and dashing!’

The New Year’s Eve dinner was meticulously prepared by Zhao Nuanyue and Li Qiong. Everyone staying at the Dragon King Temple celebrated a warm and lively Spring Festival together.

And so, the year quietly came to a close.