Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

Outside, Little Red Carp was playing hopscotch with Li Xiaoyu.

Li Xiaoyu was the daughter of Li Guihua’s eldest son, Li Jianbing. She was an adorable, doll-like little girl. She and Little Red Carp had hit it off right away, quickly becoming good friends.

”Little Red Carp, we’re going home,” Zhao Nuanyue called out. The girl was playing happily with Li Xiaoyu under the light, drenched in sweat.

Li Xiaoyu was also dripping with sweat, and Li Guihua took out a towel to wipe them both down.

Little Red Carp didn’t want to leave, but she knew it was getting dark. ’Besides, Ms. Qiong and Jianjun are having their wedding night, and Grandma Li is exhausted from working so hard. I can’t keep bothering them.’

”Goodbye, Xiao Yu.” Little Red Carp held Li Xiaoyu’s hand, not wanting to let go.

Li Xiaoyu hadn’t had any playmates since she returned, so she was especially happy to play with Little Red Carp. Now that she was leaving, Li Xiaoyu’s lip began to quiver, and she looked like she was about to cry.

Li Guihua quickly comforted her, hugging her little granddaughter. ”It’s dark now, and Little Red Carp has to go home to bed,” she said, doting on her. ”How about Grandma takes you to play with her tomorrow?”

”You promise, Grandma?” Li Xiaoyu stopped crying instantly, waiting for her grandmother’s assurance.

Grandma Li, who adored her granddaughter, immediately promised, ”Yes, Grandma will definitely take you.”

After all, they lived in the same village. It was so close, just a short walk away.

With her grandmother’s promise, Li Xiaoyu stopped crying. She waved to Little Red Carp and said, ”Goodbye, Little Red Carp! I’ll come find you tomorrow!”

”Okay, I’ll be waiting!” Little Red Carp said with a grin, puffing out her chest like a proud big sister. ”I’ll introduce you to some of my friends!”

The adults all chuckled at Little Red Carp’s words.

Having woken up at the crack of dawn and bustled about all day, Zhao Nuanyue and the others were exhausted. Once they got home, they boiled some water to wash up and went to bed early.

The next day, a blushing Li Qiong got out of bed. She and Li Jianjun served tea to Li Guihua as a sign of respect and gave gifts to the children.

Li Qiong was rather exhausted. After greeting the family, she returned to her room to rest.

Li Jianbing walked his wife over to her parents’ home—which was really just a short trip from the front row of houses to Miao Dahai’s place in the back row. Meanwhile, Li Guihua took her granddaughter, Li Xiaoyu, to the Dragon King Temple to play with Little Red Carp.

Zhao Nuanyue saw Li Guihua arrive, a basket looped over her arm. Inside wasn’t just food; there were also cotton-padded shoes that Li Guihua had made for Zhao Nuanyue, Zhao Nuanyang, and Little Red Carp.

”Heh, Nuanyue, I just guessed at the sizes, so I’m not sure if they’ll fit. I hope they’re okay,” Li Guihua said, taking out the three pairs of shoes. ”Try them on. If they don’t fit, I can adjust them or make you a new pair.”

Zhao Nuanyue was wearing leather shoes. They looked nice, but her feet were freezing and nowhere near as warm as cotton-padded shoes. She immediately slipped off her leather shoes and put on the pair from Li Guihua. Standing up to test the fit, she said, ”Oh, they’re a perfect fit! Aunt Li, you’re far too kind.”

”Heh, I still had the shoe patterns for you and Nuanyang from before, so they turned out reasonably well,” Li Guihua explained with a smile. ”You’re a young woman, so your feet have probably stopped growing now that you’re eighteen. But Nuanyang is different, so I made his a little bigger. Take them and have him try them on. As for Little Red Carp, I made hers a little bigger too, so they should fit well.” She might not have had many other skills, but her memory and her knack for observing people were exceptional.

Sure enough, when Zhao Nuanyue had Zhao Nuanyang and Little Red Carp try on their shoes, they all fit perfectly. They put them on and refused to take them off—the thick cotton shoes were just too warm.

Little Red Carp’s shoes were even embroidered with two little red carp and some waterweeds. They were beautiful.

”Thank you, Grandma Li!” Little Red Carp said gratefully, giving Li Guihua a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Li Xiaoyu came over to give her grandma a kiss too. She pointed to her own shoes and said, ”These are my shoes! Grandma embroidered plum blossoms on them!”

”They’re so pretty,” Little Red Carp said admiringly. ”Oh, let’s go outside and build a snowman!”

”Yeah, yeah! Back at the compound, my friends and I used to build snowmen all the time,” Li Xiaoyu said with a laugh, following Little Red Carp.

Zhao Xiaohai and some other village kids came over to find Little Red Carp.

Zhang Hong watched Little Red Carp for a bit, then joined in to help her build the snowman.

As for Zhao Nuanyang, he had already headed for the hills behind the village. He’d found a good spot earlier, and it was the perfect time to do some painting.

’Now that Zhao Nuanyang was practicing Martial Arts and even had his pocket dimension, if he still managed to run into danger he couldn’t escape, I would have no choice but to stare at the heavens in utter exasperation,’ Zhao Nuanyue thought.

Seeing that everyone else was outside, Li Guihua finally had a chance to speak privately with Zhao Nuanyue. ”Nuanyue, congratulations on marrying Mr. Hua. You two sweethearts finally got your happy ending.”

”Heh, thank you for your well-wishes, Aunt Li,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. ”We went through a lot of hardships, but we overcame them. I’m truly happy now.”

”That’s good. You’re a sharp one, and a fortunate one at that,” Li Guihua praised. ”Between you, Li Qiong, and Wang Yuan, you’ve always been the one who could see things most clearly, and the smartest too. Li Qiong can’t quite compare to you, but she’s straightforward and kind-hearted. As for Wang Yuan... well, that girl... how should I put it? She probably suffered a lot here in Nianqiao Village, which is why she’s so sensitive. I truly hope that now that she’s back in Jincheng City, she can let go of the past and live a good life.”