Je vends des vêtements et j'achète du vin à boire avec toi

Chapitre 46

Long San almost lost face, but Feng Ning continued, "I can't repay your money right now. I'll have to earn it back slowly. If you're free and want to wait here, that's fine too." After she finished speaking, she called to Bao'er, "Bao'er, say thank you to your uncle. Let's go home."

Bao'er thanked them sweetly, then held Feng Ning's hand and strolled home. Long San felt a bitter pang in his heart. He sat there for a while, then hurriedly followed them back to the hut. He watched Feng Ning teach Bao'er to tidy up her handkerchiefs and other small items, watched her chat with Bao'er, and watched Bao'er carry her little clothes to the well to fetch water for washing clothes. He watched quietly without disturbing her. Feng Ning acted as if he didn't exist, but Bao'er always secretly smiled at him.

Later, the mother and daughter went to visit Aunt Zeng, so he could only sit in the house and wait. Finally, they told him they were going to retire for the night and asked him to leave. At that moment, Feng Ning was taking Bao'er's braids off. Long San went over and hugged Feng Ning without saying a word. Before Feng Ning could even say "Hey," he quickly let go, squatted down, nudged Bao'er with his head, and said, "Uncle will come again tomorrow."

Bao'er smiled shyly, while Feng Ning glared at Long San. Long San returned her a roguish yet gentle smile, then turned and left. Feng Ning muttered a complaint: "You rascal, I'm not afraid of you. Let's see who can outlast whom."

Bao'er was carried to the bed, and the two of them lay down. Bao'er whispered, "Your Highness, Uncle always smiles at Bao'er."

Feng Ning curled her lip: "He smiles at everyone, how annoying."

Bao'er was a little nervous: "Your Highness, do you hate Uncle?" But she quite liked Uncle, so shouldn't she be like that?

Feng Ning turned to her daughter, took her hand and replied, "No, Mother likes Uncle, likes him very much, likes him the most in the world."

Bao'er blinked, not quite understanding. Feng Ning, finally having someone to confide in, didn't care whether Bao'er understood or not, and poured out her heart: "Mother likes him very much. Uncle is a great man, the best man in the world, but Mother has done wrong things. Mother doesn't deserve to be with him. Mother is very scared." Seeing Bao'er's flustered look, she quickly said, "But Mother has Bao'er. With Bao'er, Mother is not afraid of anything."

Bao'er looked intently at Feng Ning, then smiled and snuggled into Feng Ning's arms: "Your Highness, Bao'er has Your Highness." Feng Ning hugged Bao'er and kissed her again and again: "That's right, Mother has Bao'er, and Bao'er has Mother. Uncle is here, and he'll regret it after a while... What will I do if he regrets it? Anyway, it's going to hurt, so it's better to have a short pain than a long one..." Feng Ning's voice grew softer and softer, her heart filled with sadness. Bao'er couldn't hear the rest, and the little girl didn't have the mind to think about such things; she quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Long San arrived at Feng Ning's courtyard again. As soon as he reached the gate, he saw Bao'er with her hair disheveled and clothes in disarray, peering out. When she saw Long San, she pouted and burst into tears: "Uncle, Uncle, Madam, it hurts..."

Long San was shocked. He picked up Bao'er and rushed into Feng Ning's small room. Feng Ning was curled up on the bed, clutching her stomach. Long San was so frightened that his face turned pale. He put Bao'er on a chair and went to turn Feng Ning around.

Feng Ning's face turned blue from the pain. When she opened her eyes and saw that it was Long San, she suddenly became extremely vulnerable: "Long San, Long San, I don't feel well, I threw up, my stomach hurts so much."

Bao'er couldn't sit still either. She climbed off the chair, wailing loudly. Her little body squeezed over to the edge of the bed, and she reached out to pull on Long San's sleeve, crying with snot and tears streaming down her face, "Uncle, Uncle, Mother, it hurts..."

For a moment, the small house was filled with the cries of two women, one big and one small. Long San had one in each arm, his head throbbing with pain.

Author's Note: The tug-of-war between the sexes has begun, two women versus one man...

35

35. Master Long, learning to be a stay-at-home dad...

The doctor was quickly summoned. It turned out that Feng Ning had been eating irregularly for some time, sometimes skipping meals and sometimes overeating, and her anxiety had caused excessive internal heat, leading to problems with her spleen and stomach. Coupled with recent fatigue, her body was weak, and yesterday she experienced extreme joy and sorrow, plus ate too much at once, triggering her illness. Last night she vomited and suffered from pain, but the vomiting was incomplete, causing food stagnation and severe stomach pain.

The doctor inquired about the situation, took Feng Ning's pulse, and first gave her a digestive pill. Then he took her pulse again carefully and wrote out a prescription. Long San watched from the side, holding Bao'er, whose eyes were brimming with tears. He had to listen to the doctor while also dealing with Bao'er's various questions. Bao'er didn't understand anything the doctor said, so she kept asking Long San questions. Even after Long San explained, Bao'er still didn't understand, and she had even more questions. Long San had no choice but to conclude, "Your mother ate too much yesterday and got an upset stomach. She'll be fine after taking some medicine and resting."

Bao'er was very dissatisfied with the old doctor after hearing this. She whispered to Long San, "Uncle, that old man doesn't speak clearly, so Bao'er doesn't understand."

Helpless, Long San could only pat Bao'er's head and say, "Bao'er, be good. Uncle didn't mean it."

Bao'er nodded seriously, and after a while, her face flushed, she whispered in Long San's ear, "Uncle, pee..."

Long San was stunned for a moment, then shocked. He quickly turned his head to look. Feng Ning had cried herself to sleep and taken medicine. She should be feeling better now and drowsy. Her eyes were closed and her mind was not very clear. The old doctor was writing the prescription. Long San then turned his head to look at Bao'er sitting on his arm. She was looking at him with bright, innocent eyes.

Long San cleared his throat and told the old doctor, "It's convenient for me to take care of the child. I'll be back in a bit." The old doctor nodded in agreement, and Long San awkwardly carried Bao'er out.

Before they even reached the outhouse, Long San suddenly felt a warm sensation on his arm, as if liquid was flowing on it. Startled, he saw Bao'er's face flushed red with worry, tears welling up in her eyes. She said timidly in a small voice, "Uncle, you're walking too slowly."

Long San wanted to cry but had no tears, but since the other family members had cried first, he could only comfort them: "Uncle was wrong. Uncle will walk faster next time. Don't cry, Bao'er." Bao'er pursed her lips and nodded, rubbing her eyes: "Bao'er was naughty. Bao'er wet her pants."

"No, no, it was Uncle's fault. It's okay if you wet your pants, don't cry, baby, you're the best." Long San coaxed the child while realizing why Feng Ning had to run to the toilet.

He carried Bao'er back to the hut. The doctor had already finished writing the prescription and was somewhat surprised to see him return so quickly. He explained to Long San the precautions for preparing the medicine and recuperating, and then prepared to leave. Long San put Bao'er down, took out his silver to pay the consultation fee, and tried his best not to notice the doctor staring at his damp sleeves. Bao'er, however, saw him taking out his money pouch and grabbed his leg.

Long San looked down at her in surprise. Seeing Bao'er's anxious little face, he quickly leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Uncle, this uncle didn't cure the empress's illness, and he still wants money?" She said the last four words anxiously. In her opinion, this uncle hadn't done anything, so why was he asking for money?

Long San was both amused and exasperated. He could only say, "Your mother's illness will only get better after she drinks the medicine, Bao'er, don't worry." He paid the doctor's fee, saw the doctor off, and began to change Bao'er's pants. But after looking around, he couldn't find any clean pants. Long San was a little anxious, worried that Bao'er would catch a cold wearing wet pants, so he simply took Feng Ning's clothes and wrapped them around Bao'er first, and then took off her wet pants.

Bao'er looked at the clothes and earnestly reminded her, "These belong to Her Majesty."

Long San felt his patience was wearing thin, but he tried to keep his tone calm: "It's your mother's, so Bao'er can use it for now. Uncle will find you some pants."

Long San wanted to ask Feng Ning, but she seemed to be asleep. Long San thought that she must not have slept well last night, so he couldn't bear to wake her and had to search around again. He finally found it under Feng Ning's clothes in the closet. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned around, and saw Bao'er wearing Feng Ning's clothes, kicking the hem, swinging the long sleeves, and wiggling her bare bottom.

Long San's face turned green. Bao'er was having a great time. When she saw Long San looking at her, she smiled and quickly wrapped herself up tightly in her coat. Long San took a deep breath, then squatted down and gestured to Bao'er's pants. He beckoned to her, "Come on, Uncle will change your pants."

Bao'er went over, took Long San's arm, and stretched out her short legs to put the pants on, while instructing him on how to put them on, explaining how her mother did it. Long San hummed and nodded in agreement, and after a long while, he finally got the pants on.

After taking care of Bao'er, Long San checked the time and realized it was already high in the sky. Bao'er must not have eaten breakfast yet, given her condition. Feng Ning was asleep, and he still had to go buy medicine. After thinking for a moment, he decided to take Bao'er to eat breakfast first.

Bao'er, however, refused: "Your Majesty is ill, Bao'er is not leaving."

"Her Majesty still relies on Bao'er to bring back food and medicine. How can Her Majesty's illness get better if Bao'er doesn't go?"

Bao'er thought the uncle's words made sense, but she still had a question: "The Empress said that you can't go out without combing your hair."

Combing hair? Long San was dumbfounded again. How could he possibly comb a little girl's hair? Bao'er had already automatically taken the comb and handed it to him. Long San forced himself to comb it, but Bao'er's hair was sparse, thin, and soft, and he couldn't even coil it up. Long San gritted his teeth, took a red string, and casually tied Bao'er's hair behind her head, saying, "It's done."

Bao'er insisted that he hold her so she could look in the mirror. She looked at herself from left to right and said, "That's not how Your Majesty combs your hair."

"This is a new hairstyle that your uncle styled for you; your mother doesn't know how."

Bao'er was seriously thinking about the question with her little face, and Long San finally couldn't help but use his ultimate move: "Bao'er, are you hungry? How about having the soup dumplings from yesterday for breakfast? There's also chicken broth noodles, peach heart-shaped pastries, and sugar-coated tapioca balls. Uncle will take you there to fill your stomach and then buy medicine for your mother."

Bao'er is still a child, and her eyes lit up when she heard about the delicious food. She nodded vigorously, but then added, "You have to give some to Mom too."

"Mmm," Long San responded, but in his heart he was thinking, "Your mother is just sick from eating this. She can't eat any more." He carried Bao'er to the pharmacy first, left the prescription, and asked the pharmacy to prepare it. Then he carried Bao'er to the restaurant and ordered the dishes he had mentioned to Bao'er. Before the food was served, he went to the clothing shop next to the restaurant to make some clothes for Bao'er. He also bought some clothes for himself. Finally, he changed the baby's diaper. He thought that Feng Ning shouldn't work too hard these days, so buying her more clothes would give Bao'er something to change into and prevent her from having to do laundry so often.

After taking the measurements, they agreed to pick it up at dusk. Long San took Bao'er back to the restaurant, where all the delicious food was served. Bao'er was very happy and kept asking if the beautiful fabrics were for making clothes for her and what kind. Long San patiently answered and fed Bao'er breakfast in the same way Feng Ning had done yesterday. It was almost lunchtime.