Lu Jiang and Feng Qingxue donned their new military uniforms, which were crisp and imposing.
Xibao’s eyes widened as she stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly she grabbed her own jacket hem, stretching it out enough to fit a soccer ball beneath, twirling around her parents, "Mommy, I want new clothes too! A hat, a star!"
The chubby little hand pointed at the red stars on their hats, her face full of longing.
Feng Qingxue squatted down to be eye to eye with her, "Xibao, look, mommy and daddy’s clothes are both green."
"Green!" Xibao blinked her big eyes, so what?
"The grass outside, it’s green too. If Xibao wears green clothes and rolls on the grass or hides in the bushes, mommy and daddy won’t be able to find Xibao. We’d only be able to do this!" Feng Qingxue purposefully looked away, forming her hands into a megaphone shape by her mouth, "Where’s Xibao, where’s Xibao? Where did our Xibao go? Ask the uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, have you seen our Xibao? When it gets dark and mommy and daddy can’t find Xibao, we’ll have to go home alone, leaving Xibao behind on the prairie."
Xibao dove into her arms, "No! Baby also wants to be pretty."
Hugging Feng Qingxue’s neck, she wriggled like a twist of licorice.
Now three years old, the little one’s speech was becoming more fluent, and her ideas were more pronounced.
Feng Qingxue’s heart softened, "Mommy will make you new clothes, how about a red one? Red is the prettiest, with lots of little white rabbits on it. Xibao will be the most beautiful baby wearing it."
Xibao touched the star on her hat, "Star!"
The little one directly took Feng Qingxue’s hat and put it on her own head, but it was too big and covered her eyes, making her cry out in desperation, "Mommy, baby can’t see mommy!"
Feng Qingxue quickly adjusted it for her, pushing the hat back to reveal her chubby, rosy-cheeked face.
Xibao was overjoyed, strutting over to Lu Jiang with her hands on her hips, "Baby looks good!"
Lu Jiang barely had time to respond because he heard someone calling him from outside; it sounded like Cui Shaoyuan. Lu Jiang hurried out the door with his daughter in his arms, and indeed, it was Cui Shaoyuan, "Comrade Cui? Your esteemed visit graces our humble home, please come in."
Cui Shaoyuan put the items he had brought from the Capital on the kang table, his serious face showing a slight smile, "I should have come to thank Comrade Qingxue earlier, but I was entangled with official duties and feared that Qingxue might be gossiped about for accepting favors. So, I waited until matters were completely settled before paying a visit. I hope the two comrades won’t think me impolite for the delay."
"You’re too formal, Comrade Cui. As a doctor, it’s my duty to save lives and provide medical help. Whoever I may encounter, I will offer my help. There was no need for you to make the trip especially for me." Qingxue replied gracefully.
"How could I not come when my father specifically instructed me to pay the medicine fee?"
As he spoke, Cui Shaoyuan pulled out a stack of bills and placed them on the kang table.
Immediately, Qingxue pushed the money back, "Comrade Cui, you are really too courteous. Even if they were made of gold, those two pills would not be worth so much. Besides, as long as the medicine saves a life, it has served its purpose."
Cui Shaoyuan pushed the money back again, "Comrade Qingxue, let’s not push this back and forth. Bezoar Pills must have been hard to come by, so how could we possibly accept them without concern? I’ve done some inquiring; bezoar is considered invaluable, the king of hundreds of medicines, and one can’t just find such precious life-saving medicine without some connections. It’s even rarer than ginseng."