"Go to sleep," Jian Zhiqing gently rubbed her head, "Tomorrow your elder brother has a day off, let him take you to go make pancakes for the entire morning."
"Mmm..." Qin Xiangnuan didn’t really know what she had agreed to, she was just in a daze, consciousness sinking once again, but no longer worried whether she would be without the medicine drip, draining the blood from her body.
As dusk approached, Qin Xiangyang returned.
"How is she?" He set down what he was carrying and hurried over to check on his sister. If it weren’t for Jian Zhiqing’s call, he really wouldn’t have known that his sister was sick. His sister had been frail since childhood and was bullied by their stepmother. It wasn’t easy for her to grow up to this point. It’s only after she left the Qin Family that her health began to improve day by day, even her hands that used to have chilblains were getting better.
How come she fell so severely ill this time?
"It’s okay now," Jian Zhiqing closed the door and came out, followed by Qin Xiangyang, who also came outside. The two sat down at the stone table outside.
"She had a fever, still needs a few more injections, but after this bottle, she should be better."
"That’s good," Qin Xiangyang also heaved a sigh of relief. He was scared when he received the phone call at the military base; now that he heard it’s nothing serious, he finally relaxed.
Jian Zhiqing poured a cup of tea for Qin Xiangyang.
Only then did Qin Xiangyang feel thirsty, in fact, dying of thirst. He drank several cups of water in succession before he finally had enough.
"Are you a drinking donkey?"
Jian Zhiqing smiled at Qin Xiangyang, "What, the military academy doesn’t even let you drink water?"
"Sorry, I forgot," Qin Xiangyang said somewhat embarrassedly as he put down his cup. Also, he was truly grateful to Jian Zhiqing, "Brother Jian, thank you for this time. If you weren’t here, I really wouldn’t be at ease about the little girl. When I think about it, as an elder brother, I’m really useless. She had to bear the sickness alone."
Jian Zhiqing slightly flattened his lips.
"She just wants you to live well."
"I know," Qin Xiangyang cracked a smile, "Otherwise, why would I go to a military academy? When I thought about joining the military, it was to provide her with support, but now I still can’t take care of her."
He took another sip of water, as if to drown his sorrows in it.
"She wants you to succeed academically," Jian Zhiqing swirled the tea in his cup, "that’s why she pulled so many strings to get you into the academy. Otherwise, just getting in would have been a real headache."
Qin Xiangyang sighed, "And I owe it to you, too. Without you, I wouldn’t have even gotten through the door."
"Now that you have, do well."
Qin Xiangyang could only smile bitterly. Naturally, he planned to do well, but he felt he was letting his sister down.
"Brother Jian, don’t you know?" Speaking of this, Qin Xiangyang still felt pained, like a fishbone stuck in his throat, so much so that the pain of trying to remove it was unbearable.
He chuckled, laughter masking a sorrow that couldn’t be overcome.
"My mom passed away early, when Nuannuan was still very young, so she doesn’t even know what our mom looked like. Less than a year after my mom died, my dad remarried, and she brought a son not much older than me. That woman had a daughter with my dad, only a year younger than Ming Nuan. Nuannuan was still breastfeeding at the time, cried everyday because of hunger, couldn’t get enough to eat. Even if that woman had surplus milk, she would rather dump it out than give a mouthful to my sister."