Good Luck in the Year of the Pig - Chapter 53
- Home
- Good Luck in the Year of the Pig
- Chapter 53 - Good Luck in the Year of the Pig Chapter 53
It was late at night and most people had fallen asleep. Inside the elegant mansion, shrouded in moonlight, Qin Zhuopu’s family was no exception. The two owners of the simple bedroom cuddled up together, breathing evenly, sound asleep.
Suddenly, the landline phone at the bedside rang with pleasant soft music. Lu Ying was deep in sleep and didn’t respond to the music. But Qin Zhuopu turned over, his eyes closed, reached out and grabbed the phone, lowering his voice and saying, “What’s the matter?”
The next moment, Qin Zhuopu’s sleepy face suddenly changed and he quickly rolled out of bed, saying hurriedly, “I’ll be right there.” Putting on his clothes as quickly as possible, Qin Zhuopu picked up his mobile phone and quietly left the house.
With one person missing from the bed, Lu Ying, groggy, seemed to feel something but couldn’t open his eyes, so he shifted his hand, grabbed a pillow and hugged it in his arms, muttered a few words and went back to sleep.
In the morning, Lu Ying opened his eyes, but his mind was a bit confused. When he remembered something, he looked at the pillow and saw that no one was there!
Lu Ying got up with a start, pushed away the blanket, stepped into his slippers and went to the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen and Zaizai’s room but didn’t see Qin Zhuopu. He rubbed his head and grabbed his mobile phone to check it; only then did he find a message from Qin Zhuopu.
I’m out on some business, you don’t have to wait for me for breakfast today.
Lu Ying: “……” It was sent two hours ago, a little after five in the morning. Lu Ying directly dialled Qin Zhuopu’s phone number, and it took a while to get through.
“Hello…”
Hearing his half-awake voice, Lu Ying froze and said, “You’re sleeping? Where are you?”
“En… Lu Ying, ah.” Qin Zhuopu, who struggled to keep his eyes open, pressed his forehead and said weakly, “You’re up? I’m with Mom.” He propped up his eyelids and looked at his sleeping mother in bed. Her forehead was wrapped in blinding white gauze; her tightly closed eyes were red and swollen, her face still seemingly streaked with tears. This was not his mother’s home at all, but a hospital that smelled of disinfectant.
“What’s happened? Is there something wrong with your mother?” Lu Ying asked in a low voice. If there wasn’t something wrong, Qin Zhuopu would not have run over there in the middle of the night.
Qin Zhuopu sighed, “It’s always a bit bad when you grow older. It’s fine now, don’t worry.” When he received a phone call from his mother’s housekeeper in the middle of the night, he didn’t quite understand what he was hearing. When he rushed to the scene, he was frightened by his mother. His mother was crying without saying anything, banging her head against the wall. The housekeeper was scared to death and tried to stop her. Qin Zhuopu forcefully dragged his mother away and took her to the hospital without saying a word.
The doctor said it was depression. Excessive stimulation or excessive sadness could trigger the patient to spiral out of control, and she needed to be hospitalised for a period of time, with medication and physiotherapy. Qin Zhuopu felt powerless when he heard about this condition. After listening to the housekeeper, he realised that his mother often suffered from insomnia, daze and mental trance. Apart from the time she had to work, his mother rarely went out to relax and seemed to have little interest in anything.
Lu Ying asked again, “Is it really all right?”
“It’s fine. By the way, later on Jin Dachu will pick you up, so take Zaizai with you and go with him to see the bakery I chose for you.”
“Ah!” Lu Ying was surprised, “You’ve chosen the shop for me?”
“Of course, how could I not? You can go and see if you like it, and if you’re happy with it, you can start preparing for the opening later in the year.”
Lu Ying walked around excitedly, “Yes, I’ll go and see it after breakfast.”
“Zaizai’s new school is also near the bakery, just five minutes away.”
“Wow, we’ll stop by and see them all later then.”
“I’ve instructed Jin Dachu to show you wherever else you want to go. I’m off to work now, call me if you need anything.”
“Okay, you get busy.”
Lu Ying cheerfully went to get Lu Zaizai up, and when father and son finished their breakfast, Jin Dachu was already waiting at the door. Today he was both the bodyguard and the part-time assistant.
Advertisements
“Uncle Jin, so you’re here too.” Lu Zaizai was surprised to see Jin Dachu; a familiar face always made the child feel more comfortable. Qin Zhuopu’s arrangements were meticulous and thoughtful.
Jin Dachu was also happy to serve the two and smiled, “Mr. Lu, do you want to see the bakery or the school first?”
Lu Ying held Lu Zaizai and said with a little hesitation, “You can take us to Mr. Qin’s first, right?”
“…Mr. Lu wants to go to the company?” Jin Dachu questioned.
Lu Ying shook his head: “I have nothing to do in his company. You must know where he is, Mrs. Qin is sick, which hospital are they staying in now?”
Jin Dachu froze. “But… okay. I’ll take you there then.” Mr. Qin didn’t seem to intend for Mr. Lu to visit Mrs. Qin in the hospital, but Mr. Lu himself took the initiative to go, so he obeyed.
Jin Dachu drove the two of them to the hospital with one of the most authoritative psychiatric departments, and in a short while they found the ward where Mrs. Qin was. It was a coincidence that when Lu Ying and Lu Zaizai were about to go in, Qin Zhuopu came out of the ward. When they met, Qin Zhuopu was startled.
Lu Ying frowned deeply: “You look so…” Haggard and worried. Lu Ying felt helpless. The relationship between him and Mrs. Qin was indeed awkward. The two of them were ‘at peace’ after Mrs. Qin’s apology but it would have been difficult for him to pretend that nothing had happened and be as harmonious and cordial with her as with Elder Qin.
But no matter how bad it was, Qin Zhuopu’s mother was sick and hospitalised, so how could he completely ignore it?
“Why are you here?” Qin Zhuopu smiled, his sleepiness half gone.
Lu Ying curled his lips and handed the packet of toast Zaizai was carrying to Qin Zhuopu: “I baked the toast this morning, just in time for you to have breakfast. You’d better take some time to rest when you go to the office. You can’t look good with the stubble on your face and your eyes bloodshot.” Touching Qin Zhuopu’s chin, Lu Ying shook his head in disgust.
“Hey… I really didn’t sleep well.” Qin Zhuopu smiled, grabbed Lu Ying’s paw and stroked it.
“You go and get busy, I’ll go in and check on your mom.”
“…Lu Ying…” Qin Zhuopu wanted to say something but stopped.
Lu Ying interrupted him: “I know you are very protective of me and you want to say that I don’t have to if I don’t want to. But I’m not that petty. After all, she apologised and also gave such a generous gift.” It was not that looking at those priceless gifts, he wouldn’t hold a grudge against Mrs. Qin. But there was Qin Zhuopu.
If Mrs. Qin was not in good health, the one who would be most tired and upset would be Qin Zhuopu.
“You didn’t ask me what I think.” Lu Ying took Qin Zhuopu’s hand and slowly said, “You were so forgiving to Grandpa Lu, how could I be so resentful?”
Qin Zhuopu was overcome with emotion.
“Zaizai knows your mother is sick and wants to come and visit her. I can’t be worse than a child.” Lu Ying smiled, “Right, Zaizai?”
Lu Zaizai nodded in a serious manner, “Yes, Grandma is sick, so of course I have to come and comfort her. Dad, look, I brought two toys, a transformer and a princess doll. This princess doll will be given to your mom to play with, so she will definitely be happy.”
“……” Lu Ying was speechless, “When did you get this toy? I didn’t know about it.”
“I found it in the toy pile!” Lu Zaizai held up the princess doll to show off.
Qin Zhuopu stroked his son’s head with relief, “You’re Dad’s little baby, you’re awesome.”
Lu Ying gave Qin Zhuopu a push: “I’ll go in with Zaizai, so hurry up and eat something.”
Pushing open the ward, Lu Ying led Lu Zaizai into the room. Mrs. Qin had long since woken up and was half leaning on the bed talking to the housekeeper. When she saw Lu Ying and Zaizai enter, Mrs. Qin obviously shivered with excitement and froze.
Lu Ying glanced at the white gauze wrapped around Mrs. Qin’s head and sighed secretly. Jin Dachu had already told him that Mrs. Qin was depressed, and Lu Ying was no stranger to depression.
Not only had he heard about it, he had once personally saved a young mother who almost jumped off a building to her death because of depression. She lived above him, the landlady’s own daughter. The young mother suffered domestic abuse from her husband after marriage and was an introverted and reclusive person. After she had given birth to a daughter with a congenital heart condition, it got even worse. Within days of moving in, Lu Ying found out about the young mother’s domestic abuse and told the landlady, who made her daughter divorce at once. But depression was not easy to get rid of. After the young woman tried to jump to her death and was saved by Lu Ying, Lu Ying could do nothing else but take the desperate landlady’s family to Dr. Hu’s clinic. Last time he heard, both the daughter and granddaughter of the landlady had recovered.
“I heard you were sick, so I’ve come to see you.” Lu Ying had no intention of being abrasive and explained his intention straightforwardly. He would visit the bakery and his son’s school later.
Mrs. Qin’s lips moved. She hung her head and said in a hoarse voice, “…thank you.”
At this time, the last thing she actually wanted to see was Lu Ying and Lu Zaizai. She was afraid, afraid that she would be ashamed of herself and embarrassed uncontrollably. But she was also afraid that they wouldn’t come and refuse to face her. So she couldn’t run away and raised her hand to indicate that the housekeeper could leave. Then Mrs. Qin bowed her head in silence.
Advertisements
“Grandma, are you very uncomfortable? Does the injection hurt?” Lu Zaizai rushed to bed, looking at Mrs. Qin with his eyes full of curiosity and compassion. Without waiting for Mrs. Qin to respond, Lu Zaizai raised the princess doll in his hand and handed it to her: “This is the princess doll I found at home. Now I’m giving her to you.”
Mrs. Qin’s hand shook and her lips twitched, but she was at a loss for words.
Lu Zaizai said seriously, “When you are sick, you have to be good and get an injection and have your blood drawn. Although it hurts and is uncomfortable, you still have to be brave. You can’t become a crybaby when you get sick. But I never get sick, hehehe, I’m good, right?”
Mrs. Qin’s tears welled up in her eyes and she seemed to squeeze out a raw smile as she nodded messily. The more she learned the truth, the more painful the wounds in her heart were. Her son was very good, Lu Ying was very good, the child was so good too. All the bad things were caused by her. It was she who had made her son lonely and painful for several years, and even more so, she had caused her grandson she had longed for and begged for to stay unrecognised right in front of her eyes.
Lu Zaizai looked at the white gauze wrapped around Mrs. Qin’s head curiously and fearfully. Seeing that she was trembling, he said with lingering fear: “Grandma, do you have a headache? Oops… this is really scary, you, you’d better bear with it…”
The child’s tone was tender and sincere, and Mrs. Qin couldn’t hold back her tears, not daring to look directly into the innocent eyes of Lu Zaizai.
Lu Zaizai shook his head and said modestly: “Grandma, look at it. Now that there is a princess doll with you, you won’t be too scared. You definitely don’t know, she is actually a magical princess! ”
“She can conjure beautiful dresses and hair every day, and she likes to exercise, run and ride horses. Her health is great. Even if she is sick in one episode, she quickly recovers after drinking a very bitter magic potion! Grandma, don’t worry, you will be the same!”
Mrs. Qin cried, and Lu Zaizai, a little anxious, panicked and shoved the doll into Mrs. Qin’s hands hurriedly, making sure she held it before he sighed in relief: “Here’s the princess doll for you, you’ll get better soon with magic! Go for it.”
“Woo…” Mrs. Qin sobbed as she squeezed the doll tightly in her hands.
Lu Zaizai was truly panicked and looked at his dad fearfully. Lu Ying patted his shoulder. Lu Zaizai suddenly relaxed and looked at Mrs. Qin sadly, “Grandma, if you keep crying, my dad will also cry… because you are his mother. Every time I cried when I was little, Dad couldn’t help crying with me… Hey, if you want to cry, just cry, and stop crying when you’re tired of crying…”
The little boy spoke in childish words and that sigh of his simply echoed in Mrs. Qin’s heart. She couldn’t bear it anymore, let out a staggering wail, but finally lifted her deeply bowed head, reached out and clutched Lu Zaizai’s hand, nodding woefully to Lu Zaizai. She wanted to answer Lu Zaizai, but couldn’t speak. She wanted to hug him, but lacked the courage to do so.
At this moment, Mrs. Qin no longer had any semblance of her arrogance and superiority of the past, but was just a sick old woman with white hair, a messy face wet with tears, all her wrinkles and blue veins obvious.
She was Qin Zhuopu’s mother.
Lu Ying took a deep breath and finally said, “I know you’re depressed, but if I don’t make it clear, you might get yourself into a corner. After you apologised to me, I didn’t know whether I should forgive or not, I really didn’t know.”
“After all, you were indeed the culprit, keeping me and Zhuopu apart for seven years, and involving Zaizai into this separation for seven years. But I was really happy to finally wait for you to apologise. At least you realised that you were wrong.”
Lu Ying said bluntly, “Now I don’t know what you think of me, anyway, even if I get married to Zhuopu, I can’t call you ‘Mom’… I really can’t.”
Lu Ying rubbed his son’s hair and continued: “I believe you will really love Zaizai, as much as Zhuopu loves him. …in short, you don’t have to force yourself to deliberately be ‘nice’ to me, compensate me, give me this and give me that. I feel very awkward and can neither accept nor decline it. In addition to that, you feel guilty and depressed and this is not what I want to see.”
Mrs. Qin was still whimpering, but slowly calmed down a lot, staring with her red and swollen eyes in a daze.
“You are only happy if Zhuopu is happy. And the other way round, if you are safe and healthy, my Zhuopu will not be so tired.” Lu Ying exhaled, took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and slipped it to Mrs. Qin, “This is a special tonic made by Dr. Hu to replenish qi and nourish blood. It’s not likely to be effective against depression, but it should be suitable for you. Don’t waste 500,000 yuan pills. Don’t be afraid of that depression, I’ll ask Dr. Hu how to cure it.”
Mrs. Qin covered her mouth, afraid she would cry again.
“It’s no use for me to continue staying here, you should rest. I’ll take Zaizai to have a look at his school.”
Lu Ying said that and immediately took his son away, shutting out the crying behind him.
“Lu Ying, Zaizai…”
“Grandpa, you’re here too, huh?” Lu Ying saw the old man and greeted him with a smile.
“Great-grandpa,” Lu Zaizai jumped forward and held the old man’s cane, taking the opportunity to duck down and touch it a few times.
“Hahaha, Zaizai is even more handsome today.” The old man praised, smiling at Lu Zaizai, the love on his face simply amazing.
Lu Zaizai tilted his head and smiled: “Really? Great-grandpa is also very handsome! This cane looks really cool, I really want to borrow it to play.”
“Haha…” The old man laughed.
Lu Ying was speechless and reminded his son tactfully: “Zaizai, speak softly at the hospital.”
The old man coughed a few times and said with a sigh, “Lu Ying, take the child to play, I’ll go in and see Zhuopu’s mother. This sudden illness of hers is all my fault… hey, I couldn’t help myself for a moment and told her that Zaizai was Zhuopu’s own son, and she had an… emotional breakdown at that moment.” Seeing his daughter-in-law being sick, he did blame himself but he didn’t regret it. She needed to face what had to be faced and sooner or later she had to go through it. In the future, when he passed away, she would be the elder in the family. If she couldn’t bear things, how could she be the elder?
“Grandpa, it’s called depression. Outside emotions are one thing, but the most important thing is to listen to the doctor and take the medicine properly to treat it.” Lu Ying explained.
The old man nodded: “Yes, yes, have to treat it, treat it well. It’s hard for you… go ahead, you’re busy. Grandpa wants to go to your place for dinner tonight, is it okay?”
“Sure, Grandpa can come over anytime. I’ll cook you something light and delicious.” Lu Ying was all smiles.
Personally sending the old man into Mrs. Qin’s ward, Lu Ying closed the door and left.
With one less thing on his mind, Lu Ying happily followed Jin Dachu to see Zaizai’ new school. This was a famous private school in Guanlan City. Lu Ying walked around to learn about the school’s facilities. How could there be any dissatisfaction? The environment in classes was already outstanding, and the canteen was the level of a high-end restaurant, particularly suitable for the appetites of both father and son.
It was a five-minute walk from the school to the bakery, and when Lu Ying arrived at the closed shop, his heart exploded like a firework. The beautiful and chic shop had two floors, with clean, transparent glass walls, a simple and stylish interior, and a large and well-equipped baker’s workroom, so that even with thirty employees working in it, it would not be crowded. There was also an elegant secluded courtyard at the back of the shop. Under the sun umbrellas, the beautifully carved iron tables and chairs were the best for afternoon tea.
“Wow, it’s just what I wanted…” Lu Ying looked around excitedly, focusing on the various baking equipment in the workroom, which was both professional and sensible. A blind man could see Qin Zhuopu’s intentions.
Lu Ying was secretly moved: “Mr. Qin has put a lot of thought into this, hasn’t he? Is this shop particularly expensive?”
Jin Dachu said, “Mr. Qin specially asked Boss Yang to come over and set it up, and Boss Yang said you would definitely like it.”
“Ah… so it was Brother Yang.” Lu Ying suddenly realised.
Jin Dachu smiled: “Actually, in about a five-minute walk to the left from the shop there is Guanlan University where Boss Yang works, so it will be convenient for you to visit in the future.”
“This is really…” Another surprise! Lu Ying no longer knew what to say.
The bit-by-bit arrangements all showed Qin Zhuopu’s intentions.
Reluctantly leaving the shop, Lu Ying was in high spirits and took the child to walk directly to Guanlan University. It happened that Lu Qianchuan, who was pushing the pram, was at the entrance of the campus.
“Lu Ying!”
“Grandpa Lu!”
“Sister Xiaolu!”
Lu Ying happily ran over, “I was just coming to look for you, Grandpa Lu, I will also live in Guanlan City from now on, Zaizai and I can’t bear missing you…”
Lu Qianchuan smiled, “Your Brother Yang was right, you really will come after us, so it’s to the best. Yanyang and I are now living in a community across the street from the university, and in good weather I take Xiaolu to the campus for a walk. Yangyang still has something to do at school and hasn’t gotten off work yet.” As expected of Yanyang, his decision to move propelled Lu Ying too. That was fine; for the sake of his daughter, he and Yangyang would have to enter the world sooner or later. With Lu Ying around again, Lu Qianchuan was finally at ease.
Seven years ago he had been displeased with Qin Zhuopu, but now he had changed his mind. The fact that Qin Zhuopu could break through his confinement and get Lu Ying back was proof enough of his true feelings for Lu Ying. Otherwise, all memories would have faded away in the river of flowing years and eventually Lu Ying would have completely disappeared from Qin Zhuopu’s mind.
“Grandpa Lu, let’s eat together at noon today…”
After meeting with Grandpa Lu and having a good meal at noon, Lu Ying returned home in the middle of the afternoon in a good mood. In the evening, Qin Zhuopu came back from work, and as soon as he entered the door, he was hugged around his waist and spun around.
That’s right, he was hugged, picked up and spun in a circle.
“……”
When he was put down, Qin Zhuopu looked down at his lover, who was half a head shorter than him, and blushed.
There was nothing he could do about it! It was so annoying and so cute!
“Haha, I’m super happy! I love you the most!”
Wrapping his arms around Qin Zhuopu’s waist, Lu Ying smiled brighter than the sun. The overflowing affection that turned into a smile was really sweet and scary.
Qin Zhuopu had difficulty breathing and was dizzy.
Lu Zaizai at the table made a face: “Shame on you.”
“Ahem, Lu, Lu Ying, ah…” In the dining room, the stunned Elder Qin spoke slowly: “You, you kid hurry up and let go of Zhuopu. Dinner is important, dinner is important! This spinning around… Zhuopu will faint.” His old heart was also close to fainting. If not for the fact that Zaizai was born to Lu Ying, he would have suspected that his tall, big grandson was… never mind, it didn’t concern him. No wonder the child’s body was so sturdy, all because of Lu Ying’s good genes, ah… this physical strength was something.
Seeing his grandfather, Qin Zhuopu couldn’t help blushing, pinched Lu Ying’s ass angrily, and said fiercely: “Let’s hurry up and eat!”
“Yes, yes, I’ve been hungry for a long time, I’ve been waiting for you.” Lu Ying pulled Qin Zhuopu straight to the table.
For this dinner, Qin Zhuopu ate a few more pieces of meat.
The next day Lu Ying was still sleeping when Qin Zhuopu was already up early to go lift iron.
Why did he work so hard? What else could he do! o(╥﹏╥)o
In a couple of days, Elder Qin delivered a lot of supplements.
Lu Ying was grateful: “Is this all for me? Thank you, Grandpa.”
“Er… hmm.” No, no, no, it’s for my grandson. The old man hung his head slightly, not daring to make a sound.
Fortunately, soon he heard Lu Ying mutter again, “Hey, these tonics don’t taste good at all… better give them to Zhuopu, I see he likes eating weird things.”
“En en en, Zhuopu is busy working and staying up a lot, he needs to take tonics.” The old man nodded seriously.
Lu Ying sighed, “Yeah, it’s really hard being a big boss.”
The old man was busy reassuring him, “Don’t worry, now is the busiest time at the end of the year. It will be very leisurely when the spring starts and Zhuopu can take a break for a while. When that time comes, I will cover up for him for a month or two and you can go out on vacation with Zhuopu! It’s better to go to a foreign country and get a marriage certificate.”
Lu Ying blushed slightly: “That, that’s not urgent. I’m going to be very busy in the spring, I need to open the bakery right away before I can go on vacation. I’m going to get mouldy if I’m idle.”
The old man didn’t hesitate to support Lu Ying’s decision to open a bakery. As long as the young man was hardworking and diligent, it didn’t matter what industry he was in and it didn’t matter how much he earned. The Qin family was not short of money. Lu Ying’s life would be more fulfilling if he had his own career to pursue. Besides, his craftsmanship was so good that the old man had already told his old friends that if they wanted to play chess or have afternoon tea in the future, they had to go to his grandson-in-law’s shop! Anywhere else? No, no, no.
As the New Year approached, although Lu Ying didn’t go out much, he was already busy recruiting employees. The company had posted information on all the major job boards and advertised in WeChat. Qin Zhuopu wanted to help but Lu Ying didn’t let him.
“There are some specifics in the industry, I’d rather recruit people myself. Not only do they have to be good at their craft, but also have to catch my eye.”
“Okay. You’ll probably have no problem choosing people.” Qin Zhuopu trusted Lu Ying’s intuition.
“Great! Fei Qiqi said she’d come over after the New Year.”
“That young girl? Not bad.”
“En. I really didn’t expect her to be willing to leave her hometown.”
Qin Zhuopu thought it was normal, “The wages are higher in Guanlan City and young people aren’t afraid to move.”
“Is your mother doing better?” Lu Ying changed the topic and asked softly. He had asked Dr. Hu for advice on the treatment of depression, and although Dr. Hu could not come over personally, the medicine he prescribed would be delivered by Ji Xiaofeng after the New Year.
Qin Zhuopu hugged his neck and kissed him: “She has been discharged from hospital and returned home. Now she’s very energetic, the medicine you gave her works very well, thank you.”
“That’s fine.” Lu Ying smiled and took out the bottle of kidney tonic, “This bottle of kidney tonic, do you want to try it?”
“!” Qin Zhuopu’s face was suddenly as black as the bottom of a pot as he rubbed his hands, “Looks like your ass is itching again…”
Lu Ying quickly let out a miserable scream, “I said no slapping! No slapping!”
In terms of recruiting people, Lu Ying didn’t bother Qin Zhuopu. However, the pricing of the merchandise was a real headache, so he deliberately asked Brother Yang and Qin Zhuopu to discuss it together before deciding on the level of consumption.
After all the hustle and bustle, everything was ready, and the two of them had many arguments over the name of the shop.
With the auspicious date on the calendar set, Lu Ying’s heart settled down. He continued to cook a lot of food at home every day, from old classics to new creations. The family always had a hearty breakfast, and Lu Ying gave a lot of things to the neighbours to taste. Three days a week, he visited his little niece at Grandpa Lu’s place and had a meal there.
This was the kind of life that Lu Ying enjoyed and was at ease.
All the people who loved him, who he loved, were all around him.
In a blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve again, and as the twelve o’clock bell sounded, the Year of the Pig was completely over.
Lu Ying held the hands of his beloved and his child, smiled and looked at the fireworks in the sky, full of gratitude. Many years ago, he was born in the Year of the Pig in 1911 and had nothing. Many years later, in the Year of the Pig, he had a happy and complete home.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, a new year had begun.
The Chinese zodiac once again entered a new cycle.
***
Mini-theatre:
Grandpa Qin: This is a tonic, Zhuopu, you should take more of it.
Mr. Qin: Oh, thanks.
Grandpa Qin: This one is also tonic, you should take more of it, Zhuopu.
Mr. Qin: Okay, thanks.
Grandpa Qin: This is even more tonic, you should take more of it.
Mr. Qin: …… (drop!)
Translator’s note: This ends the main text and there are six extras that will answer very important questions, like: is Lu Ying really a deer? How did Lu Ying and Qin Zhuopu meet? The fate of the baldness pill… and the future of the family