Warm medicine emits fragrance

Qi Weiming suppressed his thoughts and forced a smile at Fan Liuer, "It's nothing, I was just a little worried because you haven't come back yet."

"Have you eaten? The food in the kitchen is still warm."

"I've eaten, have you eaten?" Fan Liuer said, walking into the courtyard.

"He hasn't eaten yet. He arrived this afternoon and hasn't eaten since, waiting for you to come back." Li Chenbi's voice drifted slowly from under the eaves.

Fan Liuer and Qi Weiming both looked at Li Chenbi.

Fan Liuer looked surprised. She was already surprised that the two hadn't fought while she was away today, but now Li Chenbi was actually speaking up for Qi Weiming.

Could it be that these two have developed feelings for each other while arguing these days?

Qi Weiming was not surprised. He did not think that Li Chenbi was speaking up for him. Li Chenbi was the most cunning person and would never do anything that would not benefit him.

He spoke up for himself, and there must have been an ulterior motive behind it.

Upon careful consideration, Qi Weiming understood. Li Chenbi must have sensed the crisis posed by that person, and therefore wanted to join forces with him to deal with that person.

It seems that Fan Liuer's feelings for that person are indeed different, even Li Chenbi feels so threatened that he is willing to speak up for her.

This is a struggle between myself and Li Chenbi, and I absolutely cannot allow a third person to get involved. I need to think of a way to resolve this myself.

Qi Weiming continued Li Chenbi's words, "I was thinking of waiting for you to come back so we could eat together, but it's good that you've eaten. It's so late, you'll definitely go hungry if you haven't eaten. I'll just eat by myself later."

If Li Chenbi said he hadn't eaten, Fan Liuer would only reply, "Are you hungry but don't you know to go eat?"

But Qi Weiming was a guest at Fan Liuer's place, and she had to be much more polite to him. "Then hurry up and eat. Go back early before it gets dark, otherwise it will affect your official duties tomorrow."

As she spoke, she walked toward the kitchen, saying to the servants as she went, "Set out the bowls and chopsticks, and reheat the cold dishes."

Qi Weiming was somewhat pleased; it seemed that Fan Liuer still cared about him.

Li Chenbi watched the two enter the kitchen one after the other, twitched the corner of his mouth, and did not follow them in. He sat in the wheelchair under the eaves, with the dog cage that Qi Weiming had brought at his feet.

He looked down at the puppy sleeping soundly inside and scoffed softly.

"Like owner, like dog. You're a country bumpkin."

Seeing that Li Chenbi hadn't come in, Fan Liuer turned her head and looked towards the door in confusion, then asked Qi Weiming, "Why isn't Li Chenbi coming in?"

Qi Weiming didn't want Li Chenbi to come in and disturb them, so he quickly said, "He was hungry and ate first, without waiting for you."

"I was worried that it would be boring for you to eat alone when you came back, so I thought I'd wait for you to come back and eat with you."

He said these words with a smile on his face. His appearance was not particularly aggressive to begin with, and his deliberately ingratiating smile made him seem even more harmless.

Looking at his face, Fan Liuer found it hard to imagine how this person had fought on the battlefield.

She smiled back at Qi Weiming, "Then you should eat quickly, it'll get dark soon."

Qi Weiming enjoyed his meal. Without Li Chenbi disturbing him, he chatted happily with Fan Liuer.

He ate two extra bowls of rice, finishing all the dishes on the table. If he hadn't been so full, he would have liked to eat two more bowls and spend more time with Fan Liuer.

Fan Liuer was taken aback by his appetite and said worriedly, "Are you sure you're okay eating so much? Don't overeat."

"It's okay, I'm hiccuping~ I'm not hiccuping~ It's nothing."

Fan Liuer: "..."

Qi Weiming felt a little embarrassed, put down his chopsticks, and said, "I'm full."

Fan Liuer glanced at the clean bowls and plates on the table and thought to herself that she was finally full. If she wasn't, she would have to make more for her.

She glanced back at the door; it was almost dark outside. She stood up. "It's getting late; you should go home soon."

Unable to find a reason to stay any longer, Qi Weiming reluctantly took his leave, saying, "Okay, I'll come see you again when I have time."

The two came out of the kitchen, and Fan Liuer was about to see him to the gate of the courtyard when Li Chenbi called him back.

"Take this thing with you."

He tapped the cage with his cane.

The puppy in the cage was frightened and let out pitiful whimpers.

Qi Weiming then remembered the gift he had brought today. "I almost forgot about it." He walked to the cage, squatted down, and waved to Fan Liuer. "Liuer, look, this is what I brought for you today."

Fan Liuer walked curiously to the cage and bent down to look down.

Qi Weiming opened the cage, took out a fluffy, chubby puppy, held it up to Fan Liuer, and looked at her with shining eyes. "Here you go."

The puppy was frightened by him, its paws flailing nervously in the air, its round eyes filled with terror.

Fan Liuer looked at the dog, then at Qi Weiming's face next to it, and thought to herself.

These two look quite alike.

"Where did you find this?" she asked, staring at the dog.

"I passed by the market today and saw some people selling dogs. I thought you'd be bored at home every day, so I picked one out for you to keep you entertained." He stroked the dog's head a couple of times, looking at her with a flattering expression. "Do you like it?"

Fan Liuer didn't like it very much.

It's not that she dislikes dogs; she'll even pet other people's beautiful and gentle dogs if she sees one, but that's only for other people's dogs.

She finds it too troublesome to raise them.

I've heard that raising a dog to be beautiful and tidy is even more demanding than raising a person. It needs to be bathed frequently and its food needs to be carefully selected. Otherwise, if it's allowed to roam freely, it will smell bad and is prone to getting fleas.

But she herself is a lazy bum who would rather sit than stand, so she doesn't have the energy to take care of a dog.

Should we hire a servant to take care of him?

She felt bad about spending that money.

She wanted to refuse, but when she looked at Qi Weiming's face and the pitiful look on the puppy's face, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

If she refuses, the dog probably won't have a good place to go.

Qi Weiming's current residence is unstable. He can't exactly go on a military campaign with a dog, so he's most likely left with someone else to take care of.

She looked up at Li Chenbi.

Li Chenbi saw through her thoughts at a glance, snorted coldly, but did not refuse.

Fan Liuer then said to Qi Weiming, "Put it down, you've scared it."

Qi Weiming chuckled and put the dog back in its cage. "I knew you'd like it."

Fan Liuer sighed inwardly.

After seeing Qi Weiming off, Fan Liuer squatted down in front of the dog cage again, looking at the little dog huddled inside trembling, and whispered, "So pitiful."

Another cold sneer came from above, and Fan Liuer looked up at Li Chenbi.

She didn't speak, just stared at him. Li Chenbi couldn't hold back any longer, "Why are you looking at me?"

You're acting a little strange today.

I didn't argue with Qi Weiming today, nor did I cause her any trouble. Even though I didn't want her to keep the dog, I still tacitly allowed her to keep it.

For the next three years, she would have to rely on him to support her, and naturally, he would have to support the dog as well. Although it would be easy for Li Chenbi to raise a dog, this dog was a gift from Qi Weiming.

It was quite surprising that he agreed to stay.