Qin i thought for a few seconds, then added, "Mom, when Jie Jingchen married , he hadn’t retired yet."
Mrs. Xie fell silent. It made sense when she thought about it. If Qin i’s background had been questionable, the military wouldn’t have issued them a marriage certificate. "Xiao i, I’m sorry. I was being too cautious. I apologize."
Admitting your mistakes and apologizing wasn’t shaful. In this, Jie Jingchen was very much like his mother.
"Mom, I understand," Qin i said empathetically.
Mrs. Xie took Qin i’s hand. "Xiao i, I’d like to offer you a position at the hospital."
"I’m sorry, Mom, but my heart isn’t in it," Qin i declined.
"You really won’t consider it?" Mrs. Xie sounded regretful. Qin i was exceptionally talented. Losing soone like her would be a loss for the hospital, and for its patients.
"I won’t." Qin i nodded without the slightest hesitation. She wouldn’t work at the hospital, but she also wouldn’t refuse to help soone in need of treatnt. "Mom, how about this? I can assist with any surgeries you can’t handle, but let’s forget about a full-ti job."
Since Qin i had put it that way, Mrs. Xie couldn’t force the issue. "Alright."
"Mom, Jing Wu and Jing Qi are still waiting for , so I’ll get going." Qin i withdrew her hand, making sure to add, "Mom, rember: you were the lead surgeon. I was just assisting."
"Alright, I know." Mrs. Xie gave Qin i a reassuring look. ’After this surgery, my standing in the dical world will reach a new level. But the credit isn’t mine, it’s Qin i’s. I feel ashad to accept it.’
When Qin i got back to the car, her clothes were still stained with blood.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, are you hurt?" Worry filled Jie Jingshan’s face as she moved to check where Qin i was injured.
Jie Jingjue, who had fallen asleep in the car, was startled awake by Jie Jingshan’s words. He turned, looked at Qin i with bleary eyes, and asked with equal concern, "Fourth Sister-in-law, are you hurt? Before we left, Fourth Brother specifically told to take good care of you. If you go ho injured, he’ll skin alive."
"I’m not hurt. It’s not my blood," Qin i explained casually. "Mom was performing ergency surgery on a patient, and I helped out a bit. The blood is from him."
Hearing this, both Jie Jingshan and Jie Jingjue breathed a sigh of relief. Still worried, Jie Jingshan checked her over anyway. Only after confirming that Qin i was uninjured did she finally relax.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, what do you an you ’helped out a bit’?" Jie Jingjue asked. He had been waiting for so long he’d fallen asleep.
"Fourth Sister-in-law knows traditional Chinese dicine," Jie Jingshan said. "Combining it with Western dicine yields twice the result with half the effort."
Jie Jingjue paused for a mont, then changed the subject. "So, Fourth Sister-in-law, where to now?"
"Do you know of any mountains around here?" Qin i asked.
"I do." Jie Jingjue nodded. "Fourth Sister-in-law, you want to go hiking?"
"I want to go ho." Qin i rolled her eyes. ’Taking Jing Qi hiking? He must be crazy.’
"They’re doing construction on the kitchen and bathroom. It’s really noisy. Are you sure you want to go ho?" Jie Jingjue asked.
Qin i hesitated. ’I can’t help, and if I go back, I might not be able to resist giving directions. If I give the wrong ones, I’ll just delay the construction. Best not to go back and cause trouble.’
"I’ll take you two on an outing," Jie Jingjue suggested.
Qin i had no objections. She glanced at Jie Jingshan, who nodded in agreent. With a consensus reached, Jie Jingjue started the car and drove them on their outing.
The outing proved to be very fruitful. Jie Jingshan had a dagger with her, which Qin i used as a makeshift trowel to dig up a lot of herbs, especially dandelions.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, the trunk is full," Jie Jingjue reminded her.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, it’s getting dark," Jie Jingshan added.
Qin i took their advice. She got in the car, wiped the muddy dagger clean, and handed it back to Jie Jingshan.
"This was too spontaneous; we weren’t prepared. Next ti, I’ll bring a hoe," Qin i said, her face breaking into a smile.
It was dark by the ti they returned ho. Jie Jingchen was standing at the gate to the courtyard, waiting. The knot of worry in his chest finally loosened when he saw them pull up. After Jie Jingjue parked, Jie Jingchen stepped forward to open the car door for Qin i.
"Jie Jingchen, we’re back," Qin i said, smiling up at him.
Jie Jingchen took in her dirt-stained clothes and her slightly ssy hair, which was also flecked with mud. "Where have you all been?"
"Jie Jingchen, I dug up lots of dicinal herbs! I’ll boil so water tonight so everyone can have a dicinal bath," Qin i said with a wide grin.
Jie Jingjue opened the trunk. He fished the wheelchair out from the ssy pile of herbs and set it on the ground. He then lifted Jie Jingshan from the car and placed her in it. After pushing her into the courtyard, he returned to help the others move all the herbs from the trunk.
Seeing the dirty trunk, Jie Jingjue silently went to fetch half a bucket of water and scrubbed it clean.
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