Chapter 303 - Friend Request from Su Li

If he chose to do so, Xiao Luo could have spent 100,000 points to activate his healing ability and immediately heal the wound. But it was a minor injury, so he didn't see the need to waste points. Besides, his body could recover much quicker these days, and such a wound would heal in less than four days.

Rinse, disinfect, and bandage.

Ji Siying treated the wound on his left shoulder with a skilled hand, and she probably had experience tending to the wounds of others during her time in the NSA.

"Mmm, there's no need to bandage it, it's just a shallow wound."

Xiao Luo was not used to such enthusiasm, not to mention the attention he was receiving.

"Although the toxicity of the silver hairpin is mild, if left untreated, the wound will begin to fester. Mr. Xiao Luo, you must still pay attention to it, and don't let the wound come into contact with water for the next five days," Ji Siying said, as she picked up the first aid kit.

Xiao Luo nodded and put his shirt on.

…

How time flew, it was already Chinese New Year's Eve.

Many startling incidents had occurred in Luo Village throughout the day. The latest breaking news was that Xiao Chaofa had beaten up Xiao Chaolai after being discharged from the hospital for his tryst with An Yuan. Xiao Chaolai was beaten up so severely that his right leg was broken. But life was no easier for An Yuan either, she was insulted and spat on everywhere she went and even beaten by Xiao Chaofa when she got home. In the end, she ran back to her family.

But when her family members heard about her adulterous relationship with Xiao Chaolai, her father, a violent man, grabbed a broom and drove her out. He was distraught that she had brought shame to their family and ruined their family's reputation. An Yuan became the object of everyone's ridicule.

In an ironic twist of fate, Xiao Chaofa paid a visit to Xiao Luo, surprisingly bearing a hefty bag of about 12 catties of prime pork. He came to apologize for his reckless behavior earlier, and also to thank Xiao Luo for exposing the truth about his wife. If it wasn't for Xiao Luo, he would have been kept in the dark about the affair between An Yuan and Xiao Chaolai. His actions could be compared to Lian Po[1], who once proffered a birch switch to Lin Xiangru[2], whom he had wronged.

It was a tradition that on Chinese New Year's Eve, families all over would reunite for a family meal.

Every year, they would cook up a feast with a variety of dishes, but this year Xiao Luo's family decided to try something different and chose to go with a hot-pot dinner instead.

They bought the soup base and the ingredients from town, then Hua Heying and Ji Siying got down to preparing the meal together—boiling the soup, cutting up the potatoes and chinese yam into slices, and washing the vegetables clean. The two enjoyed the experience, happily working together, and they finally laid the table with a sumptuous spread for the hot-pot dinner.

Xiao Luo's grandparents and Hua Heying kept praising Ji Siying for her culinary skills, and they treated her as one of their own.

Enjoying their hot-pot dinner, they looked every bit a happy and harmonious family.

A flood of New Year's messages popped up in Xiao Luo's phone. They included those from Li Zimeng and the others from Luo Workshop, as well as the one from Feng Wuhen, and needless to say, from Zhang Dashan—who sent him a picture of a naked girl with the caption: "New Year, new ride!"

It was a good thing that he had fast hands and closed the meme before Ji Siying, sitting just next to him, had seen it.

Then, a video call invitation came from Xiao Ruyi, and she talked to their grandparents, Xiao Zhiyuan and Hua Heying, one at a time.

After the video call ended, Xiao Luo found that he had received a friend request on WeChat, and to his surprise, the request came from none other than, Su Li.

An image of her beautiful face immediately flashed in Xiao Luo's mind. How did Su Li know his WeChat ID? And why did she add him?

He tapped on the "accept" button, and immediately received a short message from Su Li: "Little Bei is crying and wants to see you, is it convenient for you right now?"

Su Xiaobei?

Xiao Luo was pleasantly surprised, but surely that little girl couldn't have grown so attached to him.

He was about to reply with a "no," but then Su Li sent him a video call request.

Xiao Luo coughed once, then told everyone he was going to take a phone call and ran upstairs, swiping on the screen to answer the call. A cute little angel of a girl appeared on-screen, but she was wailing. Tears the size of beads streamed down her face, and her eyes were swollen and red from crying, and she kept screaming out, "Waahh, waahh… I want daddy, I want daddy!"

It was Su Xiaobei!

Seeing her crying so sadly, Xiao Luo felt his heart suddenly ache for no apparent reason.

Su Li did not appear on the screen, but Xiao Luo could hear her voice. "Su Xiaobei, don't cry anymore, he is on the phone, take a look if you do not believe me."

Her voice sounded pleasant, but there was a hint of helplessness in her tone. Perhaps she didn't know what else to do with Su Xiaobei, and could only ask Xiao Luo for help.

Su Xiaobei saw Xiao Luo on the phone screen and stopped crying all of a sudden. "Daddy, why are you inside the phone? "

Looking at the excitement in her cute and innocent face, Xiao Luo wanted to reach out to pat her head and wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Daddy is not in a cell phone, I'm in a faraway place. This cell phone is just like 'Clairvoyance and Clairaudience[3],' they let us see and talk to each other, Bei Bei."

Xiao Luo, who had never had much experience with children, tried his best to comfort the little girl, and it felt incredible the moment the words flowed from his mouth.

"Daddy, didn't you say you were coming to see Beibei? Why haven't you come, sob, sob…"

Su Xiaobei cried again but tried to contain her tears, and it was a heart-wrenching sight. Even after returning to Xiahai, she remembered the promise that Xiao Luo had made her. She had looked forward to seeing Xiao Luo ever since and counted the days until Chinese New Year arrived. Finally, she exhausted her patience and started throwing a tantrum. Su Xiaobei insisted on seeing Xiao Luo, and no amount of persuasion could help. Su Li was at a loss of what else to do.

Hmm, Bei Bei actually remembered the promise?

Xiao Luo laughed, he had just been trying to fool her, and he hadn't expected Su Xiaobei to take it seriously.

"Bei Bei, don't cry, I'll come to see after the Chinese New Year."

"Really, promise?"

Su Xiaobei sniffled and rubbed her tiny nose, choking as she spoke.

"Really. And if I break my promise and don't to come to find you, I will turn into a puppy."

Xiao Luo comforted her with his gentle. "Now, eat well and be with mommy, okay? Be a good girl, and soon we'll be able to meet again."

"But Beibei wants to see daddy right now! Waahh, waahh…" And she burst into tears once again without warning.

"Aren't you seeing me now? You can see me, and I can see you, and we can even chat together."

It worked and she slowly stopped crying. On the screen, Su Li's hand appeared holding a tissue to wipe away the tears on Xiaobei's face. "Alright now, didn't you promise to eat your meals properly and not cry anymore after seeing him? Su Xiaobei, have you forgotten everything I taught you before?" Su Li could be heard saying.

Su Xiaobei shook her head and said, half crying, "I didn't forget. Mommy said I must keep my promise."

"Good that you remember, now quickly go and eat your meal."

"But, I want to talk with daddy for a bit longer." Su Xiaobei was reluctant to end the call with Xiao Luo.

Su Li said, "You shouldn't cry when you talk to people, you must always smile and be polite."

"Oh, okay."

Su Xiaobei held back her tears, then slowly smiled, obeying Su Li's words.

Xiao Luo was so tickled that he laughed out loud, this little girl was simply adorable.

"Daddy, when are you coming over to see Beibei?" Su Xiaobei asked again for the umpteenth time.

"Soon, I'll come over very soon," Xiao Luo said.

Su Xiaobei said in her tender voice, "Daddy, Beibei misses you."

"I miss you too."

Xiao Luo smiled at her. He really missed her, and what he had told her was no lie. He had even dreamed of this little girl several times.

Footnotes:

[1] Lian Po: a military general of the Zhao state in the Warring States period of Chinese history. Named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of that period.

[2] Lin Xiangru: the enlightened chief minister of Zhao, whose meteoric rise to the top created enmity with Lian Po. Putting his nation's needs before his own, Lin's act of humility shamed the general who duly sought his forgiveness by offering to be flogged the birch rod he proffered.

[3] Clairvoyance and Clairaudience: two fictional characters in the classic Chinese novel "The Investiture of the Gods."

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