Chapter 55

Li Lizhi, at this moment, had no time to care where the fish had fallen; she hurried to the lakeside, "Second Brother, are you okay!" As she spoke, she pulled Xiao Yuzhang to one side, afraid that this bold and daring girl would see Second Brother in the water and jump in for fun.

"Second Brother, I'll save you!" Li Tai, the chubby boy, also 'rolled' to the lakeside, shouting that he would go down to save Li Kuan. As he spoke, he was about to jump down.

Li Kuan splashed in the lake a few times, and the swimming skills he had developed in the river during his childhood finally came into play. His body gradually recovered from its weak state, and he dog-paddled toward the shore. Seeing Li Tai about to jump, he quickly called out, "That's enough, I'm almost up, don't come down." As he spoke, Li Kuan sped up.

"Second Brother looks like a dog!" The 'culprit' who had pushed Li Kuan into the lake, the little Xiao Yuzhang Li Nianwei, was making her new discovery. Li Lizhi, who was still worried, gave the little girl a disapproving look. But the little girl didn't notice at all, thinking that her sister hadn't heard her. She continued to pull her sister's skirt and, with her unique, baby-like voice, said, "Sister, Second Brother looks like a dog!"

This time, a few words were omitted, changing the meaning of the sentence. Li Kuan, whose body had mostly recovered, and whose two years of practicing Xin Yi Quan had improved his hearing, could hear even the faintest sounds in the quiet. Even though the water in the lake masked the sound, he still heard Xiao Nianwei's words, and felt an urge to spit blood: This little girl's words were incredibly hurtful. When I get up, I'll definitely spank your little bottom! Li Kuan vowed in his heart.

Finally, Li Kuan, drenched in wet clothes, climbed ashore. As soon as he reached the shore, he walked over to the smallest little girl, but the scene before him made him laugh and cry at the same time.

On the grass in front of him, the three little ones were dealing with the big fish. Although the fish had left the water, it was still fiercely thrashing on the ground, its head and tail both raised. The chubby Li Tai was now lying on the ground, pressing down on the fish's body and using his own body to protect the two girls.

This wasn't just talk. When Li Kuan first came up, he saw the fish leap up from the ground, its tail lashing toward Li Lizhi. At that moment, Li Tai pounced, using his fatty body to block the tail. There was a loud slap as the fish's tail hit the fatty body, causing ripples of flesh. At that moment, Li Kuan suddenly felt that Li Tai being a bit fat wasn't so bad, especially in such a situation.

After Li Tai pinned the big grass carp to the ground and pressed it down, the two little girls rushed over. Li Lizhi had long forgotten the basket of cicada nymphs she was carrying, remembering only the big fish in front of her. Xiao Nianwei, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about it. She had already started moving her little legs, charging at the grass carp: "Fish, Wei-er will eat, fish!" She kept mumbling these two sentences, running faster than Li Lizhi. Although this little girl had only learned to walk a few months ago, she walked steadily and ran with only a slight wobble, not at all like a two-year-old who had just learned to walk.

"What are you doing?" A gentle voice came, and Changsun, dressed in a white robe, appeared in the small garden, looking at the four little ones in disarray and asking in surprise.

"Mother!" Li Kuan bowed, having gotten used to his current identity over the past two years and no longer feeling awkward about bowing to elders. Time had the greatest power, making you get used to everything and subtly changing you until you were unrecognizable.

"Mother has come, come and help!" Compared to Li Kuan, Li Lizhi was much more casual, perhaps because she had always been pampered and didn't think as much as Li Kuan. She just thought that asking Mother to help catch the fish was a trivial matter.

"Mother!" Li Tai let go of the big fish, his clothes now wrinkled, but his manners were impeccable. The little fatty was starting to understand that some things had to be done properly, or someone might use them to harm him. This was something he had figured out over the past two years, but it also made him a bit distant from his family. In the royal family, no one could avoid such changes, and Li Lizhi was just a few years behind.

"Why is Second Brother's clothes all wet? Go and change them!" Changsun frowned, looking at Li Kuan, who was still dripping with water, and said with concern. Over the past two years, Li Kuan's health had gradually improved, but in her heart, this little Second Brother was still the sickly child.

"Thank you, Mother!" Li Kuan thanked her.

While they were chatting, they forgot about the little one on the scene. The little girl, who didn't know what fear was, was now trying to pry open the big fish's head, opening her little mouth, wanting to swallow the fish's head in one bite. Although the big fish had been pinned down by Li Tai, it was still struggling. Seeing the little monster in front of it, the fish's mouth opened wide.

"Your mouth is bigger than Wei-er's!" The little girl, seeing the big fish's mouth, felt a bit sad that her own mouth wasn't big enough to eat the fish. She lay on the grass, pressing her little hands on the fish's head, just looking at it.

The little girl's sadness didn't last long, and she was happy again. She stretched out her little finger and put it into the big grass carp's mouth: "Fish, eat, eat." She remembered how happy she was when she sucked her finger and thought the fish would like it too, so she put her little finger into the fish's mouth. However, a cry reminded everyone: When taking care of children, never get distracted, or the consequences can be serious.

Grass carp have teeth, though small, but they can easily cause pain when they bite. The little girl's finger was bitten by the big fish, and she started to cry: "Bad fish, wu wu wu..."

Li Kuan heard the crying and realized that this troublesome little girl had caused trouble again, so he quickly turned to look.

Changsun was the first to react, as she was facing the scene. By the time the other three turned around, she had already walked up and tapped the fish's head a few times, making the fish's mouth open and spit out the little girl's finger. She then held the crying Xiao Nianwei: "Good girl, Wei-er, don't cry..." She didn't mind that the little girl's dirt on the ground had made her white dress dirty. She gently patted the little girl's back, and soon the little girl stopped crying and started to sob softly in Changsun's arms.

Seeing Changsun comfort the crying little girl, Li Kuan picked up the big grass carp from the ground. It was quite large, about half a meter long and weighing about ten pounds.

Li Lizhi didn't look at the big fish anymore but went to comfort Xiao Nianwei: "Nianwei, be good, sister will blow on your finger, and it won't hurt anymore!" As she spoke, she blew on Xiao Nianwei's finger. This action made the crying little girl stop sobbing and start blowing on her finger as well. The two little girls kept blowing around Changsun, making her smile.

"Alright, Wei-er, go play!" Changsun saw that the little girl had stopped crying and put her down.

Children are like this, they forget quickly. The little girl had just been bitten, but as soon as she was put down, she ran over to look at the big fish again. Li Kuan quickly made room for her but didn't dare to let her go alone.

"Bad fish, biting Wei-er, I'll hit you!" The little girl came to take revenge, her little fists hitting the fish's head. Li Kuan quickly pressed down on the fish's body, afraid that if the fish struggled again, it would hit Xiao Nianwei again, causing another round of crying, which Li Kuan couldn't bear.

Fortunately, after hitting it a few times, the little girl stopped and started to think about eating the fish: "Second Brother, eat the fish."

"Sure, Second Brother will ask the cook to make fish soup for Wei-er. We'll eat the bad fish, okay?" Li Kuan had learned how to comfort children over the past two years, starting with Li Lizhi and then this little girl. He had gradually gained experience.

"Okay, eat it." Xiao Nianwei nodded and clapped her hands, thinking about eating the bad fish for dinner.

"Finally!" Li Kuan sighed in his heart. Comforting children was not a job for humans. Li Kuan felt that his intelligence had been declining over the past two years, lowered by these two little girls. He was probably already below the national average.

"Qingque, take the fish to the kitchen, I'll go change my clothes!" Li Kuan gave orders to Li Tai without any pressure. The little fatty still respected his Second Brother, and the price Li Kuan paid was just occasionally writing a poem. Even though Li Tai knew that his Second Brother was no match for the Four Books and Five Classics, the Four Books and Five Classics couldn't give him the attention that beautiful poetry could. So Li Tai was constantly studying poetry, hoping to one day write beautiful poems like Li Kuan, so that the scholars would praise him and his father would be proud of him!

It must be said that at this time, Li Tai was still honest and simple. He just wanted the attention of others and a pat on the back from his father, who rarely stayed at home for more than a few months a year.

Li Kuan didn't know about these things. He was now in his room changing clothes. Although it was early summer, the wet clothes made him feel a bit cold: "My body is still a bit weak! I need to increase the dosage!"

Although the system had said that it would take 15 million to cure his body, Li Kuan only remembered the number. He didn't know why it was needed. Later, he realized how difficult it was to make up for his congenital deficiencies: First, he couldn't take tonics, and at the beginning, he couldn't even handle the medicinal power of a fifty-year-old ginseng, causing him to bleed from the nose every time he took the medicine. Later, after he finally adapted, he added other herbs like Polygonum multiflorum, angelica, and poria, which greatly increased the medicinal power. Li Kuan would take a little, then lose most of it through nosebleeds, gradually filling the gaps in his body. In fact, if his body hadn't been so weak, like a broken sieve, losing most of the medicinal power, it would have only taken about 5 to 6 million. But because of his weak constitution, it had taken all 15 million.

Moreover, from being able to exchange only a jar of medicine to now being able to exchange individual pills, it was a small but significant improvement, at least in terms of portability!

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