Xia Lian and He Chun made several rounds along the wards to check the conditions of their patients. Both of them sighed in relief as all the patients were out of danger. Even the heart patient's condition stabilized, thus paying off her efforts the other day.
By the time they finished all the examinations, word has been sent from the kitchen that the meals have been prepared. Xia Lian instructed the villagers to feed the patients who are not heavily injured with light porridge. She instructed the others to feed a particular medicinal liquid to the patients who are unconscious. Since Salines are not available she asked them to feed them drop by drop using mini funnels. The men nodded in understanding and proceeded to complete their tasks. All the villagers were determined to help Doctor He's little friend. So, they did all the works diligently without any mistakes making it easy for Xia Lian. She told everyone to have their meals before leaving.
Xia Lian proposed the idea of paying them wages for their work but was dismissed off ruthlessly by He Chun. His reasoning was that the villagers helped them with a good intention and paying them wages would belittle them. Finding nothing wrong in his words, the little girl agreed with his thoughts and both of them parted their ways to rest for a while in their respective rooms.
Xia Lian felt her body numb from over-exhaustion. What she wanted at the moment is a good night sleep. She instructed Fan Ling to wake her up after six hours as she wanted to start her internal qi training with Bao Su.
Her eyes started to droop and she fell into a deep slumber as soon as her tired body hit the bed. Fan Ling felt heavy in her heart on seeing her master tire herself out like this. She covered Xia Lian with a blanket and sat on the chair beside the bed to guard her defenceless master.
" Master, wake up." the girl on the bed purred lightly making Fan Ling chuckle. After continuing her efforts for a while, Xia Lian finally sat on the bed while rubbing her eyes. She thanked Fan Ling with a sleepy voice and proceeded to the bathroom to wash her face.
By the time Xia Lian freshened up, Bao Su was waiting for her at the door. Leaving the little bunny in the care of Fan Ling, Xia Lian and Bao Su made their way towards the huge open ground at the back of their hospital.
The blazing afternoon sun made Xia Lian squint her eyes. Before she could ask her shadow guard anything, she found him bring out a heap of books.
"Should I read them?" she tilted her head in confusion.
" No." Bao Su stopped walking when he was a foot away from her and placed the pile of books on her head. Three black lines appeared on her forehead. It shouldn't be what she is thinking, right? The little girl stared at Bao Su expectantly but he mercilessly slaughtered her wishful thoughts " The first step is balancing and we will proceed to the next step only after you've managed to balance all these books on your head."
"And you should keep your back straight and your eyes must always look forward." a dark cloud materialised above Xia Lian's head immediately after his words fell. She grunted while straightening her body.
Thump!
Thump! Thump!
All the books on her head fell on the ground as soon as she moved. She immediately picked all the books from the ground and cradled them in her embrace. She then raised her head cautiously only to meet with the expressionless face of Bao Su. Beads of cold sweat started to form on the little girl's forehead as the expressionless Bao Su seemed too scary in her eyes. She secretly gulped and finally after what seemed like an eternity Bao Su opened his mouth " What are you waiting for? You can't expect me to say start every time you drop your books. I will stay here and watch your moves. So, don't even think of escaping.."
" Yes, teacher.." she subconsciously nodded her head after hearing his monotonous voice. Seeing her act so obedient, Bao Su didn't speak anymore as he sat on a nearby rock and continued to observe her.
She slowly straightened her back and started to place a single book at a time on her head. She was able to place a maximum of three books on her head when they came falling down like a waterfall.
Picking up the fallen books, placing them on her head.. This endless cycle continued till dawn and she was stopped by Bao Su " Master, we will wrap it up for the day and we will start again at daybreak tomorrow."
" Hmm..." the little girl had a grave expression on her face as she made her way towards her room with the books in her arms. Seeing the pondering expression on her face, Bao Su silently followed her and retired to his room.
Shutting the door of her room tightly, Xia Lian started to practise with the books. The results of the day's training did not satisfy her, not in the least.
After making continuous efforts for four or five hours, she finally managed to balance all the books on her head in the standing position. Only now did she manage to relax for a while. The next day is going to be a tribulation for her and she dreaded it. How on earth could she possibly walk with all these books on her tiny head ah?! And Bao Su seemed to be taking revenge on her because of her teasing him.The little girl is seriously considering this possibility but immediately brushed it off as her shadow guard would not be so petty.
Grumbling she finally hit her back on the surface of the bed. Sorting out all the thoughts in her mind, she finally slept well. But her peaceful dreamy state did not last for long as the daybreak arrived after a few hours of her sleep. Fan Ling's shouts hit her like a bolt of lightning as she sat up on the bed abruptly. The little girl hurriedly rushed to freshen up as her teacher Bao might be waiting for her with a grim reaper look on his face.