In thе аftеrnoon, whеn Zhоu Shаоjin rеturned from Cоld Grеen Mоuntain Hоusе, Shi Хiаng infоrmеd her that thе socks had been delivеrеd to Нill of Сlustеrеd Сassiа Соurtуаrd: "...Miss Jiуing accерted thеm and even gаve me twо gold-embrоidеrеd hаndkеrсhiеfs."
A single gоld-еmbroidеrеd hаndkerсhief wоuld сost sevеrаl taеls of silver—Jiying wаs certainlу gеnеrous.
Zhоu Shaojin snortеd inwаrdlу, feеling thаt this wау, thе twо of thеm wеre еven аnd owed еaсh оthеr nothing.
Unехреctedly, еarly the next mоrning, Jiying sent somеone оver with сrуstal сakes and assorted tofu soup, and the little maid delivering the items relayed a message: "...The crystal cakes were bought from Drunken Immortal Pavilion, and the assorted tofu soup was bought from South Market Tower."
Zhou Shaojin, who rarely left the inner quarters, had never heard of Drunken Immortal Pavilion or South Market Tower. But judging from the little maid's words, she guessed that Drunken Immortal Pavilion was famous for its crystal cakes, and South Market Tower for its assorted tofu soup.
The little maid was just a messenger, and Zhou Shaojin didn’t want to make things difficult for her. She told Shi Xiang to accept the gifts: "...Throw them all into the slop bucket."
"Such good things..." Shi Xiang felt it was a pity.
The crystal cakes were translucent like fine jade, with a touch of red on top that added a playful charm—they looked mouthwatering even before tasting. The assorted tofu soup was generously seasoned with pickled mustard, shredded pork, daylily flowers... its aroma was irresistible.
She glanced at Zhou Shaojin’s expression and said, "How about giving them to the night watchwoman? It would be a small favor, at least."
Zhou Shaojin remained silent.
If Jiying thought this counted as an apology, then so be it.
Shi Xiang sighed and gave the food to the night watchwoman, who expressed her gratitude profusely.
The next day, Jiying sent over turnip cakes and duck blood vermicelli soup.
Zhou Shaojin again told Shi Xiang to discard them.
This time, Shi Xiang didn’t ask Zhou Shaojin and instead gave the food to the old woman who came to trim the plants at Fragrant Garden Residence.
On the third day, Jiying sent osmanthus duck and scholar beans.
On the fourth day, it was steamed buns and shredded dried tofu soup.
On the fifth day... Zhou Chujin was alerted.
Zhou Chujin called Shi Xiang over to question her.
Naturally, Shi Xiang didn’t dare hide anything and recounted everything in detail.
Although Zhou Chujin disliked how Jiying was trying to coax Zhou Shaojin, she acknowledged that Jiying was admitting her mistake openly and honestly. Considering that Zhou Shaojin usually stayed cooped up at home, it might be good for her to experience more things. So, she pretended not to know and let Zhou Shaojin handle it herself.
This went on for seven or eight days. Then, Jiying suddenly sent over a puppy.
It was a newborn Pekingese, small enough to fit in a palm, with snow-white fur, large black eyes, a bright red silk ribbon tied around its neck, and a tiny bell attached. It lay in a bamboo basket lined with crimson felt, tilting its head and letting out soft, high-pitched barks at Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin’s heart instantly melted.
She picked up the puppy and noticed a piece of paper underneath the basket that read, "If you hold the puppy, it means you’ve forgiven me."
Zhou Shaojin was both angry and anxious. She handed the puppy to Shi Xiang and said, "Take it away."
Shi Xiang had no choice but to carry the puppy out.
Zhou Shaojin lowered her head to embroider a forehead scarf.
From the courtyard came the puppy’s whimpering sounds, like a child crying.
Zhou Shaojin felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles. After embroidering a few stitches, she finally couldn’t bear it any longer and called Shi Xiang in, asking, "What’s wrong with the puppy?"
Shi Xiang wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "We sent it back, but Miss Jiying returned it shortly after. Back and forth like this, and I noticed the puppy doesn’t seem to be in good spirits...""How utterly despicable!" Zhou Shaojin exclaimed, yet she couldn't bear to let the puppy fall ill because of her and Jiying. She had Shi Xiang bring the little dog inside.
The puppy struggled out of the basket and rubbed itself against Zhou Shaojin's feet.
Zhou Shaojin placed it back in the basket, but it crawled out again.
Shi Xiang said, "This little dog must be hungry."
Zhou Shaojin, who had never fed a dog before, asked, "What does it eat?"
Shi Xiang thought for a moment and replied, "I remember an old woman who came to trim our flowers and trees a few days ago was brought in from the estate. I'll go ask her."
Upon hearing that it was a dog raised by the Zhou family's second young lady, the old woman naturally didn't dare mention what dogs on the estate usually ate. Instead, she reasoned that the dog must be quite precious and decided to suggest only the best: "...Since it's a puppy, it should drink some meat broth and eat fine grains."
Shi Xiang returned and had the kitchen prepare some meat bone broth for the puppy, mixed with a bit of cooked rice.
The puppy ate with great relish, getting food all over its mouth.
Zhou Shaojin casually cut out a bib for it.
Shi Xiang and the others eagerly took turns sewing the bib and suggested, "Other families' guard dogs all have names. We should give it one too."
Seeing the dog's snow-white fur, Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "Then let's call our dog 'Snowball.' What do you think?"
Everyone agreed, and they began calling it "Snowball."
Snowball looked left and right before curling up in the basket to sleep.
Everyone found it utterly adorable and laughed heartily.
Zhou Shaojin felt the room had become livelier.
But when she returned from Cold Green Mountain House, Shi Xiang and the others tearfully told her, "We don't know what's wrong with Snowball. It suddenly started having diarrhea. We've already sent for a doctor, but he said he only treats people, not dogs, and told us to quickly send a steward to find someone who can treat dogs. The steward hasn't returned with any news yet, and Snowball is already lying motionless in the basket."
Zhou Shaojin felt as if her heart were being gripped by something.
She rushed back to her room in great haste.
Snowball was indeed lying motionless in the basket. When Zhou Shaojin called its name, it lifted its head to look at her, whimpered twice, and then weakly lay back down.
Tears welled up in Zhou Shaojin's eyes as she asked, "What did the steward say?"
Shi Xiang wiped her tears and replied, "He said the family has never kept dogs before and doesn't know who can treat them, so we can only ask around slowly."
By the time they find someone, Snowball might be gone!
Zhou Shaojin lovingly cradled Snowball in her arms.
She rarely formed deep connections with others, fearing the pain of separation, let alone raising cats, dogs, or birds.
Thinking of the instigator, Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger. She said to Shi Xiang, "Go tell Jiying. The puppy she gave me is sick. Have her find a way to quickly get a doctor to examine it."
If anything happened to Snowball, she would never speak to Jiying again.
Shi Xiang's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Oh, why didn't we think of that? Since Miss Jiying managed to buy this dog, she must know how to care for it. I'll go right away." Before she finished speaking, she was already lifting her skirt and running out.
Zhou Shaojin thought the same.
Pacing back and forth, she gently stroked Snowball's furry back to comfort it. "It's alright, it's alright. The doctor will be here soon. You'll get better in no time!"Jiying arrived quickly, and Shi Xiang was nowhere to be seen when she got there.
Seeing Zhou Shaojin's state, she was momentarily stunned before asking, "Wasn't it perfectly fine when we bought it? How did it suddenly fall ill?"
"How should I know!" Zhou Shaojin glared at Jiying. "I told you to fetch a doctor—did you go?"
"I did!" Jiying replied. "He'll be here soon."
Zhou Shaojin felt slightly reassured.
Jiying was also anxious and went over to stroke Snowball's back.
For a moment, neither knew what to say. One paced around the room holding the dog, while the other sat uneasily in the armchair, waiting.
About half an hour later, Shi Xiang rushed in.
"Second Miss, Second Miss," she said with a pleased expression. "The person to treat Snowball is here."
Without another word, Zhou Shaojin and Jiying hurried out to meet them.
The visitor was a somewhat shifty-looking old man in his sixties. He wore a coarse, short brown robe in an autumn-spice color and was led by the maid who had previously delivered things to Zhou Shaojin. Standing in the courtyard, he smiled obsequiously at Zhou Shaojin and the others.
Can this man really do it?
Zhou Shaojin glanced at Jiying.
Jiying also had her doubts, but she said, "He was recommended by the person who sold us the dog. Said his name is An Da, and everyone in Jinling City goes to him when their dogs fall ill."
Zhou Shaojin gave an "oh" and handed the dog in her arms to Shi Xiang, instructing her to take it over for An Da to examine.
An Da began asking about Snowball's condition. When he heard Shi Xiang say that Snowball had drunk a bowl of meat bone broth early that morning, he exclaimed dramatically, "This pug has just been weaned! How could you feed it meat broth? It's like a newborn baby—it can only eat light food. If you could give it something like goat's milk, that would be even better."
Everyone was taken aback.
Zhou Shaojin stiffened.
So it was her fault that Snowball had ended up like this.
She felt terrible.
Seeing this, Jiying gently patted Zhou Shaojin's shoulder and asked An Da, "What should we do now?"
"I'll give it some of my family's secret medicine first, and for the next three days, you can only feed it plain congee," An Da said uncertainly. "I'll come back in three days for a follow-up. If it recovers, no more medicine will be needed. If not, I'll try a different remedy."
Everyone's hearts tightened.
Shi Xiang led An Da away to give Snowball the medicine.
Zhou Shaojin gazed at the listless Snowball and choked up, "It's all my fault..."
Jiying comforted her, "You fed it meat broth because you wanted what was best for it. Who knew it couldn't have meat broth? Besides, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Snowball will surely be free from illness and disaster from now on and live a long life!"
But Zhou Shaojin wasn't as optimistic as she was.
After seeing An Da off, she held Snowball and silently combed its fur.
Snowball let out a comfortable whimper.
Zhou Shaojin finally managed a slight smile.
Seeing this, Jiying felt awful and said apologetically, "I originally wanted to give you a puppy to make you happy. I never expected things to turn out like this. I'm really sorry. When I go back later, I'll have people search again to see if there are any other dog doctors in Jinling City. We'll bring them all to examine Snowball. I'm sure there must be an expert among them who can cure Snowball."
"Let's wait and see how An Da treats Snowball for the next couple of days first," Zhou Shaojin said. "Constantly changing doctors might not be good for Snowball either. But just in case, we should still look for other dog doctors.""Hmm!" Jiying nodded, then remembered that Zhou Shaojin still had to copy scriptures at Cold Green Mountain House tomorrow. She said, "How about I help you take care of Snowball tomorrow? Don't you still have to copy scriptures?"
Zhou Shaojin hesitated.
Jiying quickly added, "Let me do this to ease my conscience! Otherwise, I'll always feel guilty."
Seeing Jiying's remorseful expression, Zhou Shaojin suddenly thought of the child she had lost in her previous life.
Snowball was also a living being. If anything happened to it, Jiying would surely feel terrible too, wouldn't she?
Zhou Shaojin gave a slight nod.
※
Some readers have mentioned that the story's pace feels slow. I rewrote the opening earlier because I wanted to speed things up, but once I try to accelerate the pace, the writing starts to feel somewhat rushed. I really can't make it any faster—every event is meant to drive the story forward... sob...
※ (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please consider voting for recommendations or monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
!!
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