Chapter 6: Inconvenient Action_1

Fang Ren then pushed the wheelchair over and looked at Mu Huanqing's lower leg before going behind her and saying, "I'll help you."

"I'm fine."

As Mu Huanqing spoke, her hands braced against the sofa as she attempted to move closer to the wheelchair, but as she was just lifted up by a pair of hands, her whole body suddenly plunged forward toward the coffee table.

Fang Ren's hands quickly supported her from underneath her armpits from behind, preventing her head from hitting the coffee table. She was very light, so Fang Ren didn't need to use much strength to hold her steady.

Fang Ren gently placed her in the wheelchair, and the close contact made him blush due to the fresh scent emanating from Mu Huanqing.

"Don't be afraid of troubling me, your body is still very weak," Fang Ren said, looking at her.

Mu Huanqing gazed down at her hands without responding to Fang Ren, her expression filled with desolation and distress, evoking pity.

Every time Fang Ren saw this expression, he felt an urge to delve into her heart, to understand her past and soothe her sorrows.

Seeing she did not speak, Fang Ren began to push her wheelchair upstairs.

At the foot of the stairs, Mu Huanqing spoke up, "It's not easy to go up..."

"It's fine."

Fang Ren smiled slightly, then grasped the wheels on either side of the wheelchair from behind and lifted her, along with the wheelchair, to start making his way upstairs.

There were about eighteen steps from the first floor to the second, and Fang Ren climbed without pause.

It was only after he had set Mu Huanqing down at the top that he took a long breath and rubbed his arms.

"Is this the strength of a normal person?" Mu Huanqing asked, turning her head.

Although she was light, carrying a person plus a wheelchair up to the second floor using his extended arms was not easy.

"I just exercise a bit when I'm bored," Fang Ren said with a smile.

As he spoke, Fang Ren took Mu Huanqing to a room and suddenly remembered something, quickly saying, "Sister Hui Qing, wait here for a moment. My room is a bit messy; let me tidy it up."

Fang Ren then opened the door, dashed inside, and Mu Huanqing blinked her beautiful eyes, glancing inside, but made no move to propel her wheelchair in.

About two minutes later, Fang Ren came out, smiling awkwardly, "Sorry, it's still a bit messy inside."

"It's nothing," Mu Huanqing said.

Taking Mu Huanqing into the room, Fang Ren felt a little nervous inside; after all, this was the first time a girl had been in his room.

Upon entering, a pleasant scent was noticeable, clearly from the air freshener spray that Fang Ren had used in the last two minutes.

The room was of a moderate size, with conventional furniture such as a wardrobe, desk, chair, and bed, and small appliances like an air conditioner and computer. In one corner stood a small set of dumbbells, and next to it, a small furnace for alchemy.

The desk was not cluttered with books; instead, it displayed various herbs packaged up, and near the desk, notes about elixirs covered several pieces of paper tacked to the wall.

The bedding on the bed was not folded; it was neatly spread out, and underneath were a pair of slippers arranged tidily.

The room looked quite neat, and aside from the air freshener, there was no strange smell—an outcome of Fang Ren's two-minute cleanup.

"Do you have a fondness for medicine?" Mu Huanqing asked, looking at the small furnace on the floor.

"I'm not really interested in the theory taught at university, but I do find alchemy quite appealing," Fang Ren said.

"Do you dream of becoming an alchemist in the future?"

"I haven't thought about it. Just being a small-time doctor who can provide for the family is fine by me."

"If that's the case, you should just study the theory. Why bother learning alchemy?" Mu Huanqing inquired.

"Alchemy... it's just a hobby, something to do when I'm bored," Fang Ren answered honestly.

Moderation in all things, never priding oneself on being in the limelight—that was the upbringing he had from a young age.

Soon after, the sound of a door echoed below, followed by Shang Han's loud voice calling out, "Ah Ran, how's your talk going?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Ren felt an internal facepalm. What kind of father asks such a thing, inquiring directly about a boy's chat with his daughter...

"Sister Hui Qing is pretty easy to get along with," Fang Ren replied.

Just as his voice traveled downstairs, Uncle Han called up, "Oh right, we don't have an extra room, so your Sister Hui Qing will sleep in your room tonight."

"What!?"

Fang Ren nearly fell over when he heard this. Was this something a father should say? Sending his daughter into a boy's room!

"What's with the 'what'? You're boyfriend and girlfriend now, what's the issue with sharing a bed?"

"Uncle Han, are you mistaken?"

"It's not a big deal. When I was courting your aunt, she got pregnant with Hui Qing before we even married. Nowadays many young people have kids before marriage; they're more open-minded than we were. It's no big deal."

"I'll just sleep on the sofa downstairs," Fang Ren called out.

"No way, your Sister Hui Qing is afraid of the dark," Shang Han's voice came back up.

In the room, Fang Ren looked at Mu Huanqing and asked with a blink, "Really?"

Mu Huanqing shook her head as she looked at him.

"I don't believe you for a second, you old scoundrel!" Fang Ren couldn't help but curse with a blushing face.

"Hey, I'm giving you a chance here and you're not taking it," Shang Han snorted.

Fang Ren promptly closed the door, ignoring him, then turned back to Mu Huanqing and said, "Sister Hui Qing, shall we check your leg again?"

"Didn't you say you couldn't do anything?" Mu Huanqing looked at him, her voice tinged with confusion.

"I couldn't do anything today, but maybe tomorrow I will," Fang Ren said.

"..."

Mu Huanqing paused for a moment, then nodded her head.

Fang Ren saw her consent and squatted down again to stroke on the anklet area.

About a minute later, he frowned and walked over to the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote down a string of medicinal ingredients on paper. When he got to Ghost Grass, his expression turned troubled, as this ingredient was too expensive and hard to come by.

"What are you writing?" Mu Huanqing asked, somewhat curious as she moved her wheelchair to the front of the desk and leaned forward to look at what he had noted down.

"I'm trying to see if I can concoct a type of elixir that could restore vitality to a person's meridians," Fang Ren said with a dry laugh.

Such a statement would probably not be believed by anyone, as no such elixir existed in the entire world up to that point.

After looking at the few medicinal ingredients he'd written down, Mu Huanqing's eyes, previously filled with curiosity, couldn't help but turn somewhat disappointed. Although she didn't know alchemy, she had some understanding of the effects and compatibility of medicinal ingredients.

The ingredients Fang Ren had noted down were all quite cold in nature, and mixing them together would not yield any effect, let alone the recovery of vitality in the meridians.

But in the end, she knew he meant well.

------

------

In the evening, Fang Ren wheeled Mu Huanqing down to the dining table on the first floor for dinner.

Uncle Han talked a lot at the dinner table, always laughing as he recounted his past to Mu Huanqing and never stopped offering her dishes to try. However, Mu Huanqing seemed totally uninterested in her father's past and also had a poor appetite. She ate a little bit of bland vegetables and then said she was full.

"Qing'er, is it because the food doesn't suit your taste? What do you like to eat? I'll make it for you tomorrow," Shang Han asked.

"No, it's just that I'm not hungry," Mu Huanqing said.

Having not talked to his daughter for over twenty years, Fang Ren didn't know how to help ease their awkward relationship. In any case, he could tell that Mu Huanqing was not ready to acknowledge Uncle Han as her father just yet.

After dinner, Fang Ren took Mu Huanqing back to her room upstairs, set up her computer to play some popular TV dramas, and then went back downstairs to find Uncle Han.

"Uncle Han, I have a lot of questions I want to ask you."

Fang Ren went to the kitchen, where Shang Han was washing dishes.

Shang Han said disdainfully, "You've got a lot of questions to ask, we'll talk about them later. Right now, go and prepare a hot bath for Qing'er, and later help her take a bath."

"Wha—!? Help her?!"

Fang Ren nearly fell on his backside out of shock.

Is this really a father? Are you sure he's not trying to sell his daughter? And for free, at that!

"What are you dazing for? Just go and do it. With her leg like that, do you expect her to crawl in there?" Shang Han said with a displeased face.

"That's a bit too much..." Fang Ren said with a troubled expression.

"Listen here, boy, I'm helping you with my daughter, but you've also got to help me make her acknowledge me as her dad," Shang Han stated matter-of-factly.

After hearing this, Fang Ren felt completely thrown into confusion, helplessly saying, "Do you even behave like a dad?"

"Bullshit. If I'm willing to entrust my daughter to you, there's definitely a reason," Shang Han retorted.

"What reason?"

"The ways of heaven must not be revealed."

"I think you're just an old man trying to sell off your daughter..."

"Did I take any money from you?"

"Fine, fine, fine. I've got no time for this nonsense. I have class tomorrow."

Fang Ren said and then left the kitchen. Since Uncle Han did not want to answer some questions, Fang Ren decided not to push further.

However, he couldn't get his head around Uncle Han's relaxed attitude. His daughter wasn't recognizing him, and yet he was still able to talk about it like this.

After preparing the bathwater on the second floor, Fang Ren took a glance at Mu Huanqing, noticing she was just sitting motionless in her wheelchair watching a movie.

Her silhouette always seemed to evoke an unexplainable sorrow in Fang Ren.

"Sister Hui Qing, the bathwater's ready for you. Um... if there's anything you need help with, just let me know," Fang Ren said from outside the door.

"Mm."

Seeing her nod, Fang Ren entered and wheeled her into the bathroom.

Upon arriving there, Fang Ren's face started to blush involuntarily.

Seeing that Mu Huanqing's legs were completely immobile, he knew he would have to help her into the bathtub next.

When Mu Huanqing saw him standing there staring and reluctant to leave, she asked, "Are you going to help me undress?"

"Ah? No, no, no, that's not it. I—I—I'll just go out now."

Fang Ren immediately dashed out and closed the bathroom door, leaning against the wall with his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Images of Mu Huanqing turning her head kept flashing in his mind; she was like a fairy—an unfair advantage indeed! That beauty was seriously off the charts!

Even more unforgettable for him was Mu Huanqing's recent question: "Are you going to help me undress?"

He couldn't help thinking: what if he had said yes? Would he have actually ended up undressing her? After all, it's what her father suggested!

Then again, Fang Ren really couldn't comprehend how such a messy old man like Uncle Han could have sired such an exquisite daughter!

"Ah Ran, can you help me for a moment?"

As he was lost in thought, Mu Huanqing's gentle voice came from the bathroom.