Chapter 80: Agitation

Seeing him lose his composure like this, Assistant Chen silently shook his head and sighed.

Can't hold it together now, can you?

"Don't rush yet."

"Of course, we can't rule out that it might be a relative, or a child from a neighbor's house."

Hearing his words, the man's brow furrowed slightly.

How could he not be anxious?

And what on earth was this guy talking about?

Why couldn't he understand a single word of it?

Forget it—he'd gotten used to all this over the past few days anyway.

Recalling what Assistant Chen had said at the very beginning, the man's expression grew very serious.

"You said earlier that they went to the hospital?"

Assistant Chen nodded.

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes Miss An bring that little girl into the hospital."

The man's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"A girl?"

Assistant Chen answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Wearing braids—how could she not be a girl?"

The man's expression was a little helpless, and a little speechless; in the end, he said nothing more.

He simply tidied up the things on the desk, grabbed the coat draped over the chair, and hurried out.

While he was putting his notes away, Assistant Chen happened to catch a glimpse of the handwriting in the notebook, and his eyes went slightly wide; immediately, a surge of admiration welled up in his heart.

The boss can actually write traditional characters!

Amazing!

"What are you still standing there for? Which hospital? Hurry up and drive me there!"

"Huh? Oh, alright."

Following behind his boss, Assistant Chen couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Judging by the boss's manner, why did it seem like he cared even more about that child?

Could it be—?

His eyes suddenly went wide.

He seemed to have discovered his boss's secret!

……

Hospital.

Arriving in an unfamiliar place, Zaituan was uneasy, but with Fairy Sister by her side, she obediently cooperated and finished all the examinations.

After all, having been pampered at the Pingnan Marquis Residence for four years, although the exile road had been very hard, fortunately she had met An Luo later and been fed all kinds of things; for now, Zaituan's health was still very good.

But upon seeing the thin syringe and the long needle, the little one was so scared that her whole body trembled; she clutched An Luo's clothes tightly and hid behind her, her milky little voice trembling faintly.

"Elder Sister, Yu'an isn't sick, don't give me a shot."

Her body was perfectly fine, nothing hurt, nothing was swollen—she didn't need acupuncture.

Seeing her little face turn pale with fear, An Luo felt for her too, but the thought that in ancient times getting chickenpox could be fatal hardened her heart in the end.

Although Zaituan might not necessarily catch it, it was better to be safe than sorry.

She held the little one in her arms and soothed her softly.

"Yu'an, once you get this vaccine, you won't get chickenpox in the future."

"Getting chickenpox is very uncomfortable."

Hearing her words, the little one's little face instantly went white as paper.

"C-chickenpox?"

She had heard the Ancestors mention that chickenpox was smallpox!

Back when they were in the Capital, Grandmother's brother's child had died from a smallpox infection.

Yu'an's little mouth puckered, and she tilted her head back and wailed, crying her heart out.

"Wuwuwu, Yu'an doesn't want to get smallpox, doesn't want to die!"

When she grew up she still had to go find Daddy!

She hadn't even waited for Daddy and Grandfather to come home yet!

That reminded An Luo—there were no cowpox vaccines here now; what if smallpox appeared in Da Yin?

She still needed to tell the Cheng Family about cowpox as soon as possible.

"Be a good child, chickenpox and smallpox are different, you know, and besides, there's no more smallpox now."

The young nurse helping with the vaccination comforted her gently.

Yu'an sniffled, sobbing softly, teardrops still hanging on her long eyelashes.

"Th-there's no more smallpox?"

"That's right, it was eliminated long ago."

The nurse spoke while making the preparations.

Yu'an's big eyes went wide.

"How was it eliminated?"

So many imperial doctors couldn't do anything—these people here were really amazing!

"It was eradicated by the cowpox vaccine."

The little fellow repeated softly.

"Cowpox?"

So cowpox can defeat smallpox!

Yu'an silently noted it in his heart.

The young nurse held a syringe in one hand and an alcohol swab in the other.

Seeing this, Yu'an pressed his little lips together and began to steel himself.

"Little Sister, the shot won't hurt. If you cry, you won't be pretty anymore."

The little fellow wiped his eyes and emphasized to her in a milky voice.

"Yu'an is a real man — he doesn't need to be pretty!"

But he was a real man. Great-Grandmother had said that real men shed blood and sweat, but never tears!

"Uh…"

Meeting the young nurse's puzzled gaze, An Luo rubbed Yu'an's hair and gave an awkward chuckle.

"It's a custom from the elders at home."

The young nurse nodded as if she understood, but her tone carried a hint of disapproval.

"In summer, wouldn't the child be terribly hot?"

An Luo, wanting to distract her little one, pulled a cheese stick from her pocket.

In the time it took Yu'an to take it and bite once, the vaccine was already done.

Staring at the swab on his arm, the little fellow's expression went blank, his little mouth slightly open, his eyes wide, and even the half-eaten cheese stick in his mouth fell to the ground.

After he came back to his senses, his little lips pressed together in a pitiful look, as if he wanted to cry, but it didn't seem to hurt?

In the end, he held back his tears again.

That belated, adorably clueless little look instantly struck the auntie-loving hearts of both An Luo and the young nurse.

He's just too cute!

"Seems like it doesn't hurt!"

Yu'an looked curiously at the little dot on his arm.

This was nothing compared to the pain on the exile road, when walking gave him blisters on his feet and Grandmother helped him prick them open.

But when they walked out of the hospital, the little fellow listlessly nestled in An Luo's arms.

After this whole string of checkups, plus crying so hard earlier, the little fellow was completely worn out.

Meanwhile, not far away in a black car, the man in the back seat kept saying.

"A bit closer, a bit closer."

"Why did you stop?"

Assistant Chen in the front passenger seat turned to look at him.

"Boss, if we get any closer we'll be spotted. We're already very close."

"…But I can't see clearly."

Assistant Chen took a deep breath, his tone utterly helpless.

"Did you forget your contact lenses again?"

"…"

Assistant Chen heaved a heavy sigh, then opened the car door.

At the critical moment, he still had to step in.

"Yu'an was so brave today — you didn't even furrow your brow during the shot. Amazing!"

"Let's go buy a little car now, okay?"

Thinking of the little car, the little one perked up a bit and obediently nodded against her neck.

"Okay."

And this conversation between the big one and the little one was overheard in full by Assistant Chen, who deliberately walked past them pretending to take a selfie.

After they had walked a bit farther away, Assistant Chen took his phone and returned to the car.

"Boss, these are the photos. Take a look."

The man took the phone, looked at that familiar little face on the screen, his hands trembling slightly with excitement, his eyes also faintly reddening.

It's really Yu'an!

Seeing his expression, Assistant Chen grew more certain of his guess.

It's the legendary running away with the ball!

Next up, is it time for the wife-chasing crematorium plot?

He secretly glanced at his boss in the back seat and surreptitiously rubbed his hands together.

Why does he feel a little excited at the thought?