Chapter 3: Do Dragon fly Tails Taste Good?

What’s the deal with this Aunt Zhang? Since when are “good people” so pushy?

Ye Xin Ran lowered her gaze and unwrapped the coarse cloth on her hand, revealing a wound treated only with a sprinkle of wound powder.

She carefully cleaned the wound again with hydrogen peroxide and stitched it up simply with needle and thread.

After finishing, she picked up the bowl of medicine on the table and gave it a sniff.

The concoction was thick and smelled intensely bitter.

Ye Xin Ran had feared bitterness since childhood, and since the poison in her body was already neutralized, there was no need to drink the medicine.

She got out of bed and poured the medicine out the window.

Just as she set the bowl down, a soft, childish voice piped up:
“You poured the medicine out. That’s not very obedient.”

Ye Xin Ran turned to see a tiny figure peeking out from behind the door, a small head sticking out with wide, unblinking eyes fixed on her.

“And who are you? How did you end up here?”

The little one was dressed in oversized, worn clothes that reached his knees, his messy bun tilted at an odd angle. He looked like a frail little sprout, but his bright eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Ye Xin Ran’s heart melted at the sight of the adorable child, and she wanted to reach out and pat his head.

But the moment she moved closer, the little boy jumped back in surprise, lost his balance, and rolled across the floor with a thud.

Ye Xin Ran: ??? What?

Was she just framed?

The little boy seemed resilient. After rolling once, he stood up on his own, patted the dust off his clothes, blew twice on his own hand, and murmured softly,
“It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt. Just blow on it, and it won’t hurt.”

Ye Xin Ran was utterly charmed by his cuteness.

Is this one of Xiao Huai’an’s kids? Isn’t this exactly the kind of soft, adorable baby she’d always loved?

She crouched down to meet the boy’s gaze and asked,
“Where does it hurt? Let me blow on it for you, okay?”

Seeing that the little boy still seemed wary, she quickly took out one of the candies she’d snagged from the lab and waved it in front of him.

“Answer my question, and I’ll give you some candy.”

“Candy!”

The boy’s eyes lit up instantly.

He stretched out his dirty little hand and said timidly,
“Here, it hurts.”

“Blow~ blow~”

Ye Xin Ran gently blew on his hand twice.

Then she asked,
“Does it feel better now?”

“Mm!” he nodded enthusiastically.

The little boy grinned and nodded immediately. “It doesn’t hurt anymore!”

“Can you tell me your name?” Ye Xin Ran asked, her tone gentle now that the initial awkwardness had dissipated.

Without hesitation, the little boy replied, “My name is Chang An!”

“And what about your brothers?”

“The eldest is Chang Sheng, and the second is Chang Ping.”

“How did you end up here? And why are you wearing so little?” Ye Xin Ran noticed that the boy’s hands were slightly cold and couldn’t help but ask.

“I came to see you!”

“See me?”

“Yep!”

“Second Uncle married a wife, so I wanted to see if my new aunt is pretty!”

Aunt? So these kids weren’t Xiao Huai’an’s after all.

“And? Do I look pretty?” Ye Xin Ran asked with a smile.

“Pretty!” Chang An nodded vigorously, then pointed at the scar on her face. “I like the flowers on your face!”

“You’re pretty too!” Ye Xin Ran chuckled, pinching his chubby cheeks.

Chang An’s eyes were like black grapes, large and bright, with long, thick, curled eyelashes that framed them perfectly.

He swung his short legs as he plopped himself down on the doorstep and asked, “I answered your questions. Can I have the candy now?”

“Of course!”

Ye Xin Ran handed him the candy.

Chang An carefully unwrapped it and gave it a little lick before opening the pouch hanging from his waist and tucking the candy inside.

“Why aren’t you eating it?” Ye Xin Ran asked curiously.

“I can’t eat it. If I eat it, it’ll be gone.

Big Brother says I’ll only get candy again when the moon becomes round, so I lick it and eat it slowly.”

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something. He pulled the candy out of his pouch with his little hand and offered it to Ye Xin Ran.

“You don’t drink medicine because it’s bitter, right? I’ll let you lick my candy too!”

“What a sweet boy!” Ye Xin Ran beamed, ruffling his hair. She then pulled out the other four pieces of candy she had and said, “Go ahead, Auntie will give you all the candy.”

Chang An’s face lit up as he accepted the candies. Then, noticing the bandage wrapped around her wrist, he pointed at it and asked in a small voice, “Does it hurt? I can blow on it for you too.”

With that, he shifted his little body, bent over, and gently blew on Ye Xin Ran’s wrist.

He was blowing earnestly when suddenly another child’s voice rang out: “Let go of my brother!”

Ye Xin Ran looked up and saw a boy running toward her angrily.

The boy was skinny, wearing an ill fitting short shirt, and his thin legs looked like bamboo sticks.

As he got closer, he realized that Ye Xin Ran wasn’t holding his brother. Instead, his little brother was clinging to her and refusing to let go.

The boy’s face instantly flushed red.

“Didn’t Big Brother tell you to stay in the room?” he scolded Chang An, pointing at him. “When Big Brother comes back, I’m going to tell on you for running around everywhere!”

“I didn’t!”

Although Chang An was small, his voice was loud and defiant.

“I came to see Auntie! I wasn’t running around!”

“She’s not our auntie! Second Uncle said she’s going back to her own house! You were running around!”

“Waaah! Second Brother is mean! She is our auntie! I’m going to tell Big Brother that Second Brother bullied me!”

Chang An suddenly burst into tears.

Seeing this, Chang Ping panicked.

“Stop crying! Don’t cry! I won’t tell Big Brother, okay?

Come on, I just caught three river prawns. I’ll roast them for you to eat.”

Hearing about food, little Chang An immediately stopped crying.

“Then I want to eat two!”

“Fine, you can have all three!” Chang Ping doted on him as he pulled Chang An along, ready to leave.

“Wait a second!” Ye Xin Ran called out to them.

“Are you planning to eat just that tonight?” she asked, pointing at the prawns in Chang Ping’s hand.

“Yes!” Chang Ping replied, trying to keep a serious face.

“Grandma Zhang said you chased her away, so she’s not cooking dinner today!

Second Uncle went up the mountain, and Big Brother hasn’t come back yet. These three river prawns were really hard for me to catch!”

Seeing Ye Xin Ran eyeing the prawns in his hand, the little boy reluctantly offered, “If you’re really hungry, I can have Chang An share a tail with you later.”

“No thanks. I don’t like eating those,” Ye Xin Ran replied firmly, her expression clear.

“They’re delicious!” Chang An smacked his little lips together.

“Meat! Tasty!”