Returning to this place where he had lived for over a decade but had been away from for four years, Qi Fang felt as though nothing had changed—yet everything had.
The old buildings still lined the streets, but the passersby were dressed far more plainly now, with military green uniforms being the height of fashion. Occasionally, a group with red armbands would march past.
Qi Fang carried an introductory letter, so he wasn’t worried about being stopped, yet his footsteps still hesitated by the roadside.
Wang Zhengrong noticed and couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong?” fearing he might be overwhelmed by memories.
Instead, Qi Fang turned toward the post office by the street. “I’ll send a telegram home to let them know I’m safe.”
Wang Zhengrong was taken aback at first, then chuckled. “And you said you weren’t afraid of your wife getting angry.”
He seemed unaware of the underlying situation. “Since you’re coming back anyway, whether you bring her along sooner or later doesn’t matter. Bringing her now would at least put your wife’s mind at ease.”
Qi Fang didn’t explain further. Just as he picked up a pen to write, Wang Zhengrong suddenly remembered something. “Wait, don’t fill it out yet. Your aunt moved.”
Moved?
Qi Fang paused, recalling that his teacher and his wife had previously lived in the school’s faculty housing.
His gaze lowered. “Where did my teacher’s wife move to?”
“Give it to me, I’ll write it.” Wang Zhengrong took the pen and form from him.
But the address he wrote down wasn’t anywhere in the city—it was an unfamiliar rural location in the outskirts.
Qi Fang looked at Wang Zhengrong, who simply nodded without a word.
Only after leaving the post office did Wang Zhengrong lower his voice. “That’s why I said your aunt isn’t doing well. She’s teaching at a village primary school now.”
Qi Fang said nothing more. The rest of the journey passed in silence, especially when he realized the place was even more remote than he’d imagined.
They had to transfer buses once, then walk for nearly two hours before arriving.
Their destination was a low, earthen house behind the village school. While the forestry area had mostly upgraded to glass windows, this place still used paper-covered ones.
In the height of summer, the doors and windows were tightly shut, turning the house into a cage that seemed to lock its occupant inside.
Wang Zhengrong stepped forward and pulled the door open. “Auntie, look who I’ve brought back for you!”
There was no response. Walking further inside, even the inner room’s door was closed, and a stifling wave of hot, humid air hit them.
For some reason, Qi Fang thought of Second Old Madam and quickened his steps. Wang Zhengrong pushed open the aged door to the inner room.
Sure enough, a figure lay curled up on the kang. Despite the sweltering heat, she was buried under a thick quilt, her face pale and lips bluish. At the sound of movement, she murmured faintly, “Changqing…”
Wang Zhengrong called her several times. Though her eyes opened, her awareness was unclear. “It’s cold… Changqing, put on another layer.”
Her voice was as faint as a breeze that barely existed in the summer heat, her breathing so weak it seemed it might stop at any moment.
It looked far too much like the brink of death. Wang Zhengrong panicked instantly. “Auntie! Auntie, don’t scare me like this! I’m taking you to the hospital right now!”
He reached out to lift her, but Qi Fang stopped him. “Don’t move her recklessly. It might not be what you think.”
Qi Fang remained outwardly calm and quickly checked Wei Shuxian’s pulse. “Her pulse is racing—it’s probably acute shock.”
If someone were truly at death’s door, their pulse would slow, not speed up like this, faster than a healthy person’s.
Qi Fang then felt her curled-up hands and feet, finding them ice-cold. He suspected her blood pressure was too low to maintain circulation, forcing her heart to beat faster.
He quickly propped her head up. “We can’t move her like this. You know this area—go borrow a bicycle and fetch a doctor.”
He pulled out a few ten-yuan bills from his pocket, but Wang Zhengrong waved them away. “I’ve got money.”
Wang Zhengrong wouldn’t take his. He turned and ran out, heading straight for the village Party secretary. Tossing down two yuan, he said, “Lend me a bicycle.”
The secretary’s family naturally had one and immediately pushed it over, asking, “What’s the emergency?”
“My aunt’s in bad shape. I need to get a doctor.” After thanking him, Wang Zhengrong mounted the bike and was about to leave when the secretary called after him.
“Old Liu’s dad in the village used to be a doctor. Want to try him first?”
So Wang Zhengrong came pedaling back in a whirlwind, the bike jolting an old man with barely any teeth left on the rear rack. The moment the bike stopped, the man groaned and nearly tumbled off.
Wang Zhengrong didn’t wait for his complaints, hauling him straight into the inner room. “This guy’s an old traditional doctor. Not sure if he can help.”
By now, Qi Fang had also propped Wei Shuxian’s legs up to ease the strain on her heart.
The old doctor didn’t check her pulse immediately. Instead, he studied her face, then felt her hands and feet. “Body curled up, limbs cold, breathing faint, sweating nonstop—and the sweat isn’t sticky… My eyes aren’t great, but are her lips bluish too?”
His toothless speech was slow and unclear, but Wang Zhengrong nodded urgently. “Yes, yes!”
The old doctor withdrew his hand. “This is yang depletion syndrome. Either from severe blood loss or prolonged illness—her vital energy’s completely drained.”
Hearing that, Wang Zhengrong grew even more frantic. “Then—then can she be saved?”
“Do you have any old ginseng at home?” the old doctor asked. “If not, go buy some—not the farmed kind. Slice six qian, boil it, and force it down her. Might bring her back.”
Ginseng was the best for replenishing yang energy. For severe cold depletion like this, a concentrated ginseng decoction was used to restore vitality with its intense warming properties.
“I’ll go buy it now!” Wang Zhengrong turned to rush out again, but Qi Fang stopped him. “I have some.”
Wang Zhengrong froze. Qi Fang’s expression was complicated, but he quickly retrieved something and handed it to the old doctor. “Will this work?”
Even with poor eyesight, the old man could tell the ginseng’s size. “This must be over four liang, right? Six-pronged?”
Qi Fang ignored the question. “Just tell me if it’s usable. If it is, I’ll prepare it now.”
“Usable, absolutely usable. This ginseng’s got to be over a century old. Nothing from the medicinal shops compares.”
Hearing it was a century-old ginseng, Wang Zhengrong hesitated. “This must be worth a fortune…”
“Saving a life is more important.” Without another word, Qi Fang went outside to find something to cut it with.
This wasn’t a mountainous area—good ginseng was hard to come by. They’d likely have to go to the city, but his aunt couldn’t wait that long.
In the end, the old doctor intervened. “Don’t hack at it carelessly—you’ll waste it.” He weighed the ginseng in his hand and sliced off one of its “legs.”
Once the ginseng decoction was brewed and forced down her throat, all that remained was an agonizing wait.
Still uneasy, Wang Zhengrong rode back to town to fetch a hospital doctor as backup.
The old doctor stayed, observing Wei Shuxian’s condition with Qi Fang.
After nearly half an hour, her sweating gradually stopped, and her hands and feet weren’t as icy anymore.
The old doctor’s trembling hands checked her again, and he sighed in relief. “She’s stabilizing. She should wake soon.”
Sure enough, after a while, Wei Shuxian’s unfocused eyes finally regained clarity, fixing on Qi Fang for a long moment. "Xiao Fang?"
Though still weak, she could at least recognize people now. Qi Fang immediately responded, "It’s me, Shiniang."
Wei Shuxian opened her mouth to say more, but Wang Zhengrong’s voice came from outside, "The—the doctor is here!"
This time, it was a middle-aged man in his forties, carrying a medical kit. "Let me check if it’s acute shock."
After examining her, he said, "It is, but she’s already recovering. The ginseng decoction you mentioned must have worked."
Wang Zhengrong and Qi Fang immediately looked at the old doctor. The middle-aged doctor also turned to him, "Was it you who prescribed the ginseng decoction?"
The old doctor nodded. "It’s a pity I’m getting older now, not as sharp as before. And my son refuses to learn this craft."
"Same here. My son insists on being a factory worker, says it’s honorable."
The middle-aged doctor took out a saline solution from his kit and glanced at Wang Zhengrong and Qi Fang. "You two are quite lucky. This condition can’t be moved or delayed—one wrong move, and the person could be gone."
Wang Zhengrong was overcome with dread, panting from his frantic bike ride, and hurriedly asked, "Is she still in danger now? Does she—does she need to be hospitalized?"
"Even in the hospital, she’d just be given saline. You can have the local clinic administer it. The key is long-term recuperation."
The doctor patted Wei Shuxian’s hand. "The patient must have been ill for a long time, right? Only prolonged illness or severe blood loss could weaken someone to this extent."
"It’s my fault for not taking good care of her." Wang Zhengrong immediately fell into self-blame.
But he had his own family, work, and life to attend to. He couldn’t stay here every day, nor could he untangle the knots in Wei Shuxian’s heart.
Qi Fang, however, remained calm and asked the most pressing question: "How should she recuperate?"
"You already saved her with the ginseng decoction, right? Do you still have ginseng left? Add some aconite and brew a ginseng-aconite decoction."
The prescription was simple. Seeing that the patient was stable, the old doctor stood to leave.
As Wang Zhengrong moved to escort him out and pay the fee, the old doctor turned back to Qi Fang. "Young man, that ginseng of yours—you were planning to sell it, weren’t you?"
Who would carry something so valuable unless they intended to sell it? It was worth two years of a city worker’s wages.
To everyone’s surprise, Qi Fang paused and said, "No. My wife asked me to bring it, saying it might be useful."
Not just the old doctor, even Wang Zhengrong was stunned. "Your wife told you to bring it?"
Even if he didn’t fully understand, Wang Zhengrong knew from the old doctor’s words how precious the ginseng was. He never expected it was Yan Xue who had insisted Qi Fang carry it.
Qi Fang hadn’t anticipated this either. The ginseng Yan Xue had made him bring as a precaution had ended up saving his shiniang’s life.
The room fell silent. Seeing this, the old doctor abandoned his idea of buying some from Qi Fang for emergencies.
Such things were too rare. He had hoped to at least get a few broken pieces if he couldn’t afford a whole root.
When they returned, Wei Shuxian had already drifted into a light sleep, but her complexion showed she was out of danger.
Leaving the exhausted Wang Zhengrong behind, Qi Fang escorted the middle-aged doctor back and picked up the aconite.
The two took turns keeping watch. It wasn’t until the third day that Wei Shuxian regained enough strength to speak normally.
"Xiao Fang." She looked at her husband’s beloved disciple. "I heard from Zhengrong that you’re married now?"
Qi Fang had expected her to bring up his teacher first, so the question caught him off guard. "Yes, I am."
His voice softened unconsciously as he spoke, making Wei Shuxian study him for a long moment. "That’s wonderful."
Her eyes held not just joy but also tenderness, a sigh, and the relieved gaze of an elder looking at a younger generation.
Qi Fang told her about Yan Xue. "Her name is Yan Xue, two years younger than me. Next time I visit, I’ll bring her to meet you."
Then, as if remembering something, he pulled a photo from his bag. "I have a picture of her here. Would you like to see?"
His introduction was brief and straightforward, without embellishment, yet he carried his wife’s photo with him.
Wei Shuxian’s eyes warmed with a smile. "Then bring her along. I heard she wanted to come this time, but you wouldn’t let her."
Since Yan Xue had been the one to provide the ginseng, Wang Zhengrong couldn’t have avoided mentioning her to his aunt—and likely ended up saying more than intended.
Qi Fang hesitated but handed her the photo. "She’s pregnant. I didn’t want to risk it."
The photo showed a striking couple. Even in black and white, their compatibility was evident, especially the girl, whose smile seemed sweet enough to melt hearts.
"This is your wedding photo." Wei Shuxian took it with effort and examined it. "The girl is quite lovely."
Qi Fang, usually reserved, actually responded with a quiet "Mm," making Wei Shuxian glance at him, her smile deepening.
"Marriage has changed you. Now you even notice whether a girl is pretty or not." She chuckled as she returned the photo.
"I’m relieved you’ve found someone who cares for you. When you left here back then, I was afraid you’d never recover. You were only eighteen."
At the mention of the past, Qi Fang lowered his eyes, tucking the photo away calmly. "What did Professor Lin tell you?"
Wei Shuxian’s smile faded. "Do you know about Little Wu using your teacher’s system?"
"I do." Qi Fang didn’t hide it. "But he used an unfinished prototype. The design had flaws."
"Yet your teacher always stressed that research must be steady and rigorous. He warned against gambling with the safety and property of the nation and its people, but Wu wouldn’t listen."
Wei Shuxian gave a bitter smile. "Now everyone thinks Changqing’s research on static hydraulics is useless. Professor Lin is the last hope. If his team makes no progress, the project will be shelved—possibly for ten, twenty, even thirty years."
She sighed. "My health is failing. I can’t let Changqing die in disgrace, his life’s work buried and slandered."
"Shiniang, Wu Xingde once promised to clear Teacher’s name. He came to me for his research notes—and robbed my home."
Qi Fang waited for her to finish before dropping the bombshell calmly, shocking Wei Shuxian. "He even demanded the research from you?"
"He did. Not just that—he threatened my wife, saying I was implicated in Teacher’s case. He asked her if I’d been acting suspiciously."
"He—he…" Wei Shuxian, a lifelong educator, couldn’t bring herself to curse, but anger made her breath ragged.
Qi Fang soothed her, fetching water until she calmed. Then he said quietly, "I don’t know if he’s given up yet."
Wei Shuxian fell silent for a moment. "You suspect…" She shook her head. "No, Professor Lin isn’t that kind of person. He spoke up for your teacher back then."
"I never said Professor Lin was involved." Qi Fang’s tone remained steady. "I’m worried he might have been deceived too."
This speculation was too hard to accept, and Wei Shuxian fell into silence once more.
Just then, the voice of Wang Zhengrong, who was brewing medicine outside, called out, "Professor Lin, you're here?"
To everyone's surprise, Professor Lin had arrived. Both Wei Shuxian and Qi Fang turned their gaze toward the door.
Sure enough, a hoarse voice asked from outside, "Your aunt is ill again?" followed by approaching footsteps.
The man who entered was around fifty years old, with a thin face, slightly graying temples, and a noticeable limp in his left leg as he walked.
Qi Fang didn’t stare long before averting his eyes and standing to greet the newcomer. "Professor Lin."
But he distinctly remembered—Professor Lin hadn’t walked like this before...
When Professor Lin saw him, he seemed hesitant to recognize him. "You're Qi Fang?"
Qi Fang nodded. "Yes." Wei Shuxian, lying on the kang, also sat up with Qi Fang’s help and confirmed, "It's him."
Professor Lin couldn’t help but sigh. "I can’t believe you’ve grown so much. When you first came to the university, you were just a kid."
"That’s right," Wei Shuxian added wistfully. "I always thought his quiet demeanor was just him trying to act mature around older peers."
"Who could blame him? He’s sharp as a tack. In all my years of teaching, I’ve rarely met anyone like him."
After exchanging a few more words, Professor Lin finally got to the point. "About that matter I mentioned earlier—did you tell him?"
Wei Shuxian had been about to nod, but recalling Qi Fang’s earlier words, she hesitated. "I only mentioned a little."
Qi Fang also wanted to hear what the professor had to say. "When I arrived, my teacher’s wife wasn’t in good health."
"Her health really isn’t great. I never expected her to be this thin. If Changqing knew..."
Professor Lin sighed, leaving the thought unfinished, but it was enough to make Wei Shuxian think of Su Changqing, her eyes dimming with sorrow.
"Ah, why am I bringing this up again?" Professor Lin quickly changed the subject. "I’ve only just been reassigned here to oversee the hydrostatic pressure research. The timeline is tight, the workload heavy, and since this wasn’t my original field, I wanted to bring all of you back."
He sighed helplessly. "A lot of the old research materials were destroyed, and the project ran into issues before. I don’t even know what’s still usable."
Taking over someone else’s project midway was always difficult, especially when the previous team hadn’t just abandoned it halfway but left behind mistakes.
Professor Lin turned to Qi Fang. "Thank goodness you’re back. You were the one I wanted most—after all, you were the one who worked closely with Changqing back then."
"I don’t actually remember much," Qi Fang said, lowering his gaze. "It’s been so many years, and I haven’t worked in this field since."
Hearing this, Professor Lin sighed again. "Such a promising mind, wasted. But back then, even Changqing couldn’t protect you all. You left early—you didn’t see how it was..."
His eyes reddened. "Decades of hard work, gone in an instant. Smashed to pieces."
No researcher could bear seeing their life’s work destroyed overnight. Wei Shuxian, who had witnessed it firsthand, also felt a pang of grief.
Professor Lin covered his eyes briefly. "I can’t complain—at least I’m still here, able to return. But Changqing..."
His voice cracked. "He’s gone. Should his work be slandered too? All those years at the university, he always took the smallest budget and the heaviest workload. That broken chair of his—he sat on it for three years."
This struck a deep chord in Wei Shuxian. She closed her eyes, but tears still escaped down her cheeks.
A heavy sadness filled the room. Even Wang Zhengrong, who had just finished brewing the medicine, paused at the doorway for a long moment before entering to remind Wei Shuxian to take her medicine.
Seeing this, Professor Lin composed himself. "Xiao Wei, don’t grieve too much. If I could return, and if we succeed in this, maybe Changqing’s name..."
He didn’t make any promises. "At least the work was his. Then we won’t be as powerless as we are now."
"You’re right," Wei Shuxian said, wiping her tears. "Changqing is gone, but his life’s work shouldn’t be defamed. I wouldn’t dare face him in the afterlife if it were."
She looked at Qi Fang. "You understand this matter best, Xiao Fang. We can’t let your teacher’s research be buried forever."
"And he was buried too," Professor Lin added. "A brilliant researcher, sent to a repair shop to fix tractors for years."
As Qi Fang listened, a sense of unease grew in him. The more sorrowful and indignant the atmosphere became, the more something felt off.
"I’ll think about it," he said, avoiding a direct answer—leaving everyone in the room stunned.
Wei Shuxian most of all. She was about to speak when a sudden knock came at the door.
"Is Qi Fang’s teacher’s wife staying here?" A sweet, clear voice called from outside, making Qi Fang stand abruptly.
Disbelieving, he walked over—and there, indeed, stood a petite figure, her eyes curved in a smile, one hand resting lightly on her abdomen.
Wang Zhengrong, who had followed Qi Fang, was equally surprised. "Yan Xue? What are you doing here?"
"Brother Zhengrong, so I didn’t get the wrong place," Yan Xue said, relieved. "Qi Fang left something important at home. I came to bring it to him."
She had prepared her excuse in advance, then added with urgency, "Where’s the bathroom here?"
Wang Zhengrong, guessing she might be pregnant and couldn’t hold it in, said, "There isn’t one here. You’ll have to go to the school up front."
"I’ll take her," Qi Fang said, already taking what Yan Xue handed him and leading her outside.
The couple acted as though one was in a hurry and the other eager to help, but once they were a distance away, Yan Xue’s urgency vanished completely.
Not just the urgency—even her usual smile was gone. "Don’t rush me. I came to say a few words, then I’ll leave."
Qi Fang’s many questions were abruptly cut short, but he still managed to ask, "Did you come alone? Was the trip safe?"
Yan Xue didn’t answer or look at him. "I’ve been thinking. There are three issues here—you and your teacher’s wife should consider them carefully."
Her tone was calm and composed, but it was too calm, creating an invisible distance between them.
Qi Fang’s heart tightened. Yan Xue was angry.
But she gave him no time to explain. "First, if this project succeeds, whose names will be listed as the researchers? Will your teacher be credited? Will you?"
This wasn’t a trivial matter. If Professor Lin later refused to acknowledge it, even if the day came when wrongs could be righted, Su Changqing’s contributions might never be reclaimed.
And to be blunt—if this was connected to Wu Xingde, there was no guarantee Professor Lin’s name would even remain on the project.
"Second, are the people who reassigned Professor Lin now the same ones from back then?"
This was also why Qi Fang had been reluctant to agree to Wei Shuxian’s request. He didn’t trust them—not a single one of the people who had killed his teacher.
"Third, and most importantly," Yan Xue finally looked at Qi Fang, "when the teacher asked you to bring out the item at the appropriate time, was he concerned about his own reputation?"
Aunt Flo has knocked me out, so I won’t write a side story today… Let Little Qi Fang be scared on his own…
