After dinner, as Lanxi was about to head to the front to lock the door, he saw Song Shixue sitting on the steps by the backyard gate, hugging Xuetuan, her shoulders trembling with sobs.
"Second Miss, what's wrong?" he asked as he approached.
Song Shixue jerked her head up. The bright firelight illuminated her face. Her eyes were wet with tears, and her sparkling pupils seemed to reflect a sky full of stars, shining brilliantly and evoking a deep sense of pity.
She hastily wiped her tears with her sleeve. Having cried for so long, her cheeks felt a bit raw and tender.
She hugged Xuetuan's neck tightly and turned away so he wouldn't look at her.
"I'm fine. The wind just made my eyes sting."
Lanxi looked around. What wind? Even the leaves were perfectly still.
Knowing that no one in the manor would dare bully Song Shixue—even the Eldest Miss had never spoken a harsh word to her—the only possibility left was the medical clinic.
"Did a patient have a bad temper and bully you?"
At the word "patient," Song Shixue's eyes grew red again. She buried her face into Xuetuan's furry neck, shaking her head as she replied in a muffled, heavy voice.
"No, no patient bullied me. It's Xuetuan."
Lanxi looked in confusion at the little white tiger resting obediently in Song Shixue's arms. It looked perfectly normal, and it certainly couldn't have bitten her.
Song Shixue said, "My sister says there's something wrong with Xuetuan's brain. She says he's a fool."
Lanxi froze, his gaze repeatedly circling the tiger's head. No wonder it usually acted so silly and cute, completely lacking the majestic aura of the king of the forest. It turned out it really was just dumb.
Seeing that she was still upset, Lanxi sat down on the steps.
He offered some comfort. "Actually, being a bit dumb isn't so bad. You won't have to worry about it hurting people when it grows up. As long as it has enough food and drink and can live peacefully, that's already very good."
Song Shixue widened her eyes in disbelief, glaring at Lanxi. She picked up Xuetuan and prepared to leave.
"I would rather it bite me than have something wrong with its brain. Who would want to be a fool if they could be normal?"
"To understand nothing, to not know happiness or experience joy, living a dull life forever—how sad it must be."
Watching Song Shixue's angry departing figure, Lanxi sat frozen in place for a long time.
He hadn't said anything wrong. It was born an orphan and riddled with illnesses. If Song Shixue hadn't picked it up, it would have died long ago.
Now it had a home, sheltered from the wind and rain, had food without needing to hunt, and had someone who loved it wholeheartedly. Was that not considered lucky?
Song Shixue moved Xuetuan's bed into her own room. Waking up in the middle of the night, she saw it sleeping soundly in its bed, and her aching heart felt slightly better.
After a sleepless night, Song Shixue woke up in the morning with a tight scalp, feeling exhausted all over.
During breakfast, Song Jinzhao noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Recalling her devastated expression from yesterday—like a bolt from the blue—when she learned about Xuetuan's intellectual issues, she spoke up. "If you didn't sleep well, you can rest at home. I'll go to the clinic today."
Song Shixue shook her head. "Aren't you going to look at shops today, Sister? I'm not tired, and I can't sleep anyway."
Just before she headed out the door, Lanxi suddenly stepped in front of her.
It wasn't just Song Shixue who hadn't slept well yesterday; he hadn't either. He had woken up before dawn and couldn't fall back asleep no matter how hard he tried.
"There's a veterinarian in the northern part of the city with excellent medical skills. Although the Eldest Miss is a great doctor, she treats humans after all. Do you want to take Xuetuan to see the vet? It might help."
Song Shixue stopped in her tracks. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she turned and ran back inside. "Wait for me a moment, I'm going to tell my sister."
She ran up to Song Jinzhao and said with a hopeful face, "Sister, I want to take Xuetuan to see a vet. I won't go to the clinic this morning."
Song Jinzhao put down the ledger in her hand. "Do you want Qingshuang to go with you?"
Song Shixue shook her head. "Lanxi will go with me. He said there's a vet in the north of the city with exceptional skills."
Song Jinzhao nodded. "Go ahead. Stay safe."
After Song Shixue's figure disappeared around the corner, Qingshuang, who was standing to the side, asked, "Eldest Miss, can Xuetuan's illness be cured?"
Song Jinzhao shook her head. "Illnesses brought from the womb are highly unlikely to be cured."
Genetic problems couldn't even be cured in modern times with advanced medicine, let alone in ancient times.
Qingshuang pursed her lips helplessly. "Then the Second Miss is going to be heartbroken. She's been depressed since yesterday."
Song Jinzhao handed over the ledger, stood up, and draped her outer coat over her shoulders. "Raising a pet is no different from raising a child. As long as there's a sliver of hope, the owner wants to try. It's good to go see a vet; after all, I'm not a professional."
Qingshuang picked up the oiled paper umbrella by the door and took two quick steps to catch up. "Are we still going to look at shops now?"
With the Second Miss absent, Doctor Liu was the only one at the clinic, and he definitely wouldn't be able to handle it all.
Song Jinzhao replied, "It's still early. We'll look at the two shops near the clinic first and leave the rest for the afternoon."
Lanxi brought Song Shixue to the livestock market in the northern part of the city. At a glance, countless donkeys, cows, sheep, and horses were tied to hitching posts, waiting to be sold.
The cries of the surrounding livestock rose and fell. Hearing this, Xuetuan, held in her arms, lifted its head to look around. Its eyes held no predatory desire towards the living creatures, but rather confusion and curiosity.
The ground was littered with urine and feces. Whenever they encountered a spot that was truly impassable, Lanxi would stretch out his foot for Song Shixue to step on, so her embroidered shoes wouldn't get dirty.
"The vet Fushun mentioned is just up ahead. I heard there isn't a cow or sheep he can't cure."
When the two arrived, they happened to see a middle-aged man wearing an apron using a knife to slice open a cyst on a horse's belly. Yellowish pus and blood burst out with a squelch. It looked disgusting, yet it also offered a weirdly satisfying sense of release.
Only after the vet had cleaned and bandaged the wound did he notice Song Shixue and Lanxi standing nearby.
"Here for a consultation?" This girl didn't look like someone who would come to a place like this. From their attire, it was obvious they were a master and a servant.
Song Shixue hastily held Xuetuan out in front of him. "Yes, to get him treated."
Seeing clearly what was being handed to him, the vet raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He used a rag to briefly wipe the splattered blood off his hands, took Xuetuan with both hands, and looked directly into the tiger's eyes to examine it carefully.
"A white tiger, that's quite rare. It looks to be only three or four months old."
Song Shixue nodded. "It's only been a hundred and two days since he was born."
At this, not only the vet but even Lanxi looked at her in astonishment.
A hundred and two days. To think she remembered it so precisely!
