Su Qing shook her head helplessly.
How could she not know what the little girl was thinking?
"Forget it, I can't be bothered to lecture you. Go play by yourself," Su Qing said, pinching her cheek before letting her go.
Upon learning she could go play, Su Qingyu ran off happily.
Su Qing smiled at the sight, then sat back down to continue her idle daydreaming.
Of course, this so-called daydreaming was actually her focusing her consciousness elsewhere.
Time flowed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, Jin Xin's shop next door finally opened for business.
On the opening day, quite a few people came to show their support.
Part of this was due to Su Qing, but naturally, part of it was due to Jin Xin herself.
After all, she was a great beauty!
However, compared to when Su Qing had first opened her clinic, the crowd was still significantly smaller.
This was unavoidable. Because of the war, many people had indeed left Linzhou City, so the number of people available to show up was naturally lower.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the flames of war had not yet reached this place.
Regardless, these weren't matters Su Qing needed to worry about. As long as it didn't affect her normal life, it was fine.
Su Qing stretched slightly, then went next door to find Jin Xin.
"Sister, you're here?" Jin Xin wasn't particularly busy.
Many people came to see the spectacle, but only a portion actually made a purchase.
After all, buying things cost money, while joining a crowd was free!
Su Qing nodded and said, "It looks like everything is going smoothly!"
"Mhm, it is indeed very smooth, but it's all thanks to you, Sister. Otherwise, it might not have been this easy," Jin Xin said. "But more than that, I'm still more concerned about when we'll be able to have 'feelings grow over time' like you mentioned before."
Su Qing's mouth twitched. "Take it slow! These things can't be predicted."
"It seems having feelings grow over time really is a time-consuming matter," Jin Xin said calmly with a nod.
Su Qing smiled and said, "Alright, keep yourself busy! I'll have some of the tofu you made tonight."
"I'll save some for you, Sister," Jin Xin promised.
Su Qing smiled, waved her hand, and left. She had only come over to ensure everything was going well. Since it was, there was no need for her to interfere.
Su Qing returned to the medical clinic, and everything followed its usual routine.
Everyone was busy with their own tasks, and Su Qing waited for new patients to arrive.
At the same time, she sank a portion of her mind into listening to the prayers of her believers, preparing to select some to fulfill later.
This leisurely life made time pass quickly.
In the blink of an eye, several more months had passed.
Over these months, the clinic hadn't changed; everything was as it always was.
However, Jin Xin's stinky tofu and fermented bean curd had become big sellers, making her daily life quite busy.
Precisely because she was so busy, Jin Xin hadn't come to bother Su Qing recently, nor had she asked any of those questions that left Su Qing helpless.
This gave Su Qing a good period of peace and quiet.
However, it wasn't all good news.
Because so much stinky tofu was being sold, the scent of it drifted from the tofu shop next door every day.
As a result, Su Qing had to place talismans in her shop to block the odor and light expensive incense to make things bearable.
It was also fortunate that Jin Xin knew how to use spells to clean the scent off herself; otherwise, it would have been a nightmare.
Additionally, Su Qingyu had grown very fond of stinky tofu and fermented bean curd.
She never seemed to get tired of eating them, which left Su Qing quite exasperated.
But Su Qing didn't interfere. If the girl liked it, she let her eat it; she wasn't going to restrict her over such a small thing. She only made sure the girl remembered to rinse her mouth afterward.
One day, the sky was overcast.
It looked like it was going to rain soon.
Su Qing sat in the clinic, looking at the gloomy weather outside, and murmured to herself:
"Speaking of which, after Tang Sanzang passes the Women's Kingdom, the next tribulation should be the True and False Monkey King... I didn't have any contact with the Six-Eared Macaque tribulation from the start, and I still haven't seen him yet. I wonder what will change in this tribulation."
"But... given that stinking monkey's habits, he'll probably come looking for me again when he runs into trouble."
"I wonder if, with my abilities, I'll be able to tell which one is the Six-Eared Macaque."
"Heh, it actually piqued my interest a bit."
"I just don't know when that monkey will show up."
"Forget it, I'll just wait."
"It's not like I'm in a rush."
Su Qing stretched and saw that heavy rain had already begun to fall outside.
It was a massive downpour.
Seeing the rain, Su Qing suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, that little idiot is still outside!" Su Qing paused, remembering Little Coal Ball, who had been out practicing spells recently.
"Forget it, I'll go pick her up." Su Qing rubbed her neck and turned to Su Qingyu. "Go tell your Auntie Yichou to bring me an umbrella."
Su Qingyu looked up at Su Qing. She wanted to ask why Su Qing didn't go find Auntie Yichou herself, but under Su Qing's imposing gaze, she obediently ran to call her.
After a moment, Li Yichou walked out holding an umbrella and asked, "Miss, where are you going in this rain?"
Su Qing replied, "To find Coal Ball."
"Coal Ball should know to hide from the rain herself, right? Wouldn't it be fine to just wait for her to come back?"
"No, I'm idle anyway, so I'll go look for her."
"Is that so? You really are good to Coal Ball, Miss."
"I'm good to everyone," Su Qing said with a smile.
Just as Su Qing was about to leave, Su Qingyu tugged on her sleeve and said, "Master, I want to go find her with you."
"Oh? Why?"
"Coal Ball is afraid of thunder," Su Qingyu said after a moment of thought.
"Oh? Is that so? I didn't know that." Su Qing was surprised to learn something she hadn't known from Su Qingyu.
Su Qing hadn't known Little Coal Ball was afraid of thunder. Even though they had been together for so long, she truly hadn't noticed. She only thought the little fellow was very tough and proud, as well as silly; she hadn't looked into what the cat might be afraid of.
She hadn't expected Su Qingyu to discover this before her. Perhaps it was because Su Qingyu and Coal Ball were the closest.
"Mhm, because when it thundered at night before, Coal Ball would always huddle in my arms and shiver. That's how I knew she was afraid of it."
"I see... I didn't expect you to know such things." Su Qing gave a helpless smile and patted the girl's head. "Since you want to come, then come along."
Su Qingyu immediately said, "Thank you, Master!"
"Don't thank me. Also, don't think that just because we're going out, you don't have to do your homework today."
Su Qingyu pouted. "I didn't think that."
"Good. Let's go!" Su Qing walked to the door and opened the umbrella.
Su Qingyu didn't know where Little Coal Ball would be, but Su Qing did.
Even if she didn't know exactly, a quick divination would allow her to find her. After all, divining the location of a kitten was much simpler than divining the Tang Sanzang party.
Su Qing led Su Qingyu down the street.
The rain drummed against the oil-paper umbrella with an exceptionally pleasant sound, like beans being fried in a pan.
Su Qingyu held Su Qing's hand, feeling that it was always cool to the touch, like holding a piece of soft jade. It was very peculiar.
She looked up at Su Qing, thinking that from this angle, her Master was truly beautiful.
"Master!"
"What is it?"
"You're so pretty!"
"You only just noticed? I thought I was a monster in your eyes!"
"I... no, how could I think Master is a monster?"
"Heh, don't you think I'm too strict with you?"
"It's... a little bit. But I still don't think Master is a monster! Even if you were, you'd be like one of those fox demons in the storybooks! The kind that specifically seduces people."
"I don't seduce people."
"Aiya, the point is that Master is beautiful!"
"As long as you know."
"..." Su Qingyu pouted.
She always felt like her Master didn't care much about anything. She was always so indifferent.
She really couldn't figure out what kind of person her Master was. Despite always being by her side, she was exceptionally mysterious.
"Maybe I'll understand when I grow up," Su Qingyu thought to herself.
When she grew up, she would understand why she was like this and comprehend those strange things they said.
The two walked quickly, the rain not even dampening the hems of their skirts.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a loud boom of thunder.
The sudden thunder startled even Su Qingyu, and her grip on Su Qing's hand tightened.
Seeing this, Su Qing smiled and said, "It seems it's not just Coal Ball who's afraid of thunder; our Su Qingyu is afraid too! That night, it wasn't you and Coal Ball shivering together, was it?"
Su Qingyu shook her head and said, "I... I was just startled by the sound. It's because it came too suddenly! I wasn't mentally prepared! If I were prepared, I wouldn't be scared!"
Su Qing couldn't help but laugh at her stubbornness. "Oh? I hope that's true."
As soon as Su Qing finished speaking, as if the God of Thunder were quietly cooperating, another crack of thunder fell.
Su Qingyu's body jolted... she almost grabbed Su Qing's leg directly.
Su Qing only smiled and didn't continue to tease the girl.
Su Qingyu stubbornly added, "It... it's only because it happened so suddenly that it scared me! It's all the fault of the damn heavens playing dirty!"
Su Qing shook her head and looked down at the stubborn little girl.
Under her gaze, Su Qingyu's face instantly turned red, like a little sun burning on the horizon.
Su Qing stopped talking and simply led the girl toward the outskirts of the city.
Before long, they arrived at a forest.
There were all sorts of strange marks in the forest—traces left behind by Coal Ball practicing spells.
Little Su Qingyu naturally couldn't recognize what these marks were. She just looked around for any sign of Coal Ball.
She asked, "Master... will Coal Ball be here?"
"Obviously not... she's no fool; she certainly knows how to hide from the rain." Su Qing looked up at the continuing downpour. "Let's go! If she's not here, she's probably over there."
Su Qingyu looked up at Su Qing but didn't ask how she knew where Coal Ball was.
Her Master was mysterious; Su Qingyu knew this all too well. So, she didn't ask much, because her Master wouldn't tell her anyway.
The two walked for a short while and arrived outside an Earth God Temple.
Su Qing looked inside and indeed saw the little black cat curled up beneath the Earth God statue.
"It's Coal Ball!" Seeing the cat, Su Qingyu immediately recognized her and shouted, "Black Mysterious Great General, we've come to find you!"
Coal Ball looked up at Su Qing, then at Su Qingyu.
At that exact moment, another thunderclap rang out.
Coal Ball's body jolted in fear, and she buried her head.
Seeing this, Su Qing said, "Come here, come to my side."
After the thunder passed, Su Qing's voice carried over the sound of the rain. Her calm voice seemed to possess a kind of magic, making Coal Ball look up and quickly return to Su Qing's side.
Su Qing let go of Su Qingyu and grabbed Coal Ball by the scruff of her neck, lifting her up and placing her on her shoulder.
"Alright, it's fine now. Let's go back," Su Qing said calmly.
Coal Ball turned to look at Su Qing's face; that calm expression made her feel very safe. She nodded and sent a sound transmission: "Thank you..."
Su Qing gave a faint smile, took Su Qingyu's hand, and said, "Let's go, it's time to head back."
Su Qingyu looked up at Su Qing and nodded. "Master... you're amazing."
"How am I amazing now?"
"I just feel like Master is magical."
"Is that so? I've always been magical. Alright, let's go back." Su Qing stopped talking and led her back toward the clinic.
Once Su Qing stopped talking, Su Qingyu also fell silent, simply gripping Su Qing tightly as they slowly returned.
On the way, Su Qing sent a sound transmission: "I never imagined that our Black Mysterious Great General would actually be afraid of rain and thunder."
Coal Ball's voice was a bit weak as she replied, "I... I'm not afraid! It's just that the rain will get my fur wet."
"Oh? Really?"
"...Ac-actually, I am a little bit afraid."
"Why?" Su Qing asked. "Tell me about it? Of course, if you don't want to, then forget it."
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