Interlude: The Father’s Tale Part I

~~~

The house had seen better days.

The front was dirty. Tiles were missing from the roof. The floor was full of holes, and the stairs were in dire need of repair.

The first level was all one large room, although that description required a very liberal use of the word large. The second floor had more rooms, but the house had such little floor space that each room ended up being pathetically small.

Liu Jianguo wouldn’t let a dog sleep in this house.

The baby on his back began to stir. Not wanting Liu Jin to wake up just yet, Liu Jianguo gently swayed in place, rocking him back to the land of dreams. Over ten minutes in which the man did not dare to make a sound passed like that.

He sighed.

What was he doing?

The house was a mess, but he had known it was going to be a mess. It wouldn’t have been so cheap otherwise. At the very least, the house was located inside the walls. He wouldn’t need to worry about roaming bandits this way, and it wasn’t like making enough money to pay taxes was going to be a problem. Liu Jianguo already had more than enough money at his disposal.

Enough money to buy a much better house than this.

Liu Jianguo’s lips thinned. The temptation to buy a fancier house was strong. He was far from poor, and Eastern Port City was not an expensive place to live in. If he really wanted it, Liu Jianguo could buy a good house in the wealthiest sector of the city and even hire a few servants to take care of his son.

Certainly, his son, Liu Jin, deserved nothing but the best.

As his father, was it not his duty to provide such things? To make sure hardship didn’t fall on him?

However, Liu Jianguo had no power.

The man stared at his hands, not for the first time feeling the weight of his own inadequacy. Once upon a time, he had been mighty. People in the Emperor Realm had bowed before him. An entire nation had been within his grasp.

He could have been a tyrant without equal.

Now, Liu Jianguo was nothing. Just a doctor who could not defend himself.

He had money, but what use was it? Suppose Liu Jianguo used his money to buy a good house. What then?

In the entirety of Eastern Port City, only newborn babes were weaker than Liu Jianguo. If someone were to break into his house and take his belongings, what could he do to stop them? Nothing. Nothing at all. They’d beat him and take what they wanted.

At worst, he and his son might die.

It was laughable. To think someone like him now had to worry about common thieves. Oh, how far he had fallen!

No. The doctor shook his head. He had been falling for a long time. This was only what he deserved.

Regardless, the problem remained. He had money, but showing it off would do no good. It would just make him a target to the greedy and morally challenged. If it were only him who was put at risk, that’d be one thing, but his son was another matter. Liu Jianguo would not allow any harm to befall Liu Jin. Heaven and Earth would have to switch places before that happened.

The doctor looked at the small, ugly house around him. Like it or not, this was for the best.

If it was for his son, he’d bear any and all indignities a thousand times over.

Liu Jianguo nodded to himself and rolled up his sleeves. This was to be the house in which his son grew up.

There was a lot of work to be done.

~~~

Liu Jianguo woke up to the smell of rotting fruit. By now, it had become a familiar scent.

The man, who looked to be in his thirties, rose and stretched. To the side of his bed, there was a small crib which he had built with his own hands. Liu Jin rested peacefully there.

He was wide awake.

His child’s red eyes were fully open, taking in every sight his limited mobility allowed him. Unlike most babies, Liu Jin rarely cried. It was almost like he had been taught how to behave in the womb.

Once, his child’s quiet ways had worried Liu Jianguo. His master had made him help a lot of women through childbirth back when he was young. It builds character, Old Jiang had said. From those experiences, Liu Jianguo had learned babies were crying, drooling, poop and puke factories.

His son was not.

Liu Jianguo had run multiple tests on Liu Jin to confirm there was nothing wrong with him. He was just a naturally quiet baby, a blessing considering their circumstances.

Liu Jin’s soft giggles reached his ears. Like always, just seeing his father’s face was enough to brighten the child’s day. Small, stubby arms were raised in Liu Jianguo’s direction. The message was clear.

Smiling, Liu Jianguo took his son into his arms, causing more giggles to leave the infant’s lips.

“You like that, don’t you?” Liu Jianguo asked as he lifted his son high above his head. The smile on his face grew. “How long have you been awake?”

His finger lightly tickled Liu Jin’s belly prompting a new round of giggles from the child.

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“Wait here, okay?” Liu Jianguo said, placing Liu Jin on his crib once more. Even though he was young, Liu Jin could already sit on his own. It was such a simple thing, yet Liu Jianguo could not help but feel immensely proud of him for it.

The house had changed much since they first moved in a month ago. Liu Jianguo had worked night and day on it, and the results showed. The floor was completely repaired. Buying enough wood for the job had not been hard, but having to carry it all the way here had most certainly been.

Liu Jianguo had also bought beds and blankets for himself and his patients as well as room dividers to better use the space on the first floor. He was toying with the idea of building a storage, but that would have to wait until he repaired the stairs and fixed the second floor.

For now, Liu Jianguo went to the counter (which he had also built) and prepared his son’s meal.

He wasn’t a woman, and there were none he trusted to feed his son. However, that was barely a problem for someone like Liu Jianguo. Even without Qi, he was more than capable of making a drink that would give his son all the nutrients he needed to grow up healthy and strong.

With mortar and pestle, he mixed the ingredients in silence.

It only took him five minutes to have it done, yet for Liu Jianguo, that was maddeningly slow.