Power Up, Artist Yang!

This was splendid news. Yujia went to her master— who was very interested in hearing the gossip about what she did yesterday— and got a wheelchair ordered for herself. Before the wheelchair arrived, for the past two days, she maneuvered around life with a walking cane. 

With a wheelchair, her life turned out much easier. Using a cane oftentimes caused her to accidently put pressure on the wrong foot. It was also difficult to get entirely used to, compared to the ease that a pair of crutches, which weren't invented yet, might serve. A cane might have been effective for short distances, like grabbing a cup of tea. When walking long distances, however, such as visiting her master, it proved to be more of a hassle.

Now that she had a wheelchair, made by artisans to be extremely comfortable to sit around in, she could just wheel herself to places. 

During the time when she tried to get used to moving around with a sprained ankle, she began to feel quite lucky that she didn't need a wheelchair to move around in the past. It might've been the most comfortable and easiest option for her severely sprained ankle, but the mobility of a wheelchair still couldn't compare to the ability to walk around on two legs. For the time being, however, she was grateful for this tool. The physician advised to rest the ankle as much as possible to promote faster healing and prevent dangerous complications. Having a wheelchair allowed her to follow the directions nicely.

Regardless, Yujia knew that once her ankle healed, she would focus on working out. She thought that her health was improving, but the Fourth Miss must've still been far too weak for such a serious injury to rise up after tripping over a tree root. The pain of accidentally putting pressure on it was to such a degree that Yujia would've considered the bones in that area to be broken, if not for the assurance of the physician that her bones were fine.

In fact, Yujia ended up making a deal with Xie Yufeng. The young woman who stayed with her, in disguise as a maid, actually did quite a lot to help Yujia get around with her sprained ankle. During one of her many conversations with Yufeng, Yujia settled on being taught by Yufeng on how to strengthen her muscles after completely healing. 

She was honestly tired of being unable to run— in reference to the time when her ankle was fine— for more than a minute before becoming a heaving mess. Once she could start exercising, Yujia was determined to get better cardio as well.

Besides simply hanging out with Yufeng, Yujia also spent a lot of her time during the next few days getting familiar with raising a puppy. 

The servants of the villa loved him as well. Many maids lingered around Yujia's courtyard more frequently, just to have a chance to give Roubao a few pats or treats, which he loved equally.

He was quite the clingy dog. Once he realized that he was set with Yujia for life, he swiftly grew attached to her. If no one else was trying to play with him, he would always find a way to get to her side, prodding her with his head until she picked him up into her lap. 

She appreciated the fact that he was still tiny and decided to value these days while they were still there. Since he seemed like a similar breed of dog to Mimi, she imagined that he would grow up to be about that size. By then, he would be too large to climb into her lap, though by the looks of things, he might still forcefully find a way there.

Raising a puppy did take a lot of care, including not just feeding but training as well. Yujia wanted to train him well, and according to Zixu's words that he told her one day, upon giving her a visit, Roubao was about halfway potty trained. As a result, Yujia spent some time training him to use the outside courtyard as his bathroom, not the wooden floors of her room. This part didn't take much: the puppy preferred the grass anyways.

Once she was sure that he fully trained, she also moved onto basic commands like sitting and laying down. She never raised a dog before, but by the advice of one male servant, it would be better to start training them young. 

Roubao was bright. He learned fast. Yujia also recognized his passion for food, so having a few treats on hand to train him never hurt. 

Overall, having Roubao around truly brightened her spirits up. It felt wonderful to have a miniature companion around. It also brought many more tasks to her life, which she didn't mind. She enjoyed keeping herself busy.

On one day, as Yujia played around with pretty threads that Yufeng brought from the marketplace, in an attempt to weave a new, better collar for Roubao, she heard that Zixu came. Unlike what she might've done before, like skipping over to one of the pavilions to meet with him, he now frequented the villa, so that she would not have to travel far distances.

He paid her a visit in her courtyard, right when she was beginning to weave. Upon seeing him enter, her eyes lit up, waving him to come over and have a seat at the stone table she was at. Roubao, who was chewing an old towel by the side, also scampered over, leaping on Zixu. He may have been young, but he still remembered Zixu, which made Yujia glad.

Zixu glanced at the threads, nodding thoughtfully. "You're weaving Roubao a collar?"

"Yeah. How'd you guess?" She grinned.

"By luck. Those look like quite high quality threads." He picked a spare lock up, running his fingertips against the surface.

"My son deserves the best."

"Fair." Scratching the back of Roubao's ear, he smiled softly. "How is training going along?" 

Yujia lowered the lock of threads to the table. "It's amazing so far!" She gestured her hand at the puppy and beckoned, "Come here."

Roubao stopped licking Zixu's hand immediately and turned to Yujia, jumping to the paved ground and taking a few steps closer to her. Looking at her expectantly, he waited for more directions.

"Sit." 

Roubao sat.

"Down."

He laid down.

"Now… stay." She grabbed a ball on the table, watching as Roubao's eyes became fixed on it. "Stay." After affirming her command again, she tossed the ball to the other side of the courtyard.

Before the ball could even fully leave her hand, he was already chasing in the direction that she threw it at.

Seeing this, Zixu let out a laugh of amusement. Yujia sheepishly laughed as well, placing a hand around the back of her neck. 

"Well, I guess he still needs more training with that," she murmured.

���He's on the right track," Zixu assured, observing Roubao, who had already begun playing with the ball on his own.

"I'm glad to hear that."

After her words, Zixu propped his elbow up on the table, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "By the way, on a completely unrelated topic, when is your birthday?"

Yujia blinked. "It already passed. 12th of the Plum Blossom Month."

"Ah, so months ago," he sighed.

"Why?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Zixu tilted his head, putting on a nonchalant smile. "Just thought that I should know."

"When is yours?"

"There's still a while. The 2nd of Winter Month." 

"I see. I'll remember that!" She tapped the temple of her head.

"And I'll remember yours."

"How is your ankle?" He changed the topic once more.

"A lot better. Since two weeks have already passed, the pain is definitely not as prominent as before. I can walk with a cane for most short distances without too much struggle or discomfort, actually. But if I put pressure on it… it's still pretty painful. I can't walk normally yet." She glanced down at her ankle, then back at Zixu. "You ask about it every time that we talk. Don't you get tired of hearing my health reports?"

"Not at all." The corners of his lips twitched up again. "Don't force yourself too hard, though. If a wheelchair is more convenient, use it." 

"Alright, alright, Physician Yu."

"The wine you gave me…" he then brought up, "I still haven't taken a drink yet."

Yujia thought back to the wine she bought him when he returned from his business trip. "Why not?" she couldn't help but ask.

"It's too precious. I don't want to waste it." 

"It's such a large jar though. Even my master would have trouble finishing it all at once, and he's a heavy drinker," she pointed out with a small laugh. "Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed, realizing. "Didn't we promise to drink it together?"

"We did. I guess so many things happened that it slipped our minds," Zixu mused.

She clapped her hands. "Well then, sometime soon, let's have a drink, alright? It's been such a long while since I've had a good drink. Now that you've mentioned it, I crave wine more than ever."

"Then, it's a deal." Zixu nodded. "Let's have a drink soon."