The Ice Demoness Loves

Chapter 2: Make Sure No One Sees You Reading This

A thirteen-year-old girl wearing crinkled white clothes was standing nervously in front of a clinic and staring at its door that hasn't opened yet with baggy and tired eyes. She licked her chapped lips and looked down at the little girl who was only two and a half years younger than her, sucking a lollipop with big doe eyes as she held her hand.

"Sister LiJing, why are we here?" the little girl, wearing a neat bright green dress, asked with a cute voice that was slightly hoarse from having woken up from a nightmare that early morning.

Wu LiJing smiled gently and patted her head. "Are you tired from all of that walking, QiaoHua?"

Wu QiaoHua nodded. They had walked a long way to get to the edge of the village. "Why does Doctor Zhu live so far away?" She pouted, still licking her lollipop. She had to wake up early to walk here with her cousin.

"Sorry, we have to walk some more. You can't be here with me so let's take you to a store." Wu LiJing gently dragged Wu QiaoHua to a store full of childish trinkets. All the shops were already open except for the clinic that was a few miles away, isolated from other shops since it was at the edge of town.

"You stay here until I come back, okay? If you do, I'll buy you another lollipop."

Wu QiaoHua looked at her lollipop that was going to disappear soon and nodded quickly. She was also very interested in the colorful trinkets in this shop.

Wu LiJing went up to the store clerk and showed a polite smile. "Can you please look after my younger sister? She is young and cannot walk for long distances since she has a weak body. But I still have to go to the clinic for my mother's medicine; she is gravely ill and has recently broken a leg." After the clerk observed Wu LiJing's tired face, the lady felt sympathetic and agreed.

Wu LiJing took out a good amount of money and put it on the counter, "Thank you, I really appreciate it!"

The store clerk smiled brightly and nodded, thinking this young girl had good manners and was also quite pretty.

Wu LiJing gave her a few more coins and asked, "Can you tell me why the clinic is still closed? I came here yesterday morning and it was closed so I had to come back today."

The lady answered, "Oh, for some reason, Doctor Zhu said he was getting ready to leave town. It seems he made a good amount of money saving someone important."

Wu LiJing nodded. "Is he still here? I'm worried about where else I am going to get my mother's medicine..." she pondered with a troubled face.

The lady clerk grinned and patted the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry about it! Today, he is opening his store one last time before officially closing. He may just be coming later than usual."

Wu LiJing looked relieved and thanked the lady before walking back to the clinic after checking up on QiaoHua once more. When she spotted the small clinic again, it was still closed. She rubbed her eyes hard before she walked closer to the building. As she waited, she walked back and forth in a slow pace, trying to keep her calm. When she finally saw a figure of a man with a slightly hunched back walking over, she clenched her hands and rushed over to him.

"Doctor Zhu!" Her eyes appeared wet and the doctor jumped when he saw her.

Doctor Zhu did not expect to see her here. He stared at her for a moment and observed her red rimmed eyes and disheveled look. He sighed in relief and said, "What is it, LiJing?"

Wu LiJing rubbed her eyes and said quietly as she stared at the ground. "I just wanted to come and tell you that you don't have to come visit mother anymore..."

The doctor felt a little guilty but quickly cleared his throat. "What do you mean?"

Wu LiJing tugged on his sleeve and said, "Mother is not here anymore...Can we talk in private?"