A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

The first rays of sunlight pierced through the morning mist in Fulin County, waking the quiet town.

The sounds of doors opening and vendors hawking their wares gradually filled the streets and alleys. Qiyuelou, which had been asleep all night, slowly awoke, and the fragrant aroma wafted from the kitchen, lingering in the courtyard.

Qiyuelou had long become Liu Yan and Liu Xiong's second home. They had all gotten used to it. Every morning when they woke up, they would push open the door of their room and stand in the middle of the cross street, watching the county town gradually become lively.

In the morning, everyone eats together, discussing business and chatting about interesting things, which has long been an unwritten ritual for this family.

At the dinner table, Huang Zhenzhu was patiently peeling an egg for Tiedan, while Liu Yan handed the peeled egg to Tuantuan and gently instructed, "Tiedan, Tuantuan, you must finish your eggs today so you can grow tall."

Huang Zhenzhu turned her head and said, "Don't forget to bring the homework the teacher assigned yesterday. You need to finish it as soon as you get back from school."

Nowadays, everyone in the family is busy. Liu Yan and Liu Xiong are in charge of the overall situation at Qiyuelou, while Huang Zhenzhu is supporting the business of Yuejige.

After Gu Xiao and Nie Qianqian left, the two children did not dare to neglect their studies at all, so they specially found an old teacher to teach them.

Every day during the day, Tie Dan and Tuan Tuan go to the Confucius Academy for classes. After class, they are picked up by Da Ma or Xiao Ma and taken back to Qi Yue Lou to complete their studies in the small study upstairs.

"Yes, Mother!" Tie Dan replied crisply.

Huang Zhenzhu picked up another piece of tender, lean meat for Tuantuan and patted his little head: "Tuantuan, you must study hard too."

Tuantuan nodded vigorously, a sweet smile on her little face. She swallowed the piece of meat in one gulp and patted her chest to assure everyone, "Don't worry, Auntie, I've written it all down!"

Although Tuantuan and Tiedan are a few years apart, Tiedan started learning late, so their academic progress is almost the same.

After Nie Qianqian left, Tuantuan never cried or made a fuss. She was still smiling every day, like a carefree little dumpling.

But how could Huang Zhenzhu not understand? What child doesn't miss their mother?

This child is simply hiding his longing in his heart.

So, whenever she gave Tiedan something, Tuantuan would always get a share too. She always wanted to pamper this sensible child who was so endearing.

Looking at Tuantuan's youthful profile, Liu Yan felt a pang of sadness.

She patted Tuantuan's head and thought to herself: I need to teach Brother Wang the skills to make Qiyuelou's signature dishes as soon as possible, so that I can spend more time with my child.

In the past, all the signature dishes of Qiyuelou were made by Liu Yan herself, and she had a firm grasp on all the steps of making the dishes.

Nie Qianqian considered that she would be opening restaurants in the provincial capital and even more places in the future, and it would be impossible for Liu Yan to be in charge of all the cooking. She would have to pass on her skills to a chef she trusted.

Liu Yan was initially hesitant: if the chef learned the skills and went to another restaurant, wouldn't they lose a lot of customers?

Nie Qianqian had already considered this point and advised, "In the future, if we want to expand our business, we can't rely on you alone. These specialty dishes will definitely need our special seasonings, which others can't imitate. Even if a chef leaves, without our seasonings, they can't make the exact same taste, so they naturally won't be able to steal our customers."

Liu Yan was relieved to hear this and began to slowly teach the craft. Now, considering Tuantuan, the process needed to be accelerated.

After breakfast, everyone got busy with their own tasks.

When Nie Qianqian first left, everyone was unsure of themselves, feeling that they had lost a pillar of support and a safety net. But as time went on, they gradually learned to stand on their own. Although they were occasionally uneasy, they did not make any mistakes.

Today, Da Ma sent the two children to school. The old teacher was a rigorous scholar. Although he was strict, his knowledge was extremely solid, which was why Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao specifically chose him.

There are ten children in the school, all around the same age. Tuantuan is the youngest, just over three years old. Despite being the youngest, she has kept up with the pace thanks to her precocious talent.

Today, the old master continued teaching the Three Character Classic. After finishing the lesson, he asked the children to write down the newly learned characters from memory.

The children all kept their heads down, writing carefully stroke by stroke.

The old teacher paced between the desks, looking at the children's focused expressions, feeling quite gratified.

Especially when you see Tuantuan, her small body sitting on the chair, holding a calligraphy brush bigger than her own palm, although she lacks strength, the characters she writes are still quite neat, which is rare for her age.

But as he looked at it, the old master frowned.

The way Tuantuan was writing didn't look like he was writing the characters he had just been taught; it looked more like he was just scribbling randomly.

He tiptoed and quietly approached Tuantuan.

Tuantuan noticed the teacher's arrival and hurriedly tried to hide the paper in front of her, but the old teacher was faster and snatched the paper away.

Sure enough, there wasn't a single word that had just been taught on the paper; there was only a childish scribble—a drawing of a woman with her hair in a bun and wearing a long dress.

The old teacher was always strict, and he especially couldn't stand students being distracted in class. Tuantuan was usually well-behaved and sensible, and was a student he valued highly. Now that he had done such a thing, he immediately became furious.

He slammed the paper down in front of Tuantuan and scolded, "What are you drawing? During class time, instead of writing properly, you're just scribbling here!"

Tuantuan pursed her lips, lowered her head, knowing she was wrong, but didn't say a word.

The old master continued, “Tuantuan, you started your studies early and have a natural talent, so you should devote yourself to your studies even more. Don’t be lazy just because you’re smart. If you don’t put your heart into it, even the best talent will be buried. The classroom is a place for learning, how can you be allowed to act so recklessly?”

He took out a ruler and said to Tuantuan, "Give me your hand!"

Tuantuan pouted, her eyes reddening.

He has never made a mistake since he enrolled in school, nor has he ever been punished by the teacher.

Upon seeing this, Tie Dan immediately stood up, rushed in front of Tuan Tuan to protect him, and said to the old master, "Master, Tuan Tuan is still young, if you want to hit someone, hit me instead!"

This attempt to stop him only made the old teacher angrier: "If you do something wrong, you should be punished. If everyone can take the punishment for you, wouldn't the class rules be in chaos?"

He said in a deep voice, "Get out of the way! Whoever made the mistake should be punished!"

Tuantuan tugged at Tiedan's clothes. "Uncle Tiedan, I was wrong. I'll take the punishment myself." As he spoke, he stretched out his little hand.

Looking at his aggrieved expression and chubby little hand, the old scholar felt a pang of pity.

The child is only three years old, and it's normal for him to occasionally get distracted and doodle.

But he thought of the many gifted children he had taught, who all became ordinary people because of their playfulness and laziness, which was a real pity.

Thinking of this, he hardened his heart and the ruler landed with a "smack" on Tuan Tuan's palm.

Tuan Tuan's skin was exceptionally delicate, just like Nie Qianqian's; it would turn red with the slightest touch. When the ruler struck, a red mark instantly appeared on her palm.

In fact, the force with which the ruler fell was not heavy; compared to the beatings and scoldings he had suffered at Old Nie's house before, it was nothing.

But ever since he started living with Nie Qianqian and Liu Yan, he has been pampered and loved, and has never suffered any grievances.

The pain in his palm, coupled with the longing he had suppressed for over ten days, finally made him unable to hold back any longer, and he burst into tears, crying out, "Waaaaah, Mother! Mother! I miss you!"