After staring at the small red mole for a long while, Pei Qingyu was drifting into a daze, nearly asleep, when he was suddenly jerked awake by a palm smacking his backside. His eyes snapped open, and he barked in a fit of humiliated rage, “Yu Tingzheng! Where exactly are you touching? Do you not want that hand anymore?”
Yu Tingzheng frantically shifted his grip. “S-sorry! I didn’t, I didn’t mean to.”
Pei Qingyu huffed, deeply suspicious that the other boy had taken a deliberate opportunity to grope him. He turned his head and saw that Yu Tingzheng’s ears were so red they looked ready to drip blood, which only made him seem more guilty.
When they reached the Pei estate, before they even entered the courtyard, A-Tong came running out. “Young Master, Master Yu, what happened to the Young Master?”
Yu Tingzheng set Pei Qingyu down and rubbed his nose, telling the truth. As his fingers brushed his face, the memory of that soft sensation from a moment ago flickered through his mind; he paused, then quickly tucked his hand back into his sleeve.
His face turned a suspicious shade of crimson.
Turning around, he found Pei Qingyu staring at him with a resentful glare. Yu Tingzheng swallowed hard and apologized once more.
Pei Qingyu let out a sharp “hmph” and turned to stride into the courtyard.
A-Tong scratched his head, bewildered. “Is the Young Master angry?”
Having served Pei Qingyu for years, even A-Tong couldn’t always read him, so Yu Tingzheng stood no chance. He could only follow wherever Pei Qingyu went, he trailed behind. He followed all the way to the door of the latrine, only stopping when Pei Qingyu shot him a murderous glare.
Pei Qingyu went inside, leaving Yu Tingzheng to sit on a stone bench with a burning face, waiting for him to come out.
During dinner, Pei Qingyu took only two bites before turning pale and setting down his chopsticks. Madam Pei, worried, urged him to eat more and personally served him a bowl of sweet, clear congee. Pei Qingyu pursed his lips in total resistance.
Yu Tingzheng shuffled over and took the bowl. “Yu’er, I’ll… feed you.”
Pei Qingyu glanced down at the congee and curled his lip. “I don’t want to drink it.”
Yu Tingzheng, however, scooped up a spoonful and held it to his lips. “Yu’er is… too thin. You should eat more. Only when you’re full… can your body recover quickly.”
Pei Qingyu hesitated, then reluctantly opened his mouth.
Yu Tingzheng fed him a spoonful, his eyes shining bright. He scooped a second spoonful. “Is it hot? If it’s hot… I’ll blow on it.”
“It’s not hot,” Pei Qingyu muttered, opening his mouth again.
The congee was filled with shredded meat and vegetables. Yu Tingzheng was quite cunning; with every spoonful, he managed to scoop up mostly meat or greens, with hardly any rice in sight. Pei Qingyu didn’t bother to call him out on it; as long as the spoon was at his lips, he ate.
Madam Pei sat nearby, watching them. A smile spread across her face as she watched the interaction.
Before long, the bowl was empty. Pei Qingyu truly couldn’t eat another bite. He grabbed Yu Tingzheng’s hand as it reached for a second refill and said sternly, “I’m full. If you want more, eat it yourself.”
Yu Tingzheng blinked, still wanting to persuade him, until Madam Pei mentioned that it was rare for her son to eat so much. Only then did he believe it. He let out a regretful sigh. “Then next time… I’ll continue to… feed Yu’er.”
To Pei Qingyu’s ears, this sounded like someone talking about feeding a pet cat or dog. He scowled with displeasure. “I don’t need you to feed me. I can eat by myself.”
“But… Yu’er eats… too little,” Yu Tingzheng argued earnestly. “If I feed you… you can eat more. Every little bit… helps. Yu’er will… feel better too.”
Pei Qingyu gave a soft huff. “Fine. If you’re so eager to feed me, then do as you wish.”
He couldn’t remember anyone ever feeding him since he was small. Yu Tingzheng truly has no sense of boundaries, he thought. Then a second thought followed: But he is my wife. It’s only natural he wants to take care of me. I can’t blame him for that.
Wasn’t Yu Tingzheng being so good to him simply because he was fulfilling his duties as a spouse?
Pei Qingyu felt this logic made sense, yet he felt both happy and unhappy about it at the same time it just didn’t feel quite right. He stayed seated, and Yu Tingzheng took the chance to sneak a few more bites into his mouth.
That day, someone from the Wei family arrived. They delivered a single letter and left in a hurry without a word.
When Wei Zijing heard about the letter, he sought out Su Chenyan in his room. By the time he arrived, the letter had already been reduced to ash in the brazier.
Seeing Zijing’s anxious look, Su Chenyan smiled slightly. “Just a letter from home. Nothing important.”
Wei Zijing didn’t believe him. What kind of family letter gets thrown into a fire? This was clearly some kind of illicit secret correspondence. However, he had no right to interfere in Su’s affairs, so he only asked when they would be heading to the academy.
Su Chenyan didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “It’s time for morning recitations. Why are you still here?”
Wei Zijing remained silent for a moment, then turned and walked out the door, saying he was going to the academy. Su Chenyan shook his head with a helpless smile. But as he gazed at the burnt remains of the envelope, the smile faded from his eyes.
In previous years, the Martial Examination was only required for the Canglang Hall (the martial arts track). This year, however, the students of Mingjin Hall (the academic track) were required to take it as well. Usually, their martial lessons consisted of nothing more than kicking and punching wooden posts or straw dummies. Now that things were getting serious, the Mingjin students were wailing, terrified they would fail or worse, lose their lives.
When Yu Tingzheng heard the news, he felt as if the sky was falling. His vision went dark, and he nearly tumbled into a ditch.
“What are you doing?” Pei Qingyu grabbed him, pulling him back. “Are you not awake yet?”
Sunset clouds streaked the horizon, the fields were a golden hue, and their reflections shimmered in the water. It was nearly dark; how could he be “not awake”?
Yu Tingzheng shook his head and kept walking, completely distracted. After two steps, he tripped again. With a cry of alarm, he reached out blindly, snagging the hem of the person behind him. They both tumbled into the field together.
Pei Qingyu landed right in his arms. Before Yu Tingzheng could even cry out in pain, he heard a hiss of discomfort from above. He opened his eyes to see Pei Qingyu glaring at him fiercely.
“Yu. Ting. Zheng!” Pei Qingyu pinched his cheek hard. “How can you trip twice just walking a straight path?”
He was furious, and his frail body felt as though it were falling apart. His face was pale, his lips colorless, and even his scolding was breathless and soft.
Still shaken, Yu Tingzheng stammered his name, asking if he was hurt.
Pei Qingyu’s breathing was heavy. He ground his teeth. “What do you think? I thought I might at least live until I was eighteen. Now it seems that by finding you, the Taoist master ensured I won’t even survive the year.”
Yu Tingzheng’s eyes went wide. He immediately covered Pei Qingyu’s mouth. “Yu’er… don’t talk about… death!”
Pei Qingyu was actually startled into a laugh by the absurdity. He pulled the hand away and said, “If I die, it’ll be because you killed me.”
Yu Tingzheng froze, looking at him with heartbreak. “Will… will Yu’er die?”
“How could I not”
“I don’t want… Yu’er to die.” Yu Tingzheng’s eyes rimmed with red. “Yu’er… please don’t die.”
Pei Qingyu was silent for a beat, then curled his lip. “Fine, I won’t die right now. Happy?”
He scrambled up, waited a moment, and then poked the still-motionless Yu Tingzheng. “I won’t die in the future either. I’ll wait until you die before I go. Happy now?”
Yu Tingzheng sprang up like a fish leaping from water. “Yu’er… you said it! You have to… keep your word!”
Pei Qingyu was startled by his sudden energy. Yu Tingzheng gave an embarrassed chuckle, hopped onto the path, and reached out a hand.
Pei Qingyu looked at the dirty hand, hesitated, then looked at his own equally filthy hands. With a dark expression, he took the hand and let Yu Tingzheng pull him up.
When the two returned to the courtyard covered in mud, Madam Pei’s face went white, thinking they had been bullied. Once she realized what had happened, she couldn’t stop laughing, though she remained worried about her son’s health. After he had bathed and changed, she called for a doctor to examine him.
Yu Tingzheng stood anxiously to the side, his own brow furrowing every time the doctor frowned. When he learned that Pei Qingyu only needed more rest and less exertion, he let out a massive sigh of relief.
He then busied himself serving Pei Qingyu, personally bringing food into the room and coaxing him spoonful by spoonful. His devotion was so obvious that anyone could see what he was thinking.
But once the excitement died down, Yu Tingzheng remembered the upcoming Martial Examination. He was so nervous he couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned in bed until Pei Qingyu finally lost his patience.
Pei Qingyu looked like he wanted to grab him and hurl him out the window. Instead, he simply pinned him tightly in his arms and gave him a sharp, punishing nip on the neck. He warned that if Yu Tingzheng moved again, he would be kicked out of bed.
Finally, Yu Tingzheng stayed still.