Su Ce panted as he looked at Ah Huai, who was kneeling on the floor, pale-faced, with a stubborn look in his eyes. The thin winter clothing he wore, barely enough to ward off the cold, was slowly being soaked through by streaks of blood left by the whipping.
The punishment had been meted out, and Su Ce’s anger had been vented by half. As if just remembering something, he tossed the whip aside, sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and drained it in one gulp before beckoning to Ah Huai. “Is there anything you want?”
Ah Huai crawled on his knees toward Su Ce’s side, reaching out to tug at his sleeve. “Young Master Su, does what you said earlier still count?”
Su Ce lifted Ah Huai’s chin with his hand and gave a scoffing laugh. “Are you that eager to be a male concubine by my side?”
Ah Huai’s exceptionally bright eyes reflected Su Ce’s clear silhouette.
Once upon a time, Su Ce had also seen those joyous, loving, reluctant, and wretched reflections of himself in Fu Huaizhi’s eyes…
Now, this pair of similar eyes appeared before him once more, revealing a stubbornness and longing that did not match Fu Huaizhi’s.
Moreover, Ah Huai’s appearance was even more handsome than Fu Huaizhi’s. If he weren’t in coarse cloth but were instead wearing the same fine silks and satins as them…
Perhaps noticing that Su Ce was distracted, Ah Huai called out softly: “Young Master Su, if you are willing to help this lowly servant escape this sea of bitterness, I am willing to go through fire and water for you.”
This fawning appearance was nothing like Fu Huaizhi at all.
Su Ce moved his hand away from Ah Huai’s chin with a touch of disgust, kicked him away, and smoothed out his wrinkled clothing. “Fine, then let’s see how many lives you have to serve as my male concubine.”
Before long, the supervisor arrived at Su Ce’s room with Ah Huai’s indentures, respectfully presenting them to Su Ce.
Su Ce took them without opening them, tossed them aside, and smiled at Ah Huai. “I hope you can keep your promise well.”
Although Ah Huai had braced himself, the extent of Su Ce’s high-maintenance nature far exceeded his imagination.
It was the depth of winter, and the time for the evening curfew was approaching.
The moment Su Ce said he felt a bit sleepy, he turned to Ah Huai—who had just crawled onto his floor pallet—and said unkindly: “This young master is craving a sesame seed cake from the north side of the city. Go buy one and bring it back for me.”
Ah Huai looked up at Su Ce, seeing him propped up on one hand, his eyes devoid of any craving for the cake, but rather full of a malicious mischief meant to torment him.
Ah Huai said sincerely: “Young Master, the sesame seed cake shops in the north of the city have likely already closed at this hour, and the curfew is about to begin.”
“And so what? I want to eat it tonight.” Su Ce tucked himself into the quilt and continued: “You just need to be back before the curfew, right? Besides, there is still half an hour left.”
Seeing that Ah Huai remained unmoved, staring blankly at him, Su Ce turned over, kicked Ah Huai with his foot, and said: “Ah Huai, you haven’t forgotten how you got out of the Zuisheng Pavilion, have you? You wouldn’t be thinking of going back there, would you?”
Ah Huai’s body stiffened for a moment. He bolted from the warm quilt, too rushed to even dress properly, and pushed the door open to leave.
Su Ce watched his silhouette vanish into the sky filled with heavy snow, then lay back on the bed and laughed aloud.
If he couldn’t do anything about Fu Huaizhi, couldn’t he at least torment a small attendant?
By the time Ah Huai returned, Su Ce was already fast asleep on the bed.
The door was pushed open, and the freezing wind mixed with snow poured in, eager to battle the warmth inside.
Su Ce was startled awake by the biting cold. He half-opened his drowsy, hazy eyes to look at the intruder, turned his back to them, and pulled the quilt over his head, covering himself in irritation.
“Young Master, I bought the sesame seed cake back,” Ah Huai said, staring straight at Su Ce from the bedside.
Seeing no reaction, Ah Huai repeated himself.
Su Ce immediately pulled the quilt off in a rage, sat up, and shouted at Ah Huai: “Are you sick? I was sleeping—why must you wake me up?”
“But… but, Young Master, you said you had to eat it tonight.”
Su Ce’s gaze locked onto Ah Huai’s hands. He saw that his eyelashes were frosted with ice, large beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks from his forehead, and his lips were pale; the frost on his outer robes melted in the indoor warmth, seeping into the fabric as water droplets.
He was still wearing that same obedient, humble look.
Suddenly, Su Ce snatched the still-warm cake from Ah Huai’s hand. A nameless fire rose in his heart; he threw the cake at the door. Not satisfied, he got out of bed and stomped on it twice, only stopping once the once-whole cake had been crushed into pieces.
He walked back to Ah Huai’s side. “Waking someone up in the middle of the night to eat cake—I think you’re the one who’s sick in the head.”
Suddenly, Su Ce’s eyes rolled, and he looked at Ah Huai, speaking word-by-word with a malicious tone: “You’re the one who wants to eat, right? This young master is rewarding you; remember to eat every single piece.”
With that, he yawned, laid back down in bed, and closed his eyes with his back to Ah Huai, listening to the rustling sounds behind him. He was now so annoyed by the noise that he had no sleep left in him.
“What exactly are you trying to do tonight?” Su Ce sat up aggressively, looking down at Ah Huai, who was crouching on the floor, picking up the crushed cake and cautiously feeding it into his mouth.
Su Ce was left utterly speechless by his behavior. At that moment, those extremely sincere eyes looked up at him.
Su Ce was genuinely amused by this person. He climbed out of bed, grabbed Ah Huai by the lapels, and threw the door open. The freezing wind hit them head-on; after shoving Ah Huai outside, he slammed the door shut. “You truly are restless all night. Since you don’t love sleeping, you can keep the wind, snow, and heaven and earth company outside this house.”
Ah Huai looked at the tightly closed door. He reached out to knock, then stopped in mid-air, finally sitting down with his back against the door.
The wind and snow were heavy that night. Su Ce tossed and turned in bed for a long time, only falling into a deep sleep once the bed was warm again.
Ah Huai sat under the eaves outside, breaking the half-piece of cake he hadn’t finished earlier, which had already frozen hard.
He didn’t feel wretched, nor did he find the long night difficult to endure.
Because he had gotten his wish: he had entered the Su estate and become Su Ce’s male concubine.
Late in the night, as the storm intensified, Ah Huai pushed the door and entered to see Su Ce breathing steadily.
He stood before the bed, gazing down at Su Ce’s sleeping face. He took a deep breath, extended a hand, and stroked Su Ce’s eyebrows with care and reverence, sliding over his prominent nose bridge.
He kissed his lips lightly, their foreheads pressed together. “Su Ce, you are finally mine. Even though you resist me now, we have a long road ahead of us.”
The following day, it wasn’t until noon that Su Ce woke up. He pushed the door open to find the world covered in silver. As the sun reflected off the snow, Ah Huai was nowhere to be seen.
He wore a dark face, thinking about how long he could hold on. A cheap bone, indeed—he hadn’t thought he wouldn’t be able to last a single night.
Despite his lowly status, he still wanted to cling to the wealthy and powerful, hoping to turn into a phoenix.
Just as he prepared to turn and head back inside, he spotted a familiar figure appearing at the courtyard gate.
It was the man in coarse cloth, carrying a food box as he walked toward him.
Who else could it be but Ah Huai?
Seeing him standing at the door, Ah Huai’s eyes grew exceptionally bright; he quickened his pace. “Young Master, you’re finally awake. Ah Huai has prepared some food; I don’t know if it will be to your liking.”
Su Ce raised an eyebrow, looking at Ah Huai’s dark-circled eyes, and asked with distrust: “You made this?”
Ah Huai nodded vigorously.
Su Ce let him into the room without a word, pretending to be concerned. “Where did you sleep last night?”
“Ah Huai sat outside the hall the whole time, not daring to sleep, afraid you might wake up and not find anyone there.”
“Then why didn’t you guard me the whole time just now?”
“The servants in the house said you often wake up at noon, so I went to prepare food first.”
As they exchanged questions and answers, Ah Huai had already filled the table with dishes.
Su Ce looked at the food, a slight smirk playing on his lips as the torment began.
He picked up his chopsticks, pointed at the sesame seed cake, and said: “What? Is the Su estate unable to afford living expenses now? Why is this kind of thing being served on the table?”
“No, it’s not that you said last night you wanted to eat it, so I was afraid you might want to eat it again today, so I prepared a fresh one…” Ah Huai explained from the side.
Su Ce acted as if he hadn’t heard him. He poked at the steamed fish, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Ah Huai: “Why aren’t you picking out the bones? To put it nicely, you are my male concubine; to put it bluntly, you are a servant who warms my bed. Is this the attitude you use to serve me?”
Upon hearing this, Ah Huai’s hands trembled. He brought the fish before himself, took a pair of clean chopsticks, and in front of Su Ce, meticulously picked out every single bone before placing it back in front of him.
Su Ce took a symbolic bite, then spat it out immediately. “It’s cold and fishy. How am I supposed to eat this?”
He took a sip of the tea on the side, frowned, and looked at Ah Huai, curling the corners of his lips: “This tea is cold, too, and I don’t drink this kind of tea at all. Are you deliberately taking revenge on me? Ah Huai?”
The words were spoken with immense weight, as if Ah Huai were deliberately seeking revenge for the previous night’s dissatisfaction.
Yet, this was the first time Ah Huai had heard Su Ce call him by his name while fully conscious. At that moment, he forgot to argue and ignored Su Ce’s deliberate torment. He looked straight into Su Ce’s eyes and whispered: “I am sorry, Young Master. Ah Huai will prepare it for you again.”
Su Ce scoffed. “Never mind. If you can’t even handle such a small task, how can I hope for you to do anything else?”
He rose, changed his clothes, and donned a red fox fur cloak. The crimson color made his complexion appear even more fair and delicate.
Just as he took a stride, prepared to leave, he was called back by Ah Huai behind him.
“Young Master, are you going out?”
Su Ce did not answer Ah Huai’s question. Instead, he walked straight into the snow, leaving behind a trail of footprints that served as his answer.
However, not long after, when Su Ce turned back, he discovered that Ah Huai had maintained the same posture, standing in place like a lifelike snowman.
I don’t know if it was Su Ce’s imagination, but he actually glimpsed a trace of pitiful hatred for being abandoned in Ah Huai’s eyes.
But it was only for a split second.
Ah Huai put on a smile again and asked: “Young Master, why are you back?”
Su Ce offered no explanation, only urging him to change into proper clothing, saying he was going to take him out.
Ah Huai looked startled, standing frozen in place.
“Hurry up—didn’t you say you wanted me to take you with me?”
“But… Ah Huai has only just arrived at the estate and has no suitable robes…”
Su Ce was speechless.
Finally, Su Ce searched through his own clothing chest, found a robe of suitable size and fine quality, handed it to Ah Huai, and took him out to the banquet.
Ah Huai’s heart, which had been full of joy, plummeted to the bottom the moment they reached the banquet.