To be honest, Xu Wen’s temper was not particularly good. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the person in front of him was the male protagonist, he would have started cursing long ago.
“Don’t move,” Xu Wen warned for the second time.
The other party’s tone was very calm, yet an indescribable and unnameable pressure made Xiao Hanyu experience a long-lost oppression, one that he had never even felt from his own imperial father.
Just in that brief moment of distraction, Xiao Hanyu snapped back to his senses only to find that his body was covered in messy, grimy herbal medicine.
The furrow in Xiao Hanyu’s brow looked deep enough to crush a Xu Wen between them.
Xu Wen placed his herb-stained hand into the clean basin of water beside him, washing it finger by finger, and said, “Young master, before you throw your young master temper tantrums, take a look at your current predicament, and don’t make me throw you out.”
He was clearly making barbed, sarcastic remarks!
Xiao Hanyu felt deeply offended, his heart and liver aching with anger. Yet, his entire body lacked strength, and when his gaze landed on the herbal medicine smeared over him, he grabbed a handful in each hand with precise and ruthless speed, hurling them straight at the man’s collar.
“Get lost!”
Xu Wen’s expression immediately sank. The foul-smelling herbal medicine was now squashed and clinging thickly to his collar, pushing his urge to give the male protagonist a severe thrashing to its absolute peak.
He tilted his head slightly, fixing his gaze directly on the furious youth spitting fire on the bed. “I saved you, and this is how you repay me, young master?”
The man’s voice rose at the end, carrying a sarcasm that sounded both respectful and mocking.
With a hostile and vengeful expression, Xiao Hanyu demanded, “Return my… my jade pendant to me!”
Stealing his jade pendant, and still delusional enough to act like his savior?
So the problem was right here.
While wiping the herbal medicine off his collar, Xu Wen asked, “How did you know your jade pendant is in my hands?”
Annoyed that this man felt no shred of shame whatsoever after being called out on theft, Xiao Hanyu glared coldly at him. “I searched all over my body and couldn’t find the jade pendant. At the bottom of the cliff, there were only the two of us. If you didn’t take it, could it have been a ghost?”
“Perhaps,” Xu Wen replied.
Xiao Hanyu: “…”
Seeing that this person was about to dig up more herbal medicine from somewhere to throw at him again, Xu Wen dropped his teasing mindset and pulled the jade pendant out of his pocket. “Here, for you.”
He handed it over without the slightest hesitation, which actually made Xiao Hanyu somewhat hesitant to accept it, wondering in his heart if this man was plotting some kind of scheme or trap.
Fidgeting and hesitating, the moment Xiao Hanyu raised his hand, the jade pendant was suddenly pulled back out of reach.
Thinking as expected that he was just being toyed with, Xiao Hanyu was just about to open his mouth to viciously scold the other person.
A damp cloth landed in his hand instead.
He froze, staring blankly at the movements of the man in front of him.
Xu Wen pinched his wrist bone, meticulously wiping away the residue from his hands after he had touched the herbs earlier, before finally placing the jade pendant back into his palm. His voice was fresh and crisp like young grass, yet clear and resonant like cold jade: “Hold onto it well, and don’t lose it.”
This was his cheat, after all.
Unaware of what was going through the other’s mind, Xiao Hanyu felt the cool temperature of the jade pendant in his palm and could not help curling his fingers inward, shifting his gaze away awkwardly, only to immediately catch sight of the man’s still slightly stained collar.
A tiny trace of guilt welled up inside him. Since this person had returned the jade pendant without a moment’s hesitation, he should… probably not be some odious thief, right?
He had even brought him home and treated his injuries.
The more he thought about it, the more guilt Xiao Hanyu felt in his heart.
Yet, having never bowed down or apologized to anyone from childhood to adulthood, even though he knew he had acted wrongly at that moment, he had no idea how to express it. He could only lie stiffly on the hard wooden bed, his gaze tracking the other person’s movements.
Xu Wen tossed the used cloth back into the basin, picked up the water basin, and turned to leave.
Just like that? Xiao Hanyu parted his lips, but the other person suddenly turned his head back.
With a wicked, teasing smile, Xu Wen said, “The young master has a rather nice figure.”
Wh-what?
The flirtatious undertone in the man’s voice was completely unmasked, and the shred of guilt that Xiao Hanyu had just cultivated was instantly overwritten by a fresh wave of indignation and anger.
He had been so focused on retrieving his empress mother’s keepsake that he had completely forgotten the fact that he had been stripped bare.
Furthermore, down at the bottom of the cliff earlier, his chin had even been pinched by this guy.
No one had ever treated him like this before!
Detestable.
He had actually felt ashamed and guilty just a moment ago; clearly, he ought to make this person pay a heavy price.
The youth on the bed wore a sinister, murderous look in his eyes. He would just have to wait until he healed his injuries and could get out of bed—that guy looked like a sickly, frail scholar anyway, so he would settle the score then!
He was certainly no good person; since the other had looked at his body, he would just make him pay with a pair of eyes.
Coincidentally, that man’s eyes looked quite pretty…
Xu Wen, who was entirely oblivious to the fact that his eyes had been earmarked by the male protagonist, whistled his way out into the courtyard after tossing out a casual tease, and poured out the dirty water from the basin.
Knowing that the male protagonist at this stage had not yet evolved into the unhinged, crazy tyrant of the later stages, he had dared to verbally spar with him a little.
Just as he turned around, he bumped into Xu Mother, who was preparing to head out.
“Mother, where are you going?”
Xu Mother was carrying a dusty, gray bundle. “Mother is going to town to sell some embroidered handkerchiefs for a bit of money.”
Xu Wen stepped forward and took the bundle. “I’ll go.”
“No need…” Xu Mother refused, given that her eldest son had just returned and probably hadn’t even rested yet.
Xu Wen continued, “With the back and forth, it will be dark soon, and it’s unsafe for you to go out. Coincidentally, I’m heading to town anyway, so I can check the government notice board for the exam results while I’m there.”
“Oh right, right, Mother almost forgot. The exam results are about to come out! Then hurry along, don’t be too late, the road is difficult to walk.” Xu Mother urged, she too hoping to receive some good news.
“Mn, I’m off then.”
Xu Wen slung the bundle over his shoulder and stepped out of the courtyard.
Xu Mother watched her slender-figured son walk into the distance, suddenly remembering the youth her son had brought back. She wondered if the other person had woken up yet.
She wanted to go and check, but her son hadn’t mentioned anything before leaving, so the guest must still be unconscious, right?
Harboring doubts, Xu Mother ultimately returned to her own room.
“Wife, didn’t you go to town?” Sitting on the bed was a man of about forty, robust in build and handsome in appearance; looking at him, one could not possibly tell he was a middle-aged man with a disabled leg.
“That’s right, Mother, didn’t you go to buy candy for A-Bao?”
On the other side of the bed, a young teenager sat cross-legged with clear eyes and the expression of a little child, his speech carrying an ineffable childish innocence.
Xu Mother smiled as she went over to stroke her youngest son’s hair, coaxing him, “Your older brother went to buy it, he’ll bring it back for you later.”
Xu Father chimed in from the side, “Today is the day Jiashi’s rankings come out, right? I wonder how he did on the exams?”
Xu Mother nodded and relayed what Xu Wen had just said to Xu Father.
After the couple chatted a bit more, Xu Mother went off to cook.
Xu Father played with a bamboo dragonfly with his youngest son for a little while before fatigue overtook him, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Xu A-Bao rolled his eyes, reached out to push Xu Father on the bed, and called out, “Daddy, Daddy, play with me…”
Xu Father was sleeping soundly and gave no response.