Ye Jinghe's wide grin made Pei Du involuntarily shiver. He always felt that this smile sent a chill down his back, but Pei Du was still a little dumpling and didn't know what that smile meant.
Madam Pei watched the two leave one after the other, the smile at the corners of her lips gradually deepening.
She didn't expect that a few words today would make Changfeng completely devoted to Du'er.
But there was plenty of time ahead. If she kept at it like dripping water wearing through stone, and since Changfeng was of clean background and an orphan with no parents or family, he would sooner or later be willing to devote himself wholeheartedly to Du'er. By then, loyalty would be his only option.
Meanwhile, after Ye Jinghe and Pei Du left Jianjia Courtyard, the biting cold wind wrapped in the dampness of frost and snow rushed at their faces, yet at this moment Ye Jinghe didn't feel cold at all.
At the same time, An Xin beside him cast a veiled, resentful glare. Ye Jinghe only furrowed his brow slightly before following along without looking sideways.
After going through the original body's memories again and again, Ye Jinghe couldn't find any place where the original owner had offended An Xin.
Combined with Ali's sudden warning yesterday to be careful of An Xin, Ye Jinghe was seventy to eighty percent certain that An Xin's grudge against him came from external factors.
Something that he didn't know, but the other servants in the household knew full well.
"Changfeng, did you bring yesterday's homework?"
"Already packed. Young Master's calligraphy is getting better with every page!"
Ye Jinghe casually praised him, and Pei Du showed a somewhat shy smile:
"Changfeng, you looked at them? I wonder if the tutor will be satisfied…"
Ever since Pei Qingyan had started teaching, Pei Du held him in especially high regard. He no longer called him Third Uncle—in front of everyone, it was always "Tutor" this and "Tutor" that.
"I think Young Master's progress is quite noticeable!"
And just as Ye Jinghe had said, when Pei Du handed in his homework, a flicker of surprise passed through Pei Qingyan's eyes.
Afterward, Pei Qingyan didn't hesitate to praise Pei Du openly, which made Pei Du's little face flush red with excitement.
However, in a place Pei Du didn't notice, Pei Feng, sitting behind him, had a hint of obscure emotion rising on his face.
At midday mealtime, Ye Jinghe wanted to ask Ali again about An Xin, but unfortunately Ali had been sent on an errand by Master Pei, so he had to let it go.
So Ye Jinghe taught a few others two more characters, ate his meal, and returned to the classroom.
At that time, Pei Feng was laughing and chatting merrily with Pei Du, even blocking several students who wanted to speak with Pei Du.
After classes ended and they returned to Xingjian Courtyard, Ye Jinghe took advantage of the time before dinner to mention casually:
"I never used to think Young Master and Young Master Pei Feng got along so well, but today I saw you two chatting wonderfully together."
Pei Du looked up and said with a smile:
"Isn't it because Pei Feng is the only one in the school who's willing to talk to me!"
Hearing this, Ye Jinghe thought for a moment and said:
"The other young masters aren't necessarily unwilling to talk with you, Young Master. After all, with such a good disposition, who wouldn't want to be friends with you?"
Ye Jinghe had raised children before, so he naturally knew how to phrase things so that they would sink in. When Pei Du heard Ye Jinghe's words, a flicker of doubt passed through his eyes:
"Really? Then… I'll try talking to them tomorrow. Oh, Changfeng, let me tell you—I don't know why, but I always feel like the things Pei Feng says to me are a bit strange."
Pei Du wanted to tell Ye Jinghe about the gossip Pei Feng had spread about him last time, but he felt it wasn't something a gentleman would do, so he swallowed the words instead.
Hearing this, Ye Jinghe felt a weight lift off his chest. Just as he'd thought—the Pei family had produced generals and ministers, so their descendants couldn't be that easily fooled.
After attending to Pei Du's dinner, Ye Jinghe returned to the side room, where a bowl of warm chicken soup wontons sat on the table.
Golden, glistening chicken fat floated on the surface of the soup, with a few scattered specks of emerald scallions bobbing up and down, paired with the fragrant aroma of the thin-skinned wontons. One mouthful down, and Ye Jinghe's weary body seemed to find a place of refuge.
"Changfeng, this was sent over from Madam's courtyard for you. Now that you've earned Madam's favor and won Young Master's affection, your future prospects are sure to be bright!"
Ye Jinghe looked at the speaker—it was the rough servant who had been sweeping the courtyard that day, named Changming.
Right now, Changming was speaking with no small amount of envy. Ye Jinghe only smiled in response:
"I just follow the Young Master. What prospects do I need?"
"How can you not need them? You probably don't know—before you entered the household, how many families of household-born servants were trying to squeeze their children into the Young Master's courtyard!
The Young Master is the legitimate eldest young master of our Pei family, born and bred. When you grow up, you're bound to be matched with one of Madam's maidservants as your wife!
Take Miss Wenxin, for example—four or five of the household stewards all wanted to… hey, what am I telling a half-grown kid like you? You just take good care of the Young Master from now on, and the benefits won't be few!"
Changming muttered on and on. He was already past twenty now and harbored feelings for Miss Wenxin, but he knew exactly what standing he had.
On ordinary days, perhaps only when Miss Wenxin came to ask about matters in the young master's courtyard could she breathe the same air as him.
Ye Jinghe only half-listened, and after hastily finishing a bowl of wontons, he made an excuse to go check on the young master and slipped away.
In the past, Changming had only been a quiet, taciturn sweeper of the courtyard; he never expected the man to be such a chatterbox, and all on topics he couldn't possibly respond to. So he had no choice but to make a swift exit.
Today's lessons were light. Ye Jinghe waited until Pei Du finished his schoolwork before returning to his own room.
Pei Du now had only him as a page boy, so in the corner chamber, he lived alone.
By the light of the snow, Ye Jinghe dipped his finger in clean water and wrote out Pei Qingyan's lecture content from today, stroke by stroke, on the table.
Only when his fingers grew stiff with cold did Ye Jinghe rub his hands together and stagger toward his bed.
In winter, the room never saw sunlight, and the quilt felt as heavy as if it had been stuffed with iron—impossible to warm.
Ye Jinghe simply propped himself against the pillow and sat for a while, taking out the monthly silver that Madam Pei had rewarded him today from his bosom and placing it into the cloth bundle under his pillow.
This cloth bundle had been with the original owner since entering the manor. It was still flat and empty, containing only a white jade gourd and the jade thumb ring that Second Master Pei had rewarded yesterday. Only after putting the pouch of monthly silver inside did it finally show some shape.
Ye Jinghe took out the white jade gourd. The jade quality was excellent—warm to the touch—and even the jade thumb ring couldn't compare.
This cloth bundle had been given to him by the original owner's eldest uncle.
Ye Jinghe slowly clenched the jade gourd, but his heart grew more puzzled. With a jade gourd of such quality, why would his uncle have sent him to the Pei Manor just to survive?
That night, Ye Jinghe did not sleep peacefully. One moment he dreamed that An Xin had used a vicious scheme to make him stumble badly, and the next he dreamed that he had grown up and matured, yet still couldn't escape the control of the plot—watching helplessly as the young master and the future female lead grew estranged and became a bitter couple, while he too failed to escape retribution.
As he slept, Ye Jinghe suddenly sat bolt upright. Listening carefully, the rain that had fallen from the sky when he froze to death in his dream was actually the snow that had fallen for two days beginning to melt.
Wrapping himself in his quilt, Ye Jinghe pushed open the window. A fierce gust of cold wind rushed in, thoroughly clearing his numbed mind.
He was Ye Jinghe, not Changfeng.
He would not, and could not, die as the plot dictated!
That was his minimum requirement for himself. Besides, he was still young now. When his indenture contract with the Pei Manor ended, he would only be twenty-seven—and by then, there would be a vast world waiting for him.
Moreover, even in the worst case, if he sold the white jade gourd in his hand, it would be more than enough to buy back his freedom.
Ye Jinghe slowly let out a turbid breath, crawled back onto his bed, and wanted to laze around a little longer.
But that gust of cold wind had scattered the room's scant warmth. Forget it—better to get up and go find the young master, and mooch some warmth while he was at it.
Today Ye Jinghe rose early. When he went over, Pei Du was still asleep. It had to be said that the little male lead, before his fall from grace, was still an adorable good child.
At this moment, the little dumpling with baby fat—perhaps dreaming of eating something delicious—smacked his little lips twice.
"Candy, candied hawthorn…"
This time, Ye Jinghe heard it clearly and couldn't help but chuckle softly. Indeed, the Pei Manor's discipline was too strict, making the young master so fixated on a mere stick of candied hawthorn.
"Chang… Changfeng?"
As Pei Du slept, he felt that the candied hawthorn in his mouth tasted like chewing wax, so he woke up in a daze. Seeing Ye Jinghe, he thought he was still dreaming:
"Changfeng, do you want to eat candied hawthorn too?"
Ye Jinghe let out a "pfft" and laughed:
"Young master, was the candied hawthorn in your dream tasty? Was it sweet?"
Pei Du stared at Ye Jinghe with bleary eyes for a long while before waking up as if from a dream. Then, shyly, he burrowed into his blanket, and only after much coaxing from the two maidservants did he agree to come out—but he refused to look at Ye Jinghe.
Seeing this, Ye Jinghe smiled and walked out with heavy footsteps.
Today, Madam Pei had business to attend to outside and didn't have Pei Du join her for breakfast, so Ye Jinghe didn't need to make that trip either.
By the time Pei Du finished washing up, two quarters of an hour had passed. Seeing Ye Jinghe's face reddened by the cold wind, Pei Du pressed the hand warmer into his hands without a word:
"Changfeng is so silly. It's so cold outside—why didn't you know to come inside?"
"I was afraid you'd feel uncomfortable, young master."
Ye Jinghe said with a beaming smile. Pei Du didn't know what to say for a moment, his ears turning bright red. When it came time for breakfast, Pei Du gave a plate of glutinous rice cakes with cured meat to Ye Jinghe, as an awkward sort of compensation.
As the saying goes, it's not the snow that's cold but the melting. Just as dawn was breaking, Ye Jinghe followed Pei Du toward the family school. An Xin, being an adult, had steady footing, but Ye Jinghe slipped with every step—by the time they reached the school, his shoes and clothes were half-soaked.
When Pei Qingyan arrived at the classroom, Ye Jinghe sat shivering beside Pei Du and placed the organized schoolwork on the table.
Pei Qingyan glanced at Ye Jinghe and pointed to an empty brazier nearby.
"The snow is melting today. Light two more braziers."
After Ye Jinghe stood up, another sturdy-looking student rose as well and helped light the braziers together with him.
Acting on a bit of self-interest, Ye Jinghe moved the brazier on his side a little closer to himself. At last, he stopped shivering.
After attentively listening to the morning lectures, Ye Jinghe knew that Ali would be returning today, so he hurried off to the side room. He did not notice that Pei Du, for the first time, had left Pei Feng's side and struck up a conversation with that sturdy student.
Meanwhile, as Ye Jinghe pushed open the door to the side room:
"Ali, I—"
"Changfeng, you've finally let me wait long enough! Come along—Old Madam requests your presence—"
Behind the door was An Xin's eerie, smiling face.