“A person lives for their reputation. You can’t even keep your fiancé, what face do you have to stay in the Yu family!”
His father’s words flashed through his ears, and Yu Shishu suddenly woke up. He groggily pushed himself up, only to find that he wasn’t lying on the haystack where he had been hiding, but on a soft bed.
He was terrified and quickly jumped off the bed, afraid that his dirty clothes would stain the sun-kissed bedding. Standing barefoot on the ground, he had time to look around—this was a guest bedroom. The Yu family was a prominent family in Junzhou, and they had many such rooms. As the former second young master of the Yu family, he recognized it.
Had someone saved him?
As Yu Shishu was pondering, his stomach rumbled inconveniently, forcing him to squat down, clutching his belly. “So hungry.”
The Yu family’s ruthlessness wasn’t without reason. The current matriarch, Madam Ru, was a concubine who had been promoted to the position of principal wife, and she was a shrewd and manipulative woman—the fact that her father had hastily elevated her to the position so soon after Yu Shishu’s mother’s, his legal wife’s, death suggested she was no easy opponent.
The Yu family was already a laughingstock in Junzhou City; after all, Madam Ru’s eldest son, born out of wedlock, was hardly a respectable figure, and her father’s favoritism towards him, the son of the legal wife, was utterly indifferent.
Since this incident, the Yu family’s reputation had been steadily declining, so being kicked out of the house wasn’t too surprising for Yu Shishu—he just hadn’t expected his childhood sweetheart to betray him.
Yu Shishu finally relaxed, sitting on the floor hugging his knees. He heard the door beside him creak open from the outside, and quickly looked up, only to find his eyes meeting the person he had just glanced at in the crowd.
It was a man, not Shuang’er.
But that face was undeniably beautiful.
Yu Shishu was too hungry to describe the stunning beauty before him, so he could only stare blankly at him.
“Why are you sitting on the floor when you’re awake?” He Fangchuan asked, but made no move to help him up, his words tinged with wariness. “Get up quickly, I got you some food.”
Food!
Yu Shishu’s eyes lit up, appearing like a star in He Fangchuan’s eyes. The little phoenix was stunned for a moment,
then, seeing the man scramble to his feet, it adjusted its expression: “Let’s go, the food is outside.” “Thank you… thank you so much, benefactor. I’ll leave as soon as I finish eating, and I’ll definitely find a way to pay you back in silver.” Yu Shishu, clutching his stomach, shamelessly followed behind him. But as soon as he stepped out of the room, he was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground on his bottom: “What a big bird!”
No, there were so many birds!
Big and small filled the courtyard!
A hawk with new bandages on its wings stood on the stone table, intently guarding the food. Hearing this, it didn’t even move its head, only silently taking two steps back when it saw He Fangchuan come out.
Just as He Fangchuan was about to comfort him, reminding him that the eagle neither bites nor eats people, Yu Shishu shakily got up from the ground, quickly moved to the stone table, picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, ignoring the other food. He then grabbed another steamed bun, grabbed it again, and retreated back to He Fangchuan’s feet, devouring most of it in a few bites.
He Fangchuan didn’t ask him why a rich young master would eat like this. After Yu Shishu had finished two steamed buns, He Fangchuan went over and moved the eagle to a tree.
The eagle: What is this?
“Come and eat, there’s still food here.” He Fangchuan patted the table, but Yu Shishu waved his hand: “No, no, if I eat any more… I’m afraid I can’t afford it.”
He Fangchuan said: “I don’t lack money for food.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another person appeared beside him. Yu Shishu picked up his chopsticks, broke open a newly taken steamed bun, stuffed a few bites of food into it, and began to wolf it down.
After eating two more steamed buns, he put down his chopsticks with embarrassment, bowed his head and thanked them. It was then that he realized his clothes had been changed. They were no longer the tattered and dirty clothes he had worn before, but a clean set of civilian clothes.
Seeing that he seemed to have eaten his fill, He Fangchuan was about to ask him why he was following him when Yu Shishu suddenly stood up and was about to take off his clothes. The little phoenix was startled and grabbed his hem: “What are you doing?”
“Benefactor, your clothes are too nice, I… I’m afraid I can’t afford to pay for them if I get them dirty,” Yu Shishu stammered. “I’ll just wear what I had before. I’ll leave right away and won’t bother you any longer.”
The eagle yawned and shook its wings, which startled Yu Shishu again. He instinctively hid behind He Fangchuan, but then felt that this was too impolite. He heard He Fangchuan say, “I said I wouldn’t ask for anything in return… Here, you can stay here for now. We can talk after you’ve rested. Oh, and here’s some ointment. Take it and apply it. Be careful not to have trouble getting up tomorrow.”
Yu Shishu was flattered and took the obviously expensive ointment from his hand. He pushed him back to his room, leaving the door slightly ajar, giving him the opportunity to choose.
Hearing the door close behind him after a while, He Fangchuan sat down at the stone table. A hawk spoke in his ear, “Why is the Phoenix Lord keeping this person? Did you take a liking to his eyes?”
“His eyes are indeed beautiful,” He Fangchuan neither denied nor admitted. “Anyway, he’s homeless, taking him in for a day or two isn’t a big deal.”
The hawk shook its head, knowing He Fangchuan was being kind again—the birds in this courtyard, including himself, were all rescued by He Fangchuan. Some were injured and alone, others were orphans, their young unable to survive, and he brought them back, like the pair of red-crowned finch. He
just hadn’t expected him to bring back a person.
He Fangchuan glanced at the closed door, and the image of that person’s sparkling eyes while eating flashed before his eyes again. Only from close range could he see clearly that the pupil color of those eyes was even brighter than the most beautiful gemstone he had collected.
Hmm.
He wanted to look a few more times.
The next morning, He Fangchuan returned from the morning market with breakfast for Yu Shishu. He knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered. Cangying said quietly behind him, “He just left. The door wasn’t locked.”
Little Phoenix was stunned for a moment, then grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open effortlessly. The bed inside didn’t look like it had been slept in. The ointment he had personally given Yu Shishu yesterday was still unopened and neatly placed beside the bed along with the clothes.
“That guy picked up the tattered clothes you threw in the woodshed in the middle of the night, put them on, slept in the corner all night, and left while you were out.” The eagle jumped down from the tree and landed on the stone table. “Looks like he was afraid he couldn’t afford to pay.”
“I told him I didn’t want him to pay me…”
“What kind of kind person is that?” The eagle interrupted him. “He was following you, and you’re still being so nice to him. You might scare him away.”
He Fangchuan asked doubtfully, “Is that so?”
“We birds can accept the Phoenix Lord’s kindness, but humans are much more cunning. Next time, we shouldn’t bring people home.”
He Fangchuan sighed and nodded in agreement.
However, neither the man nor the eagle expected that things wouldn’t develop as they predicted.
“This is the third time.”
He Fangchuan took the copper coins from the crested sparrow’s claws and placed them together with the copper coins he had brought back from the door a couple of days ago. The eagle stood aside without saying a word—because he didn’t understand what that kid was trying to do either!
Four steamed buns, and the first day’s copper coins were already paid back. He hadn’t even slept in a bed, so what was the meaning of this extra money?
“Isn’t he making money? How come he didn’t have food before?” The eagle stretched out its strong, powerful claws and rummaged through the dozen or so copper coins, puzzled.
A little red-crowned sparrow landed on He Fangchuan’s shoulder, scratching its head with its little claws: “Chirp! Chirp chirp!”
Will he bring money again tomorrow? Let’s catch him and ask!
“Good idea.” The eagle thought it was a good idea, and the two birds looked at He Fangchuan together. The latter also wanted to ask what the man was up to, so
he agreed. Who knew that the next day, He Fangchuan didn’t find Yu Shishu. He thought Yu Shishu had discovered him and was afraid to come over, but he looked down at his colorful feathers—he was now just a little fat chick! How could that man have discovered him!
He thought Yu Shishu was busy with other things, but then he thought, this man doesn’t even have a place to stay, so how is he “paying back” his money?
Just in case, he waited two more days. On the fourth day, two copper coins, inexplicably fallen onto the road outside his door, were covered in dirt, unlike the clean coins that had been placed there a few days earlier.
The eagle craned its neck to see He Fangchuan return and then leave again, and hurriedly called out to him, “Phoenix Lord, what are you doing?”
“Just going for a stroll.” He Fangchuan turned and was about to rush out. The eagle tried to call him back, but the man transformed into a chubby little chick, taking flight on the spot amidst the astonished gazes of the birds, and soared away.
Something must have happened!
He Fangchuan couldn’t explain why he was so concerned about a human. It was the first time he’d acted faster than he thought. By the time he realized what was happening, he was already at the intersection where Yu Shishu had been cornered and caused trouble that day.
The chubby little bird perched on the eaves of a shop, looked down, but didn’t see the person. Calming down, he was about to head home when he saw Liang Chuan, whom he’d met the other day, leading a group of people briskly towards him. On the other side, a familiar figure was limping along, leaning against the wall, walking down the street. He took a few steps, then stopped, rummaged through his tattered pocket, pulled out two or three copper coins, checked that the money was still there, put it back, and continued walking.
He hadn’t gone two steps when a round, colorful bird flew head-on at him. Yu Shishu couldn’t dodge in time and was knocked unconscious.
Before losing consciousness, he thought miserably, “What bad luck! Being ambushed and beaten up a couple of days ago is bad enough, but today, just walking down the street, I got knocked out by a bird!
So unlucky!”
The chubby little bird hooked its claws onto Yu Shishu’s clothes, dragged him into the alley, covered him with a potato basket, and waited until the group of people passed before pulling the still unconscious man out again. Then, using the same method, it stealthily dragged Yu Shishu back home.
Why did we pick this thing up again?