Yu Shishu took a long time to bathe. After He Fangchuan put down the clothes he had prepared for him, he went out. He vaguely heard He Fangchuan talking to someone outside the door, but he thought it was his benefactor talking to a bird, so he didn’t pay attention and carefully washed every part of his body—he had already dirtied his benefactor’s clothes twice, and he couldn’t cause him any more trouble.
But outside the door was not the harmonious scene of man and bird that Yu Shishu had imagined. In fact, He Fangchuan was staring at his best friend, who was shamelessly snatching an apple from an eagle’s beak.
“What are you doing here?” He Fangchuan asked in a low voice. “I don’t remember telling you I live here.”
Qingque rolled her eyes and sneered, “Phoenix Lord, you probably don’t know how strong your aura is, do you? I could sense you from Dongyang Street—I could tell you’re quite happy, what good news can’t you tell me?”
The man with a red tinge at the corner of his eye leaned against the table and glanced towards the woodshed, signaling He Fangchuan to give him a good talking to. The latter ignored him, snatched half an apple from his hand and returned it to Cangying. Just as Qingque was about to express her dissatisfaction, he stuffed a perfectly intact red apple into her hand.
“Snatching food from an old bird, don’t you have any shame?” He Fangchuan sat down beside him, and before Cangying could retort that he wasn’t old, he preemptively said, “I just wanted to do a good deed, is it strange that I do good deeds?”
Qingque and Cangying shook their heads together. Qingque raised a finger and waved it: “Doing good deeds for birds isn’t strange, but doing good deeds for despicable humans is a bit unreasonable—especially for a man with no good reputation in the community.”
He Fangchuan tilted his head in confusion, and seeing Qingque wink at him, he grinned mischievously: “Even if you picked up a twin or a woman, it would be more normal than this.”
“You were picked up by me too.” He Fangchuan understood the implication in his words and said righteously, “I never considered you a twin.”
“Cough cough cough…” Qingque choked on his words, almost choking on the apple he hadn’t swallowed yet, and patted his chest repeatedly: “Of course I know you don’t consider me a twin, between us… we have a very normal brotherly relationship!”
“Then he and I are brothers too,” He Fangchuan said seriously. “He’s the same as you.”
“No, no, he’s not like me.” Qingque finished the apple from the creature in her hand in a few bites before saying, “I won’t do anything to harm you, but he might not—you know, humans are all treacherous, cunning, and vicious… Don’t rush to refute me. Look at Azi and the others, weren’t they brought back by you after being harmed by humans?”
He pointed to the red-crowned sparrow siblings sleeping together on the treetops not far away. He Fangchuan didn’t speak, because what Qingque said was indeed the truth. When he brought the red-crowned sparrows back, the poor siblings had just escaped from a few children. If they hadn’t met He Fangchuan, they probably wouldn’t have survived and would have died that winter.
Just as Qingque thought he had convinced his best friend, He Fangchuan said, “I still want to take him in.”
“I know, I know, you like his eyes, so why don’t I gouge them out for you…”
“Qingque!” He Fangchuan slammed his hand on the table, a hint of annoyance on his face. The guy whose name was called immediately stood up, raising his hands in surrender: “Fine, fine, we will never attack humans unless they deserve it… I remember, I remember, don’t be angry.”
The door behind them creaked open, and He Fangchuan glanced at him. Qingque immediately transformed back into his original form—a red-feathered, blue-backed bird, not much smaller than a hawk. He seemed quite satisfied with his new form, leisurely flicking his tail before flying to the courtyard wall and perching there.
“Benefactor… uh, I mean Young Master He.” Yu Shishu was wearing the clothes He Fangchuan had prepared for him, but the trousers and sleeves were rolled up quite a bit, which annoyed Yu Shishu. He and He Fangchuan looked about the same height, so why did he look shorter when he wore He Fangchuan’s clothes?
“Finished washing?” He Fangchuan got up and came to his side, glancing at his rolled-up sleeves, a smile flashing in his eyes. This stunned Yu Shishu, who repeatedly emphasized in his mind that this was a brother, a benefactor, before calming himself down. “By the way, I saw a lot of wood in the woodshed. Can I use it?”
He Fangchuan asked, puzzled. “Wood? That’s for firewood. What do you need it for?”
Yu Shishu swallowed, glancing at the various birds behind him who were examining him, and mustered his courage to say, “I know how to earn money to pay the rent.”
“Raise your hands.” He Fangchuan’s face showed no change, but he simply lowered Yu Shishu’s sleeves and rolled them up again. “Continue.”
Watching the two whispering amongst themselves, as if they were talking in secret, Qingque mischievously threw a small twig at the eagle. The eagle, who was “frowning” as it observed He Fangchuan and Yu Shishu, turned around and glared at him irritably after being hit.
The bluebird winked and chirped in a tiny voice only birds could understand, “When did those two become so close?”
The eagle ignored him and turned to continue staring at the two—they were such an eyesore, those wretched humans.
Yu Shishu felt the eagle staring at him like it was watching prey, and a chill ran down his spine. But to secure a place to stay, he suppressed his fear: “I’ll go get it myself.”
“No, people are looking for you everywhere. If they find you, you’ll definitely get a beating,” He Fangchuan said without hesitation. “Tell me the exact location, and I’ll go get it for you.”
It started raining again that night. Unnoticed, a chubby little bird with colorful tail feathers flew out of the house. It landed on the eaves, tilting its head to listen to something. After confirming that it was safe, it flew towards the dilapidated temple that Yu Shishu had mentioned earlier.
The raindrops didn’t wet its feathers at all; the little chubby bird seemed to have a barrier around its body, keeping the raindrops away. Even in the night, the little phoenix shimmered. It didn’t rush to get what it wanted, but instead circled Dongyang Street before finally landing on the gate of a large mansion.
Its round little head looked towards the gate, and the words “Yu Mansion” caught its eye. Confirming it hadn’t gone to the wrong place, the little chubby bird tucked its little claws into its feathers and flew into the Yu Mansion.
It saw Yu Shishu’s father drinking and making merry with a woman who, even in middle age, was still beautiful. It also saw the steward and servants whispering among themselves about the second young master who had been driven out of the house, their words not kind.
The little chubby bird watched quietly for a while before finally flying towards the dilapidated temple. Its small, round figure gradually disappeared into the rain.
Sure enough, behind the dilapidated temple Yu Shishu had mentioned, He Fangchuan found a small box made of gold-threaded wood in a pile of hay. Though called a small box, it was quite heavy to carry.
He transformed back into human form, opened the small box, and checked it thoroughly. Only after confirming that all the tools inside were present did he prepare to leave. However, before leaving, he overheard a homeless man living in the temple mentioning that the young master of the Liang family had come looking for Yu Shishu during the day.
“Hmph,” He Fangchuan snorted disdainfully. Liang Chuan probably didn’t know where Yu Shishu was; let him search.
What he wanted to protect, no one could find.
Meanwhile, in the quiet courtyard filled with birdcages, an uninvited guest arrived.
The thief Ma San had been eyeing this newly renovated house since yesterday. He had overheard the coachman mention the owner, who casually spent three silver coins, suggesting a wealthy family. He figured stealing a few things would allow him to live a life of luxury for a while.
However, after he climbed over the wall and jumped into the courtyard, he only saw a tightly closed door and a yard full of birdcages. Ma San was stunned for a moment, muttering to himself, “What a strange person.” Thinking that valuables must be inside, he slowly pushed open a door and went inside.
The owner was probably not home, which made it easier for Ma San to search, but after searching two or three times, he found nothing of value—bedding, a copper lampstand, and not even a money pouch.
He was somewhat annoyed and kicked a stool hard. Yu Shishu, hiding under the table, watched the thief leave the house with trepidation, finally breathing a sigh of relief; it seemed the thief wasn’t someone who would harm anyone.
He planned to wait quietly for the man to leave before tidying up everything, but then he heard the sound of a birdcage being kicked to the ground.
Yu Shishu stopped abruptly. He quietly went to the door and saw that the thief had already kicked a birdcage quite a distance away. Fortunately, the cage was empty; there were no birds inside.
It seemed the thief was dissatisfied at failing to steal anything and acted this way. But then he saw the man reach for another birdcage—a cage covered with gauze. Yu Shishu remembered there were two birds inside before he went to bed, one of which had even perched on his shoulder earlier that day.
What to do, what to do!
Yu Shishu was extremely anxious. He could tell that He Fangchuan cared deeply for the birds and certainly didn’t want them to get hurt… He glanced down at the deformed, empty birdcage at the thief’s feet and clenched his fists. He
could only imagine what would happen to the birds inside if that cage were treated so violently!
Yu Shishu trembled with tension, hesitation, and worry. Just as the thief raised his hand, Yu Shishu finally made his decision. He grabbed a stool and charged at the thief, yelling, “Get out of here!”
Ma San never expected someone to suddenly appear. His first instinct, being quite experienced, was to crouch down to dodge the stool. His second instinct was to drop the birdcage he was holding and run!
He was fast; he climbed the wall and disappeared. But Yu Shishu, seeing the birdcage about to fall, his heart pounding. He didn’t even bother to drop the stool; he lunged forward and caught the falling birdcage with his arm!
The impact brought him to a quick stop, followed by a burning pain in his abdomen from the dirt and stones on the ground…
and a dull ache from the stool hitting his head.
Yu Shishu grimaced as he scrambled to his feet, glancing at the unharmed birdcage in his arms. He lifted the gauze covering it, revealing two little red-crowned cranes staring at him, still shaken.
“Thank goodness,” Yu Shishu sighed, then collapsed back down, clutching the cage tightly, completely forgetting his fear of birds.
Diagonally opposite him, the eagle that had been waiting to scare away the thief silently withdrew its claws, its green eyes fixed intently on Yu Shishu in the night.
Just then, He Fangchuan, carrying a gold-threaded wooden box, climbed over the wall and froze when he saw Yu Shishu lying on the ground.