After listening to Yu Shishu’s halting recount of what had just happened, He Fangchuan’s expression turned grave. He was now pressing Yu Shishu down onto a stool by the stone table so he could treat the wound on his head.
The rain had subsided considerably, and the trees were covered with tarpaulins to shelter the birdcage, so sitting there meant he wouldn’t get wet. However, Yu Shishu hadn’t thought much when he lunged forward, and his head and body were covered in mud, making him look quite disheveled.
“I didn’t expect there to be thieves in Junzhou City.” Yu Shishu was still replaying the events in his mind, even forgetting the pain in his head. He glanced at the birdcage neatly placed on the table, where two birds nestled together, their tiny green eyes occasionally glancing at him.
They didn’t seem so scary anymore.
“Lift up your clothes, let me see your injuries.” He Fangchuan could only apply some ointment to his head first. Fortunately, the ointment was transparent and colorless; otherwise, Yu Shishu would have been covered in mud by now.
Yu Shishu was taken aback for a moment, then obediently lifted his clothes—in his view, they were both men, and had bathed together, so what was a little lifting of clothes?
After lifting the outer garment, there was still an inner garment left, which Yu Shishu couldn’t lift up at the same time. He Fangchuan simply reached out and rolled up the inner garment for him, revealing Yu Shishu’s reddened waist and abdomen.
“Cold.” A gust of wind blew by, and Yu Shishu got goosebumps all over his body. He hurriedly tried to put the clothes down, but He Fangchuan pressed his hand down: “Don’t move.”
Yu Shishu wanted to ask what would happen if he got cold, but then he saw He Fangchuan raise his hand, take off his own outer garment, and drape it over Yu Shishu.
The man’s clothes seemed to still carry his scent, and Yu Shishu’s heart skipped a beat for no reason. He quickly attributed this to the cold he’d been feeling earlier, and hastily reached out to wrap himself tightly in He Fangchuan’s clothes, exposing only his waist and abdomen. He cautiously asked, “Is the injury serious? I can’t feel any pain.”
He Fangchuan thought it must not hurt; it was probably just numb from the pain.
“Let’s go to my room. I have some medicinal powder there; applying it will make you feel much better.” He Fangchuan released his grip, and the clothes brushed against the wound. Yu Shishu immediately jumped up in pain: “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” Startled,
He Fangchuan quickly rolled up his clothes again. A breeze blew, and Yu Shishu felt the burning, stinging, and hot sensation subside somewhat. The two of them, still in this strange position, helped each other into the room.
Of course, it was He Fangchuan’s room.
Yu Shishu was helped to sit on the edge of the bed. He Fangchuan turned to rummage through a small cabinet for medicinal powder. The man behind him glanced down at his own miserable state and suddenly laughed, “Looks like my pampered nature is ingrained in my bones. Even at a time like this, I’m still quite delicate. A simple fall can cause this much damage.”
“Don’t say that. It’s because there were too many stones on the ground. I’ll clean them up tomorrow.” He Fangchuan paused before continuing, “It’s what a master should do. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Those twenty-three copper coins don’t need to be taken to such extremes,” Yu Shishu said softly. He Fangchuan didn’t hear what he said clearly. When he turned to look at him, the latter curled his lips, revealing a canine tooth: “I didn’t say anything.”
“Found it.” He Fangchuan held a small white jade bottle containing medicinal powder and a new roll of gauze. Yu Shishu hurriedly said, “Isn’t that unnecessary? I’m not that badly injured, am I?”
Without further ado, He Fangchuan skillfully treated the abrasions on his waist and abdomen, finally tying a knot in the gauze. He said softly, “Did you see what the thief looked like?”
Yu Shishu was studying the knot he had tied. Hearing this, he paused, “I remember. What’s wrong?”
“If I were to draw it, could you describe it?” He Fangchuan washed the medicinal powder off his hands, took out a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone from somewhere, and spread them out on the table with a flourish. He said with an air of authority, “If this person is wanted by the government, we might be able to earn a reward. What do you think?”
Yu Shishu’s eyes lit up, and he forgot about the cold. He eagerly leaned closer, recalling the thief’s appearance in the darkness, and described it to He Fangchuan in detail. He Fangchuan listened for a while and then wrote several strokes. The two heads were now close together, casting a shadow in the candlelight.
Outside, the red-crowned finches lowered their heads and grabbed the cage door, lifting it upwards. The two birds hopped out and quickly flew to the branch where the eagle was perched. Approaching its large claws, the younger sister, Azi, chirped, “That person is injured, will he be alright?”
The eagle lowered its head and touched its little head with its beak, saying in a deep voice, “Don’t worry, with the Phoenix Master here, he’ll be fine.”
“I think he’s a good person.” Azi glanced back into the house, then turned her head back and tucked it under her brother’s wing. “What do you think, Aqing?”
The little, plump bird, a size larger than his sister, tried to completely cover her with its wings, but being just a small bird, it couldn’t manage it. It had to settle for less, snuggling close to its sister. “I think so too. If it weren’t for him, our new home would already be in two pieces.”
At this point, all three birds looked at the broken cage that He Fangchuan had picked up and placed in the corner. The cage door was knocked off, and the entire cage was deformed; it was no longer suitable for birds.
Azi shook her tail and curled up into a little ball of fur: “I’m going to give him a present tomorrow!”
“Achoo—!” Yu Shishu wiped his nose, watched as He Fangchuan put away his brush and ink, picked up the portrait to look at it, and excitedly said, “Yes, yes, that’s him… Hey, where are you going so late at night?”
He Fangchuan folded the portrait twice and stuffed it into his clothes, glanced at Yu Shishu who was leaning against the table staring at him, turned around and picked him up and put him in bed: “You sleep, I’m going out for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“…I’m going to the outhouse.” He Fangchuan made up an excuse and left in a hurry, afraid that Yu Shishu would catch him.
However, as it turned out, he was completely overthinking it.
Yu Shishu found a comfortable position in bed and sighed: “He’s a good brother after all.”
We can already sleep in the same bed!
My brother is such a good person!
He Fangchuan stayed in the outhouse all night. Yu Shishu managed to stay awake until the latter half of the night, but the shock and injury eventually caused him to fall asleep. When he woke up, the birds outside were chirping, but not annoyingly.
He struggled to his feet and saw a new set of clothes beside his pillow. He silently noted the cost of the two sets of clothes before getting dressed and opening the door.
The courtyard had been tidied up, and all the pebbles were collected in a small basket in the corner. He Fangchuan, having changed his clothes, was feeding the birds.
“Awake? Breakfast is over there.” He Fangchuan heard his footsteps, turned around, and pointed to the stone table. “And a reward.”
Yu Shishu was stunned. “Huh? What reward?”
He limped to the table and indeed saw several fried dough sticks and a small money bag. It wasn’t the purple money bag He Fangchuan always carried, but an ordinary yellow cloth money bag with the official seal of the Junzhou City government.
“This…this must be a lot of money, right? That thief is worth so much? What did he do?” Yu Shishu exclaimed in astonishment. This was the first time he had held so much money since he had been away from home. The heavy money bag filled him with both surprise and delight.
He Fangchuan broke the apple in his hand in half and stuffed both halves into the eagle’s cage. The eagle looked at him with disdain, so He Fangchuan had to give him a whole apple instead. Only then did the eagle go to enjoy his breakfast with satisfaction.
“The officials said that he ran into his master while stealing and killed someone. He’s been wanted for a long time, but I didn’t expect him to have been hiding in Junzhou City all this time,” He Fangchuan explained. “I think this amount of money is too little…”
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by someone who suddenly leaned in front of him. Yu Shishu grabbed his arm and looked him up and down, only letting out a sigh of relief after confirming that he wasn’t injured: “…You, how did you beat up that murderer?”
“I didn’t fight him,” He Fangchuan said seriously. “I reasoned with him.”
Yu Shishu: “Huh?”
“Looks like he still has some humanity left. He listened to me and obediently went with me to the government office to turn himself in,” He Fangchuan said seriously, leaving Yu Shishu stunned. The eagle flapped its wings behind him, and He Fangchuan took something out of the side and handed it to Yu Shishu: “Here, your little box.”
Yu Shishu’s attention immediately shifted from “how his handsome and refined brother could reform a heartless murderer” to the small golden-wood box in his hand: “I forgot about this! Thank you, brother!”
He rushed forward and gave He Fangchuan a tight hug, excitedly sitting down at the table with the box in his arms to examine the tools inside. He Fangchuan
hadn’t expected the hug. The eagle, exasperated, clapped its beaks together behind him—”Phoenix Lord, how can you be so spineless! A hug and you’re already dead?!”
“Look!” Yu Shishu suddenly pulled a small wooden figure from a box, beckoned He Fangchuan to sit down, and once he was seated opposite him, he waved the figure in front of him. “Can you recognize it?”
The carving was incredibly lifelike; He Fangchuan immediately recognized it as a portrait of himself. Taking it from Yu Shishu, he exclaimed in surprise, “Did you make this?”
“Yes, I made it in my spare time before bed last night,” Yu Shishu nodded. “It’s for you. Do you like it?”
“I love it.” He Fangchuan examined the palm-sized wooden figure from all angles. “By the way, have you ever thought about making money from this?”
“Making money? Don’t even mention it. Who’s going to buy my wood carvings these days?” Yu Shishu said self-deprecatingly. “I’m a notorious heartless man.”
Seeing his dejected expression, He Fangchuan patted the back of his hand. “Don’t worry, I have a way.”
Yu Shishu grabbed his hand tightly, the warm touch making He Fangchuan’s heart skip a beat, as if some inappropriate emotion was welling up inside him. However, the next second, Yu Shishu blocked it back with his own hand.
“Brother! You’re such a good person!”