Xie Licheng found him in the small side courtyard of Gu Changyuan's residence. Gu Changyuan's courtyard was quite large, with a small side courtyard adjacent to it.
The side courtyard was a garden, complete with a small pond.
Gu Changyuan had built a pavilion by the pond, and at this moment he was leaning against the railing inside, leisurely feeding the fish.
When he suddenly spotted Yanqiao bringing Xie Licheng to see him, he paused his movements and gave a soft smile.
Soon Xie Licheng arrived outside the pavilion. He was well aware that he didn't look his best right now, and the smell emanating from him probably wasn't pleasant either.
Looking at the celestial young master seated in the pavilion, he worried that his appearance might startle him.
Xie Licheng stood outside and said to Gu Changyuan, "Young master, I went up the mountain these past few days and hunted some fine things. I wanted to bring some to you as a gift."
Gu Changyuan said softly, "What fine things? Bring them over and let me have a look."
Hearing this, Xie Licheng glanced at Yanqiao, hoping he would help carry the items inside.
But Yanqiao made no move. He thought to himself, since you've already come all this way, you should deliver the gift yourself.
Yanqiao, like Xuancui, had been by the eldest young master's side since childhood, and understood their master's thoughts better than others.
Their young master was usually too busy, burdened with the responsibility of caring for the entire Gu family, leaving little that could bring him joy.
Now that the young master had finally taken an interest in someone—whether for their looks or out of curiosity for some other reason—they, as servants, naturally needed to be more perceptive.
Sometimes they needed to create opportunities for them, even if this person was merely a lowly stable hand. As long as he could make the young master feel entertained and happy, that was enough.
Yanqiao bent his knees slightly toward Gu Changyuan. "Master, this servant still has matters to attend to, so I won't disturb your enjoyment of the fish here."
As he said this and turned to leave, he cast a smiling glance at Xie Licheng.
Seeing him standing there dirty and looking foolish, Yanqiao cursed him inwardly as a big oaf before trotting off and exiting the side courtyard.
Since Yanqiao had left and Xuancui hadn't come along, the entire small side courtyard now held only Xie Licheng and Gu Changyuan.
Xie Licheng looked at Gu Changyuan, who seemed to have no intention of rising from his seat in the pavilion, and had no choice but to carry his things inside himself.
He reeked of blood, so he didn't dare get too close.
He stopped about two meters away from Gu Changyuan and set down the bamboo basket strapped to his back.
Xie Licheng said, "Young master, these things may not look very appealing, but they're all excellent for nourishing the body. Please don't disdain them—you must have them cooked and eaten."
The deer he had hunted wasn't a wild one from outside, so it wouldn't carry germs or viruses, and its meat was far more delicious than typical prey.
Deer are also highly nourishing. Whether the meat, the blood, or any other part, all can be used medicinally.
Because Gu Changyuan had been kind to him, helping and saving him on multiple occasions, and knowing his health wasn't great, Xie Licheng wanted to give him something to build up his strength.
Xie Licheng only set down the basket without directly showing him the contents.
Seeing this, Gu Changyuan asked, "What is it?"
Xie Licheng answered, "Venison, deer blood, antlers, deer bone, and a live rabbit."
He recalled that last time, Xie Licheng had given him a dead rabbit. Gu Changyuan had only asked casually then, never expecting him to turn around and bring a live one this time.
Gu Changyuan said, "A rabbit, is it? Bring it over and let me see."
Xie Licheng hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but still pulled the rabbit out from the basket.
The rabbit's fur was stained with blood, making its snowy white coat look rather unsightly.
Thinking that Gu Changyuan wanted to see it, Xie Licheng wiped the rabbit's fur with his clothes before carrying it over to present before him.
Gu Changyuan was indeed somewhat disgusted—disgusted by the bloodstains on the rabbit, and disgusted by Xie Licheng's rough appearance.
Gu Changyuan didn't reach out to take the rabbit. Instead, he raised his hand and lightly tapped the back of Xie Licheng's hand with his fingertip.
Xie Licheng's hands were rough, though that didn't mean they were truly ugly.
His frame was large, and his hand bones were long.
When he gripped the rabbit with force, the veins on the back of his hand stood out, carrying an indescribable sense of power.
Gu Changyuan tapped his hand lightly, his snow-white, delicate fingertip forming a striking contrast against Xie Licheng's slightly darker skin.
That single tap sent an electric current racing through Xie Licheng's entire arm.
It was as if a hand were scratching back and forth at his heart.
Fortunately, Gu Changyuan only tapped him once; otherwise, given Xie Licheng's hot-tempered nature, he might not have been able to stop himself from grabbing that hand.
That slender, fair, and soft hand—he would have clenched it tightly in his own palm…
Gu Changyuan said, "How have you grown thinner again? And you seem to have gotten darker too. Did you get hurt on this trip up the mountain?"
His voice was gentle, his speech slow and measured.
Combined with the sensation of his touch on Xie Licheng's hand just now, Xie Licheng felt that Gu Changyuan at this moment was like a beautiful serpent eyeing its prey.
It was that kind of snow-white, beautiful, alluringly fragrant beauty snake.
Xie Licheng took a deep breath. "This one hasn't gotten thinner."
As he said this, he glanced at his personal status panel.
His current weight was 61 kilograms—he'd gained two jin in just a few days, which was a very, very fast rate of weight gain.
Xie Licheng explained, "It's probably because I've gotten tanned, and since I've been exercising, my flesh is firmer now, so it looks like I've lost weight."
But Gu Changyuan wasn't quite convinced. "Really? You're not just saying that because you're afraid I won't let you go up the mountain anymore, and you wouldn't tell me if you got hurt, would you?"
Xie Licheng truly hadn't been injured—he was actually quite good to himself.
If he had accidentally gotten hurt, he would definitely have played up his misery in front of Gu Changyuan, then squeezed some benefits out of him.
Xie Licheng: "I really wasn't injured this time. If the young master doesn't believe what this one says, you can have a male slave examine this one's body."
Xie Licheng was just saying that offhandedly—he figured Gu Changyuan was a young master, while he himself was a man and a lowly slave. Even if Gu Changyuan cared about him, he wouldn't care enough to actually have someone examine his body.
But to Xie Licheng's slight surprise, Gu Changyuan actually did want to have someone check his body.
Gu Changyuan said, "Alright then, I'll have my wet nurse examine you. Although she's a woman, she's an elderly matron—you shouldn't mind, right?"
Xie Licheng wanted to say he did mind, but as a Criminal Slave who had grown up in the slave camp his whole life, he wasn't exactly that precious.
Xie Licheng pretended to be magnanimous. "This one's life is worthless, so of course I don't mind."
Afterwards, Xie Licheng went to the main courtyard and was led into a room by Gu Changyuan's wet nurse.
There was a peony-patterned folding screen in the room. He instinctively glanced toward the screen, feeling a faint, strange sensation in his heart—could someone be hiding behind that screen?
But then he thought again—there was nothing good to see on him anyway.
He wasn't some untouched young maiden. He was very thin now and covered in scars. What was there to secretly peek at on someone like him?
With that thought, Xie Licheng took off his upper garment and turned to look at the wet nurse behind him.
He was facing away from the screen, so naturally he didn't see that someone had silently appeared behind it.
That someone was none other than Gu Changyuan, covering his mouth with a handkerchief.
He hadn't wanted to come peek, but his wet nurse had said that if he wanted to take a carriage driver as a concubine, he needed to be more careful.
A carriage driver was different from ordinary commoners—if he carried some filthy disease or had some physical problem, it would pose many dangers to him.
Also, Gu Changyuan was a young master, and young masters were different from men taking concubines—he still needed to be cautious, or else if he suffered a great loss, there would be nowhere to complain.
Gu Changyuan had been raised by his wet nurse, as his birth mother was always away from home taking care of his younger brother.
In matters like this, he naturally trusted his wet nurse's words more.
…
Gu Changyuan's wet nurse was not young anymore—she was already the mother of two children.
Her youngest child was much older than Gu Changyuan himself.
Facing such an older woman, Xie Licheng had nothing to be shy about.
Besides, he hadn't stripped completely naked—he'd only taken off his upper garment.
In his previous life, when he went swimming at the beach, he'd only worn a pair of shorts, which was far more revealing than this.
The older woman… no wait, the wet nurse, circled around him with a serious expression.
Then she had Xie Licheng roll up his pant legs for her to see.
As she looked, she commented, "A body full of scars—no matter how much or how good the medicine, they won't fade. And far too thin—with such a tall frame, there's barely any flesh on you, just bones left. But at least the bone structure is good—broad shoulders, narrow waist, long arms and legs. With proper care in the future, this body will turn out quite nice."
Xie Licheng wanted to say, "Auntie, are you buying vegetables or buying meat? Why are you being so picky?"
But remembering that she was an elder, Xie Licheng suppressed the urge to talk back.
Wet nurse: "Alright, don't put your clothes back on. Take a bath here in a bit, change into new clothes, and then leave."
Because the body examination had interrupted his thoughts, Xie Licheng forgot the main purpose of his visit.
It wasn't until Xuancui escorted him out of the inner residence that he remembered he still had things to tell Gu Changyuan.
By then it was getting late, and he couldn't very well shamelessly go back.
So he turned to Xuancui and said, "Miss Xuancui, a few days ago, several low-ranking male slaves moved into the courtyard where this one stays. They seem to have misunderstood this one's relationship with the eldest young master. They said something about wanting this one to teach them how to please the eldest young master. This one is worried they might offend the eldest young master in the future, so I hope Miss Xuancui can remind the eldest young master to be careful when you return."
Xuancui laughed upon hearing this. She tilted her head up slightly to look at Xie Licheng and said, "So the reason you insisted on going to the young master's courtyard today was for this matter?"
"Not entirely, I mainly came to deliver something for the eldest young master."
Xuancui: "Alright, I understand. You don't need to worry about such matters. The young master isn't someone they can see just because they want to. You should just focus on fattening yourself up."
As she said this, she scanned him up and down with a cheerful smile.
By the time Xie Licheng returned to his own courtyard, the little wolf inside was so hungry it was tugging at his pant legs.
While Xie Licheng prepared food for the little wolf, he couldn't help but feel that today's events were a bit strange.
Could it be… that the rumors from the Gu family were true, and the eldest young master really had taken a liking to him?
But then several days passed in a row, and Xie Licheng never saw Gu Changyuan again.
He began to wonder if his body hadn't met the standards, and Gu Changyuan had thus cast him into the cold palace.
Xie Licheng was amused by his own thoughts and didn't dwell too much on the matter.
Nothing was more important than leveling up now. Once the chaotic era arrived, looks were secondary—what mattered most for a man was his combat power.
Afterward, Xie Licheng left the city once more, and this trip lasted nearly half a month.
When he finally returned from outside, Gu Changyuan seemed to have suddenly remembered him and unexpectedly asked to take him on a long journey together.