Chapter 41 - Except for the small loyal dog, everyone is stressing me out.
At midnight, Doctor Lu knocked on the door, I was still half awake but Ye Tan had already gotten up to answer. I heard the Doctor say that the life of that seriously injured man was hanging on by a thread and he needed a few precious medicinal ingredients to extend his life, they weren’t some sort of panacea and could be obtained with some money, but Yangxi was not a large city and he feared there usually weren’t many medicine shops in town, and he couldn’t afford to waste time travelling to the surrounding large region.
I was a bit worried, and Doctor Lu spoke again: “Perhaps some of Yangxi’s rich families have some stocked.”
Of the rich families here I only know Yang Qingzhou, and I believed our friendship could maybe probably be considered pretty good, so I should be able to borrow some medicinal ingredients from him and make up for it in the future. I hurriedly got Doctor Lu to write out the prescription and dragged Ye Tan to go to Yang Lake.
Before we left, I stole a quick glance at Ye Lan’s room. The lights were on but nobody was speaking, so I didn’t know if they had been up all night or not.
We stole a boat to cross to the island in the centre of the lake, but the main doors of the Yang Lake Residence were locked. We knocked on the door and asked the young servants on night duty to report that we wanted to go in, and a short time later we were welcomed inside the manor.
As we came in, Yang Qingzhou had hurriedly gotten up, he was wearing a broad gown tied by a loose belt, and there was still some drowsiness in his eyes, but he wasn’t angry for having been disturbed in the middle of the night and he still smiled and apologised for his lack of manners, his self-cultivation was indeed excellent. However, a few discontented mutters came from Yang Su inside his room, perhaps complaining that we were being too noisy.
Yang Qingzhou lowered his voice and said: “My younger brother is irritable when woken up, let us talk in another place.”
We had just gone out into the courtyard when I told him in full detail how other people came to steal the sword, how we accidentally injured a man and now he was in imminent danger, and how we needed his help.
Yang Qingzhou bowed his head and looked at the prescription, but he didn’t reply how I expected, and instead asked: “Must you save him?”
I was confused: “Why do you say such a thing?”
Yang Qingzhou smoothed out the fabric on his lapel, and slowly said: “These scoundrels have repeatedly invaded your territory, putting Young Master Jun in danger with their sinister motives, it could be said that his death would not be worth caring about. This inside information is unknown, and the thugs that came were not good, so why would Young Master Jun personally come pay me a visit this late at night and offer to owe me a favour?”
His words confused me, and I didn’t understand what he said, so I asked: “You don’t want to?”
“Since Young Master Jun opened his mouth, I’ve had no reason to refuse.” He turned the conversation around, “It’s just that I can’t understand why Young Master Jun must do this.”
Since he agreed, why did he bother to make such a large turn?
“If you can teach them a lesson, these scoundrels will stop picking fights and starting trouble, and your future will be much more peaceful.”
I hurriedly said: “It’s a human life after all, how could it be used as a warning against people. There must be another way to really get peace.”
Hey, I have to admit watching Ye Xiao fighting with them every day is actually quite fun. If it wasn’t for today’s incident with Ye Lan, I would think that all the noise and excitement was very good.
Yang Qingzhou didn’t make a sound and didn’t move, so I added: “You are my only friend here, so I had to trouble you. We need these ingredients urgently, but I will certainly make it up to you double in the future.”
When he hear this, Yang Qingzhou’s expression changed slightly: “Young Master Jun.... you consider me your friend?”
I nodded: “Brother Yang is reasonable and amiable, I really like you.”
Yang Qingzhou immediately glanced around, looking at the door and then looking at Ye Tan, and took a step back in a rush: “Young Master Jun,” he coughed, “these words are not to be said lightly.”
I was disappointed: “Brother Yang, you don’t want to be my friend?”
“That is not what I meant.... It would be my good fortune to be Young Master Jun’s friend.” He smiled gently, and lowered his head as he said: “Since it’s like this, there is no need to be so formal, call me Qingzhou.”
I nodded: “Qingzhou. In that case you don’t need to call me Young Master Jun, just call me Xuanheng.” It turns out making friends requires a mutual acknowledgement, I thought one-sidedly thinking so was good enough. It seems like in the future I will need to confirm each and every one.
“My humble home does indeed have these ingredients, it’s not a big deal, consider it as a token of my appreciation.” He folded the prescription and handed it to a young servant, instructing him to hurry, and he swiftly went to the warehouse to fetch the package.
We stood on the open courtyard as we waited.
The weather was already very cold, and it being late night and outdoors made it more so. Tree branches rustled in the air and I shivered as the night wind blew, I couldn’t help but turn to Ye Tan and lean into his arms. We had left in a hurry, and neither of us had worn a coat, Ye Tan wanted to take off his inner shirt and give it to me but I had to stop him.
Upon seeing this, Yang Qingzhou softly and quietly took out two cloaks from inside and handed them to us, apologising: “I shouldn’t have let my honourable guests wait in the garden, but these past few days our guest rooms have all been filled, and we really don’t have any unoccupied space, so excuse my poor performance.”
“Hey, it doesn’t matter, we were in a rush.” Just then the young servant ran up to us, stuffing the medicine into my hands, I was in a hurry to return and couldn’t be too polite, so I said as I left, “I’ll go back first, and call someone to make it up to you in the next two days.”
Yang Qingzhou waved his hand: “There’s no need to be in a hurry for a while, it’s the Winter Solstice tomorrow and the Yang Lake will be very busy, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to properly receive guests. You can come again next time you have time and sit for a while.”
“Oh, it’s the Winter Solstice?” I knew about this festival, it will certainly have many activities, and my eyes couldn’t help but sparkle.
Yang Qingzhou: “Precisely. Yangxi places a lot of value in the Winter Solstice, it’s lakeside temple fair is known far and wide. The guests in my residence also came down specifically to appreciate the lanterns. Since Xuanheng came in time for it, you will unavoidably regret not going to see.”
I agreed repeatedly, and finally took my leave.
When we returned to Yun Garden, I handed everything over to Doctor Lu so he could make the decoction. After they closed the door, I tightly wrapped my cloak around me and leaned against Ye Tan, constantly yawning, Ye Tan wrapped his arms around me to prevent me from slipping off his shoulder, and said in a quiet voice: “This subordinate will wait, you can go back to the room and sleep.”
That’s right, I still wanted to go have fun after daybreak, so I had to save up my energy. With this idea in mind, I asked: “A-Tan, how should I celebrate the Winter Solstice? Do I need to make any preparations?”
Ye Tan bowed his head and apologised: “This subordinate doesn’t know.”
“A-Tan, you’ve never celebrated?” I asked.
Ye Tan said in a low voice: “Yes.”
Thinking about it, he had spent his childhood growing up being pushed to his limits by the Nightrunner, and afterwards with his two masters he was even more busy being a scapegoat and didn’t have time to rest, I felt really sorry for him. I tugged at his cloak and patted his back, earnestly saying: “How lonely, I’ll make it all up to you in the future.”
Ye Tan looked at me, pursing his lips into a thin line, and nodded solemnly.
I turned my head and saw Ye Xiao’s room still had the lights on, I thought he might have indulged in the fun before, but I wasn’t sure, so I said: “Then I will go ask Ye Xiao.”
The door was unlocked, so I slipped quietly inside the room. There was still a few trails of blood seeping out of the bandages on Ye Lan’s forehead, he was sitting upright on the side of the bed, eyes open with a blank expression on his face. Ye Xiao was lying down on the edge of the bed, head resting on Ye Lan’s lap, already asleep.
When Ye Lan saw me, he gestured towards me to keep silent so as to not wake him up.
Hey, this person treats others so cruelly and he can still sleep so peacefully, I’m already being kind by not beating him up.
I went into the room, grabbed Ye Xiao, and shook him violently: “Wake up scumbag!”
“Aiyo, alright alright, boss, don’t shake me don’t shake me!” Ye Xiao looked at me drowsily as he got free of my grasp, asking as he yawned, “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
“Ye Lan is still injured, how can you treat a handicapped person like this, why would one mentally deficient person make things difficult for another?” Ever since I knew about Ye Lan’s brain not working, it could be said that I wanted to take good care of him, so every time I found Ye Xiao bullying him it made me want to beat him up.
“Yes yes yes okay okay okay, if there’s nothing else then I’ll go back to sleep.” Ye Xiao half-heartedly said these few words and hid from my view behind Ye Lan, lying back down.
I remembered what I came to do: “Oh, right. It’s the Winter Solstice tomorrow, do you know what you do for the Winter Solstice? Do I need to make any preparations first?”
Ye Xiao: “What’s the Winter Solstice.”
I: “......”
Sigh, this useless person, what’s the use of having you.
I was forced to return without having accomplished anything: “If you don’t know then forget it. I heard the temple fair will be tomorrow evening, let’s go look around together then.” When Ye Xiao heard this, he jumped up from the bed: “Wow! The temple fair! I’ve never been to one before!” Then he froze and went back, complaining “oh my I’m dying I’m too tired say it again once I’ve woken up.....” and he fell back asleep before he finished speaking.
I turned to look at Ye Lan, asking: “Does it still hurt?”
Ye Lan shook his head.
I said: “Then rest properly first, we’re going out tomorrow.”
Ye Lan remained sitting upright, looking seriously at me, but I didn’t know if he had understood or not.
I had no option but to repeat myself: “Ye Lan, lie down, go to sleep.”
Ye Lan remained unmoving.
I lifted my hand and hit Ye Xiao on the head: “You take care of it.”
Ye Xiao sighed miserably, holding his head, then circled his arms around Ye Lan’s waist and pulled him down, pushing him into place and carelessly saying: “Sleep.” With this, Ye Lan closed his eyes.
I finally felt relieved and went out the door, I was really mentally and physically exhausted and felt just like a nanny for kindergarteners.
When I came out of the room, I saw Ye Tan standing, bathed in moonlight, waiting for me. As the clear light shone over him, his brows and eyes looked even more gentle and soft. I didn’t know why, but suddenly I felt like crying a bit, and I couldn’t help but sniffle.
I felt like everyone in the entire world was stressing me out, especially that spicy chicken1 Ye Xiao.
Only my A-Tan has obediently listened to me from the very beginning, being able to pick him up was truly fortunate.
Ye Tan wondered: “Master?”
“Sigh, it’s nothing. I didn’t get any answers, it doesn’t matter, we can wait until tomorrow morning and ask Qiqi.” I was quickly getting tired, so I hurriedly dragged Ye Tan to sleep.
We are a garden of grown men, but we have to rely on this little girl to feed us and to wash our clothes, and since none of us know how to celebrate this holiday, now we also have to rely on this little girl to teach us. I’m ashamed, really ashamed.
The Disabled Person’s Association lives up to it’s name.
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1 Means trash, since it sounds like 垃圾 lājī which is literally trash/garbage. Top.