Believing that he was at loggerheads with Axiu, Qian Wanjin firmly refused to sleep in the same room as him.
In the end, adhering to moral principles, he got on his carriage, and headed to his own domain in the county town guided by the light of the moon and the stars for the night.
The spring night was chilly, the moonlight was hazy and dim, and the stars in the night sky were sparse.
The carriage behind Da Huang was very quiet, but he paid attention to the movement inside as he drove the carriage. Fearing that his young master was unhappy, he carefully advised, "Young Master, don't be sad…"
"Which eye did you see that I'm sad?" The young man's voice came out lazily and paused. "Da Huang, what would you do if a disfigured, stinky beggar appeared before you?"
"Pinch my nose and walk away?" Unsure of the purpose of his young master's question, Da Huang answered with trepidation.
"That's why you can only be a servant."
"…" So, Young Master was actually just in a bad mood, taking a swipe at him! "Young Master, what about the Liu's?"
"The Liu's… that's a family that you can trust with your back." Hidden in the darkness, the teenager thought of something, and his eyes were dyed with a smile. "If one day, this Young Master falls from grace, among those who will lend me a helping hand will be the Liu family. Do you believe it? I can go to their house and freeload, and grandpa and grandma are also guaranteed to be distressed."
The more he talked, the thicker the smile rippling out of his eyes.
Da Huang in the front of the carriage secretly scoffed. Addicted to calling them grandma and grandpa. Master, your own grandparents are in the capital!
Still, he surrendered. "I naturally believe it; the Liu family is different. They searched for a person, who couldn't bring benefits to their family, on year's end. In the end, they brought a disfigured person back without half a hint of dislike. In the future, if Young Master is in real trouble, they will definitely treat Young Master even better than Axiu with all these years of friendship."
"Really?"
"Of course it's true! Why else would Young Master think so highly of them? Right?"
"Drive well and stop jabbering! You're talking too much!"
"…" How suffocating he was, only Da Huang knew.
In the bedroom of the two elderly of the Liu family, the faint yellow fire was still burning.
Grandma Liu sat on the bed with her coat on, her eyes red, and from time to time she raised her hand to wipe her tears.
"How much do you think that child suffered outside? Hw did he become like this…"
"What are you saying? No matter what, it's good that the child is back and alive. So, why are you crying again? If the kid sees it, he'll be upset." Grandpa Liu scolded.
"That's why I've put up with it for so long. Can't I even cry a little now that I'm back in my room? Wanrong is gone, and Axiu has lost his mother all of a sudden, and has suffered so much. This is too heartbreaking for me!"
"Be kind to the child if your heart hurts. As long as he's still here, everything can slowly get better."
"He was such a good child before, but now he's idiotic; not to mention, his face is ruined. Old man, do you think Xiu'er's face can still be cured? Why don't you go to town tomorrow to the county medical center and ask?"
"Okay, I'll go tomorrow, so stop crying. Hurry up and go to sleep, else you'll wake up with red and swollen eyes. Don't worry the children."
The same conversation also replayed in the other two bedrooms. The lights in the main house until midnight weren't snuffed out.
While the adults were worrying about the children, in the other west wing, Liu Yusheng and Axiu were still fighting.
The young man refused to go to bed and nestled into a corner with her in his arms.
"That's a bed. It's for sleeping. Lie down and get comfortable." Word by word, she repeatedly conveyed the meaning countless times, but the young man remained wide-eyed.
In the end, Liu Yusheng gritted her teeth, broke away from his embrace, flew to the bed and lay flat, smiling sweetly. "It's really comfortable. Brother Axiu, do you want to try it?"
When she said that, Liu Yusheng's heart trembled, inexplicably thinking of Granny Wolf seducing and bewitching Little Red Riding Hood and giving herself goose bumps.
Her whole face was feverish.
Good thing, she was still young and so was he.
It wouldn't make others think any more crookedly…
The young man tilted his head and stared at the little child lying on the bed for a long while, then slowly moved.
Moved onto the bed.
When he lay down, the novelty in his eyes surfaced, and the soft and warm feeling beneath him distracted him for a moment.
"Comfortable? The mattress is soft, isn't it?" Liu Yusheng sat up, pulled the quilt that was stacked on the end of the bed over and unfolded it, covering the young man. "Brother Axiu, it's a bit cold; you have to cover yourself with a quilt when you sleep at night, or you'll easily get wind chill. Touch it, this is the quilt."
She pulled the young man's hand to caress the soft cotton quilt, taking him to feel the touch that was new to him.
The blanket had been dried during the day and carried a refreshing smell and a faint scent of soap.
At the moment, he resembled a child who had just come into contact with something new. His every move and every glance revealed bewilderment and curiosity, and wonder.
"Have a good night's sleep; I'm next door, see you tomorrow, Brother Axiu." She bid him goodnight, and before the teenager fully regained consciousness, Liu Yusheng flew out and closed the door after her.
Any later, and she probably wouldn't be able to leave.
At her current age, although the great preservation of men and women wasn't too obvious yet, she would still be shy if she really had to sleep under the same blanket. Axiu was already half a teenager, and she, too, wasn't really only six.
The door closed with a soft thud. The young man covered with a blanket and only had his head to show, looked at the closed door with his dark eyes, and blinked.
After a whole day in fluctuating moods, plus a few years in a tense state of mind, Liu Yusheng relaxed abruptly after finding him. Physical exhaustion also swept in like an overwhelming sea.
Once she went back to her room, she immediately fell asleep.
It's been three years, and finally, she could sleep soundly.
In the middle of the night, when she was dazed in her sleep, she heard the sound of the door opening. Half asleep and half awake, there seemed to be a movement beside her bed.
Liu Yusheng laboriously opened her eyes, and dimly saw a dark shadow curled up beside her bed.
She was so scared that she jolted up in an instant, her sleepy bugs instantly gone.
"…Brother Axiu?"
The shadow moved, as if in response to her words.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Liu Yusheng breathed a sigh of relief, moved to the side of the bed and probed the teenager's palm. It was cold. She didn't know how long he had been squatting beside the bed.
His clear voice was stiff and crisp, faint in the darkness, with a little tired husk. "Shengsheng, here."
So, he was looking for her?
Her nose was suddenly sore, for his lack of security.
"Do you want to come up and sleep with me?" She asked.
The teenager stood up so quickly that his legs, paralyzed from squatting too long, couldn't keep up with the reaction and he tumbled onto the bed in one fell swoop.
The pressure made Liu Yusheng grimace and bare her teeth, and then puffed out a laugh.
Idiot.
Fortunately, since she turned four, she asked to sleep alone, and a separate room was built for her in the house.
If she still slept with her parents, and he came in the middle of the night, there was no telling what that scene would look like.