Chapter 75: The Bandit of That Year
As soon as these words were spoken, Qingyan couldn”t help but lower his head in embarrassment. The hand placed on his chest didn’t move at all, contrasting starkly with his words.
He knew Qiu Henian had been watching him all this time, but he dared not lift his head to meet his gaze.
After a while, the silent man reached out and lightly traced Qingyan’s cheek with his index finger, causing Qingyan’s body to tremble slightly.
After that, the man’s voice, husky, murmured, “Do you really like it that much?”
Qingyan’s eyelashes fluttered, and he murmured, “Mm.”
After a while, the man asked again, “Do you want to take a good look?”
Qingyan hesitated for a moment and then exclaimed, “Huh?”
His gaze darted nervously to meet the man’s eyes, hesitating for a long time before answering.
The man said, “It’s late. If you don’t want to, just sleep.”
Qingyan quickly admitted, “I want to see it!”
Qiu Henian smiled, his lips curving upwards. Qingyan covered his face with both hands, making a distressed sound like a little embarrassed pig.
His waist was held tightly, and he was moved onto the bed. Afterwards, Qiu Henian got off the bed and stood by the bedside.
His clothes lay on the bed, and Qingyan swallowed nervously, lowering his hands from his face and looking up.
It was a strong, healthy male body, broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, with beautifully defined muscles, a physique any man would dream of having.
Especially that…
Qiu Henian walked boldly to Qingyan’s side without concealment, lowering his head to look at him and asking slowly, “Where are your eyes looking?”
Only then did Qingyan realize he had been staring too long, almost like a voyeur. He blushed so deeply that his face seemed to smoke, quickly averting his gaze and burying his face in his hands.
One of the man’s legs bent, half-kneeling, as he caught Qingyan’s wrist, urging him to show his face.
Then he asked, “Have you finished looking? If you have, I’ll get dressed.”
Qingyan looked at him, his eyes quickly scanning downwards, misting with tears. His lips moved, “You… you don’t…?”
He hesitated to finish his sentence, expecting the man to, as usual, indulge his desires.
However, Qiu Henian only stared at him with a focused gaze, asking, “I don’t what?”
Wide-eyed, Qingyan looked at him in disbelief, his face flushed, mouth slightly open, his breath in disarray.
“Qingyan,” Qiu Henian”s lips moved, “tell me what you want me to do, and only then will I know.”
Feeling bullied to the point of tears, Qingyan grasped the man”s shoulders, trembling as he leaned in close to his ear and whispered something.
Qiu Henian glanced down, his gaze darkening.
He looked at Qingyan, his throat moving as he said, “Just this once. Next time, whatever you want, you must tell me directly.”
Qingyan nodded vigorously, afraid the man might change his mind at that moment.
The canopy was pulled back, and after a long time, Qingyan finally received the affection he sought, feeling fulfilled and happy.
…
The next morning, when Qingyan woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Ah Miao had somehow been brought over at some point, curled up obediently next to his pillow. Seeing him awake, she purred and stood up to nuzzle him.
Qingyan lazily stretched a hand out from under the covers, rubbing her head, asking, “Ah Miao, are you hungry?”
The calico cat seemed to respond with a couple of meows.
Qingyan pretended to translate, “Not hungry, not hungry. The soft-hearted handsome man made delicious cat food. Ah Miao”s belly is full.”
Ah Miao purred in response, and Qingyan purred back. They played together on the bed for a while before getting up.
As he emerged from the covers, Qingyan noticed he was naked.
He teased Ah Miao, covering her eyes, “No peeping.”
Ah Miao ignored him, dodging backward and jumping under the bed, slipping out through the door crack.
Qingyan lazily put on his clothes, slipped on his shoes, and followed her to the outer room.
No one was in the house; the stove still had a fire burning, and the pot lid was tightly closed.
Qingyan bent over to lift the lid and saw inside a bowl of egg soup, two big steamed buns, and a plate of shredded meat and pickled vegetables.
He went back inside to wash his hands again, then laid out the food on the table and began to eat.
The weather was nice today, sunlight streaming through the cracks in the window. Qingyan squinted slightly as he ate, his face gradually reddening as he smiled at some thought.
Since the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather has been warming up. Qingyan opened the door for some fresh air; in the courtyard, the newly washed bedding and sheets were hung on the clothesline, even the pillowcases had been changed.
Qingyan blushed again as he recalled something.
The chicks were lazily pecking at their food. Today’s feeding dish was fuller than usual, with plenty for everyone, and they hadn’t made much of a dent in it despite having eaten since early morning.
Qingyan went to the chicken coop and felt around inside, indeed finding it empty; the eggs had already been taken back. He stretched lazily in the courtyard, tilting his head to let the sunlight shine on his face, turning back towards the house only after he had enough.
It was only then that he noticed his neighbor Chen Yu holding their newly born baby, also sunning in the yard.
Qingyan was in a great mood, giving him a bright smile and praising, “It’s strange, ever since you had little Jiuliang, I find you more and more pleasing.”
Chen Yu looked at him speechlessly, Qingyan waved at him, slipped his shoes on, and went back inside.
Once inside, Qingyan thought for a moment, found some rough cloth scraps from the cabinet, dug out some cotton, brought the sewing basket over, roughly measured the dimensions, then cut the fabric with scissors.
It was too tiring to always wash the bedding, so Qingyan planned to sew a pad, not too large, just enough for half a bed. Later at night, both of them paid a little more attention, washing only this small pad.
…
The incident where the village chief’s guest was beaten spread throughout the village for quite a while. It was said that the village chief reported it to the authorities that very day, but unfortunately, after several days of uproar, it ended without success, and no one was caught.
That night, Yang Huai’s parents came to pick up their son, and reportedly, upon seeing people, they were furious, cursing loudly so that nearby neighbors could clearly hear at home. They said they would never let Yang Huai come to this unlucky poor place again.
The county yamen runners didn’t catch the “bandits” who beat people up, but they did manage to make some progress in the case entrusted to Ren Xiaobai. It was just these past few days that Qin Lan took the child to her mother”s home to visit, and Ren Xiao also came, mentioning this matter to Qiu Henian.
They said that recently there have been people robbing merchants on the county”s official road. The yamen runners caught a gang of bandits in the mountains, among whom was an older person with a black mole at the corner of his eye, very similar to Qiu Henian”s description.
The key point was that through interrogation by the yamen runners, this old bandit, unable to endure the beating, confessed to everything, even revealing all the evil deeds he had done in recent years.
He didn’t just rob in the mountains; on normal days, he did odd jobs everywhere. Only when he couldn’t make ends meet would he take risks, joining a few hooligans to rob on the roads. The victims of the robbery were actually not many, and he was afraid in his heart, restless day and night, remembering every victim clearly.
Among them, one person’s description matched Qin Liangchuan”s appearance, whether from the year’s count or the description of his appearance.
Ren Xiaobai drank a bowl of tea, saying, “This bandit has caused loss of life and is involved in other cases. In a while, he will be taken to the provincial capital. I have already arranged everything. If you have any questions, go to the county jail these days and ask clearly.”
Qiu Henian got up and bowed to him, and Ren Xiao also got up to return the courtesy.
After that, Ren Xiao said, “I haven’t told Lanzi about this matter. She finally let go of it with great difficulty, and I don”t want her father”s affairs to bother her mind again.”
Qiu Henian nodded, “I understand.”
The next day, Qiu Henian went to the county town early. Qingyan originally wanted to accompany him, but the county jail was dirty and chaotic, not to mention the long-incarcerated prisoners. Even though he was not in danger going in, he would inevitably be frightened, so Qiu Henian did not let him go.
Qingyan anxiously waited at home, waiting until it was almost dark before Qiu Henian returned home in the cold wind.
Qingyan took off his coat and hurriedly asked, “How did it go?”
Qiu Henian glanced at him and said, “It’s him.”
Qingyan wanted to hang up the coat, but Qiu Henian stopped him and said, “Just leave it on the floor. I’ll wash all the clothes I’m wearing later.”
Qingyan was stunned for a moment, then understood his meaning, nodded in agreement, and put the coat into the empty basket on the floor.
The county jail was gloomy, and Qiu Henian was afraid of bringing back dirty things. While he was scrubbing, Qingyan stood by with a towel, waiting.
Qiu Henian said to him, “That person’s name is Liu Er. It was nearing the New Year at that time, and his family didn’t even have enough money to buy rice, let alone New Year goods. So he and a few good friends thought of robbing money. It wasn’t their first time doing this; they had already taken lives before, so they weren’t afraid and just went ahead.”
“That day, they saw Uncle Qin selling leather to a wealthy man on the street, and heard him say he was from Liuxi Village, without any influential background, so they targeted him. Among their group, one worked in a brothel and had some unethical drugs. With many people in the bustling market, for caution, they drugged Uncle Qin, then pretended to be familiar with a drunk friend, supporting him on both sides and taking him to a remote place in the mountains.”
“They found Uncle Qin’s silver, intending to kill him, but suddenly a passerby appeared in the mountain forest and scared them away.”
Qiu Henian dried his hands, looked at Qingyan, and said, “They mentioned that passerby; it should be me. Over these years, I have changed somewhat, and he no longer recognizes me.”
Qingyan frowned slightly, “If he doesn’t remember you, wouldn’t that effort be wasted?”
Qiu Henian shook his head, “It wasn’t wasted.”
“Why?”
“He told me that after they escaped, because Uncle Qin had opened his eyes groggily halfway up the mountain, they were worried he would report to the officials after waking up, so they daringly returned to that spot in the mountains.”
Qiu Henian narrowed his eyes, “When they returned, they happened to encounter the official heading to Nansheng for his post.”
“Ah!”
Qingyan exclaimed in surprise.
Qiu Henian said, “One of that official”s attendants was skilled in martial arts and scattered the bandits, capturing this person. He detailed their robbery of Uncle Qin.”
Qingyan opened his mouth, “But according to what Uncle Qin said, that official heading to Nansheng didn’t mention this; he… deliberately concealed it?”
Qiu Henian furrowed his brow and nodded, “Yes, very likely.”
He analyzed, “That official from Nansheng knew where Uncle Qin was from and what he had encountered, yet instead of sending him home, he took a comatose person all the way to Nansheng without much trouble. I asked Liu Er; apart from the drugs, they didn’t use anything else on Uncle Qin.”
“And according to my memory of bandaging Uncle Qin, his injuries were not serious, so he shouldn’t have remained unconscious for several days of travel.”
Qingyan’s fingers at his side moved slightly, looking at him, “That official from Nansheng has a problem.”
Qiu Henian nodded, “Exactly.”
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Feeling both heartache and helplessness, he sighed and pulled the weeping Qingyan into his arms, murmuring repeatedly, “Qingyan, my Qingyan…”
