Chapter 96: The Villain
Qingyan only ate half of a large bowl of noodles, and Chen Yu, standing beside him, wasn’t entirely pleased.
He said, “Is it not tasty enough for you?”
Qingyan shook his head sincerely, “It’s delicious, especially the soup. I just don’t have much of an appetite because of the illness, otherwise I would have finished it all.”
Pausing for a moment, he added, “Thank you for coming to take care of me.”
Chen Yu’s expression softened upon hearing this.
He said proudly, “Of course the soup is delicious. It’s a broth I brought from home, slow-cooked with live fish and lamb bones, and I even added a whole chicken. It’s especially fresh.”
Qingyan said, “When you have time, Chen Yu, can you teach me how to make it?”
Hearing this, Chen Yu’s mood improved further. He smiled but maintained a cool demeanor, “I’m at home during the day. You can come whenever you want, except during my noon nap.”
Qingyan understood better how to converse with him now.
He nodded and chuckled, “Then thank you in advance.”
After chatting with Chen Yu for a while, Qingyan began to feel tired. Finally realizing he was dealing with a patient, Chen Yu got up from the edge of the bed, moved the round table aside, and helped Qingyan lie down.
Xiao Jiuliang lay beside Qingyan, kicking and squirming, accidentally lifting Qingyan’s inner garment and exposing a large, flawless expanse of white chest and abdomen. There was a prominent red mole on his right rib, standing out against his fair skin.
Chen Yu also noticed the silk undergarment Qingyan wore beneath his clothes, soft and smooth like water, enveloping his tender body.
Qingyan smiled and gently squeezed Xiao Jiuliang’s small hand, pulling his garment back down. His own fingers were fair and slender, with rounded and glossy nails.
Jealousy bubbled up in Chen Yu, who discreetly hid his hand behind his back. He pouted and sat down on a chair beside the round table.
As Qingyan continued to talk with him, Chen Yu noticeably grew colder, responding with only brief grunts and keeping his replies under five words.
Qingyan thought he had figured out how to communicate with Chen Yu, but just when they had barely begun their conversation, he began to ignore him.
Despite this, Qingyan was grateful that Chen Yu was willing to come over.
As the two of them remained stiff, the courtyard gate creaked open, and footsteps announced the arrival of two people.
Chen Yu stood up, swiftly went to the outer room, and returned to the bedside after a while, wrapping Xiao Jiuliang’s swaddling cloth securely and fastening the sling.
Cheerfully, he said, “Your husband is back, and Wensheng has come to pick me up. I’m leaving.”
As she spoke, the door to the outer room also creaked open, and someone entered. Chen Yu hurried out.
Qingyan thanked him again, but Chen Yu waved him off before leaving the room.
The voices from the outer room soon faded, and the house grew quiet.
Qiu Henian entered from the outer room, holding a freshly opened large bundle of medicinal herbs. He placed the bundle on the table near the window and walked briskly to the bedside, observing Qingyan’s complexion.
He asked, “Still feeling uncomfortable?”
Qingyan shook his head. Seeing Qiu Henian remove his outer robe and wash his hands at the basin rack before drying them and returning to the bedside, Qingyan hesitated and asked, “Is it true?”
Qiu Henian knew what he was asking. His gaze softened like spring water.
He nodded, “It’s true.”
Qingyan lowered his eyelids, then raised them again, his eyelashes fluttering.
“This time… it’s not a mistake?”
Qiu Henian felt a pang in his heart, recalling Qingyan’s distress during the misunderstanding last time.
He nodded affirmatively again, “It’s not a mistake.”
His warm and large hand slipped under the blanket, gently resting on Qingyan’s belly.
He said softly, “Our child has been with us for a month and a half now.”
Qiu Henian paused for a moment, then bent down to kiss Qingyan’s forehead, whispering softly, “Qingyan, you’re carrying our baby. That’s amazing.”
Qingyan blinked, turned his head away, his cheeks reddening as he smiled.
Qiu Henian watched him, his own lips curling up into a smile.
He lowered his head to plant delicate kisses on Qingyan’s exposed neck, making Qingyan feel ticklish. Turning back, he giggled.
Qiu Henian gazed at him with lowered eyes, then leaned down once more to kiss Qingyan’s smiling lips.
After a long while, Qiu Henian finally pulled away. Qingyan was breathing lightly, their eyes locked, neither knowing who initiated it, but they kissed again.
…
In the evening, Qingyan’s appetite improved a bit. He drank a whole bowl of porridge and also ate some stir-fried vegetables.
After eating, after a period of digestion, he drank the medicinal soup that Qiu Henian had prepared for him.
The medicine was too bitter, and he almost spit it out. Qiu Henian had him rinse his mouth, and then he fed Qingyan a piece of preserved fruit, which helped him endure the bitterness.
Before going to sleep, Qingyan wanted to wash up on the ground, but Qiu Henian stopped him, saying the floor was cold and his body wasn’t yet fully recovered.
Qingyan thought about the child in his belly; he wasn’t afraid of the cold himself, but perhaps the little one inside might be. So he obediently sat cross-legged on the bed, humming random tunes while watching the tall man busying himself around the room.
The basin stand was pushed to the front of the bed, and the hot water kettle was placed beside the bed on the floor. Qiu Henian first had Qingyan brush his teeth, spitting the mouthwash into the foot basin.
After that, he emptied the dirty water, washed the basin, adjusted the warm water, placed the foot basin under the bed, sat on a low stool, rolled up his sleeves, and started washing Qingyan’s feet.
Qingyan’s feet were also fair and tender, but since opening a shop in town, he had been walking back and forth more often, developing a thin callus on the soles.
Qiu Henian’s rough fingertips touched the calluses, causing Qingyan to squirm from the ticklish sensation. Qiu Henian looked up at him and said, “In a few days, I’ll go find Liu, who is skilled with livestock. We need to buy the horses back as soon as possible.”
Qingyan responded softly with an “Mm.”
Qiu Henian continued, “When we go to the county, is there anything specific you’d like me to bring back for you?”
Qingyan thought for a moment and said, “I want the Sour Jujube Cakes from He Xiangzhai.”
Qiu Henian nodded and said, “Alright.”
He lowered his head, focused on washing Qingyan’s feet. After washing them, he dried them with a cloth but didn’t let go; instead, he cradled Qingyan’s delicate feet in his palms, staring intently.
Feeling a bit awkward, Qingyan shifted his buttocks and asked, “What are you looking at?”
Qiu Henian replied, “You look beautiful.”
A blush crept up Qingyan’s cheeks again.
Qiu Henian’s rough thumb rubbed each of Qingyan’s toes. As he passed through the gaps between them, Qingyan felt a tingling sensation spreading from his feet upwards, causing his eyes to moisten in no time.
When Qiu Henian’s thumb touched there again, Qingyan couldn’t help but hum softly twice.
Hearing the noise, Qiu Henian looked up at him. Their eyes met, Qingyan embarrassedly looked away.
Qiu Henian placed Qingyan’s feet back on the bed, covered them with a blanket, then leaned on the mattress with both hands and softly said, “Qingyan, we need to endure for a while. The doctor said no intimacy for the first three months.”
Qingyan covered his face, “I didn’t mean that…”
Qiu Henian chuckled and kissed Qingyan’s hand, saying, “Alright, it was my intention, not yours.”
Thinking Qiu Henian was teasing him, Qingyan was about to retort, but seeing the seriousness in his eyes, he hesitated and lowered his head shyly, saying, “There’s only a month and a half left. If you can’t endure it…”
Of course, Qiu Henian wouldn’t let him do anything while he was still recovering.
He touched Qingyan’s cheek and asked, “Do you want me to read to you?”
Qingyan nodded.
Qiu Henian tidied up everything on the floor, found a travelogue Qingyan liked from the drawer, and started reading it to him.
By the time they both felt sleepy, Qiu Henian had Qingyan lie down and covered him with a blanket.
Qingyan placed his hands on his belly, imagining what the little one would look like, and gradually fell asleep.
Qiu Henian gently moved the strands of hair stuck to Qingyan’s cheek and kissed his forehead.
He watched Qingyan for a long while, then got out of bed to extinguish the oil lamp. After returning to bed, he lay in the darkness, his brows furrowing gradually…
The next day, Qingyan woke up early. Perhaps the joy of being pregnant diluted his fearful emotions, or perhaps the medicine prescribed by the old doctor had taken effect; he had slept well that night.
The previous night, he had sometimes dreamed of becoming Liu Xiang, struggling desperately but unable to escape from the cold, damp, and heavy soil. Sometimes he became the original owner, watching himself being thrown into a deep pit by Yang Huai.
Yang Huai smirked as he slowly filled the pit with soil shovel by shovel, leisurely, calmly, no matter how much the original owner begged and pleaded, he remained unmoved and even seemed to delight in it, his eyes gleaming like madness.
When the soil buried the original owner up to his shoulders, Yang Huai put down the shovel and wanted the original owner to keep him company and chat with him.
The original owner had thought there was still hope for survival, but Yang Huai seemed to be savoring the memories, recounting one incident after another: how he had buried small cats and dogs alive as a child, how he had secretly ravished a distant cousin-in-law he had long admired but who had never shown any interest in him, and how he had retaliated by burying her alive later.
His parents had spent some money to settle the matter that time, and a household servant had taken the blame for him.
As an adult, although Yang Huai was licentious, he never visited brothels and showed little interest in ordinary young women and boys, only setting his sights on married women and men he liked, using various means to obtain them.
He had money and good looks, so hardly anyone remained unaffected.
After playing enough, he simply gave them money and let them go. Some who did not know how they had offended suffered.
His cousin-in-law was the first, and Liu Xiang was not the second.
In this generation of the Yang family, there was only this one man. Apart from this evil habit, everything else about him was good. The family business was thriving, and now that he has his own connections and relationships, he no longer needs his parents to clean up after him. The family doesn’t care anymore, and even if they did, they couldn’t control him.
The original owner felt chills all over. He understood so much now. Yang Huai would never let him go. The original owner stopped begging for mercy and instead cursed angrily. Yang Huai laughed heartily and picked up the shovel again, completely burying the entire pit.
The original owner’s face, almost identical to Qingyan’s, turned pale with a look of agony frozen on his face.
Qingyan’s dreams always ended here.
When he woke up, he became even more frightened because he knew this wasn’t a dream but something he had seen in his consciousness, belonging to the original owner’s future, possibly influenced by some rule of this world—a future that could be his own.
Yang Huai was well-versed in people. Liu Xiang thought he was clever and had fooled this wealthy young master. Perhaps Yang Huai had already figured out that Liu Xiang was carrying someone else’s child; otherwise, with his preferences, he wouldn’t have been interested in Liu Xiang.
Yang Huai only wanted to play around, but Liu Xiang wanted to deceive him, using the opportunity to force the other party to marry him into the Yang family.
Perhaps this was the reason for Liu Xiang’s tragic death!
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
As she spoke, Aunt Li’s eyes turned red and she said, “Little Qiu, when I helped you marry into this family back then, I was not very sure. Now that you two are getting better and better, and seeing you about to become a father, I can finally let go of my heart.”
