Can you see it? Do you need me to write it down for you?
Before long, Duan Ming led in a boy about the same height as Yu Jinnian. As soon as the boy entered the hall, before anyone could get a clear look at him, he thudded to his knees and crawled up to Yu Jinnian, bursting into loud, tearful sobs. “—Brother! Jinnian Brother, it’s me, Xiao Xu! Xiao Xu has searched so hard for you!”
Yu Jinnian: “…”
Xiao Xu, Yu Xu? The name did sound somewhat familiar.
Not only was the name familiar, but the person also looked a bit recognizable.
Taking a closer look at the boy’s tattered clothing—ah, wasn’t he the one who had been fighting with the little beggar outside the Sanyu Building earlier?
The boy was covered in dirt, his hair disheveled, and his hands so filthy they could leave ink marks. He wiped his five-fingered mess onto the hem of Yu Jinnian’s robe and even picked it up to blow his nose loudly, completely disregarding any sense of decorum.
Yu Jinnian wasn’t overly fastidious, but he couldn’t stand such filth. He immediately considered tearing off that piece of cloth and tossing it to the boy, but he refrained due to his pride. Thankfully, Ji Hong was considerate and stepped in to play the bad guy. With just a look, a sharp “clang” sounded, and before the boy could react, Duan Ming, standing by, swiftly cut off the piece of fabric, separating it entirely from Yu Jinnian’s robe.
The boy froze, his snot bubble still hanging, and Yu Jinnian, fearing he would touch him again, jumped back and hid behind Ji Hong.
“Stop crying and get up to talk.” Yu Jinnian sized him up. Seeing the messy streaks on his face, he found it unbearable and ordered the servants outside the hall, “Um… you two, fetch a basin of water and have him wash his face!”
Two servants hurried off to fetch clean water and dragged the snot-covered boy outside to wash up.
Yu Jinnian finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down to think, murmuring, “Yu Xu, Yu Xu…” Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he exclaimed in realization, “Yu Xu? The son of that uncle and aunt of mine?”
Ji Hong asked curiously, “You have relatives like that?”
“Kind of, but not really,” Yu Jinnian shook his head and explained slowly, “My parents passed away early, and I was too young to survive on my own. I was fostered in a farmer’s household in the same village. Most people in the village shared the surname Yu, so we were vaguely considered distant relatives. They did have a son, but I never got along with him and barely spoke a word to him.”
Yu Jinnian could recall the general circumstances before his death and rebirth, but most of the details were long forgotten. Since it was all in the past, he didn’t feel the need to tell Ji Hong everything, so he gave him a brief version. However, he did remember his uncle and aunt mentioning that the name “Yu Xu” had been chosen by his deceased “father,” symbolizing the rising sun, a good omen.
A good omen, indeed. Not long after Yu Xu was born, Yu Jinnian’s family had been destroyed, and even his house had been taken over by Yu Xu’s parents. Truly, they had flourished on his misfortune.
While they were talking, Yu Xu returned after washing his face. His hair had been roughly tidied by the servants into a thick braid hanging down his back. With his face clean, he didn’t look like someone who had suffered too much hardship. Although there were bruises on his face, his skin was delicate, and his hands, though scarred, showed that he had once done some labor.
Qing Huan, hearing that someone had come to “claim kinship,” immediately rushed over to join the commotion. Initially, she planned to drive out the impudent little trickster, but upon entering the hall and getting a good look at the boy, she exclaimed, “Oh, my! He does look a bit like our Brother Nian!”
Xiao Dingdang suddenly leapt out of the grass pile near the lotus pond and landed straight onto Yu Jinnian’s lap. He hugged it and petted it absentmindedly, then turned his gaze to Ji Hong and asked, “Ah Hong, do you think we look alike?”
Ji Hong pondered for a moment and then said, “The eyebrows and eyes… do bear a slight resemblance.”
However, their temperaments were entirely different. Apart from that faint resemblance, the two were incomparable. Besides, Ji Hong’s internal bias was already far from balanced. To him, even if his youth were compared to an immortal, the boy would still come out ahead. So, after glancing plainly at Yu Xu twice, he turned his gaze back to the youth, who was petting the cat.
Yu Jinnian himself had no particular feelings toward that uncle and aunt’s family. After all, when he transmigrated, he had already been lying in a mass grave, and the past events felt more like watching a distant fire—hardly stirring any strong emotions. Still, the lingering childhood memories gave him an instinctive dislike for Yu Xu, so he didn’t appear too warm.
He broke the last small piece of sweet cake on the table, placed it on a small plate by his feet, and let Xiao Dingdang eat it. Only then did he remember to ask the boy, “Yu Xu, right? What happened at home? How did you find me here?”
Yu Xu, half-lowering his head, watched the fat cat paw at the golden, soft pastries in the porcelain plate and then swipe at the curved knife ornament hanging from Yu Jinnian’s waist. The hall echoed with the crisp sound of “jingle-jingle.” Hearing Yu Jinnian’s question, Yu Xu hurriedly raised his head, his eyes immediately red again, and he said with a sobbing tone, “At home, at home… bandits came! Father and Mother are gone, and the money is gone too! I… I barely managed to escape. I remembered I still had you, Brother Jinnian, as my only relative, so I searched all the way. When I got to Xin’an County, someone said you went to the capital, so I begged along the way to follow… Brother Jinnian, you’re my only family now!”
“Bandits?” Before he finished crying, Yu Jinnian interrupted with a puzzled look. “Sifang Village may be remote, but it’s self-sufficient with the mountains and rivers. There have always been bullies, but for hundreds of years, there’s never been any bandits or mountain thieves. How come only your family was robbed?”
“My family, my family…” Yu Xu stammered, his eyes darting elsewhere, unable to explain anything clearly for a long time.
Yu Jinnian chuckled and said, “Don’t tell me you were in debt again, lost the house and land, and couldn’t bear to send your son off as someone’s lackey. So, they had no choice but to gamble with their lives, leaving you to escape.”
Yu Xu’s eyes widened. “You—how can you say that—”
“How should I say it?” Yu Jinnian raised his gaze, brushing cat fur off his robe as he stood up and took two steps toward Yu Xu. “Was it me who sold myself for ten taels of silver back then? Was it me who wrapped myself in a ragged straw mat and got thrown onto a mass grave to die? You keep calling me your relative, but why don’t you mention that back then, I—your only relative—almost died in that desolate wilderness!”
He stepped in front of Yu Xu, smiling softly as he whispered, “Have you ever seen ghost fires in the mass grave? Green ones, blue ones… drifting around you, crying softly. And there you are, wrapped in a cold, damp straw mat, your entire body aching so much that your vision blacks out, and you can’t even say a single word.”
“Meow—!”
A strange yowl suddenly echoed, and Yu Xu screamed in fright, jumping as the cat had somehow wandered behind him, and he’d accidentally stepped on its tail. Already shaken by Yu Jinnian’s words, his hands trembled slightly at his sides. Before Yu Jinnian could finish, Yu Xu collapsed to the ground, wailing loudly, “It wasn’t my fault! I was too young back then—I didn’t know anything! Father and Mother said you had no breath left. If I’d known you were still alive…”
Inappropriately, his stomach growled loudly. Yu Xu swallowed hard and said, “If I’d known, I would’ve gone to the mass grave to bring you home. Brother Jinnian, I really didn’t know…”
“Hah. What are you scared of? I’m not going to throw you onto a mass grave.” Yu Jinnian scooped up the cat, who was ready to scratch Yu Xu in retaliation for its stepped-on tail. Seeing the boy’s freshly washed face streaked with tears and snot again, which made the bruises on his face more prominent, he ordered the servants, “Prepare a courtyard for him to stay in for now. Check the kitchen for food and heat something up for him. Call Su Ting to tend to his injuries.”
When the servants came to help him up, Yu Xu hadn’t yet reacted. He stared blankly at Yu Jinnian until the latter brushed past him.
“Little Young Master Yu, let’s go,” Qing Huan said, clearly reluctant.
——
When Yu Jinnian returned to Tingyue Pavilion with Xiao Dingdang in his arms, the waiting servant had already prepared a steaming hot bath. The large wooden tub was filled with flower petals and infused with a fragrant bean that gave the room a faint, soothing scent.
After following Ji Hong for a few months, Yu Jinnian had developed some spoiled habits. Having been covered in snot and tears from Yu Xu earlier, the sight of the bathwater was like seeing a dear friend. He immediately stripped off his clothes, stepped onto the small stool beside the tub, and sank into the water, leaving only his neck above the surface. Xiao Dingdang leapt onto the nearby high table, swishing its tail and meowing softly a few times.
Ji Hong had ordered the servants to heat up fresh milk, and when he returned, he found the door ajar and Yu Jinnian soaking in the bath. Closing the door firmly behind him, Ji Hong stepped inside, placed the milk on the table, and then blocked Yu Jinnian at the edge of the tub. Yu Jinnian hadn’t reacted yet, but the cat beside him was extremely protective, suddenly standing up on its hind paws with both front ones pushing against Ji Hong’s arm, trying to shove him away. The scene made Yu Jinnian burst into laughter, the sound rippling through the water.
“Is it true?” Ji Hong asked.
Yu Jinnian’s face was flushed, his expression inexplicably dreamy as he raised his damp eyes. “…What’s true or false?”
Ji Hong gazed down at him. The sun had long since set, and silver moonlight had slipped unknowingly through the clouds, filtering through the window to softly illuminate the room, casting his eyes into deep black pools. “The mass grave, the ghost fires, the ten taels of silver.”
The cat, sensing the mutual affection, leaped off with a soft thud, pawed open part of the window, and slipped out through the gap.
Yu Jinnian narrowed his eyes slightly, sank back against the small wooden stool within the tub, and stretched past Ji Hong’s arm to light the small candle on the table. The flame bloomed into a soft orange glow, and only then did he exhale lightly, as though tired, though it sounded more like a sigh. “What’s true or false? I was just scaring him.”
Yet when one looked at him again, his eyes were filled with laughter.
Ji Hong knew he was being teased again. Second Aunt had told him before that when Yu Jinnian had first arrived in Xin’an County, he’d been covered in injuries and took days to recover, though he never knew the story behind it. He covered the candlelight with a simple silk cover, softening its glow, and then bent down to kiss the boy’s forehead.
Yu Jinnian tilted his head up for the kiss and then, pulling at Ji Hong’s lapel, dragged him down, murmuring in a thick nasal voice, demanding kisses here and there. Ji Hong never wronged himself nor the youth, his tongue slowly tracing the shape of Yu Jinnian’s lips. Yu Jinnian went limp, his arched waist resting against Ji Hong’s arm. He’d had a few cups of wine with dinner, and his lower abdomen felt warm as he tugged Ji Hong’s other hand down.
“Let’s try again today—it’ll work for sure,” Yu Jinnian whispered, nibbling Ji Hong’s ear as it turned red. “Earlier I… tried myself. It’s soft, so there won’t be any problem.”
Ji Hong’s sleeve dipped into the water and was soaked through. The bathwater had cooled, but his fingertips remained scorching as though a clamshell were drawing his fingers in.
Yu Jinnian grumbled with a pout, “Do you want to or not? The water is—”
Ji Hong’s heart skipped a beat, and he silenced him with a kiss, pulling the snowy white undergarment hanging from the rack and draping it over Yu Jinnian’s shoulders. Lifting him out of the water entirely, he wrapped him up. The first time had been too rough, and the boy suffered for days afterward. They had tried a few more times, but every time Yu Jinnian cried out in pain, Ji Hong couldn’t bear to go further and resorted to comforting him in their usual way.
The sound of water splashing echoed through the room as the youth emerged like a tender lotus root pulled straight from the pond, dripping fresh moisture. The soft roots trembled as they touched the ground, and the green lotus leaf swayed faintly, sending drops of water quivering downward.
Ji Hong had originally returned with serious business to handle—documents waiting in the study—but everything had been thrown into disarray. For now, he had no choice but to focus on taming this “lotus spirit” in his arms. The cotton fabric absorbed the water from Yu Jinnian’s body. Fortunately, it was already summer, so there was no worry of catching cold. Yu Jinnian took a few steps back and bumped into the table edge. The small vase atop it wobbled precariously, and he spun around to catch it with a nervous “Ah!”
Ji Hong seized the opportunity to press against him, kissing the back of his neck. In a low voice, he asked, “If you dislike him so much, why let him stay?”
Yu Jinnian squirmed at the ticklish sensation and hunched his neck. “What else could I do? He was spoiled back in the village. Even when his family was poor, he never missed a meal. Today I saw him fighting over food with beggars on the street. If I didn’t take him in, wouldn’t he starve to death out there? Whatever grudges there were in the past, his parents did raise me for over ten years. Now that their son has fallen on hard times, I can at least afford to feed him.”
Amid soft rustling sounds, a slender, jade-like hand pressed against Yu Jinnian’s back, followed by an uneven intake of breath and a muffled groan. The dark folds of Ji Hong’s robe pooled at Yu Jinnian’s waist, and the four table legs creaked faintly. Ji Hong steadied his breathing and murmured, “You… you’re not just soft-hearted.”
Yu Jinnian, finding the table too hard, grabbed a random garment to cushion himself, his brows arching playfully as he said, “If I weren’t soft, how would you have gotten through my door?”
What a double entendre. Ji Hong silenced him by covering his mouth with a hand.
By the window sat a white, long-necked vase. Instead of holding jasmine or lilies, it contained a freshly cut curled lotus leaf from the pond. Just yesterday, the leaf had been drooping, wilting as though its spirit had faded, and Yu Jinnian had planned to replace it with a new one. Yet today, it inexplicably seemed revitalized, the small leaf slowly unfolding, its fine fuzz catching the moonlight with a soft glow.
Yu Jinnian suddenly lost focus and let out a soft “Ah,” startling a dewdrop that had formed on the leaf’s surface. It slipped down and fell deep into the vase, merging silently with countless other droplets.
When the moon reached its peak, the world fell utterly silent. Even the buzzing summer insects seemed to hush, yet inside the house, there was a sporadic commotion. Two newly arrived guards were guarding Tingyue Pavilion tonight. Drowsy and nodding off, they were startled awake by faint noises in the quiet night. Alarmed, they drew their swords and rushed into the courtyard.
Another crash of breaking porcelain rang out. One of the guards asked anxiously, “Shizi, are you all right?”
The room fell abruptly silent before an irate voice bellowed, “Get out.”
“…” The two guards exchanged bewildered glances, sheathed their swords, and retreated to the courtyard gate, faces full of confusion.
Yu Jinnian twirled a lock of his hair around his fingers, glanced downward, then collapsed back onto the table, his voice hoarse with laughter. “What, I recited a few lines from a storybook, and you’re this fierce? Did I not call it right? Good brother, dear brother!”
It was certainly no proper storybook—nothing but ridiculous phrases he’d picked up somewhere. Ji Hong, thoroughly embarrassed, flipped him over like a pancake, exposing his snow-white back again. He reached under the table, his fingers prying at a hidden clasp. With a click, a small drawer popped open.
Yu Jinnian propped himself up, blinking indignantly. “So, you’ve got secret compartments now too!”
“There’s more than that,” Ji Hong replied, retrieving something from the drawer. With one hand, he pressed Yu Jinnian back onto the table. Yu Jinnian watched as Ji Hong reached for a box of red ink paste, pried it open, and let a palm-sized seal slide into his hand.
The seal had a narrow, waisted design like an hourglass, its body translucent amber, warm and smooth like honey. If examined closely, delicate carvings of intertwined osmanthus branches adorned its slender waist. Yu Jinnian had seen his fair share of seals during his years of business, but most were plain and traditional. This one, however, had two carved sides—each end of the narrow waist bore a stamp face.
Ji Hong warmed the seal briefly in his palm before pressing it into the ink paste.
Before Yu Jinnian could fully grasp what was happening, the once silent summer insects outside erupted into a sudden chorus, their cries mingling with the faint rustling of earth. Somewhere, a cicada burst through the soil with force. Startled, Yu Jinnian clutched the edge of the table, and then he felt a sudden chill—Ji Hong had stamped the seal onto a place he dared not describe!
“You—you…” Yu Jinnian stammered, his voice cracking into a soft whimper of protest.
Ji Hong bent down to kiss away the dampness at the corners of his eyes, his touch as light as silk gliding across skin. Yet his gentleness did not extend elsewhere, seemingly punishing Yu Jinnian for reciting such shameless phrases earlier. For every protest Yu Jinnian made, Ji Hong added another stamp to his body. Yu Jinnian soon lost track of how many ridiculous things he had said. Dizzy and muddled, he could only think that his back must now be completely covered in stamps!
By the time the moon drifted past the willows, he had been “tortured” into full submission, unable to utter another word of defense. Only after he pleaded for mercy was he carried to the bed, spared further “punishment.”
Ji Hong fetched a basin of water to clean him up. Yu Jinnian, sprawled face-down on the pillow, whimpered softly, feeling as though his earlier bath had been entirely in vain. Not only was it wasted, but he had also endured an extra “sentence” on top of it. Most infuriating of all, he still had no idea what exactly was carved on that wretched seal!
Seeing Ji Hong about to wipe him completely clean, Yu Jinnian weakly croaked in his hoarse voice, “Stop—stop wiping! Leave me a couple to look at!”
No sooner had he finished grumbling than he passed out again, utterly exhausted.
“…” Ji Hong glanced down at him and thought to himself, *If you want to see, you can just ask me for the real seal in the morning. Who’s foolish enough to try and see stamps on their own body?* Yet when his gaze flicked to the two remaining stamps, he noticed they were perfectly placed atop those rounded, supple peaks. With every slight movement Yu Jinnian made, the stamps trembled, as if two jade mountains were on the verge of collapse.
A mischievous thought crossed Ji Hong’s mind, and he indulged Yu Jinnian’s wishes, leaving those two stamps for him to see. Tossing aside the towel, Ji Hong flicked the “snow peaks,” got into bed beside the youth, and wrapped an arm around him to rest.
——
The next day, Yu Jinnian was still fixated on the matter. Even in sleep, his subconscious played tricks on him. He lay face down the entire night, not daring to move, afraid a single shift would rub the stamps off his back. As soon as the first light of dawn broke, he woke up, threw off the blanket, and hurriedly jumped out of bed. Grabbing a bronze mirror from the cabinet, he twisted his pale, bare waist to check his back.
From his shoulder blades down to his thighs, it took quite a bit of effort, but finally, he saw those two stamps—and it made him furious.
Of all places, why there?!
What kind of twisted humor was this?!
The mirror reflected everything in reverse, and Yu Jinnian nearly twisted himself into a pretzel trying to see what was carved on the stamps. Ji Hong was woken by his commotion. He opened his eyes, his voice still husky from sleep, and teased, “Well? Can you see it? Do you need me to make a rubbing for you?”
Yu Jinnian foolishly asked, “How do you make a rubbing?”
Ji Hong, watching him still muddled from last night’s silliness, decided not to clarify and instead played along. “First, lay a piece of white paper on the table.”
Yu Jinnian obediently laid out a sheet of paper.
“Then sprinkle some water on yourself—especially on the stamps. Finally, sit down on the paper… and there you have it.”
Yu Jinnian picked up a cup of water and seriously considered this. Then, as though struck by a bolt of clarity, he froze. The absurd cloud of confusion from last night finally lifted—if he really did as Ji Hong said, it wouldn’t just be the stamp that got rubbed, but everything else that shouldn’t be rubbed would come out, too!
He slammed the cup back on the table, crumpled up the paper, and angrily threw it at the bed. Then, with a single leap, he dove into the bed curtains, tangled up with Ji Hong, pinching his cheeks and yelling, “Ji—Hong—! You’re messing with me again!”
It wasn’t until he groaned from straining his waist that Yu Jinnian finally calmed down. He fumbled around Ji Hong’s chest and eventually found the seal.
It was the osmanthus-carved seal, designed with a narrow waist and two stamp faces. One side read “Fragrant Osmanthus Shadows,” while the other was carved with “Feelings Too Hard to Express.”
Lying contentedly on Ji Hong’s chest, Yu Jinnian asked cheerfully, “What’s this ‘too hard to express’? If you don’t express it, how will I know?”
Ji Hong gave him a helpless look and leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth, only for Yu Jinnian to dodge, refusing to let him touch or leave the bed until he “expressed” his feelings. Spoiled and smug, Yu Jinnian teased him relentlessly. Ji Hong finally parted his lips, and just as Yu Jinnian perked up to listen intently, Ji Hong sighed and said, “You’re not wearing clothes, and… you’re poking me.”
“…” Yu Jinnian looked down and realized he was lying stark naked on Ji Hong, his body covered in red and purple marks—a sight that could not be described as dignified. Flushing in embarrassment, he quickly wrapped himself in a small blanket, muttering as he scurried off to get dressed.
Once dressed, he carefully tucked the seal into a small embroidered pouch and hung it from his waist, no longer interested in bickering with Ji Hong. He also tied his small curved knife to his belt and opened the door to the room.
Stretching lazily, he inhaled the long-missed scent of summer—the damp fragrance of soil and grass mingling with the fresh scent of pond water drifting from the lotus pool. Early-rising maids had already changed into light summer clothes and were trimming the flowers and plants in Tingyue Pavilion. Seeing Yu Jinnian step out, they greeted him with smiles. “Good morning, Young Master!”
“Morning!”
The maids chimed in cheerfully, “Good morning, Shizi!”
Yu Jinnian turned around and saw Ji Hong reaching out to embrace him from behind. A playful idea struck him. He pulled the small seal from his pouch, moistened the side engraved with “Feelings Too Hard to Express” with his breath, grabbed Ji Hong’s hand, and stamped it firmly onto the back of his hand. “There! Doesn’t it look good?”
Before Ji Hong could say anything, the ever-enthusiastic maids chorused, “It looks great!”
Yu Jinnian grinned smugly. “See? They all say it looks good.”
Ji Hong smiled indulgently, his eyes soft. “Alright, everyone, back to work.” He then lowered his voice to Yu Jinnian and said, “If you’re tired, go back and rest. Let Shi Xing handle things at the shop. I need to work on some documents.”
Yu Jinnian tilted his head curiously. “No court today?”
Ji Hong replied, “Today is a rest day.”
Yu Jinnian followed Ji Hong to the study. While Ji Hong sat upright, immersed in handling paperwork, Yu Jinnian lounged idly on the nearby chaise longue, eating snacks and admiring the “beauty” at work. Although he didn’t need to leave the house today, staying home all day wasn’t particularly fun either. So, feeling restless, he wandered to the kitchen.
He instructed the servants to fetch three jin of black plums, one jin of licorice, and two jin of hawthorn from the pharmacy, along with some finger citron and dried orange peel. He set up a pot, cleaned the ingredients, and tossed them into the boiling water to simmer.
Soon, the jade-green ceramic cups would hold a tangy, plum syrup.
For those who liked a thicker texture, he could add some rice paste for a touch of fragrant graininess.
The pot simmered gently over a low flame, needing at least one to two hours. Only then did Yu Jinnian suddenly remember his “cheap younger brother.” Just as he was about to go check on him, a commotion broke out outside—excited chattering followed by the sound of sobbing.
Quickly putting down the ladle, Yu Jinnian hurried outside to investigate. He saw Sui Sui, tears streaming down her face, walking toward him. Beside her was Ah Chun, who was trying to console her. Following behind them, looking miserable, was none other than Yu Xu.
The boy had bathed and changed into clean clothes, now looking somewhat respectable. His height was nearly the same as Yu Jinnian’s. Seeing him like this, it became even clearer that he hadn’t truly suffered much. For someone who claimed to have begged his way to the capital, how could a little beggar maintain such a well-fed figure?
When Sui Sui saw Yu Jinnian, she burst into fresh sobs and rushed over, clinging to him as she choked out, “Xiao… Xiao Nian brother, my pendant!”