You’re not afraid I would absorb your yang energy?
Min Mao had just acquired a pendant and was showing it off to everyone. It had been found by his two guards, Shi Qing and Hua Yi. Yesterday, Min Xuefei had stayed out all night and not returned. Naturally, when Min Mao went back alone, all he got was a scolding. Fortunately, Shi Qing and Hua Yi presented him with something good, which managed to dissipate his frustration.
Yu Jinnian took it and looked it over. It was a small whip made of oxhide and snakeskin, strung with gold and silver threads, and decorated with little five-poison figures cast in bright silver, each adorned with tiny gemstones as embellishments, perfectly fitting the festival’s atmosphere. Such finely carved items were not made for practical use, merely for show. Wearing it at the waist produced a tinkling sound, more unrestrained and dashing than ordinary swords or jade pendants. It was said this style was popular in the Western Frontier and had only spread to the Central Plains in the last two years, greatly favored by some noble young scions.
However, Yu Jinnian already had his own small curved blade, which was enough for him. No matter how good other things were, they could not catch his eye.
After admiring it, he was just about to hand it back when Duan Ming leaped over the walls and fences, rushing in at full speed. He landed, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Young Master……Something happened in the courtyard.”
It could not be some unlawful intruder; otherwise Duan Ming would never have left Ji Hong’s side even for a step. Considering this, the troublemaker could only be someone from within the household. Yu Jinnian strode toward the bedroom. Just as he reached the door, he heard a loud crash inside, like some porcelain smashing. Following that were a few more thumps, as if something had fallen to the ground in a panic. He raised his foot and kicked the door open. Moonlight poured in, and he saw a figure holding a long sword in the darkness.
He also heard a few bouts of violent coughing.
Yu Jinnian stepped forward twice and suddenly felt something crawling on the floor. He looked down and saw a half-disrobed youth, hair disheveled, dragging an injured leg as he crawled before the bed. The snowy-white trouser leg had been slashed into a large tear, stained with red. The person was twisting on the ground like a torn rag. Broken porcelain shards lay scattered around the bed, but Yu Xu had no time to care about any of that. Even if his palms got cut by the shards, he had to keep crawling forward.
Min Xuefei and Min Ji arrived behind, holding lanterns, and thus the room was illuminated.
Min Ji shouted, “Yu Xu, it’s you again, boy!”
Min Xuefei looked backward and called out, “Shuluan!”
Seeing people come in, Yu Xu did not have time to feel ashamed. His face was already streaked with snot and tears of fright. Upon seeing Yu Jinnian, it was as if he saw a savior, and he desperately crawled forward. One of his legs hurt so badly he could not exert any force, feeling as if there were a gaping hole bitten into his calf, blood gushing out. He could only support his body with both arms, struggling like a snail. As he crawled, he mumbled indistinctly, “Brother Nian, Brother Nian…”
Ji Hong was thoroughly muddled by alcohol. Although Yu Xu’s commotion had sobered him a bit, he still could not perfectly control his limbs. He raised his sword, squinted as if confirming Yu Xu’s position. The dark velvet carpet contrasted sharply with Yu Xu’s pale green inner garment. Ji Hong staggered forward two steps and suddenly stabbed——
“Spare me! Spare me! Brother Nian, Brother Nian, save me!” Feeling the gust of wind, Yu Xu was scared out of his wits and screamed, “Aaaah——!”
With a swish, the sword tip stabbed into the carpet, skewed off target.
Yu Xu turned his head for a look. The sword was only two inches away from him. Any closer and it would have pierced his neck. Terrified, he trembled, biting his own tongue hard. Immediately, blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.
Yu Jinnian took a look at Yu Xu’s attire, then glanced at Ji Hong, who was full of rage. Even with just a guess, he could imagine what Yu Xu had tried to do. Ji Hong leaned on a nearby clothes rack as he approached, frowned, and went to pick up his sword.
The boy on the ground, seeing Ji Hong reach down, instantly flipped over like a turtle, losing all the courage he had when he tried to climb into bed and seduce someone. He even forgot that there was a bloody hole in his leg. He jumped up and ran. Unfortunately, he did not manage more than two steps before his injured leg lost strength again, and he took a nosedive, knocking his forehead on the ground so hard he saw stars.
Regaining his senses and looking up, he saw Yu Jinnian. Although he was also afraid, at least this was his own cousin, certainly better than that Heir of Duke Li who drew his sword at the slightest provocation. Without a word, Yu Xu threw himself at Yu Jinnian’s leg, burying his tear-stained face in his robe’s hem. Even then, he did not forget to play the rogue and accuse others, since the Heir of Duke Li was drunk now. A drunk man would surely not remember what he had said. Yu Xu swallowed the mixture of blood and saliva in his mouth, ignoring his pain, and cried, “Brother Nian, I came to deliver wine to you. Halfway through, I met the Heir. He was drunk and insisted on dragging me in here. He even, even…”
As he spoke, he took a sharp, trembling breath, choking with emotion, “……He stripped my clothes off and wanted to force himself on me.”
In the room, not only were Yu Jinnian, Min Xuefei, and Min Ji present, but also Duan Ming who had personally come to escort Ji Hong back to his room, and several guards who had arrived upon hearing the commotion. Hearing this, all of them inhaled sharply. Duan Ming wanted to expose his lie on the spot. When his master returned, he had wobbled all the way, and the two only parted at the bedroom door. Where was the opportunity to force this little turtle bastard?! Clearly, Yu Xu had planned and hidden in the room and now dared to bite back!
Yu Jinnian raised his hand slightly, signaling Duan Ming not to speak yet. Instead, he displayed great patience, wanting to hear what else Yu Xu had to say.
Yu Xu was sobbing and sniveling, pointing to the strangulation marks on his neck. “I refused, so the Heir choked me, wanting to forcibly violate me. With great effort, I broke free, and then he took up the sword…”
Men like Ji Hong doing such a thing when drunk was not unprecedented, especially since he and Yu Jinnian shared a somewhat similar appearance.
Right now, Yu Jinnian still held favor. As long as Yu Jinnian believed he had been forced by Ji Hong, with his kind and gentle cousin’s temperament, he would surely speak up for him on account of their blood relation. He might even send him a large sum of money. Furthermore, although the Heir of Duke Li usually maintained a dignified and proper demeanor, after causing such an incident, once he sobered up and could not recall the chain of events, he would inevitably feel guilty. At worst, he might at least pay more attention to Yu Xu in the future.
He might even stand on equal footing with Yu Jinnian.
Thinking of this, Yu Xu felt slightly reassured, still naively believing that Ji Hong’s abnormal behavior was due to drunkenness.
“Oh, he was that wicked? Ah, my poor younger brother, you…” Yu Jinnian lifted his tear-streaked chin, his brows lightly furrowing, and gazed at him sympathetically. Yu Xu had such an expression of having been wronged, so pitiful it seemed he wanted to spit out his pure, bright-red heart for others to see. Yu Jinnian sighed softly twice, touched his waist, and raised his hand to grip the Five Poisons Whip that he had not yet had the chance to return to Min Mao. With a sudden exertion, he swung it out, “You thought I was a fool?”
With a loud crack, from Yu Xu’s exposed shoulder to his right cheek, the small whip adorned with silver snake scales left a bloody wound where skin and flesh were torn apart.
Yu Jinnian rolled up his sleeve, “I warned you like that, but you insisted on playing deaf and blind. I was willing to share a bite of my food with you. If you couldn’t keep to yourself, that would have been one thing, but you even wanted to sleep with my man. Don’t blame me for not remembering brotherly affection…” He thought for a moment, then sneered coldly, “Forget it, we never had any affection. For over ten years, I worked as a free laborer on your family’s estate and farmland, enough to repay your so-called kindness of raising me, right? So today, you only brought this on yourself.”
Everyone was stunned, even Ji Hong, who had just picked up his sword, stood there in a daze. No one expected that Young Master Yu, who was so compassionate he would rescue a stray sparrow at the roadside, would suddenly explode and start beating someone. Before anyone could react, Yu Jinnian swung his whip again from the backhand side. This strike landed on Yu Xu’s chest, ripping apart his already disheveled clothes, leaving them pitifully hanging from his shoulder.
Ji Hong’s mouth hung slightly open, and all he could see was his little medicine immortal, who made it his duty to save lives, now fiercely whipping someone. His tensed forearms, tightly pressed lips, and particularly stern eyes and brows all seemed…just a bit different from the usual Yu Jinnian. After seeing so much of his gentle tenderness or sly playfulness, seeing such a different side of him unexpectedly brought a rare sense of novelty.
However, to use a whip well required countless practice sessions. Yu Jinnian was just a young doctor; how could he know how to wield a whip? Thus, although he exerted considerable force when swinging it, by the time it struck the person, the force had already been reduced by half. The whip’s tail flicked back and instead stung him with a few small cuts.
Yu Xu never imagined that he would be treated so mercilessly. Only after suffering several blows, bouncing around on the floor like a flea, did he think to dodge. Thinking back, if he had gained the favor of the Heir of Duke Li, would Yu Jinnian not lose his own favor? When it came to vying for favor, even true brothers would not spare one another, let alone the fact that they were merely cousins several times removed!
The fellow on the ground howled in pain. Ji Hong’s sword strike while drunk had poor aim and merely opened a small wound to let out a bit of blood. On the other hand, Yu Jinnian’s series of whip strikes were delivered with real force, beating him into a wretched state. He had deliberately worn a thin, sheer gauze robe to climb into bed, and now it hung like tattered rags around his chest, covering nothing—truly down on his luck now.
As the Five Poisons ornaments on the whip struck near Yu Xu’s ear, two of them were forcibly ripped off, rolling away on the ground and disappearing. Min Mao felt immense heartache. This was a treasure that had come from the Treasure Pavilion. He had not even warmed it with his own hands or worn it out to show off, yet it had been ruined by Yu Jinnian. He anxiously hopped around, wanting to snatch it back but fearing he would hurt himself. After thinking it over, he saw Duan Ming beside him and promptly kicked him forward.
Duan Ming stumbled and fell beside Yu Jinnian, but he did not really want to snatch the whip away. He feared that taking it now would leave his little young master’s anger unvented.
He was still hesitating when Ji Hong took three steps in two strides, reached out to hold the youth’s elbow, and said, “Enough, that’s enough.”
Yu Xu, who had been scurrying around on the ground, looked at Ji Hong with tears of gratitude, thinking that he, too, could not bear to see Yu Jinnian torment him like a shrew and was going to step in. But before he could be happy for more than a moment—he saw Ji Hong take the whip and then grab Yu Jinnian’s hand, which had been stung by the whip’s tail. Ji Hong kissed those tiny wounds, his voice soft, “Killing him means nothing, but hurting yourself would not be worth it. It would pain me.”
Yu Xu: “……”
Yu Jinnian rubbed his sore wrist, lowered his head to glance at Yu Xu, and said, “I beat you. Are you not convinced?”
In truth, Yu Xu hated him to the core. How could he be convinced?! His whole body burned with pain, all thanks to Yu Jinnian. He simply did not dare say it out loud.
Yu Jinnian, however, spoke for him, “You made up such a perfect excuse, saying he was drunk and forced himself on you. Yu Xu, let me tell you, I would believe that every man in the world, when drunk, loved to force himself on you and could not resist your beauty worthy of toppling kingdoms. But A Hong would not, even if you were born as enchanting as a fox spirit, he absolutely would not.” Saying this, he turned to embrace Ji Hong, “A Hong, let’s go. We need not dirty our hands over such a person.”
Ji Hong himself was born of his father’s drunken assault on his mother. He never drank or drank little, and even when occasionally drunk, he remained extremely restrained. It was not hard to see the connection. To say Ji Hong would commit rape when drunk—ants might as well ascend the nine heavens.
Only, these words sounded a bit strange. Not only did they defend Ji Hong, but they also insulted Yu Xu as a flirtatious fox spirit. Some people were too uneducated to even realize they were being insulted. Having watched enough of this farce, Min Xuefei could not help but snort and leave first.
Yu Xu watched Ji Hong half-lean against Yu Jinnian and prepare to leave. He instantly felt resentful. Along the way from that tiny square village to Xin’an County, and then to the capital, everyone he met had been toyed with by him. They treated him with good food, good drink, and good lodging. There were also those naïve enough to be tricked out of their entire family fortune. Even the toughest ones, once he removed his clothes and lay on the bed, whispering softly into their ears, there was nothing he could not obtain.
But he wanted even more, he wanted the very best. Where else would the best be but in the capital?!
In his heart, Yu Xu was far from convinced. The best in the world ought to all be his. If it were others interfering, he might have tolerated it, but it just had to be this jinx of a cousin. He truly did not expect that the “cousin” he had painstakingly latched onto—who in his eyes was nothing more than a family’s hired hand—had so completely enthralled a heavenly figure like the Heir of Duke Li.
Back then, when the villagers fished Yu Jinnian out of the river, his parents had personally examined the corpse. His limbs and chest were already cold, and not even half a breath could be detected. How was it that in just a year or so he was resurrected from the dead, became famous, and even climbed up to some high-ranking noble’s side, living in the best gardens of the capital?! As for that Heir, he had wandered around the capital for many days and had long heard rumors about him. Supposedly, he was previously ascetic and uninterested in beauty, and he was frail, bedridden, with only a few years left to live—a consumptive ghost with not much time remaining.
By talent, by beauty, Ji Hong was a figure who astonished the world, countless times higher than a barefoot doctor like Yu Jinnian. Yet he was somehow tightly bound by this so mediocre Yu Jinnian, so devoted and unwavering, even willing to draw his sword to silence others. Thinking further about his sudden improvement in health—this clearly was caused by some Gu curse! He had been entangled by something unclean!
Previously, was it not rumored in the capital that the Duke of Li’s household worshipped a blood demon, and that by drinking virgin blood daily they preserved their longevity? Yu Xu’s spine shivered as if an eerie wind had swept by. He cautiously raised his head to scrutinize Yu Jinnian again, and without reason, he now saw a hint of black aura from his shoulder. As for Ji Hong, who stood beside him, he looked even paler, devoid of any warmth, as if someone had drained his yang energy.
Just as Ji Hong was about to leave, he suddenly felt a weight on his foot. Yu Xu had grabbed his hem, bit down on his teeth, and decided to risk everything, saying, “Heir, you had no idea what kind of thing he was! It was uncertain if he was even a ‘thing’ at all! He was not human!”
Min Mao responded with a “Hey, still insulting people, huh?”
Yu Jinnian turned his head leisurely and looked at him, curious to see how many more tricks he had.
Yu Xu pointed at Yu Jinnian and said, “Ever since you met him, could not any beauty of peerless charm catch your eye? Did you not wish you could pluck the stars and the bright moon from the sky for him to play with? Whenever you wanted to contradict him, did it not feel as if some irresistible force prevented you from speaking out…Heir, did you not find your obsession with him abnormal?”
Ji Hong frowned.
Yu Xu half-knelt on his uninjured leg and continued earnestly, “He, he drowned himself in the river back then. My parents and I all saw his corpse! It was completely cold, his belly filled with water, even the village coroner examined him. It was impossible for him to still be alive! Countless people had died in that mass grave, it was filled with untold wandering ghosts, with heavy yin and evil energy. He was no longer my cousin, he must have been something unclean using my cousin’s corpse to return to this world and wreak havoc!”
This time, it was Yu Jinnian who frowned.
Neither of the two spoke, so Yu Xu propped himself up on his injured leg, staggering over to the writing desk, “Wait, wait, I can prove it!” He threw himself in front of the desk, tore off a strip of paper about the size of a talisman from under the paperweight, and dipped it in the still-wet blood on his leg, hastily drawing a crooked charm.
He had once hooked up with a wealthy Taoist priest, and this talisman to ward off evil was something the Taoist taught him. Although he was poor at reading and writing, he was quick at learning curious tricks. After finishing the talisman, he limped over, hunching his injured back, walked quickly to the doorway, and in front of Ji Hong, moistened the edge of the talisman paper with his own saliva, then suddenly reached out and slapped the talisman onto Yu Jinnian’s forehead!
“……” Yu Jinnian’s brow furrowed tightly, and his shoulders trembled violently.
Yu Xu, filled with a strange mix of excitement and fear, laughed savagely, “Heir, look, look closely, this ghostly thing would soon show its true form! Look, you——”
Yu Jinnian could no longer tolerate it. He reached out, flung Yu Xu to the ground, and tore off the talisman paper, crumpling it into a ball in disgust, and threw it on the floor, “Have you gone mad? Done yet, or do you want more of the whip?”
“How could this be, how could this be!” Yu Xu crawled over to pick up the talisman paper and opened it for a look. He was certain he had not drawn it incorrectly. The Taoist clearly said this ward-off-evil curse was very commonly used, so why did it not affect Yu Jinnian? Could it be, could it be, “Heir, I’m not lying to you, surely it’s because my skill is insufficient to expose him! If you invite a true master, you could definitely subdue this monster! He definitely was not sincere toward you, he obviously harbored ulterior motives, deep scheming…Heir, Heir!”
“Since you already know the two of us are non-human beings, then it leaves us no choice but to keep you here and feed you to the ghosts.” Ji Hong turned away. The wine’s effects made his head ache a bit, so he waved his hand, ordering people to drag Yu Xu down. Yu Jinnian widened his eyes, listening to Ji Hong speak such nonsense without changing his expression, wondering if he had learned these bad ways from himself?
The two guards, however, looked as calm as ever. Not the least bit shocked by their master’s words, they each took hold of Yu Xu and prepared to drag him down to “feed the ghosts.” Before leaving, Ji Hong tossed the Five Poisons Whip to Duan Ming, “Be careful with it, and don’t let Jinnian get upset by seeing him again.”
“Yes.”
So frightened was Yu Xu that he almost wet his pants on the spot.
——
That night, the two of them did not rest in their usual place but stayed in a warm pavilion near the flower hall. The small pavilion was next to a lotus pond. In winter, they set up folding screens on all sides, placing a brazier inside to make it very warm. Now it was summer, so the screens were naturally removed. A gentle breeze blew through at night, carrying the faint fragrance of green lotus, making it fresh and pleasant. In the pavilion, all the items had been replaced by Qing Huan with those the two were accustomed to using, making it a good place for a restful sleep.
However, after this farce, it was inconvenient for Min Mao and Min Xuefei to continue staying overnight at Jinyouting, so they took their leave and went back to their residences. Min Mao glanced back every three steps, hesitant to speak, probably still distressed over his Five Poisons Whip.
Yu Jinnian first let Ji Hong rest on the couch and then went to the small kitchen to brew Eight Treasures Hangover Soup.
This Eight Treasures Hangover Soup was not difficult to make, only it required more ingredients. One had to first steam dried lotus seeds, dried lily bulbs, crushed walnuts, and dried ginkgo until they were soft enough to be crushed with one’s fingers. Then add hot water, toss in a few red dates and a handful of green plums, plus two pieces of hawthorn fruit candy and candied tangerine, and a pinch of salt, cooking it all until it was soft and mushy. When serving, drizzle a bit of sweet-scented osmanthus paste and vinegar, stir well, and then it was ready to eat.
This hangover soup tasted sweet and sour, able to harmonize the stomach, wake the spleen, relieve hangover and dispel irritability. Its pleasant flavor made it more like a palatable snack rather than just a hangover remedy, and having a bowl before bedtime would not hinder one’s sleep.
Yu Jinnian carried the hangover soup back to the warm pavilion. Ji Hong was leaning against a round pillow with his eyes closed, resting and waiting for him. Yu Jinnian tiptoed over and had just set down the tray when, as if their hearts were connected, that person reached out accurately and grasped his hand, holding it in his palm and carefully kneading each joint, as if confirming something.
“What’s wrong?” Yu Jinnian asked softly.
After all the commotion, Ji Hong’s drunkenness had mostly faded, though his stomach still felt terrible. He slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a few threads of wine-scented breath, “I wanted to check if my little medicine immortal truly exists.”
Yu Jinnian lifted the bowl of soup, blew it cool, and brought the spoon to Ji Hong’s lips. Only then did he smile and say, “You’re talking nonsense. How could such a large, living person vanish just because you say so? Could I really have ascended to immortality on the spot? Come, have a few more mouthfuls. It’s good for your stomach and spleen, and you won’t have a headache when you wake up tomorrow.”
Ji Hong ate spoonful after spoonful. His gaze swept over Yu Jinnian’s hand, noticing the scratches left by the whip’s tail. “Does it hurt? Have Su Ting bring some medicine over.”
“No need. I’m not that delicate,” Yu Jinnian replied.
Ji Hong still stared at him, not looking away. After finishing one bowl and rinsing his mouth with lightly salted water, Yu Jinnian removed the support pillow behind him and helped him lie down. Yet, before Ji Hong’s back touched the bedding, he pulled Yu Jinnian down with him, brushing a gentle kiss by the corner of his mouth. Tasting the faint sweetness, Ji Hong’s heart too filled with sweetness. He stroked the hair at the back of Yu Jinnian’s head, saying, “You’ve eaten sweet zongzi.”
Yu Jinnian lay atop his chest, unafraid of crushing him. He asked slyly, “You still dare be intimate with me? Are you not afraid I’ll suck your yang energy? Afraid I’m some sort of monster or fiend with ulterior motives? Afraid I’ve placed a gu poison on you?”
“Not afraid.” Ji Hong embraced him at the hollow of his shoulder. His mellow voice seemed to resonate through their bones as they pressed close, carrying a faint buzzing echo, “No matter what you are, if there’s something you want, I will give it to you. I only beg you never to lift this gu. If this is truly a fleeting dream, I’d rather sleep in it forever and never wake.”
“I feel your warmth, I can touch your heat, and that’s enough.” Ji Hong closed his eyes, as if savoring the warmth of the youth who felt like a small furnace, warming him inside and out. He unconsciously tightened his arms, murmuring, “…Having these is enough.”
“Mm.” Yu Jinnian also felt at ease. He had been exhausted these two days, utterly worn out. Lying on Ji Hong’s body, his eyes drooped drowsily. If he really had the power to cast a gu, wouldn’t he want to place a lover’s gu on both of them? He slipped his hand around Ji Hong’s waist and into his loose robe, pondering suddenly that if he did place a gu, it should be a “Fattening Gu,” so he could properly nourish him.
These days, Ji Hong had been busy with court matters and seemed to have gotten thinner again.
Ji Hong carried him onto the bed and, recalling Yu Xu’s words about how he had been fished out of the water, could not help but feel cold again, as if he sensed the icy water of midwinter. He touched the youth’s hands and feet, pressing gently on the soft belly—everything was warm. Still, he felt a chill and clung tightly to Yu Jinnian. Yu Jinnian, tickled by this, giggled and asked what was wrong.
“Cold?” Ji Hong asked, “…In the water.”
“…” Yu Jinnian’s smile faded. He was silent for a moment. He did not know if the water had been cold, but when he awoke on the mass grave hill, wrapped only in a torn straw mat, he had been shivering. His entire body was chilled through, except for a single pocket of warmth near his heart that sustained him as he walked down from the hill of unmarked graves. He snuggled closer into Ji Hong’s embrace, nudging his warmth like a spoiled child, whispering quietly, “Not cold.”
It was as if they had reached an understanding, or perhaps Ji Hong truly did not care what he was. Even if Yu Jinnian were a drowned ghost inhabiting a corpse, Ji Hong was willing to supply him with yang energy, to warm his icy limbs, even to become his new host. It mattered not. Ji Hong hazily recalled distant matters. Back in Xin’an County, someone had once told him: “The past is gone, the soul-lamp is rekindled.” When he tried to ask for details, they said, “The heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.”
Perhaps Yu Jinnian truly was some creature of nature’s making.
Ji Hong stretched out his arms and legs, letting the little monster burrow into him like a piglet, “Settle down here with me, little demon. From now on, whether it’s ice and snow or the depths of winter, you will never be cold again.”
“Mm.” Yu Jinnian rested his ear against Ji Hong’s chest, listening to the steady thumping of his heart, like the core of a warm stove.
——
It was two or three days later when Yu Jinnian learned that after Ji Hong had punished Yu Xu severely, he was thrown out of the capital. He heard it from the servants’ idle chatter. It was said that the guards who carried out the punishment were extremely harsh. If Ji Hong had not specifically instructed them to leave him with one last breath, so that he could be carried to each courtyard to apologize to the maids and servant boys he had bullied, he might not have survived that night’s family law in the Ji household and would have gone straight to see his parents.
Now covered in wounds and thrown out of Summer Capital, who knew whether this was a blessing or a curse for him?
Ji Hong had instructed them not to let Yu Jinnian know, probably afraid that Yu Jinnian’s momentary soft-heartedness might return. Yet even knowing it, Yu Jinnian did not think about searching for him. When he had taken Yu Xu in, he considered it returning kindness for enmity, with no shame in his heart. After today, whether Yu Xu lived or died was up to his own fate. Even if, by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, he survived and rose again, it would have nothing to do with Yu Jinnian.
Putting aside Yu Xu’s matter, Yu Jinnian finally returned to his routine, switching madly between being a cook and a doctor.
Initially, he had his eye on the inn next to the Sanyu Pavilion, which was on the verge of closing down, intending to buy it sooner or later and turn it into a medical clinic. But that inn lingered on, neither thriving nor collapsing. By the time Ji Hong helped him acquire the jade token that certified his identity as a physician and allowed him to practice medicine openly in the capital, that inn still stubbornly clung to life. Instead, a nearby embroidery shop facing the street closed down first.
So Yu Jinnian bought the embroidery shop at a low price and began a major renovation.
The front storefront was changed into a medical hall, with a counter and medicine shelves set up on the first floor, along with several rows of chairs for patients to wait; the second floor was renovated into simple compartments to serve as temporary observation rooms; and among the few rooms in the backyard, two were reserved for his own temporary residence, while the others were converted into a storeroom and an isolation ward. These were naturally all drawn from his past-life experiences. When he explained these various plans to the craftsmen responsible for the renovations, everyone was taken aback. Fortunately, there were blueprints, so they only needed to follow the diagrams.
Since there was now a medical hall, many ideas regarding medical tools could be put on the agenda. Yu Jinnian stayed up several nights drawing numerous sketches, revising them for several days, before gathering the blacksmiths, carpenters, jade carvers, and goldsmiths whom Ji Hong had always relied on to one place, instructing them to pool their ideas and see what materials could be used for each component.
The first thing produced was a simple monaural stethoscope. Because it was made directly according to the design of the very first stethoscope in history, it was not difficult. It consisted of a hollow wooden tube connected to a small, trumpet-shaped ivory head. When in use, placing the trumpet head against the skin allowed one to hear relatively clear sounds from the other end of the wooden tube.
However, this thing, just after it came into being, was not used for diagnosing illness. Instead, Yu Jinnian very much neglected his proper duty and took it to tease Ji Hong.
Ji Hong looked at the messy pile of parts on the table, things he did not recognize. Although he felt somewhat gloomy that these tiny gadgets had snatched away the youth’s time with him, he could only silently support him from behind with helpless patience.
Although he had acquired this property, Yu Jinnian lacked manpower. After all, he was just a mortal man of flesh and blood. He could not handle both the Sanyu Pavilion and the medical hall at the same time by himself. Neither did he want to hire some random riffraff to deceive patients, nor did he wish to sacrifice the chance to spend time alone with his man because of these matters. Therefore, the opening had to be indefinitely postponed, at least until Su Ting could stand on his own.
But when Su Ting was mentioned, Yu Jinnian felt troubled again.
Because this youngster could not even support himself yet, truly a half-full bottle making a clanging sound, and a few days ago he even picked up an abandoned infant from outside. It was a snow-white, soft little baby girl, extremely thin and weak, with fingers as slim as the tips of chopsticks. Jinyouting was full of big men; who knew how to raise a baby? Even Qing Huan, who had the most authority to speak, was only a young girl who had not yet married. A group of people looked at one another, afraid to even touch the child for fear of accidentally breaking her tiny arms.
Yu Jinnian found it rather novel and took her to hold for a while. Who knew that this child would not give him any face, opening her mouth to cry immediately and leaving him at a loss? The baby girl had a loud voice and cried with tremendous force. Yu Jinnian could do nothing but hand her back to Su Ting.
Interestingly enough, as Qing Huan said, not only did the baby cry at him, but she cried so hard in anyone else’s arms that she almost could not catch her breath, her tiny face turning purple from crying. Only when Su Ting held her would she be a bit more well-behaved. This was indeed a strange matter.
Estimating the time, this baby girl should have been abandoned after the Dragon Boat Festival. At that time, people firmly believed that babies born on the fifth day of the fifth month carried a fatal curse on their parents. Hence there was a folk saying of “not raising babies born in May.” As a result, after the Dragon Boat Festival, many abandoned babies appeared. Although it was somewhat innocent from the child’s perspective, given the current mindset of the common folk, there was no helping it.
A group of them searched through Jinyouting and actually found an elderly cook. Because she had fallen ill in her early years and could not bear children, she was willing to adopt this child.
Su Ting had spent two days with her and developed some feelings. Hearing that the cook had agreed, he felt quite reluctant. After all, he was an inexperienced young man; giving the child to the cook to raise was better than him fumbling about. Just when he was about to hand the child over, the baby girl, as if sensing what was about to happen, who had been quietly sleeping in Su Ting’s arms, suddenly burst into tears, almost as if her heart were being torn apart.
“The little baby has been with you these two days and got used to your scent,” said the cook seasonedly. “When suddenly separated, she would cry, but after a couple of days, she’ll get used to it and be fine.”
As Su Ting handed the baby over, he suddenly felt a tug at his neck.
A small object snapped off from around Su Ting’s neck, flew outward, rolled onto the ground, leaving only a red string gripped in the baby girl’s hand.
Yu Jinnian picked up the small object that had rolled to his feet and held it up to the sunlight for a look. It was a bead about the size of a jujube pit, irregular in shape but polished smooth. Its color was white with a faint yellow tint, and there were tiny scorch marks. He abruptly paused and returned the bead to Su Ting, saying sadly, “This was Haitang’s…”
It was a small piece of Haitang’s bone.
Su Ting had once said he wanted to keep a piece as a memento, but then he hesitated, wondering if secretly keeping a piece would hinder Haitang’s reincarnation. It turned out he still could not let go and had kept this small piece to wear around his neck, as if Bai Haitang were always accompanying him.
Staring at this bone bead, Su Ting’s eyes reddened silently. He lowered his head and quickly wiped them, then took the bone bead and placed it into his pouch. When he turned back to look at the baby girl, she still clutched that red string tightly in her hand. No matter how the cook coaxed her, she would not let go. Su Ting stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the tiny fist grasping the thread. That thread was specially bought by him, very sturdy and requiring scissors to cut. How could it loosen so easily with just a gentle tug from the baby?
After a moment, as if suddenly enlightened, he said, “Brother Nian, do you remember that time I said…Someday I would meet Haitang again, and maybe I could save him from danger. Brother Nian, do you know where I found her?”
“……”
“Beneath a crabapple tree by the moat.”
Yu Jinnian stiffened, “Su Ting, you’re not thinking——”
“I’ll raise her.” Su Ting stepped forward and took the child back. As soon as the carved, jade-like baby girl returned to his arms, she immediately stopped crying, yet still waved her tiny fists and babbled noisily, as if complaining and reproaching him for trying to give her away just now. Su Ting felt as if the long-empty cavity in his chest finally found solace, and that lonely heart, ever since Bai Haitang’s death, finally had a place to rest.
“Call her Haitang,” Su Ting said. He had once promised Bai Haitang that if he ever had a little daughter, he would name her Haitang. But now that Bai Haitang was gone, how could he still carry on as if nothing had happened to marry and have children? This baby girl must have been specially given to him by heaven, a little darling Bai Haitang sent down because he saw him living all alone.
He held the infant and gently rocked her, calling softly, “Su Haitang.”