Madam Wang seized the thirty strings of cash and fled so fast her heels practically struck the back of her head. She was afraid the Yun family might change their minds, and even more afraid that Ye Zheng would be too weak to survive and die in their house, prompting the Yun family to demand their money back.
Madam Wang was so stingy that she never parted with even a single hair. She'd made up her mind that once the money was in her hands, she'd never return it!
Zheng had entered the Yun family's door and lain on their bed. The transaction was complete, goods exchanged for payment! Even if he died that very instant, he'd be the Yun family's dead man. No one would ever make her give back a single copper coin!
After tidying the courtyard, which Madam Wang and her entourage had left in a terrible mess, Yun Qing took another packet of medicinal herbs into the kitchen and set them simmering.
Ye Zheng had only just drunk his medicine and gone to sleep, but the doctor had instructed them to cook the decoction over low heat until five bowls of water were reduced to one. If Yun Qing started now, it would be ready for Ye Zheng before dinner.
Watching their child carry the herbs into the kitchen, Father Yun and Mother Yun exchanged glances. Each saw the same enormous word in the other's eyes: WORRY.
Although Yun Qing repeatedly explained that he'd had no choice but to bring the Ye boy home, parents knew their own child best. Qing had never been particularly warm or demonstrative toward others. When had he ever been so attentive to someone?
Now he had not only rescued the boy and installed him in his own bedroom, but was also tending to him with doctors and medicines. It simply wasn't normal.
Ah, they knew it wasn't kind to say such things about their own child, but Qing had clearly fallen for the young man from the Ye family.
Of course, when it came to appearance, the Ye boy really was exceptionally handsome. The entire village agreed on that.
But oh, their foolish Qing!
You couldn't eat or drink a handsome face. What good was it? The Ye boy looked like he'd been made of paper. If he recovered and grew strong, all would be well. But if he didn't, their Qing had a lifetime of hardship ahead of him. Ah!
And yet it was precisely because they recognized Qing's feelings for the Ye boy that the parents had finally agreed to Madam Wang's extortionate demand and paid the thirty-string bride price. After all, they couldn't bear to watch their child remain unmarried forever.
The Ye boy certainly didn't look much use now, but young men changed as they grew. Perhaps, just as Qing said, with some proper care he would… become useful.
Ye Zheng lay in bed, unaware that people outside were discussing whether he would ever be “useful.”
Even if he'd known, he wouldn't have minded. He owed the Yun family a great deal: the debt of his life, plus thirty taels of silver. He ought to work for them like an ox or a horse if that was what it took.
He spent another three days lying in the room and drinking the medicine his savior personally fed him. At last some strength returned to his limbs. He couldn't stay in bed forever, so he stood up and opened the door.
But he had never lived in a rural house and didn't know the doors here had raised thresholds. The moment he stepped out, he caught his foot and pitched headfirst toward the ground.
Fortunately, Yun Qing had heard the door open and was coming his way. He lifted his arm just in time to catch Ye Zheng as he fell.
Leaning against Yun Qing, Ye Zheng stood upright again, patting his pounding chest in lingering fright.
With this pathetic little chicken of a body, he might actually have split his skull open on the doorframe. His savior Yun Qing had just saved his life again! How on earth would he ever repay him?
Then again, once you were covered in fleas, another bite made no difference. When you owed so much already, what was one more debt? For the moment, Ye Zheng could only shamelessly say thank you and leave repayment for later.
He was just about to move away from Yun Qing's arm when he suddenly felt his feet leave the ground. Yun Qing kept one arm supporting him, slid the other beneath the backs of his knees, and lifted him clean off the floor!
!!!
Even though he'd already experienced Yun Qing's strength, Ye Zheng's eyes widened. It felt positively unreal.
His body might be slender, but surely he was around one meter sixty-seven tall. How could anyone pick him up as easily as a doll?
It wasn't that he believed a ger shouldn't possess such strength.
It was mainly because he still thought like a modern man. Yun Qing was tall and lean, at least one meter eighty by Ye Zheng's estimate. Years of work had given him long, taut muscles. With his small head, straight shoulders, slim waist, and long legs, he was built like a male model. Come to think of it, it was only natural for someone like that to be strong.
…He simply wasn't used to being carried around by another person. And he felt a tiny bit of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Just a tiny bit.
But Yun Qing misunderstood his expression. He assumed Ye Zheng, like everyone else, disliked seeing a ger stronger than a man. His heart sank a little.
He carried Ye Zheng to the edge of the bed, sat him down, immediately withdrew his hands, and casually apologized.
Ye Zheng was busy fantasizing about having Yun Qing's muscles on his own body, so the apology caught him by surprise. “Why are you saying that, Qing?”
Yun Qing crouched down and tightened the straps of his straw sandals, then forced a lighthearted smile. “I'm sorry. I'm too strong, and I frightened you.”
Ye Zheng realized something, too. He wasn't accustomed to wearing straw sandals in this era. They'd been flopping loosely around his feet, which was why he'd tripped on the threshold. Yun Qing was so thoughtful.
As a grown man at heart, Ye Zheng felt terribly embarrassed at having someone else fix his shoes.
But right now, there was something more important to do than feel embarrassed.
Anxious to comfort Yun Qing, Ye Zheng didn't notice that he'd grabbed the other man's hand in his haste—and holding hands was an excessively intimate gesture in this era.
“Qing, you've misunderstood. I wasn't frightened at all. Really.”
Afraid Yun Qing wouldn't believe him, Ye Zheng looked straight into his eyes and tried his hardest to radiate sincerity. “I'm just envious that you have such a wonderful physique.”
Yun Qing: “…”
Although Yun Qing wasn't as coy or bashful as other gers, he'd still received a traditional upbringing. Having a man hold his hand and speak so openly about his feelings was more than he was used to.
Fortunately, that man was Ye Zheng, and he could hear the sincerity in his voice. Instead of pulling away, he made himself meet Ye Zheng's eyes.
“You think my build is good?” Yun Qing asked.
“Of course it is!” Ye Zheng replied without thinking. “You're exactly the type I like best!”
Yun Qing: “…”
A faint blush slowly spread across Yun Qing's open, handsome face.
Ye Zheng: Oh no! How did I accidentally say what I really thought?
That's right.
Ye Zheng was male, and he was attracted to men. If he'd met a stunningly handsome man like Yun Qing in the modern world, he might even have pursued him himself.
But in this dynasty, Yun Qing was a ger—a third sex besides male and female. That didn't matter to Ye Zheng. As far as he was concerned, Yun Qing was a man, and his face and figure were exactly his ultimate type.
It was just that Ye Zheng owed Yun Qing his life, and his original body's sister-in-law had sold him to the Yun family for thirty taels of silver. Instinctively, Ye Zheng felt that he'd already caused the Yuns enough trouble, and for the moment he was too embarrassed to entertain romantic fantasies about Yun Qing.
That was what he truly felt, something he'd meant to digest privately. But the truth had slipped out before he knew it, leaving him thoroughly embarrassed. It was much too forward by Yun Qing's standards, too.
Ye Zheng hurried to explain. “Don't misunderstand, Qing. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I only wanted to say that you're wonderful. From head to toe, there's absolutely nothing about you that isn't wonderful—”
If he hadn't said that, it might have been fine. But now Yun Qing's ears burned and his heart hammered wildly.
No one had ever confessed their feelings to Yun Qing like this before. Worse—or better—the young man professing his feelings was exquisitely beautiful, his expression so earnest that he looked ready to take out his whole heart and hold it up for Yun Qing to examine.
Pretending to be calm, Yun Qing smoothed the stray hair by the boy's ear. Beneath his usual gentle tone was a hint of agitation. “Even if you did mean that… it wouldn't matter. After all, very soon you'll be my…”
He said the words “my husband” so softly that he clearly wasn't used to them himself.
But Ye Zheng had sharp ears, and he caught every syllable.
The moment he heard it, flowers seemed to bloom inside his heart.
He'd heard them talk about marrying into the family, live-in husbands, and weddings often enough, but he'd assumed it was only a temporary arrangement made out of necessity. After all, Yun Qing, a ger, had wiped down his body, and according to the villagers' old-fashioned ideas, that meant Yun Qing had to marry him. The whole arrangement was designed to protect Yun Qing's reputation.
Ye Zheng had never seriously thought Yun Qing might be attracted to him. He'd assumed they'd keep him around as a long-term laborer for a few years, and once the matter blew over and he'd repaid his debts, the Yun family would invent some excuse to send him away. Yun Qing could then find someone better.
But the red tips of Yun Qing's ears and the way he'd said “husband” just now didn't sound like an act. His sincerity was unmistakable. People in this era didn't joke about lifelong commitments, much less casually call another man their husband.
What did that mean?
It meant that he really was marrying into the family. The Yuns truly accepted him as their live-in son-in-law!
More importantly, his engagement to Yun Qing was real and binding!
When he understood that, Ye Zheng grinned so broadly his mouth nearly reached his ears. He couldn't stop himself from giggling like a fool.
Yun Qing: “…”
His little future husband was certainly exquisite and pretty, but why did he seem a little silly?
Yun Qing wanted to persuade Ye Zheng to rest in bed for another day.
But there was no way Ye Zheng could stay still now. He was so happy he wanted to run three laps around the house. He sprang up from the bed's edge and took Yun Qing's hand. “Qing, look, I've recovered completely! I can't stay shut inside forever. Let me help you work in the courtyard!”
Yun Qing figured a short walk outside wouldn't hurt. At worst, if Ye Zheng grew tired, he could carry him back. So he nodded in agreement.
Ye Zheng insisted on holding his hand, blinking those large, sparkling, dark-grape eyes up at Yun Qing like some sort of lotus-flower spirit. “What if I fall again without someone holding my hand?”
All right, then. There was no one else in the courtyard anyway. Yun Qing let him hold his hand as they went outside.
When they reached the spot where Yun Qing worked, Ye Zheng voluntarily let go. Taking advantage of a little affection was one thing; interfering with someone's proper work was another.
Yun Qing first settled Ye Zheng onto a stool and, worried that he might fall, told him not to move around. Ye Zheng obediently placed both hands on his knees and sat still.
Pleased to see him behaving so well, Yun Qing sat on a stool opposite him. He picked up the basket he'd left unfinished at noon and resumed weaving it with thin strips of bamboo.
He knew every step by heart, and his hands moved quickly. Before long, a bamboo basket took shape beneath his fingers.
In his previous life, Ye Zheng had only seen such beautiful craftsmanship in videos. People like Yun Qing were called traditional artisans in his old world, and they weren't often encountered in daily life. Delighted to witness one in person, he stared at Yun Qing's hands without taking his eyes off them.
Yun Qing looked up while working and saw how absorbed he was. Worried that Ye Zheng might be bored, and also wanting to show off a little, he set all ten slender fingers flying. In no time, he'd woven a bamboo grasshopper, which he placed on his palm and held out to Ye Zheng to play with.
Ye Zheng's eyes went wide. Wow—
That speed and skill! Absolutely incredible.
But Ye Zheng wasn't actually a child. After playing with the grasshopper for a while, he soon lost interest and began eyeing the split bamboo strips on the ground instead.
He'd been watching Yun Qing so closely because he wanted to learn how to make baskets. Now that he'd seen the process, he felt ready to try it himself.
So while Yun Qing turned to drink some water, Ye Zheng boldly reached for the bamboo strips. He picked one up between two fingers, took hold of one end as he'd seen Yun Qing do, and pulled it along.
He was just feeling proud of himself when a sharp, knife-like pain shot through his index finger. He couldn't stop a hiss of pain. “Ah—!”
Yun Qing was so startled that he nearly dropped his mug before hurrying over to inspect the hand.
A few bamboo splinters were embedded between two pale, tender fingers. The index finger was worst of all: a sharp bamboo strip had sliced open a cut, and bright red blood was running down it.
