Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Because a tall, broad-shouldered boy had taken up half the bed, Qiao Ying did not sleep well all night.

Early the next morning, she opened her eyes with an expression of utter despair.

A hand with long, well-defined fingers twined around a lock of her black hair, winding it around the fingertips as if its owner had discovered some fascinating little toy.

“Qiao Ying, what’s bothering you?”

The culprit’s voice was clear and pleasant. Hearing a sound like that first thing in the morning, right after waking, could perhaps be called a kind of enjoyment.

But Qiao Ying was in no state of mind to enjoy it.

She stared at the canopy above the bed, her face blank. “I’m reflecting on myself.”

Shen Qingyu propped himself up halfway and leaned closer. His white hair fell against the side of her face, tickling her, but he failed to notice such a detail. He only asked with great curiosity, “What are you reflecting on?”

“Whether I’ve been too indulgent with you.”

Shen Qingyu tilted his head slightly.

Qiao Ying let out another heavy sigh.

A man and a woman alone together-not only sharing a room, but lying in the same bed. If anyone found out, she would never be able to clear her name.

But thinking about it carefully, ever since they had ended up stranded in Phoenix Town, the relationship between the two of them had already become rather difficult to explain.

Qiao Ying chose not to torment herself any further. She got out of bed and, without the slightest awkwardness, stepped right over Shen Qingyu to climb down. “I still have to go work at Zhao Manor. It’s getting late. If you want to come with me, hurry up and get yourself ready.”

She put on her clothes, then sat down at the dressing table to do her hair and makeup, her mouth never stopping all the while.

“After what happened yesterday, I’m guessing things won’t be peaceful outside today. But today is the Young Master of Zhao Manor’s wedding day. No matter what happens, the wedding can’t be affected.”

“I’ve always heard the master and madam of Zhao Manor are generous. Ah Yuan said we should all be able to get quite a bit of lucky money today. Once I get paid, we’ll go to a restaurant and have a proper meal, so you can stop saying the food I make tastes bad.”

“But after the wedding today, my work at Zhao Manor will basically be finished. I’ll have to think about how to earn money next.”

As Qiao Ying muttered on, she looked at herself in the mirror. Holding a red cord between her fingers, she swiftly braided her dark hair into a loose plait that hung over her shoulder. A few wisps escaped their binding and brushed lightly against her cheeks whenever she raised her hand.

Paired with the red-and-green ruqun she wore, she looked pretty and full of life.

“Oh, right. Xue Heting and the others aren’t bad people. If you see them…” Qiao Ying turned around and saw that the person sitting on the bed still had not moved. Her brows drew together slightly. “Shen Qingyu, did you sleep yourself stupid?”

The white-haired youth was still sitting exactly as he had been, his hair loose around him, his languid posture carrying a faint air of illness. The white silk blindfold covered his eyes, revealing only the elegant line of his jaw. He looked a little dazed.

At her words, his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the other side of the quilt, where a bit of warmth still lingered. Only after a long while did he say, “You’re so noisy.”

Qiao Ying shut her mouth.

And once she shut her mouth, she truly did not say another word to him.

After bringing Shen Qingyu to Zhao Manor again, she settled him in the storage room as usual. Then she turned and left to help with the work-without even saying, “Wait here for me to come back.”

Shen Qingyu did not think there was anything worth caring about. He felt around and found the teacup on the table. No hot water had been poured into it; it was cold. Then, out of habit, he moved his fingers again and realized his arms were empty today. No little packet of snacks had been placed there for him to pass the time and stave off boredom.

Shen Qingyu lowered his hand and bowed his head, inexplicably feeling that something was out of place.

At the window, a boy suddenly popped up on tiptoe. He stared curiously at the youth sitting alone in the room and blurted out, “Are you the kept man Grandma was talking about?”
Shen Qingyu lifted his face slightly and, out of habit, smiled. “A kept man?”

“A grown man with working hands and feet who relies on a woman to earn money and support him.” The boy leaned against the window, curiosity sparkling in his clear black-and-white eyes. “Big Brother, how old are you? Why is your hair white? Can you not see? Is it because you’re greedy and lazy and can’t start a family or make a living that you have to rely on your little sister to support you? Don’t you feel embarrassed? I’m only six, but I already help Grandma work and earn money. How are you not even as capable as a little kid like me? And also… Ow, my head!”

The boy cried out, clutching his forehead. He had clearly felt something hit him on the head, but when he looked left and right, he saw nothing at all. The pain in his forehead just now seemed almost like an illusion.

Shen Qingyu said, “I am more capable than you.”

The boy looked up.

He saw the young man in blue, with his white hair, resting one hand on the table and propping up his chin. His bearing was noble and elegant, his smile dazzling, his beauty flawless. “Someone is willing to support me and let me be a kept man. You don’t have that.”

So what the boy had said earlier about him not being as capable as a little child was wrong.

As it turned out, there really were people in this world who could speak of being a kept man with such perfect confidence, even with a hint of boastfulness no one else could match.

The boy refused to accept it. “What do you have to be proud of? Someone like you will be abandoned one day!”

Shen Qingyu was unconcerned. He stroked that ebony blind cane and chuckled. “She likes my looks. She would never abandon me.”

“Once you’re old and faded, no one will like you anymore!” the boy said loudly. “Just like Brother Ergou and Ergou’s Wife next door. Brother Ergou has a face full of pockmarks, and Ergou’s Wife thought he was ugly, so she ran off with some pretty boy!”

The boy stood on tiptoe again to look at the person inside the window, his words ringing with conviction. “You look like you’re aging in a hurry. Your hair’s already all white when you’re so young. If another two or three years pass, what then? I don’t think you’ll be able to live off anyone for many more years!”

The smile at the corners of Shen Qingyu’s lips slowly vanished. “Shut up.”

The boy immediately jumped up. “See? See? You’re mad, you’re mad, you’re mad-ow!”

He clutched his head again and fell backward onto the ground. This time, a bump swelled up on the boy’s head, yet he still had not seen what had struck him.

Fear finally rose in the boy’s heart. He scrambled up from the ground and ran out as fast as he could, shouting as he went, “Grandma, there’s a ghost!”

Aunt Wang was busy in the kitchen, her mouth still running nonstop. “The Old Master and Old Madam finally arrived today. I heard the Old Master was a famous figure when he was young, and after he grew older, he lived in seclusion, spending every day with the Old Madam planting flowers and tending grasses. After all these decades, their feelings are still just like before. It really makes one envious!”

“There’s a ghost, Grandma, there’s a ghost!”

When Aunt Wang saw her grandson run over with his forehead swollen, she immediately put down her work and hurriedly grabbed the child to ask, “What happened? Who bullied you?”

The boy was badly frightened and could not form a clear sentence for a long while.

Qiao Ying was arranging the dishes. She glanced at the sobbing boy and thought of Shen Qingyu, but then she reconsidered. Shen Qingyu probably was not so childish as to make a child cry, right?

Not far away, in the storage room, the young man sat silently for a long time with only the sound of the wind for company. A moment later, he raised his hand, his fingertips lightly touching the jade-clean skin of his own face, and murmured to himself:

“Old and faded?”