Prequel: The Rat's Gift of Immortality - Autumn in My Heart 2

After the little incident, Tianquan continued to teach Jiuliu to read.

"Read it to yourself."

“…After accomplishing his task, he left without a trace, concealing his merits and fame.” Jiu Liu pointed to the words, reading them with great difficulty. He could recite these ancient poems, having learned quite a few by secretly peeking over walls in the past, and even knew some of them better than the students in the school.

But now, looking at unfamiliar words, he still feels mentally exhausted.

Many characters, round, square, oddly shaped.

However, with Tianquan's patient guidance and Jiuliu's naturally sharp mind, he was able to recognize quite a few characters within a few days. After learning them, Jiuliu went back to teach his junior brothers and sisters. When the two met again, Tianquan was somewhat taken aback by the large pile of straw-woven items that Jiuliu was carrying in his arms.

"What are you doing...?"

Jiuliu shoved everything in his arms at him, saying, "These are my junior brothers' tokens of their gratitude. They said they wanted to thank the older brother who taught them to read. Honestly, why don't they know how to thank their senior brother? A bunch of ungrateful brats."

Tianquan looked through the straw crafts; fish, rabbits, and other shapes were woven with remarkable realism—what a skillful child! His heart softened considerably. "How are they doing now?" he asked.

"That's great. Some people can already read two storybooks in one night, and they can't get up the next day, so they get a scolding from my senior brothers and sisters."

"You're really hardworking," Tianquan remarked, then turned to meet Jiuliu's very disapproving gaze.

"Why do you only praise them and not me? Does that mean I'm not working hard... Big brother?" There was a hint of grievance in his voice.

Why is this person arguing with a child?

"You're hardworking, you're very hardworking too." Tianquan was a little helpless, and his face flushed when he was called "big brother". In the end, he was amused by Jiuliu's childish nature. Looking at the person who was sitting upright waiting to be praised, Tianquan couldn't help but pat him on the head twice.

It's fluffy and feels so good.

So Tianquan couldn't stop his wicked hand and stroked it a couple more times.

The moment his hand touched her, Jiu Liu froze, until Tian Quan removed his hand.

Jiuliu licked the tip of his sharp canine tooth, his dark eyes reflecting Tianquan's smiling face, unfathomable.

"Hero, haven't you decided on my tuition fees yet?" Jiu Liu asked.

Tianquan had already put the matter out of his mind, but Jiuliu suddenly asked about it again, and he almost didn't react. "Um, I haven't thought about it yet. Why don't you decide what to give me?"

"I'll decide what to give?" Jiu Liu tilted his head, his eyes darting around. "Okay, let me think about it."

It's just tuition, but the two of them have been thinking about it for almost two months and still haven't made a decision.

＊

Before long, Jiu Liu officially "graduated" from his apprenticeship, but the two remained good friends and often went out to eat together.

Jiu Liu seems to have a particular fondness for food. My time in Kaifeng was too short, so Tianquan didn't have a chance to wander around the various restaurants, but as long as I followed Jiu Liu, there was never a shortage of good food.

"Waiter, the bill, please." Tianquan called out as he reached for his purse, only to find it empty.

What happened?

Jiu Liu revealed a mischievous smile, and slowly raised one hand from under the table, holding Tian Quan's purse.

Tian Suan was both amused and exasperated. "How many times are you going to use the same trick?"

"The same trick, hasn't it been a mystery even the most skilled martial artist hasn't been able to crack?"

What kind of twisted logic is that? Tianquan shook his head.

The scoundrel raised his eyebrows smugly.

However, Tianquan remained silent after paying the bill. Even after the two had walked quite a distance from the restaurant, Jiuliu caught several old grasshoppers on the road and showed them to Tianquan. Tianquan forced a smile and nodded slightly, but did not continue to make any jokes with Jiuliu.

What's wrong with this person?

Jiuliu panicked a little and squeezed the grasshopper to death with too much force. After realizing what had happened, he quickly found a dry grass leaf to wipe himself clean.

Tianquan remained silent the whole way until the two parted ways at an intersection.

That night, Jiu Liu couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Tian Quan looking at him with a hesitant expression.

"Knock knock".

"Who is it?" The junior brother, still half asleep, opened the door and saw his senior brother standing there with a smile, staring at him.

The junior brother got goosebumps from Jiu Liu's gaze. "Senior brother, why aren't you asleep so late?"

“That’s how it is,” Jiuliu put his arm around his junior brother’s shoulder, as if they were plotting something big, “Don’t you think we’re the best of brothers?”

"Of course!"

"Would you like to run an errand for your senior brother?"

"We'll spare no effort!"

"Good boy, go to Tianquan's garrison and find out their recent movements. If you succeed, I'll buy you a year's supply of pine nut candy."

"Okay!" Upon hearing that there were pine nut candies, the junior brother quickly agreed. However, when he met his senior brother's satisfied gaze, he suddenly hesitated. "Senior brother, you don't mean you want me to go now...?" You must be joking, it's so late now.

"Two-year-old pine nut candy."

"Deal!" That's how spineless I am.

...

The next morning, my junior brother returned with dark circles under his eyes. He had just stepped into the threshold of the camp when a pair of hands hidden in the shadows grabbed him.

Jiuliu couldn't wait to ask, "How is it?"

The junior brother yawned widely. "They're sending some disciples to their base in Jiangnan soon."

Who's on the list?

"I don't know, but I saw the chivalrous brother we met at the ghost market last time packing his luggage."

Jiuliu: "..."

"Senior brother? Senior brother!!!" The junior brother was confused. Why was his senior brother in such a hurry, like he had just run away from his wife?

He shuddered at his own association and quickly ducked into his room.

＊

The day the luggage was loaded onto the train was the beginning of winter.

The sky was overcast from morning until noon when it finally started to snow lightly.

Winter arrived right on time this year, and the temperature dropped particularly quickly. When Tianquan went out, he thought he had misremembered the season, but it was already deep winter.

Perhaps because the temperature is too low, the plum blossoms have bloomed early, their petals a lovely pinkish-white.

Tianquan stood at the entrance of the Kaifeng garrison, his gaze lingering on a certain place in the distance.

Jiu Liu has always been elusive and unpredictable. Tianquan used to think this person was too mischievous, but now he wants that person to be even more mischievous, preferably appearing right in front of him now, or perhaps...

A hand patted Tianquan on the shoulder, and the latter turned around in surprise, only to find it was his fellow disciple.

Seeing Tianquan's expression change from surprise to disappointment, the senior brother stared wide-eyed—Hey, hey, do you really not want to see me?

He asked Tianquan to help his younger disciples load their luggage onto the carriage. Tianquan gave a perfunctory reply and went off absentmindedly.

Halfway there, the snow intensified, and the pure white snow fell on him. Tianquan instinctively tried to brush the snow off his shoulders.

—Then I touched something furry.

Turning around, I met the eyes of a furry, round-headed fat rat.

He hadn't noticed it while he was distracted, but Tianquan realized it now... Wow, it's really heavy. Whose mouse is being fed so well?

He suddenly remembered the first time he met Jiuliu at Guishizi. Jiuliu's junior brother had a rat perched on his head, which looked similar to this one, but it wasn't as big or as clever.

The mouse had a roll of paper in its mouth. Tianquan looked around and saw that he was the only one there.

"For me?"

The mouse nodded.

Strangely perceptive of human nature.

Tianquan took the scroll, unfolded it, and saw that it was a portrait. The artist must have been highly skilled to create such a lifelike painting on such a small piece of paper.

The expression and appearance of the person in the painting were so familiar to Tianquan that it was clearly himself.

Beside the portrait hangs a line of poetry: “The road is too far to reach, so why not seek leisure? Why harbor worries and anxieties?”

"My senior brother knows so many things, everyone likes him!"

Tianquan recalled what the child had said in the ghost market.

So, he can paint too?

Tianquan remembered that when Jiuliu learned this poem, he stared at it for a long time, chewing on it repeatedly. At that time, Tianquan just thought that he didn't quite understand it and that he needed to read it a few more times to remember it clearly.

...And how could Tianquan not recognize these handwritings?

Silently rolling up the paper, Tianquan's heart was pounding, his blood was boiling, and he even broke out in a light sweat despite the heavy snow.

"My senior brother's name is Jiuliu, everyone likes to call him that—"

"Xiao Jiu," Tianquan whispered.

"Um?"

!

Tianquan suddenly opened his eyes and turned around to see a person sitting on the wall of the camp. He had his legs crossed, his hands supporting his chin, and the cold wind swept across his face with pinkish-white wisps, making it hard to tell whether it was snow or plum blossoms.

Jiuliu lowered his eyelids and stared at Tianquan without blinking, his eyes containing a variety of emotions.

Although he remained outwardly calm, Tianquan, with his excellent eyesight, still noticed his slightly trembling fingertips.

When the mouse saw its owner, it dragged its round body back to Jiuliu's side and nestled on Jiuliu's head like a brown ball.

...

The two people, one tall and one short, stared at each other for a long time.

"You...are leaving?"

“I’m not going. I discussed it with my master and we decided to send another senior brother who is more talented than me.”

"……oh."

"I haven't forgotten, you haven't paid your tuition yet. Have you decided what you're paying for?"

"I've made up my mind." Jiu Liu took out a beautiful and exquisite grass ring with a luminous pearl on it. "Will this one work?"

“…Not quite enough,” Tianquan said.

"Not enough?" Jiu Liu tilted his head, like the bewildered apprentice he was at the beginning. "What else do you need?"

The wind and snow intensified, and a layer of white snowflakes settled on Jiu Liu's long, slender eyelashes. He squinted and saw Tian Quan's lips opening and closing.

"you."