Han Jiuhua, see letter.

Zhou Ziliang truly hadn't expected Tang Feng to suddenly make such a request. He figured Tang Feng must have been frightened today. Zhou Ziliang stood up, avoiding looking at Tang Feng's expression, and pulled him into his arms without speaking. Tang Feng rested his head against Zhou Ziliang's lower back, and after a long while, gently pushed him away, his face slightly flushed. "Zhou Ziliang, thank you," he said. Zhou Ziliang shook his head and smiled, "Everyone has their vulnerable moments. Here, I made some porridge. Try it, don't skip meals, or your stomach won't be able to handle it." Zhou Ziliang pushed the bowl of porridge towards Tang Feng.

Tang Feng, feeling embarrassed, picked up the bowl and took a couple of sips. He realized he seemed to be becoming increasingly dependent on Zhou Ziliang; he hadn't even expected to ask Zhou Ziliang to hug him just now. "Let's go see that mountain tomorrow! I want to resolve this matter as soon as possible," Tang Feng said, unsure of what else to say, so he casually changed the subject to avoid embarrassment.

Zhou Ziliang nodded. "Okay, I'll listen to you. But you must get some rest today, don't overwork yourself, and don't worry about what happened this morning." After saying that, he cleared away Tang Feng's empty porridge bowl, added, "Get some rest," and left.

Tang Feng, seeing Zhou Ziliang had already walked away, let out a long sigh of relief. "My God! What's wrong with me?" Tang Feng clutched his head, somewhat terrified. "My goodness, I'm a 21st-century straight man obsessed with getting young girls, I can't go gay just because of Zhou Ziliang!" Tang Feng paced anxiously around the room. "If only he were a girl," Tang Feng chuckled. "Gentle, considerate, and a good cook, ugh! What the hell am I thinking! No! Maybe I've been spending too much time with men at Lishan Academy." Tang Feng suddenly thought of Han Jiuhua, far away in Xiling. 'Hey! How could I forget Han Jiuhua! These kinds of courtesans understand this feeling best. I'll write a letter and send it over, maybe it'll solve the problem!' Tang Feng smiled, then took out a piece of paper, ground the ink stick, and began to write.

Han Jiuhua, see letter.

Since our parting at the flower boat in Xiling, we have not met again. Today, I am perplexed, having met someone I do not understand, nor do I know where my feelings for her began. I am tossing and turning, unable to sleep, and thus I am writing to you, hoping to seek your advice.

Tang Feng

After Tang Feng finished writing, he went downstairs and handed the letter to the innkeeper, instructing him to send it to Xiling as quickly as possible. Zhou Ziliang was sitting in the lobby discussing the route with Fang Zihui when he saw Tang Feng come out. "Why aren't you resting in your room? What are you doing out here?"

Tang Feng smiled. "I'm a man, after all. I'm not that weak." Zhou Ziliang breathed a sigh of relief seeing that Tang Feng was much better. Tang Feng had really frightened Zhou Ziliang just now. Years ago, when Tang Feng was still a crybaby, Zhou Ziliang had never paid much attention to him. He only knew to hand him a handkerchief when he cried, and later, when he got annoyed, he would just turn away. Who would have thought that Zhou Ziliang would see Tang Feng crying again today? Zhou Ziliang shook his head. Perhaps this is what they mean by "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Before, he disliked him intensely, but now that he liked him, he found Tang Feng's tearful face somewhat cute.

"What are you two discussing!" Tang Feng sat down opposite Fang Zihui, looked at the map in his hand, and said to Zhou Ziliang, "This map is clearer than yours. Judging from this, the remaining two rivers are probably closely related to siltation."

Fangzi would come closer and ask, "What do you mean?"

"Look over here. Although the sources of these two rivers don't flow down from the mountains, they are close to the Yanting Mountains. The soil at the foot of the mountains is loose, and the water flow easily carries the soil over. Over the years, the soil from the upper reaches has accumulated in the middle and lower reaches, causing the river channels to become shallow. This is the root cause of the floods that occur during the flood season in the future."

Fang Zi nodded. "What you said makes sense. I also considered this issue a few years ago, but I really didn't know how to solve it. I only knew that we needed to widen the river, but widening it every year would be a waste of manpower and resources, and widening it at the right time was difficult to control."

"No rush, I'll go take a look tomorrow," Tang Feng said, taking a sip of water and staring at the picture for a long time. "There are many methods, but it's a bit troublesome." The next day, a light rain fell in Daze. Zhou Ziliang and Fang Zihui were waiting for Tang Feng downstairs early in the morning, but he didn't come down for a long time. "Mr. Fang, I'll go upstairs and check on him. Please wait a moment!" Zhou Ziliang said, turning around and going upstairs. He opened the door and saw Tang Feng sleeping soundly. He breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the bedside, sat down gently, and patted Tang Feng. "Xiao Feng, wake up. Mr. Fang is already waiting for you downstairs."

Tang Feng reluctantly turned over and went back to sleep without paying any attention to him. Zhou Ziliang gently pinched Tang Feng's cheek. "Don't you have some grand plans to do today? If you don't get up now, you might miss the flood. The people of Daze are waiting for you!" Hearing this, Tang Feng suddenly sat up, staring at Zhou Ziliang with sleepy eyes. It took him a while to realize, "Oh dear! Did I oversleep?"

"Fortunately, Mr. Fang is still patient," Zhou Ziliang said with a smile as he watched Tang Feng finish getting dressed. "I saw you hadn't gotten up this morning and thought you were sick, but it turns out you were just lazing in bed!"

Tang Feng threw a book at Zhou Ziliang's face, saying, "Do I need you to remind me?!" He then left the room. Zhou Ziliang slowly removed the book from his face, smiled, and followed him.

The distance from the city to the disaster area wasn't far; it took about two incense sticks' worth of riding to get there. Tang Feng was helped off the horse by Zhou Ziliang. According to Fang Zihui, the terrain of Luoxi River was complex and difficult to navigate, so they had come to Luoxi River first. Tang Feng found a tree branch and walked along the Luoxi River towards the Tengli River. "This is the bend in the river, right?" Tang Feng pointed ahead.

Fang Zihui nodded. "That's right. So, you mean we're going to carve into the mountain here?" Fang Zihui pointed to the mountainside with a tree branch. Tang Feng walked over, bent down, picked up a stone, and examined it carefully. "If we carve into the mountain here, siltation will inevitably occur in the future." Tang Feng hadn't expected there to be so much sand here. "But there's no other way. This is it."

Tang Feng squatted down and drew a circle with a twig. "Then just dig this way." Fang Zihui nodded. "Okay, here it is." With the Xiluo situation resolved, let's go check the Fuyuan River and the Ansu River. These two rivers aren't far apart, only a fifteen-minute walk. Tang Feng took out a small bowl from behind him and squatted down to scoop water. "There's a lot of silt in this water. If we don't address this, the floods will only get worse year by year. Mr. Fang, could you bring some people tomorrow? Let's get rid of the river sand before the flood season arrives. As for the issue of how to control it, which you mentioned yesterday, I'll think of a solution tonight."

Fang Zihui replied, "Okay, I'll go find someone right away." After Fang Zihui left, Zhou Ziliang walked up to Tang Feng and asked, "Are you tired?" Tang Feng shook his head, then found a rock to sit on. "Not tired. I was thinking about Mr. Fang's question from yesterday."

“I do have an idea about that problem,” Zhou Ziliang said, picking up a stone from the ground and submerging half of it in the river. He then showed it to Tang Feng. “Look, what if this is when there’s no silt?” He then picked up another stone and submerged it in the river. “What if there’s silt?” Individually, it was unclear what Zhou Ziliang was trying to say, but when placed together, the meaning was quite clear: the first stone had less water submerged, while the second stone had more.

Tang Feng immediately slapped his thigh. "Hey! Why didn't I think of that! That's a good idea! Zhou Ziliang, you're something else! You..." Tang Feng subconsciously shut his mouth. No, no, he couldn't let himself continue like this. He had to keep his distance from Zhou Ziliang. He needed to value his life and stay away from him. Tang Feng shook his head and stood up. "I understand, thank you."

Zhou Ziliang had lost count of how many times Tang Feng had thanked him. He frowned slightly and pulled Tang Feng closer, saying, "Xiao Feng, although I don't know why you're so resistant to me now, it's okay. I won't give up. I just hope you won't run away from me anymore, okay?" Zhou Ziliang's words completely enraged Tang Feng, who had been troubled for days.

Tang Feng turned around and stared intently at Zhou Ziliang. "What do you mean by 'don't run away'? When I was eager to like you, didn't you run away to the border? I don't like you anymore, so what's it to you!" Tang Feng regretted turning around as soon as he realized he'd forgotten how to curse properly. What he said was completely nonsensical. Besides, if he didn't like someone, he just didn't like them. He was right even if he was being unreasonable. Why did he have to use that crybaby as a shield?

Seeing Tang Feng leave, Zhou Ziliang was also a little confused. Tang Feng had fallen from his horse earlier, and he thought he had just lost some memory. He had been in love with him for so many years, and it had become a habit. According to Tang Feng's words before, that kind of love was engraved in his bones and he could never forget it.

Perhaps it was because he had hurt Tang Feng too deeply last time, that devastating blow, that led Tang Feng to selectively reject and resent him. Although Zhou Ziliang was somewhat saddened, it didn't make him give up on Tang Feng. Zhou Ziliang got up and followed closely behind Tang Feng, remaining silent. He knew that silence was the best solution now.

Tang Feng originally wanted to walk back by himself, but it was too far. He had no choice but to walk to Hongdou's side, put his hands on his hips, and wait for Zhou Ziliang. Zhou Ziliang saw this and didn't dawdle. He stepped forward and smiled, "Alright, alright, don't be angry. It was my fault for making you angry. It reminded you of bad memories. Come on, get on the horse. I won't touch you, okay?"

Watching Tang Feng mount his horse, Zhou Ziliang pulled on Hongdou's reins and took a few steps. Seeing that Zhou Ziliang hadn't mounted, Hongdou reared up, trying to throw Tang Feng off. Startled, Tang Feng clung tightly to the horse's neck. Zhou Ziliang held the reins firmly and patted Hongdou's head reassuringly. "Hongdou! Don't be silly. He's very important to me. Don't let him get hurt." He then helped the swaying Tang Feng, only to be met with a fierce glare from Tang Feng. Zhou Ziliang slowly withdrew his hand and smiled, "I won't touch you. Hold on tight to the saddle."

Tang Feng nodded, blushing, without saying a word. After a long silence, he awkwardly whispered, "I'm sorry, I don't know why, I'm very confused right now. Could you please not be so nice to me? It scares me."

Tang Feng spoke softly, and Zhou Ziliang, leading the horse, didn't seem to hear him. What should have been a short journey took a whole afternoon. When they arrived at the post station, Zhou Ziliang instinctively reached out to help Tang Feng down from the horse, but Tang Feng remained seated and refused to jump. Zhou Ziliang sighed and placed the red bean stick next to the dismounting stone. "At least step on a stone! Don't fall because you're angry with me."