This is where my heart finds peace, this is my everyday home.
1
As spring fades, a light rain has caused the temperature to rise instead of fall, leaving a damp and sultry feeling. Only the occasional breeze brings a touch of coolness before summer arrives.
A piece of blue stone sat silently on the desk in the study as a lucky charm.
The owner of the study saw the last group of guests to the door, and the sounds of polite conversation drifted into the room through the slightly ajar door.
"Thank you, sir, there's no need for further gifts..."
"Wenfeng, see Lord Gu off." After instructing his subordinates, the master of the mansion watched the guest's figure disappear into the courtyard before turning back into the house.
Before long, another steward brought over last month's account books: "My lord, these are the account books sent from the estate..." The steward picked out an account book and put it aside: "This one is from the shop you ordered to be purchased."
Xie Zhuo flipped through the ledger and waved for the steward to leave.
The door closed with a barely perceptible sound. When Xie Zhuo looked away and went back to flip through the ledger, a stone suddenly pressed down on the top of the cover.
"Xiao Bao, are you awake?"
Xie Zhuo didn't rush to move the stone aside, but instead poked the stone, which had been dormant for several days, with his index finger.
The stone on the book swayed slightly, as if in response to his words. It then fell into his arms, transforming into a listless, somewhat drowsy boy: "Father, how long have I been asleep?"
The young man reached out and placed his hand on Xie Baoqiong's loose, unadorned long hair, his voice revealing a sudden relaxation after a long period of tension:
"Three days."
Surrounded by the familiar scent of gardenias, Xie Baoqiong yawned without any regard for her image, her eyes squinting sleepily like a cat's.
He has now spent two human New Years in the Marquis's mansion. Meng Rui had a bit of a fuss with his family but still managed to participate in the selection for the Anti-Evil Division. Although he couldn't cultivate, he was quite talented in the art of magic.
The first half of the month was Meng Rui's first time receiving a field mission. When Xie Baoqiong learned of this, out of concern for her friend, she went along as a helper.
Fortunately, he chose to go along, which prevented him from losing the friends he had made in the human world again—the information gathered by the Anti-Evil Division was wrong, and the heretics they encountered were simply beyond the capabilities of Meng Rui and the other inexperienced newcomers.
Xie Baoqiong herself was also seriously injured and fell into a coma.
"Dad, is Meng Rui alright?" Xie Baoqiong's memories before falling into a coma were blurry, and she knew nothing about what happened afterward.
“He wasn’t seriously injured. He even came to see you yesterday, but you were still asleep.”
Xie Zhuo lowered his head, looking at the restored rosy cheeks, but his mind was still in turmoil. He almost tasted the bitterness of loss again without knowing anything.
“Then I’ll go find him.” Xie Baoqiong had just stood up when he was pulled back into the young man’s arms and sat on his lap, the young man’s hands gripping him tightly.
“He has to work today, and you might bother him if you go now.”
Xie Zhuo explained his reasons for stopping the person, then changed the subject:
"Xiao Bao, aren't you going to tell your father what happened? Didn't you say you were going out to play for a few days? Why did you come back like this?" The young man's voice was still gentle, but beneath the seemingly calm surface, a stubborn storm was brewing.
Stone, who could only read Xie Zhuo's surface emotions, lay sprawled in the young man's arms: "Something unexpected happened." As he spoke, he sniffed and complained unhappily, "I had to work as soon as I got there, and I didn't get to have any fun."
Xie Zhuo coaxed him, "Then how about we don't go anymore?"
The boy in his arms remained silent. Just as Xie Zhuo thought the boy was considering, Xie Baoqiong suddenly turned her upper body, and her face, which had hardly changed since their first meeting, directly filled his vision:
"not good."
Just as the boy himself had said, he wouldn't listen to him.
Before he could persuade him further, the boy in his arms suddenly twisted his body: "Father, put me down."
"You've just woken up, don't leave the manor until your injuries have healed." Xie Zhuo reminded the child before releasing him.
The child agreed quickly this time. Not only did he agree, but after his toes touched the ground, he didn't run away. Instead, he took a sip of water from his teacup and went back to the table to look at the things placed on it.
The teacup rested on the edge of the table, the boy propped his arms on the table, his gaze fixed on the ledger that had been pulled out separately: "What is this?"
Long, slender fingers flipped open the ledger and pushed it toward the boy: "The ledger of a shop."
Xie Baoqiong glanced at the densely packed words on the paper, and upon hearing the unremarkable answer, immediately lost interest and turned to fiddle with the ornaments on the shelf.
"Xiao Bao, come here." Xie Zhuo beckoned to him and pushed the ledger toward him again.
The boy took a step closer, but without looking down at the booklet on the table, he said without any shame, "Dad, I can't understand it either."
"You've already learned all the commonly used characters, how could you not understand?" Xie Zhuo tapped the ledger lightly with his fingers and pushed it in a little further: "This is for you. Even though someone is taking care of you, you can't be completely ignorant."
Xie Zhuo naturally had his own plans. He could use this as an excuse to keep Xiao Bao in the mansion. Children forget things quickly, and after a while, they would stop thinking about the Anti-Evil Division.
His raised eyes clearly reflected the boy's image: "I was going to give it to you when you were older, but..." He pulled the child to sit down on the other half of the chair by the table: "You've seen it today, so learn for a while first."
The child pouted, looking displeased: "Then I really had a lucky break."
"Yes, it's a coincidence," Xie Zhuo replied, suppressing a smile, and bent down to take out a brocade box from a drawer under the table.
"Open it and take a look."
The child's face was still contorted, but his eyes followed the brocade box: "It's for me too."
"Yes, they all belong to Xiaobao."
A small brocade box, about half the size of a palm, was opened, revealing a jade seal with a warm and delicate texture lying on top of the velvet cloth. Xie Baoqiong reached out and took it out, discovering that the jade seal was ring-shaped, with a small section flattened and engraved with three small characters—
【Xie OO】
Aside from the fact that the first character "谢" (Xie) is not his handwriting, the last two "OO" characters are his usual way of writing his name.
"Circles." The young man's teasing voice rang in my ears at just the right moment.
It's one thing to write it yourself, but it's quite another to have someone call out to you so affectionately.
"Dad's bad." The boy grabbed the small jade ring with his hand, covering the inscription on it.
"It's because our little one is lazy." Xie Zhuo rescued Yu Zhang from the ashamed and indignant child, then rubbed the child's red face with a faint smile in his eyes. His little treasure was becoming more and more like an ordinary child.
"Should the ring be worn on the wrist, or tied with a string and hung around the neck?"
The word "circle" is followed almost without pause, making it difficult to distinguish which circle it refers to—the jade ring lying in the palm of the hand, or…the treasure in one's heart.
The child pouted, seemingly unwilling to choose either option. Xie Zhuo explained, "This is the shop's certificate. Everyone in the shop has signed a contract, and it allows you to command the people in the shop."
With a jade pendant still hanging around his neck, Xie Baoqiong finally slipped the jade ring onto his little finger. Only then did he realize that there was a faint flow of spiritual energy within the jade ring.
"Dad, what kind of shop is it?"
"It's just a small shop, but it's located in a cultivator's market." Xie Zhuo seemed completely oblivious to the growing surprise and doubt on Xie Baoqiong's face. "After all, you're a cultivator, and you don't want to go to a sect, so you need some spirit stones and magical artifacts to protect yourself..."
Having seen little of the world, Xie Baoqiong was easily fooled by Xie Zhuo's remark that even cultivators were once mortals.
2
After the rain, the sky cleared, and water droplets still clung to the verdant loquat leaves.
Two figures, one tall and one short, passed by under the tree. The smaller one was being pulled by the larger one towards the backyard.
"Dad, I'm just going out to play for a while."
Xie Baoqiong's hand was held tightly, but she kept talking.
"Don't think about it until your injury has fully healed." Xie Zhuo released the child's hand, which had suddenly stopped, and stared at the child with a blank expression.
Suddenly feeling empty, Xie Baoqiong unconsciously tightened and loosened her grip, reaching out to take the young man's hand that was hanging by his side.
The young man's large hand did not dodge; it was easily grasped in his hand, but he did not reciprocate by squeezing it back.
Xie Baoqiong reached out her other hand and pried Xie Zhuo's fingers off, when the young man's cold voice suddenly boomed from above:
"Didn't you just say you didn't want to hold my hand?"
Xie Baoqiong looked up at the indifferent-looking young man, showing no fear. After straightening her fingers, she patted the young man's hand.
"Father, please don't be angry. My injury has long since healed."
Xie Zhuo, who almost laughed out of anger, pinched his son's chubby cheek: "Who's throwing a tantrum?"
Just as the oblivious child was about to say something even more infuriating, he was interrupted by several slightly panicked footsteps: "Greetings, Lord Marquis, greetings, young master."
The servants who had witnessed their master disciplining the young master lowered their eyes and greeted Xie Zhuo, who was looking over.
Xie Zhuo had no intention of making things difficult for them and gestured for them to leave on their own.
With this commotion, Xie Baoqiong's attention was also diverted: "Father, why do people outside the manor call you Lord Xie, while people inside the manor call you Marquis?"
"Not going to argue with me anymore?" Clearly, one of the adults is more vengeful.
Xie Baoqiong blinked her innocent almond-shaped eyes, "I didn't argue with Father."
The child's eyes were clear and bright, as if he wanted to draw the person into his world when he looked at them. Even though Xie Zhuo clearly remembered what had just happened, he was happy to let it go and instead answered the child's questions:
"When I entered the court, your grandfather and uncle were still alive. At that time, I was not the one who inherited the title, so my colleagues called me Lord Xie..."
Xie Zhuo gently rubbed the faint finger marks left on the child's face: "Why are you suddenly asking this? It's not your place to call me that."
Water droplets, about to fall from the leaves, landed on the shorter figure.
Xie Baoqiong tilted her head back, brushed her hand against Xie Zhuo's palm, and saw the small orange-yellow spots among the green leaves:
"Dad, hold me, I want to pick loquats."
Xie Zhuo pinched the child's earlobe, who wasn't listening attentively, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes, but he readily lifted the child up with his hands.
The child, with round loquats filling both palms, greedily shrank back into the young man's arms, answering his previous question:
"I need to think of what I'll call you when we argue." The younger one is just as vengeful.
Xie Zhuo raised an eyebrow, picked up the child who had shrunk back into his body, and patted the child's bottom twice with one hand: "You're getting more and more spoiled."
The child, who had never been disciplined, had no idea what Xie Zhuo was doing by brushing off the dust, let alone understanding Xie Zhuo's threatening words. He picked up a loquat from his pocket and peeled it, saying, "Daddy, eat."
3
The afternoon sun became scorching, and Xie Rongjing instructed his servant to move several delicate orchids from the courtyard to the shaded area under the eaves.
When the servant moved the last pot to the shade, he found that there was a "mushroom" growing where the flowerpot should have been.
Sensing the change in its environment, the "mushroom" slowly raised its umbrella-like cap.
"Young master, are you looking for the young master? The young master is inside."
Upon seeing the suddenly appearing shadow, the servant's voice unconsciously rose, attracting Xie Rongjing, who was already focused on the orchids.
Among his elegantly colored orchids, mushrooms with grayish-brown caps and brightly colored handles have appeared.
Xie Rongjing quickly stepped forward and scooped up her younger brother, who was squatting on the ground with a straw hat on his head.
"Why are you here, Qiong'er?" He asked as he walked into the house, reaching out to remove the child's hat. "The rain stopped a long time ago, why are you still wearing a straw hat?"
The straw hat was lifted, revealing a bulging face underneath, like a boiled glutinous rice ball expanding.
"Who made Qiong'er angry again?" Xie Rongjing casually put his bamboo hat on the table and kneaded the white dough with amusement.
The white dough ball bulged with air as it opened its mouth and burst out: "Father told the people from the Anti-Evil Division to ignore me."
The dough ball bulged in his hands, and Xie Rongjing squeezed it again before his younger brother could dodge. He didn't think Xie Zhuo could do something so childish; he probably just got the Anti-Evil Division to suspend Qiong'er's position as an external helper.
"Qiong'er, didn't your father tell you not to leave the manor until you've fully recovered from your injuries?"
"My injury has long since healed." Xie Baoqiong sneered when she saw that no one was helping her, and dodged her brother's hand.
"Is it really all better?" Xie Rongjing turned his younger brother's face so that the latter could look at the figure coming out of the inner room.
An identical face appeared as if looking in a mirror, except that it had several purplish-blue marks and newly scabbed wounds.
It was Shuangmu, or rather, his physical body.
Shuangmu's body was, after all, a mortal body, unlike his current stone body. The wounds he sustained were not only more noticeable, but also took longer to heal.
When the injured Shuangmu brought him back to the manor in his original form that day, it really startled everyone.
“My brother is taking care of the other me, so of course I can go out.” Xie Baoqiong was calculating rapidly: “Father is really going too far, my brother will help me.”
"Father won't listen to me." Xie Rongjing rubbed the head that was nestled in his arms. Before he could say anything to coax him, his gaze suddenly fell on Shuangmu, who was sitting next to him and had leaned her head against him just like her. Both of them stared at him with the same eyes.
Since it was Dad who made her angry, let Dad comfort her.
He then changed the subject:
"but……"
4
Xie Zhuo, who had just returned to his study after his shift, was wondering why the room was so dark when suddenly his waist was tightly hugged and a head was buried in his abdomen.
It would be hard to find a third person in the mansion who was this tall and could freely enter and leave his study, not to mention the faint, sweet aroma of pastries wafting from his nostrils.
But before he could speak, he suddenly felt a dampness on his clothes.
He cupped the child's face in his hands, saying, "Little Bao, you can't..." and wiped the water on my clothes.
The next words caught in my throat unexpectedly.
In the dimly lit room, the outline of his face, held in his hands, was blurred, with only a few glistening drops standing out. One by one, the drops rolled over the newly scabbed wounds and fell into his palms.
The child's round eyes were now filled with tears. He didn't say a word or make a sound, just stared at him.
An inexplicable panic rose from the bottom of his heart. He picked up the child and asked, "What's wrong, Xiaobao?"
Xie Zhuo didn't even think to take out a handkerchief. He just used his fingertips to wipe away the water droplets overflowing from his eyes, but the water seemed to be endless and he couldn't wipe it clean no matter how he wiped. Instead, the child's skin on his face was rubbed red.
"What wronged you?"
The candles inside the room remained unlit, and only the cold moonlight and the tenderness in Xie Zhuo's eyes fell upon the boy. Xie Baoqiong felt that it was about time, opened her mouth, but tears welled up in her eyes before she could make a sound.
Crying is not difficult for his current body. Just recalling the feeling of his chest being filled with bitterness more than a year ago will bring tears to his eyes.
But now, for some reason, even when he tried to suppress that feeling, the tears still wouldn't stop, and the young man's face in front of him became blurred by the mist.
In the dim environment, only the bright moonlight flowed down to earth like water, spreading a thin mist around the young man and then flowing over his body.
The warm, sun-baked scent, mixed with the fragrance of gardenias, wafted into my nose, turning into a pool of clear water that kept rolling down my cheeks, leaving dark water stains on my blurred face.
He could feel Xie Zhuo holding him as they sat down on the chaise longue by the window, a hand gently stroking his back to soothe him, but tears kept falling from his eyes, as if he wanted to make up for all the things he had missed and never had in the past—the cry of newborn, the pain of parting, the agony of loss—through the belated passage of time.
Now, Xie Zhuo didn't need to help him wipe away his tears; he knew to use his sleeves to stop the surging tears.
To the only young man who witnessed this scene, the child had his hands tucked into his sleeves, covering his eyes, yet round tears still streamed out from the gaps, tracing the lines of his still-healing wounds...
The bruised face looked pitiful, and the child's cries were almost silent, only occasionally letting out a few sobs, as if he had turned back into a small stone, leaving the young man at a loss.
Xie Zhuo gently pushed the child's hand away, tenderly wiping away the tears that rolled over the pale wound: "Xiao Bao, don't cry."
The salt water stung the wound, and Xie Baoqiong's eyes welled up with tears. She rubbed her cheek against the young man's fingertips with longing, and finally buried her face in the crook of his neck, her voice growing more and more aggrieved with each word:
"Daddy, Daddy...it keeps oozing water." The original idea of playing the victim and begging the young man was completely thrown to the wind, and only a deep dependence remained in her nasal voice.
Strands of hair brushed against the young man's cheek, then he pressed them down with his hand, smoothing them down one after another.
Once the child in her arms had calmed down a bit, Xie Zhuo said, "Drink some water before you cry."
He held a glass of cooled water to the child's lips: "Take a sip."
Before the words were even finished, the sound of gulping water rang out first.
"Slower."
After drinking a glass of cold water, Xie Baoqiong looked at the young man with her slightly red and swollen eyes in the dim light, saying unhappily, "I'm not crying anymore."
Xie Zhuo put the cup down and gently patted the child's back: "Good, Xiao Bao is very strong."
Xie Baoqiong avoided the damp fabric and rested her head on the young man: "Why doesn't Father ask me why I'm crying?"
Xie Zhuo glanced at the child out of the corner of his eye and used his hand to support the child's head, which was half exposed.
"Does Xiaobao want to say something?"
"You won't let me leave the manor."
The child's voice became spirited again, and Xie Zhuo's heart, which had been pounding, calmed down slightly: "But Xiao Bao still went out."
“You anticipated that I would go out, so you informed them in advance.”
Xie Baoqiong regained her energy, rested her cheek on the young man's shoulder, yawned, and complained unhappily.
Are you sleepy?
Xie Zhuo helped the child up and casually asked, "Where's the other you?"
Xie Baoqiong is not yet proficient in controlling her physical body and cannot manipulate it when the distance is too great, so the other Xiaobao should also be nearby.
Xie Baoqiong squinted her sore eyes and hugged Xie Zhuo's neck: "Dad, don't change the subject."
"Father didn't say anything to them." He only said that you were recuperating from your injuries.
Xie Zhuo didn't say the second half of his sentence. He gently patted the child who was almost asleep and continued to coax him, "You're badly injured, and everyone wants you to rest for a while longer..."
After a long while, the breathing in his arms gradually calmed down, and Xie Zhuo's low voice rang out in the pale moonlight:
"Xiaobao, is this the only reason you're crying...?"
The person in his arms, fast asleep, naturally couldn't give him an answer. Xie Zhuo carried the child to the soft couch behind the screen, lifted the blanket, and saw a tiny figure sleeping soundly, looking exactly like the child in his arms.
...
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Author's Note: Still didn't make it onto the completion list [crying emoji]
Note: The title is for reference only.
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