Encounter (IV)
He Shu followed Xuan Tongzi's advice and lay quietly in the room for two days.
But by the third day, the square room felt like a birdcage. The chirping of birds outside the window and the rustling of the wind through the bamboo forest became a tantalizing temptation. Although he was still lying in bed, his heart had already flown to the bright spring sunshine outside.
Ever since his master left that day, Li Qingshan has been catching a cold and coughing constantly. He hides in his room and refuses to come out, saying that he is afraid of passing on the disease to him.
But the Taoist priest said that he had to discuss things with Qingshan first...
He Shu used a spoon to stir the porridge in the bowl, scooped out the last piece of radish, put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly:
"Mosheng, I have something to say to Qingshan later, so I'll take care of his meal."
He suddenly made up his mind and without waiting for Mo Sheng to respond, he raised his head and gulped down the remaining porridge soup at the bottom of the bowl.
"I'll go after I finish eating. Please clean up here."
After He Shu finished speaking, he ran to the north door, stuck to the door panel and listened attentively for a while. Seeing that it was quiet inside, he cleared his throat and asked softly:
"Qingshan, have you finished breakfast? Can I come in and clear the dishes?"
"Ahem, I won't bother Brother He with such trivial matters."
Hearing Li Qingshan's voice coming from the study, He Shu hurriedly moved to the window over there. He carefully stuck half of his head out and looked inside.
"Oh, it's no trouble."
"I...I just have something to tell you..."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked at the pebbles on the ground. Then he couldn't help but kick them twice. The hem of his green clothes fluttered up with his movement, revealing the plain robe underneath.
He Shu stared at the cloud patterns embroidered on the black silk sandals at his feet.
Qingshan prepared a lot of clothes for him in the past two days, so many that he felt that even if he changed into a different one every day, he could wear them forever. The colors were mostly the blue and crimson colors that he liked after asking about them.
"Brother He, what are you thinking about so intently?"
Li Qingshan's smiling voice came, He Shu raised his eyes and saw him standing by the table, having put down his pen and deliberately keeping a distance from him.
"Ah—nothing…nothing…"
"You just said you had something to talk to me about. What happened?"
He Shu's eyes rolled, he took a step forward, and half of his body leaned into the window:
"I just want to ask, how is your illness..."
"My illness is nothing serious, just a cold. My fever has subsided since yesterday, but I still have a cough."
"Why are you asking this suddenly? Brother He, how is your injury? Is it still painful?"
"It's all healed! Look!"
He Shu's eyes lit up, and he rolled up his sleeves to show his smooth arms.
"Qingshan... My injuries are all healed. Can I go out for a walk? I'll start to grow mushrooms if I stay cooped up any longer..."
As he spoke, he supported himself on the windowsill with one hand and jumped in through the window nimbly.
Li Qingshan subconsciously reached out his hand to help him, but thinking of his own illness, his hand paused in the air and then retracted it. He slowly took two steps back and quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves.
"Brother He... the spring chill hasn't passed yet..."
His voice was muffled in his sleeves, but He Shu had already walked a few steps in front of him and patted his shoulder nonchalantly:
"I'm really fine now! You have to trust your master's medical skills. If he were here, he could cure your cold with just a flick of his finger!"
Li Qingshan trembled slightly when he was slapped. He turned his face away as much as possible and said in a low voice:
"...Until you recover, you'd better not get too close to me..."
He gently held the warm hand on his shoulder and wanted to lead the person out of the house.
"It's okay, didn't the Taoist priest say—"
He Shu broke free from Li Qingshan's hand, jumped to a distance, and showed the same blaming expression as Xuan Tongzi on his face. He lowered his voice and imitated vividly.
"Look at this pulse. It's strong and stringy. It's much healthier than yours. Instead of worrying about me..."
As soon as he said this, they were both stunned.
"Brother He? Do you remember?"
"I...I don't know..."
He Shu covered his head and closed his eyes. Something seemed to have flashed through his mind just now, but unfortunately he didn't catch it.
"Alright, Brother He, if you can't remember, forget it. There's no rush to recover your memory..."
Seeing that Heshu looked a little painful, Li Qingshan hurriedly tried to comfort him. He reached out and patted Heshu on the back, but before he could finish his words, a violent cough suddenly hit him.
He turned his back and shrugged his shoulders. Despite his efforts to suppress the tension, his thin figure still trembled slightly.
“Cough cough cough——”
"Aoyama, are you okay?"
Li Qingshan coughed so hard that it broke his lungs. It took him a while to suppress it. When he turned back, the corners of his eyes were red from coughing, his breathing was still short and unstable, and he couldn't speak.
When He Shu heard the cough, he became anxious and forgot Xuan Tongzi's instructions.
He quietly stretched out his fingers, and his fingertips touched the back of Li Qingshan's hand without leaving a trace, and then separated. A subtle wisp of true energy as warm as a spring flowed along his fingertips into the other's body.
This was the small result of his hard practice while he was locked in the hut with nothing to do these past two days. Although it might not cure the disease, it could at least make Qingshan feel more comfortable.
Li Qingshan's rapid breathing indeed slowed down, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed. He was slightly startled and subconsciously touched his throat.
Mo Sheng appeared behind the two of them without knowing when. He couldn't speak and wanted to quietly leave with his bowl and chopsticks. Just as he was about to step out of the door, Li Qingshan, who had recovered his breath, stopped him:
"Mosheng, when you have time, go down the mountain and go to the market to buy a set of items for the official selection game."
"Bring some more food, like gold thread wrapped jade, Bijian bean cake, etc. Buy more and bring some for yourself too. Thank you for your hard work."
Mo Sheng nodded and left the room. Li Qingshan continued to speak to He Shu:
"Is this okay? Buy some fun and delicious food. It won't be too boring. Your body..."
He seemed to think of the wound on He Shu's body that he had seen earlier, and he couldn't help but choke.
"It's always good to rest for a while. It's not too late to go out when the weather gets warmer."
"But I just want to go out for a walk..."
He Shu also knew that he was stopping him for his own good, and the Taoist priest had also reminded him not to go out casually.
Just looking at how miserable he looked when he woke up, he knew how dangerous the world outside was, but he still couldn't help but lower his head in disappointment, grabbing Li Qingshan's sleeve and muttering softly.
"Would you like to eat fish for lunch?"
Li Qingshan suddenly asked, He Shu was stunned,
"What?"
"Don't you want to go out for a walk?"
Li Qingshan looked at him, with helplessness and a hint of indulgence in his eyes.
"Put on another cloak, and I'll take you fishing in the stream."
——
By the Yangchun Creek.
The mountain stream in March has just woken up, the stream is gurgling, the sunlight is slanting in from the valley, breaking up on the water surface like gold foil, rippling with the waves, and even the new grass by the stream is dyed with a layer of warmth.
He Shu saw the flowing stream from afar, and with the fish basket on his back, he ran towards the stream with light steps like a bird out of a cage.
The wind blew across his cheeks, removing the winter chill and bringing a touch of moist softness, making his skin slightly red and his hair flying.
He ran to the stream, took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, turned his head to look at a higher rock, jumped onto it nimbly, turned around, and shouted to Li Qingshan who was walking slowly not far away:
"Qingshan, it's so beautiful here!"
When Li Qingshan approached, the two found a dry shore and sat down together.
Li Qingshan fiddled with his fishing rod. As he had not prepared in advance, he picked up some ripe wild fruits on the road, placed them on the small stones at his feet, crushed them lightly with his fingertips, mixed them with a little wet mud, and kneaded them into a sticky ball of bait.
"Are you fishing with this bamboo pole?"
He Shu took the baited fishing rod handed to him by the person next to him and asked curiously.
"Yes, just put the thing tied to the end of the silk thread into the water and wait for the fish to bite."
“Hey, can you really catch fish like this?”
He Shu tilted his head to look at Li Qingshan who had already struck a pose, his eyes slightly widened in disbelief.
"Maybe. I've caught one or two before."
He Shu nodded when he heard this. He sat down in the same way, immediately became quiet, and imitated Li Qingshan's manner in a serious manner.
But before long, his attention was drawn to something external.
The stream water is so clear that you can see the bottom. The round pebbles are clearly visible, and the newly emerged green moss on the bottom of the water looks like a layer of soft jade.
A few silvery-white little fish suddenly swam by, breaking up the water light, and golden spots jumped and sparkled on the stones.
"Qingshan, what is the name of this silver fish?"
He Shu suddenly leaned closer, the tip of his hair brushed against Li Qingshan's earlobe, and the crisp scent of soapberry quietly seeped into the bitter fragrance of the herbs.
"Silver...silver minnow."
Li Qingshan lowered his eyes, a thin layer of red quietly spread across the skin on the side of his neck, his shoulders were slightly tense, and his gaze was deliberately cast into the distance.
“They look so delicious…”
He Shu swallowed his saliva, returned to his original position, and picked up the fishing rod again, but there was no movement for a long time, and his eyes involuntarily drifted away.
Li Qingshan noticed his absent-mindedness and curled his lips slightly.
"If you feel bored, Brother He can walk around the stream, but don't go too far. The mountains are deep and the roads are complicated, and it's easy to get lost."
As soon as he finished speaking, He Shu put down his fishing rod as if relieved and walked quietly to a nearby place.
He squatted down and watched a few gray sparrows pecking at the water with their heads tilted, then flapping their wings and flying up. The breeze they brought stirred up a large patch of dandelions on the shore.
He Shu held his breath, crouched lower, and carefully approached a relatively intact plant at his feet. He blew gently, and the snow-white fluff swirled and floated slowly towards Li Qingshan.
The man fishing seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head. His gaze passed through the flying catkins and fell on the green figure squatting by the stream.
He Shu saw a gentle smile in Li Qingshan's eyes, which he himself did not even notice.
The sun quietly rose to the zenith, enveloping the entire valley in a warm glow.
The golden sunlight fell on his shoulders, and his cheeks were shining with a warm glow. His focused and gentle expression, along with the snowflakes dancing in the sunlight, unconsciously burned He Shu so much that he was dazed.
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