Chapter 13 In the end, I still couldn't bite off that piece of meat.
As he spoke, Li Xiao looked at me with a probing gaze.
"Are you...?" He took a step forward, closing the distance he had created with one hand.
"What is it?" I stammered, feeling inexplicably panicked. At the same time, my brain raced, trying to come up with a seemingly reasonable lie that wouldn't upset Li Xiao.
"Ah, I understand!"
Li Xiao suddenly spoke, which startled me.
Suddenly, my back was pressed against the wall, leaving me nowhere to retreat. I could only look up at the smug-looking boy and, as if facing a formidable enemy, I stammered for the first time in a long time: "What...what do you know?"
"you……"
"I……"
The boy raised the corners of his mouth, while I swallowed hard.
"You little rascal, you must still be holding a grudge because you refused my invitation last time."
"..."
"He clearly regrets it to the point of despair, but he doesn't dare to shamelessly come to me to beg for forgiveness, so he can only repent to me in his dreams with resentment. Am I right?"
Ah, this...
Looking at the confident and composed young man before me, I was speechless for a moment.
Li Xiao took this silence as irrefutable proof, and the smile in his eyes and brows became even more blatant. If he had a tail, he would probably be soaring into the sky by now.
To be honest, confidence is a wonderful thing.
It made someone who was already beautiful look even more radiant.
I sighed inwardly and said what I had originally intended to say.
"Actually, Pipa was just dreaming about roasting sweet potatoes in the fields of her hometown. In her daze, she mistakenly thought she was still in the village where she grew up, which is why she reacted so rudely when she opened her eyes and saw you. Please forgive her, Young Master Li."
I don't know what Li Xiao thought after hearing my lie.
They'd probably be incredibly annoyed.
After all, the original plan was shattered.
However, I have never regretted refusing Li Xiao's suggestion in the courtyard for even a single day.
—Words spoken are like water spilled; they cannot be taken back.
Even if Li Xiao thinks I'm really ungrateful, I don't want to get into any more pointless arguments with him about that matter.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao's smug smile inevitably crumbled.
"Roasted sweet potato?" The boy pointed to his nose, looking incredulous. "Could it be that in your eyes, I, this young master, am not even as good as a roasted sweet potato in the field?"
Astonished by Li Xiao's unparalleled thought process, for a moment, I really wanted to simply nod in agreement.
But my instinct for survival made me look troubled.
“Young Master Li, actually… you don’t need to think like that,” I said hesitantly.
"Then what do you think I should think?" Li Xiao crossed his arms, his dark eyes fixed on me, as if trying to see how I would defend myself.
I paused, calmed myself down, and made sure I appeared sincere enough.
“A person as precious as Young Master Li should not take a small fry like Pipa seriously. Just as Young Master Li would not care about the thoughts, life or death of an ant at his feet, why should you care about what an insignificant person like me is thinking? To you, it is nothing but trivial and insignificant matters that are not worth your attention.”
After I finished speaking, I bowed respectfully again, stood with my head down for a long time, and then finally raised my head.
What came into view was the boy's face, which held a complex expression. When he saw me looking at him, a hint of unease appeared on Li Xiao's face.
He hesitated for a long time, seemingly wanting to speak but then stammering, before finally opening his mouth awkwardly.
"When did I ever say you were an ant?"
"..."
"I'm just asking you if you'd like to be my dog, what does it have to do with ants? And—"
As Li Xiao said there was more, a faint blush rose to her face: "Don't think that just because you've been following Brother Lan around and parroting a few things, I'll change my opinion of you. Humph, at such a young age, you speak so maturely, it only makes you seem less lovable."
I was stunned, and couldn't help but marvel at how Li Xiao could say such... such unbelievable things. Was he possessed, or did he really believe it from the bottom of his heart?
Even though I had anticipated that Li Xiao might say something strange, I was still greatly shocked at this moment.
"...So, you've always thought that Young Master Lan speaks in a way that sounds old-fashioned?" I asked quietly, looking behind him.
Li Xiao was stunned, as if she had just realized that she had unintentionally said something bad about her sweetheart.
She immediately shook her head and denied it, saying, "No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense."
He glanced back at the door with a guilty look, and seeing that the door was closed as usual and there was no one outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the boy seemed to suddenly realize something, turned around and glared at me fiercely: "You did that on purpose just now?"
"Intentionally what?" I asked, knowing the answer already.
"Of course I deliberately went to look at the door, making me think... I thought Brother Lan had come back," Li Xiao said repeatedly.
Hearing this, I blinked and said, "Young Master Li, you are mistaken. Pipa was just looking at the door when she was thinking that Young Master Lan should be back soon. It was an unintentional act, so there's no question of whether it was intentional or not."
I paused, then feigned confusion, and said, "But Young Master Li, why do you seem a little nervous? If the young master really comes back, shouldn't you be happy, given how much you like him?"
Upon hearing my heartfelt words, Li Xiao's handsome brows furrowed into a tight knot.
"Who told you I—"
He rubbed his arms as if he wanted to argue with me, but then stopped. He stood there biting his lip, seemingly struggling with something.
This was probably the day I saw Li Xiao with the most expressive face since I met him.
Let him struggle with it as he pleases.
I was happy to have some peace and quiet, and I started to miss Young Master Lan who had left earlier.
Today is the Winter Solstice, and we had planned to make dumplings together.
Unexpectedly, the manager suddenly sent someone to invite him, saying that a young lady in the women's quarters was ill and asking Young Master Lan to go and treat her. Illness could be a big or small matter, but to be summoned so early in the morning and not return by now was probably not a simple matter.
I was worried, wondering if Young Master Lan would be able to come back tonight.
A sudden thud sounded inside the room, startling both people inside.
I looked up at the sound and saw that the window had been blown open by the wind, and cold air was rushing in through the crack, instantly diminishing the warmth of the room.
I'm fine, but Li Xiao immediately sneezed.
Before he could give any instructions, I quickly walked to the window and was about to close it again when I stopped abruptly when my gaze fell upon the view outside.
White—
The rooftops of shops along the street, the treetops beside the stone bridge, and the bluestone pavement... as far as the eye can see, everything is a vast expanse of white.
Not only that, the sky was filled with snowflakes falling like swirling cakes.
It fell in layers, straight into my eyes.
This is the first time I've ever seen winter in the North, and the first time I've ever seen such heavy snow since I can remember.
Almost instantly, I held my breath and forgot the cold, gazing in a trance at the unfamiliar northern scenery.
It was just a small thing to reach out and close a window, but I stood by the window for a long time without doing anything.
Li Xiao was probably getting impatient, or maybe he was really feeling too cold, so he had no choice but to condescend to come over.
He muttered to himself, "What am I looking at so intently?" as he leaned out to look outside. When he saw the snow falling all around him, the boy seemed a little surprised, but only for a moment.
"It's already raining so heavily."
Li Xiao murmured to himself, then suddenly caught a glimpse of my focused and fascinated expression out of the corner of his eye. He immediately scoffed without any politeness: "Look at you, so naive. It's just snowing, what's so surprising about that?"
Perhaps it was because the swirling snow falling from the sky had almost overwhelmed all my senses that, although I heard Li Xiao's words, I didn't feel anything special. Instead, I felt enveloped by an unprecedented sense of open-mindedness and lighthearted joy.
It felt as if I were facing a long-lost friend...
I casually replied, "Young Master Li grew up here and sees snow like this every year, so of course he thinks it's ordinary. But this is really the first time I've seen such heavy snow. We hardly see any snow in winter where I'm from. Occasionally, some ice pellets fall, but they melt into ice water before they even hit the ground."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao seemed to develop a rare curiosity about me: "Where do you live? You've never even seen a decent snowfall?"
Upon hearing this, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
After a moment, he replied dryly, "This... I don't know either."
Li Xiao laughed, letting out a light snort of disdain: "Trying to fool me with lies again. You're such a grown man, yet you say you don't even know where you live. Do you think I'd believe that?"
I was taken aback, not because Li Xiao didn't believe what I said, but because he used the word "again" in his words.
That means I lied to him, and it seems like more than once.
Perhaps... it was just a casual remark, taken as a complaint.
I put aside the faint, strange feeling that was rising in my heart and looked at the snow that was still falling nearby, trying to recall things related to home.
"I only remember being born in a small village with four distinct seasons. There weren't many people in the village, and there were many lakes and ponds nearby, as well as some farmland. The harvests were average, but it was enough to make a living. We were sometimes hungry and sometimes full, but life was still passable. From the time I was born until this summer, I never stepped out of this village."
In fact, I rarely even step outside my own yard, let alone the village.
First, there were no playmates willing to take me along, and second, there wasn't much work to do in the fields.
I spend my days sitting in the yard, either lost in thought or doing simple handicrafts like twisting hemp rope.
Even doing nothing is more worthwhile than chasing and playing in the fields. With less effort, I won't get hungry as easily, and I can eat less to save food for the family.
Back then, the farthest distance I ever traveled was from one end of the village to the other.
Because my mother said it was dangerous near the water, I have never gone to play in the river, and I have never even walked close to the riverbank.
So, my first time taking a boat ride, being born in a water town, was actually thanks to those few brokers.
Fortunately, although I had no experience traveling by boat, I was not prone to seasickness. Otherwise, given the long waterway and the unknown future, I might have accidentally died on the way, given my physical condition at the time.
I think that if I hadn't really reached the point where I couldn't survive—no, I should say, if those slave traders hadn't happened to appear at that time, I probably would have starved to death and never left that village.
Before this summer, I had never set foot on land outside the village.
After that, we traversed winding, unfamiliar waterways. The boat sailed for many days and nights, which I didn't count. I just looked down at the loquat in my hand, watching it ripen and turn yellow day by day, gradually emitting a slightly enticing fragrance.
A boy on the same boat reached out to me, asking for it.
I refuse.
Taking advantage of their size and the cover of their allies, and seeing my dull and weak appearance, the other party brazenly reached out to snatch it.
In all my life, this was probably the first time I had ever been so brave and fearless. I bent down and hugged the fruit tightly, refusing to let go. My stubborn and protective manner was so impressive that even my own parents would be astonished.
In the struggle, I bit the hand that the man was reaching out to choke me.
The other person bent over in pain, but dared not make too much noise, and with a grimacing face, ordered me to let go.
But I just wouldn't budge.
Until the taste of rusty, metallic sweetness filled my mouth, and the mouth was filled with the taste of fresh blood, I didn't know if it was mine, or the taste of the person I bit, or both...
At first, several of my companions who had bitten the man tried to pull me away, but no matter what they did, they couldn't pull me off the man's arm, and they gradually started to panic.
Especially the boy I bit, although he looked taller and stronger than his peers, he was really just a child.
By this time, his hands were already stained crimson with blood, and his once broad, smiling face, which had been filled with malice, now showed only a pale, ashen face and unconcealed terror.
He's scared...
I was afraid that I, who was short and inconspicuous but looked like a mad dog, would actually tear a piece of his flesh off with my teeth.
However, I still couldn't bite off that piece of meat.
It wasn't that I suddenly had a change of heart or that I suddenly felt disgusted when my rationality returned.
In fact, if the leader of the slave trader hadn't arrived and used even more violent means to separate the two of us—the one I was biting would have been literally separated from his flesh and blood.
The dispute ended with two severe beatings.
I got a beating, and that half-grown boy got a beating too; neither of us escaped.
However, the beating I received was noticeably lighter.
Perhaps seeing that I was already half-dead, they were afraid that I might actually die on the boat, wasting all the money I spent on the purchase.
Also... after all that commotion, I was already in a terrible state, enough to serve as a warning to the rest of the restless people on the ship.
That day, when I was curled up in a corner, motionless from pain and hunger, I almost thought I would never see the sun rise again.
Unexpectedly, the next day turned out to be a cloudy day.
I opened my eyes, and every part of me, from head to toe, ached. All the injured areas were swollen and the pain was even worse than the day before.
These things, however, constantly remind me of the fact that I am still alive.
The corners of my mouth were torn open during the chaos of the previous day. Although the bleeding has stopped, it is extremely difficult to open and close my mouth every time. My teeth are also sore and I can hardly chew anything.
The only saving grace was that the last shred of reason I had retained allowed me to spit out that bloody, mangled piece of flesh before my jaw was dislocated.
So at least, while I was struggling to swallow my dry rations, I didn't have to drool everywhere.
Fortunately, although they suffered a lot, this conflict was not entirely meaningless.
Because in the following period, that small group led by that teenager noticeably became much more restrained.
Not only them, but everyone else on the boat, including the little girl from the same village, started looking at me with the eyes of someone looking at an alien... How to describe it? It was probably a mixture of fear and disgust.
However, I didn't really care. We just happened to live in the same village, and we didn't have any real connection.
Over the years, I've gotten used to the teasing and joking looks from those around me, whether malicious or well-intentioned, it doesn't affect me in the slightest.
It's a bit of a shame that the loquats my mother ran all the way to hand me ended up falling to the ground in the chaos and disappearing without a trace.
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