Chapter 14 I neither recognize the horse nor the boy in black riding it.
I didn't tell Li Xiao about my mother, which of course included the lost loquat.
Perhaps because I don't think there's anything worth talking about, and even I wasn't really sad for more than a few days back then—if it weren't for this heavy snowfall making me deliberately recall the past, I would have forgotten about it long ago.
Furthermore, given Li Xiao's extravagant spending habits, he probably wouldn't find a few half-ripe loquats particularly memorable.
So I just told him that the village I lived in was called Nancun.
There's no particular story behind the name; it just so happens that Nancun is located at the southernmost edge of that cluster of villages, hence the name.
—It's like my name is Loquat, simply because there's a wild loquat tree growing in the corner of my yard.
They're just calling it convenient or easy to pronounce.
I only knew that the place I lived in was called Nancun (South Village) since I was a child. There should be at least three other villages in the area, namely Dongcun (East), Xicun (West), and Beicun (North). There are probably more such villages in the vicinity.
But I've never actually visited other villages. Occasionally, people from other villages would come to visit our village. These people included the old and the young, men and women, including many children my age, who would curiously peek through the gaps in the fenced courtyards.
I simply sat quietly under the loquat tree, occasionally glancing at it from afar before returning my gaze to the tree in front of me or the hemp rope in my hand.
I am not curious, nor am I moved by their curiosity.
I left my hometown voluntarily before I had a better understanding of the place I lived in.
Aside from the name Nancun, it left no other impression.
I have no idea which town or county it belongs to, or which provincial capital it belongs to further up the chain...
But I roughly knew it was a village in the south, because the boatman told me that the boat carrying our group of people came from the south to the north.
Li Xiao listened to my bland and uninteresting narration and remained silent for a moment.
It's as if he forgot his original purpose in being here: to close the window that I failed to close.
However, looking at the thick fur coat he had wrapped around his body at some point, after being left to dry in the room with the charcoal fire burning for a while, the surface dampness and coldness had faded, and its fluffy and soft appearance looked very warm.
The windows were small, opening up and down. In such a small space, when we peered out one or two at a time, we inevitably ended up crammed together.
Of course, if we're talking about who came first, then it must be Li Xiao, who came later, who deliberately pushed me into a corner.
"So, why not sweet potatoes?" Li Xiao suddenly blurted out a question that seemed to have no context.
I turned my head and looked through the silvery-white fur peeled from some unknown animal at the face that appeared even more rosy-cheeked and white-toothed in the biting cold wind, feeling somewhat bewildered.
"What sweet potato?" I asked back.
"Don't you love sweet potatoes? You love them so much that you dream about roasting them in the fields." Li Xiao said it so naturally that it was hard to doubt whether he was holding a grudge when he suddenly brought it up.
"Compared to loquats, which you've never tasted, at least you know what sweet potatoes taste like. Or are you one of those idiots who thinks that things you've never tasted are the best kind of idiocy?"
I really don't understand what the person likes to eat and what they call themselves. What necessary connection could there be between the two?
You can't just call someone who likes to eat pork "pig leg," "pig trotter," or "pig ear."
Besides, nicknames are given by others—even a person can't always control their own mouth, so how can they expect to change what others want to say?
To everyone's surprise, the boy who heard this showed an expression of agreement.
A hand reached out from the furry cloak and patted my shoulder like a brother would.
As I raised my hand, my fingertips accidentally touched the back of my ear, and the coldness made me instinctively flinch.
Li Xiao's hands were too cold. Even though they were in a warm indoor space, his thick fur was wrapped around his chin like a rice dumpling.
...How can it still be this cold?
Could it be that the wind blew on him while he was standing by the window?
I intended to close the window and let this young master stay inside, so that he wouldn't blame me later for deliberately mistreating the distinguished guest in the building.
But Li Xiao nodded as if he hadn't noticed anything and said, "That's right, do you think you're something just because others call you that?"
As he spoke, he turned his head slightly to look at me, his light-colored hair, ruffled by the wind, almost blending into the white snow behind him.
In those strangely colored eyes, a faint light flickered that I couldn't understand.
Having been called a fool and an idiot by the villagers for so many years, and even my own parents eventually accepted this view, I, as the person involved, naturally understand the reasoning behind what he said.
But... so what?
The young master Li who is spouting grand principles right now, didn't he just a few days ago use the promise of redemption as bait to make me an obedient dog at his feet?
I stared at the boy for a long time, while outside the window the world was covered in ice and snow, and my mind was clear as well.
"Young Master Li, you despise those who are trapped in the obsession of wanting but not getting, but have you ever thought that everyone in this world has their own self-imposed prison?"
"..."
"Just because I've never eaten loquat doesn't mean it's not delicious."
At this point, I paused. Then, staring at the boy's slightly surprised face, and thinking about everything that had happened since I met him, I suddenly felt an urge to speak my mind.
"Just like Young Master Li's feelings for Young Master Lan, isn't he deeply in love and unable to extricate himself?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent, save for the whistling wind and snow, and the occasional sounds of cars and horses lining the streets.
Because we were so close, I could even clearly see the sudden contraction of Li Xiao's pupils when his eyes were wide open.
He opened his mouth, but seemed to be so surprised that he choked for a moment and only made two hoarse sounds.
A beautiful face was flushed red and white, and then suddenly turned completely pink.
"I didn't—" Li Xiao finally managed to squeeze out the words that were stuck in her throat, and for some reason, she looked somewhat embarrassed and incoherent.
But I can roughly guess the reason behind it.
Although everyone around had been watching Li Xiao's unwavering devotion to Young Master Lan closely, this was probably the first time someone had so bluntly stated their feelings to the young man in front of him, given Li Xiao's status and temperament.
From a certain perspective, Li Xiao is still somewhat adorable.
For example, right now, when the boy is once again caught in his own inner turmoil for no apparent reason, he has turned himself into a beautiful mute with no way to speak.
I silently looked away and turned my head back.
Just as I was about to reach out and close the window, a dark figure on the snow-covered street caught my attention.
It was a tall, handsome young man riding a magnificent horse. He was dressed in black, with a dark sword hanging at his waist. His black hair was tied into a high ponytail, and the horse he rode was also entirely black.
The sight of the man and his horse slowly approaching through the dazzling white snow was striking, like a drop of ink on white paper, silently spreading in the eyes of onlookers.
I neither recognize the horse nor the boy in black riding it.
But I recognized the carriage following behind him; it was clearly the kind only found at Huayuelou. And looking at the coachman, it was the same one that Young Master Lan had ridden in when he left that morning.
Young Master Lan is back!
At first, I was delighted by this idea, but then I couldn't help but start to have doubts.
Why is there an extra person when we come back? Could it be... that something unexpected happened?
Li Xiao's reaction was noticeably faster than mine.
He first frowned and asked me if that carriage was the same one that Young Master Lan had ridden in when he went out. After receiving an affirmative answer, his expression suddenly changed, and he muttered something under his breath.
Then he turned around and ran out of the room in a few steps, looking very anxious.
I was a little confused by Li Xiao's actions, but when I thought of the extremely unpleasant look on his face when he left, my heart sank.
I nervously clung to the window frame and looked down. I saw that the boy on horseback had already pulled on the reins at the entrance of the building, and as he did so, the carriage behind him also stopped.
The young man dismounted nimbly, then walked past several servants standing at the door to greet guests, went straight to the carriage, stood still, and said something to the people inside.
The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing a handsome young man dressed in blue, who was none other than Young Master Lan, who had left early but had not yet returned.
The distance was quite far, and the wind and snow blocked the view, so I couldn't hear the specifics of their conversation.
Judging from the expressions on both sides, they were both peaceful and polite, and it seemed more like a reunion of old friends who had not seen each other for a long time than that some conflict had occurred.
This harmonious atmosphere continued until Li Xiao suddenly appeared. As soon as he arrived, the previously relaxed atmosphere seemed to suddenly become tense.
Li Xiao stood in the snow, the pure white snowflakes falling one after another, landing on his light-colored hair, quickly becoming indistinguishable from it.
Li Xiao and the boy in black seemed to be old acquaintances, but their relationship seemed to be quite ordinary.
To be more precise, they might have been enemies, as evidenced by the undisguised hostility on Li Xiao's face when he faced the latter.
But what kind of grudge this is remains unknown...
At this moment, not only me, but also people in the other shops that were still open on the street began to crane their necks and peer out.
The three people in and out of the car were all exceptionally good-looking, and just a few steps away was a well-known brothel in the city.
This scene, it must be said, is truly suggestive.
However, this stalemate did not last long, and the expected dramatic conflict did not occur.
It's unclear what Young Master Lan said in the car, but Li Xiao's aura, which had been poised to strike like a fighting rooster, suddenly froze. He then abruptly turned to look at the young man in the car, as if confirming something unbelievable.
After bowing to Young Master Lan, the young man in black did not linger. Instead, he turned and walked to the side of the black horse that had been waiting and was now slightly frosty. He then nimbly leaped onto the horse's back.
Then, with even more brisk steps than when they arrived, they disappeared into the end of the street, stepping through the flying snow.
I leaned against the window and watched the man and horse disappear into the distance.
When they looked down again, the carriage and Li Xiao and the others at the door had disappeared. They must have gone inside and returned to their rooms shortly afterward.
Without further hesitation, I quickly closed the window, and after confirming that it was tightly shut, I began to busy myself around the room with my feet barely touching the ground.
Hot water, hot tea, hot towels, a hand warmer, snacks to tide you over...
Just as I was almost ready, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Sure enough, it was Young Master Lan, whom we hadn't seen for most of the day, who entered, followed by Li Xiao, who had his arms crossed and looked extremely unwilling.
"Young master is back."
I greeted him with a smile, holding a cup of hot water, completely ignoring the look of disgust on the face of the young man behind Lan Gongzi when he saw my eagerness.
— It seems that neither the greeting nor the hot water was prepared for Li Xiao.
Upon seeing this, Young Master Lan smiled and nodded: "Yes, you're back. I just promised to come back early, so I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Pipa."
Upon hearing this, I quickly waved my hand: "No, no, it really wasn't long. On such a cold day, Pipa is only able to stay peacefully indoors thanks to you, young master. Now that I see you return safely, I am even happier."
Although it was just polite talk, it truly reflected my most genuine feelings at that moment.
But as soon as I finished speaking, Li Xiao sneered: "Someone is more than just peaceful, he's practically setting up an oven in the house to roast sweet potatoes."
He had already sat down in the room sometime earlier, with the cloak he had just taken off draped over his hand. From an angle where Young Master Lan couldn't see, the young man stared at me with a nonchalant smile, his face clearly showing ill intent.
Then, when Young Master Lan looked at her, she suppressed her smile and put on an extremely obedient expression.
Perhaps because of what happened downstairs earlier, Young Master Lan was still harboring resentment. So he chose to skip over Li Xiao and instead asked me, the person directly involved, what exactly happened.
"this……"
I paused for a moment, recalling the lie I had told Li Xiao earlier, and then repeated it to Young Master Lan.
"It was just some nonsense, I didn't expect Young Master Li to actually take it seriously."
As I spoke, I looked at Li Xiao and had almost no doubt that he had transferred all the resentment he had suffered downstairs onto me.
Unexpectedly, Young Master Lan picked up where I left off.
"It's not impossible," he said, clapping his hands lightly.
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao and I both turned our gazes to Young Master Lan, our faces showing confusion.
I couldn't help but ask first, "What exactly did you mean by what you just said, young master?"
"Didn't you want to eat roasted sweet potatoes?" Young Master Lan answered matter-of-factly, his face bearing that familiar, gentle smile.
Then he pointed to the stove in the corner: "We have a stove, let's go to the kitchen and get some sweet potatoes. And flour and filling for making dumplings... Oh right, we don't know what kind of filling loquat likes."
At this point, Young Master Lan suddenly looked at me and asked a question.
I was still immersed in the warm atmosphere in front of me, but I couldn't help but feel a little troubled when I heard this question.
Because from childhood until now, I've never actually eaten dumplings. Or to be more precise, I only learned about dumplings after coming here and hearing Young Master Lan mention them.
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