Chapter 8
At dawn, the sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting coin-like spots of light on the blue bricks of Shuyu Courtyard.
Gu Linzhao knelt on the blue bricks, his fingertips gripping the ox bone knife, carefully prying open the last mulberry wood fixation plate on Su Zhelan's right leg.
The mulberry wood chips soaked in the bone-penetrating grass had a deep brown hue, creating a stark contrast with the boy's thin calves. When the last wood chip fell to the ground with a "click," the bone that had been curled up at an odd angle had returned to its smooth arc. Although it was covered with a thin layer of callus-like muscles due to long-term stiffness, it was no longer the desperate, reed-like form it had appeared at first glance.
Su Yan approached with his medicine box and carefully examined the tendons on the inside of Su Zhelan's right leg: "Although the leg bone has been repositioned, the tendons are stuck together like rusty hinges. You have to stop and massage them after every ten steps, otherwise they will swell up like steamed buns."
He ran his fingertips over the stiff muscles, feeling the warmth of the subcutaneous tissue regenerating from rehabilitation, and the ointment on the cotton swab rubbed onto the boy's thin leg bones.
Su Zhelan felt a sudden tightness in her throat. She remembered the day she was carried into the general's mansion. On the stretcher, she could clearly hear the strange sound of her leg bones rubbing together, and she thought she would have to crawl on her knees for the rest of her life.
The bamboo handle of the walking stick that Su Yan handed over was wrapped with non-slip cloth strips.
"Don't push yourself the first time you get down on the ground. Take three steps while holding onto the pillars. Don't exert too much force with your knees." Su Yan placed the medicine box on the stone bench, the brass lock clicking softly. "Stop when you feel numbness or swelling, understand?"
Before he finished speaking, Sheng Xuan had already squatted down to Su Zhelan's left, his shoulder armor rustling against his cotton robe: "What are you afraid of! I'm here!" His palm was loosely cupped in Su Zhelan's elbow.
Gu Linzhao chimed in, "Your master is right. This medicine was soaked for three months before he dared to let you try stepping on the ground. Don't be so eager to show off."
"Give it a try?" Sheng Xuan's voice came from the left.
Su Zhelan took a deep breath and dug her fingertips into the gaps in the carved pillars.
As his left foot tentatively stepped onto the blue brick, the muscles in his entire right leg tensed instantly. Sheng Xuan immediately wrapped his arm around him, and he could feel the sweat on Sheng Xuan's palm even through his clothes—this kid was even more nervous than he was, which he found amusing.
"Take it easy on the first step." Sheng Xuan's voice came close to his ear, startling the dewdrops on the trees into falling. Su Zhelan gritted his teeth and shifted his weight, his knees making a soft "crack" sound, a tingling sensation shooting from his ankles to the back of his neck.
He swayed and immediately bumped into Sheng Xuan's arms, his nose brushing against the other's casual clothes.
This collision was a deliberate act of dependence, and sure enough, Sheng Xuan's embrace tightened even more.
"Slow down!" Just as Su Yan's pestle made a sound on the stone bench, a soft clattering of bamboo strips suddenly came from outside the moon gate.
Xiao Qiyun stood at the doorway carrying a celadon food box. The hem of his clothes was lifted by the draft, and the python pattern was faintly visible in the shadow of the plum tree.
He had just come out of the kitchen; the poria cocos cake in the food box was still steaming, and water droplets condensed on the edge of the porcelain plate were dripping down the bamboo strips.
As Su Zhelan gripped the blue cloth strip of her cane and took her second step, she happened to see Xiao Qiyun stop at the boundary between light and shadow.
His gaze fixed on his ankle was like a taut bowstring—when that once deformed foot landed firmly on the blue bricks, the bamboo strips of the food box held by his knuckles cracked with a "snap."
This subtle loss of control revealed a tension far beyond what was outwardly apparent. His shoulder line suddenly relaxed, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he exhaled half a breath he had been holding for a long time.
A leaf's shadow brushed past his trembling eyelashes, letting his almost inaudible sigh dissipate in the breeze. His fingers, hanging by his side, unconsciously curled, only then realizing that his palms had been marked with red welts from the bamboo strips.
"Your Highness?" Su Zhelan's voice rang out. Only then did Sheng Xuan notice Xiao Qiyun, and immediately pulled Su Zhelan behind him, increasing the pressure of his palm on her lower back.
Xiao Qiyun shifted his gaze from Su Zhelan's ankle to Sheng Xuan's movements, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He first nodded to Su Yan, who was squatting beside the stone bench, saying, "Mr. Su, you've had a hard day." He then nodded to Gu Linzhao, who was collecting the mulberry wood chips, before placing the food box on the stone table, the celadon dish making a clear, ringing sound as it hit the surface.
"I was watching over the steamed cakes in the kitchen, so I'm a little late."
The understated explanation subtly implied that he had taken great care of Su Zhelan's diet, which was more genuine than Sheng Xuan's empty promises. The moment the food box was opened, the sweet and sour aroma of candied plums mingled with the delicate fragrance of poria cocos wafted out.
Xiao Qiyun used silver tweezers to move the broken pieces of Poria cocos cake aside, placing the intact pieces within Su Zhelan's reach. He wiped away a few crumbs from the edge of the porcelain plate with his fingertips—his attention to detail revealed his control, as if Su Zhelan's diet and daily life were to be meticulously arranged by him.
"Try it in a bit, I added some mint." He finished all this before turning to Su Zhelan. As he approached, he saw Sheng Xuan awkwardly wiping the sweat from Su Zhelan's forehead with a handkerchief. He took out his own soft silk handkerchief from his sleeve, but hesitated before offering it, instead reaching for Su Zhelan's wrist.
"Your pulse is still a bit weak, did you walk too fast?" Using concern to mask a competitive attitude shows thoughtfulness.
The moment Xiao Qiyun's fingertip touched the pulse in Su Zhelan's wrist, he heard Sheng Xuan click his tongue and pull Su Zhelan half an inch to the side.
But he ignored her, only looking down at Su Zhelan's hand that was tightly gripping the blue cloth strip, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Su Yan said that you should only take two steps the first time, why don't you rest a little longer?" His tone was reproachful.
“I…” Su Zhelan opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He wanted to say “I can walk,” and wanted to see his foot, which was no longer deformed, one last time, but the words choked into a hot sob.
The sob was genuine. The light and shadow behind his left eye suddenly blurred. He quickly looked down and saw his cloth shoes crushing a fallen leaf, again and again, as if confirming that this was not a dream.
Sheng Xuan was the first to notice something was wrong with him. "Hey, what's wrong?" Her voice suddenly softened, and her hand, which was supporting Su Zhelan's lower back, gently rubbed against his back.
"Are you too tired? I'll carry you back!" He made a move to squat down, but Su Zhelan blocked him with her hand holding the cane.
This rejection made his heart tighten, and then an even stronger protective instinct surged within him—the more Su Zhelan acted tough, the more he wanted to hold her in his arms.
“It’s nothing…” Su Zhelan’s voice trembled without him even realizing it. He moved forward half an inch with his cane, stubbornly standing straight despite the tightness in his right leg muscles.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, condensing into tiny specks of light on his eyelashes.
“Just a few more steps…” Su Zhelan’s murmur was carried away by the wind. He stared at the crack in the bluestone slab three steps ahead, where a tender green moss grew.
For the past three months, he had looked out the window countless times from his bed, thinking he would never get there. But now, his cane only needs to move forward a little more—the sunlight is getting warmer and warmer, making the scars on the back of his neck itch.
Su Zhelan suddenly raised her head, sniffed, and forced back the tears welling up in her eyes. She said in a voice as soft as the wind, "...I can really walk now." But the moment she looked up, the winter sun suddenly pierced her eyes.
The already thin iris was scorched by the bright light, and the shadows of the plum trees in my vision blurred into shimmering black blobs. Warm tears uncontrollably overflowed from the corners of my eyes, sliding down my cheeks and into my collar.
The tears came at just the right time, giving the two of them a perfect opportunity.
"Why are you crying?" Sheng Xuan's exclamation and Su Yan's "Don't move!" rang out at the same time.
Su Yan strode forward and gently brushed away Su Zhelan's hand covering his eye with his fingertips—the boy subconsciously pressed his palm against the eye that had not yet fully recovered, and the tears seeping from between his fingers were crystal clear.
"Your right eye is just starting to get better, how can you face the sunlight directly?" Su Yan flipped open his eyelids, his pupils contracted violently under the bright light, and his conjunctiva turned red from the stimulation. "You can see with your left eye, but with your right eye you can't even see the light through the paper window!" He said urgently, not even bothering to steady the medicine box strap that had slipped down to his elbow. "Go back to your room quickly! Put down the dark gauze curtain in the east wing!"
Su Zhelan then realized that she was standing on the edge of the plum tree's shadow, her right cheek directly facing the midday sun. The pterygium in her left eye had faded to a thin, pale gray, allowing her to see the dust kicked up by Gu Linzhao as he tidied up the mulberry wood chips, while her right eye was filled with only a blinding white, blurred by the stinging tears.
"I'll help you back." Xiao Qiyun's voice suddenly sounded from the right, his sleeve brushing against the back of his hand. When his fingertips touched Su Zhelan's burning eyes, he noticed that the boy's eyelashes were covered with fine tears, and the pterygium in his left eye glistened with moisture in the tears, like a butterfly wing covered with dew.
His heart stirred at her vulnerable appearance, and the pressure on his fingertips softened unconsciously—possessiveness and tenderness strangely intertwined at that moment.
“Use mine!” Sheng Xuan immediately squeezed to the other side, took out a coarse cloth embroidered with crooked animal patterns, but when it touched Su Zhelan’s cheek, he suddenly softened his touch and clumsily wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes.
Although his movements were rough, the trembling of his fingertips betrayed his concern—he was determined to go against Xiao Qiyun, even if it was just a contest of whose handkerchief could wipe away more tears.
Su Yan ignored their argument and slung the first-aid kit over his shoulder: "After you get back to your room, apply a mild saline solution to your eyes. Don't go out today."
He watched as Su Zhelan was half-supported and half-carried by the two men into the house, the bamboo cane tapping against the bluestone slab with a "thud".
The room gradually quieted down, with only the soft sound of Xiao Qiyun's fingertips pinching the dark gauze handkerchief and the soft crunching sound of Sheng Xuan chewing on the poria cocos cake.
Xiao Qiyun sat in front of the couch, folded a gauze handkerchief soaked in light salt water into four folds, and carefully covered Su Zhelan's right eye. When the silk gauze handkerchief brushed against her eyelashes, Su Zhelan could smell the fragrance of poria cocos mixed with the handkerchief, as well as the faint smell of ink from Xiao Qiyun's fingertips.
"Is it cold?" Xiao Qiyun pressed his fingertips against the edge of the gauze, smoothing down the curled corners.
“It’s not cold.” Su Zhelan shook her head, but then heard a crunching sound beside her. Sheng Xuan was clinging to the edge of the stone table, grabbing a piece of poria cocos cake from the food box and stuffing it into his mouth without any hesitation. The sugar frosting on his dark blue casual clothes rubbed against the edge of the box: “This cake is quite delicious, but it’s too sweet…”
Despite his complaints, he kept eating it, piece after piece.
"Nobody's going to take it from you." Xiao Qiyun didn't even look up. He changed to a new gauze handkerchief and soaked it in salt water, causing ripples to spread across the copper basin. Su Zhelan could feel the warmth of his fingertips seeping through the handkerchief, a warmth more comforting than the slight coolness of the salt water.
The control hidden beneath that gentleness made him both wary and dependent.
"Look at my handkerchief!" Sheng Xuan suddenly leaned over, with half a piece of cake still in his mouth. "It's much sturdier than his tattered gauze!" The coarse cloth he held up was the one he had just intended to use to wipe Su Zhelan's tears, but now it was crumpled into a ball and held in his hand, with a few crumbs of cake stuck to the corner.
Xiao Qiyun ignored him and gently pressed the newly changed gauze on Su Zhelan's eyes: "Apply it for another half an hour." His tone was very soft, but his fingertips gently rubbed Su Zhelan's brow bone to relieve the soreness in his eyes.
The shadows of the plum trees outside the window pierced through the gauze curtains, casting blurry ripples on the ground. These ripples overlapped with the flickering light and shadow behind Su Zhelan's right eye pterygium, creating a strange sense of peace.
Listening to the sound of Shengxuan chewing cake and feeling the gentle touch of Xiao Qiyun's fingertips, I suddenly felt that the quiet in this room contained a warmth more touching than the noise.
This warmth was a carefully maintained balance—keeping Sheng Xuan's straightforwardness and Xiao Qiyun's scheming in check, while he remained firmly in the center, enjoying the attention from both sides.
Three months ago, on that rainy night, he thought he would rot in darkness and excruciating pain. But now, although his right eye was covered with gauze, his left eye could see Xiao Qiyun's focused expression when he lowered his eyes, and Sheng Xuan's concerned gaze as he secretly ate cake.
“Hey,” Sheng Xuan’s voice suddenly rang out, pointing to the few pieces of cake left in the food box, “Do you still want some? If not, I’ll finish them all.”
Xiao Qiyun finally raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Sheng Xuan's mouth, which was still covered in cake crumbs. A faint smile appeared on his lips: "Leave two pieces for Mr. Su. He was too busy to eat them earlier." His words were both polite and subtly sarcastic, implying that Sheng Xuan was only thinking of himself. He had subtly gained the upper hand.
Su Zhelan "watched" the two through the gauze, listening to their casual conversation, and suddenly felt that perhaps the meaning of healing from pain is never just about being able to walk again or see the light.
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