After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 16

Xie Yunqing didn’t sleep well all night. He kept thinking about Ruan Ci he felt that Ruan Ci was in great pain, and he wanted to help him. But after much thought, aside from guessing that Ruan Ci likely hailed from the Ruan clan of Chenliu, he knew nothing else and could do nothing.

This caused his spirits to be quite low, and he found it difficult to focus on his studies for the entire morning.

Clutching his scriptures, he walked out of the lecture hall. Xie Yunqing kept his head down, momentarily not looking where he was going. Unfortunately, this brief distraction caused him to walk straight into someone.

Xie Yunqing hurriedly retreated several steps. When he lifted his head, an apology already at his lips, he saw Pei Xuan with a cheeky, mischievous grin on his face.

“What are you thinking about? I’ve been watching you for a while, and you didn’t even notice I was here.” Pei Xuan walked over, pulling Xie Yunqing to the side of the path.

Nearby, both inside and outside the lecture hall, many students were stealing glances at the two of them, some openly and some covertly. But Pei Xuan was completely indifferent. He continued, “I stood in front of you on purpose, and you didn’t see me; you just bumped right into me.”

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Xie Yunqing apologized honestly.

Pei Xuan leaned down to examine Xie Yunqing’s face, frowning slightly. “Yu Chen didn’t actually bully you again, did he?”

Xie Yunqing was startled. Did Pei Xuan know about Yu Chen coming to find him yesterday? But in the dormitory yesterday, there had clearly been no one besides himself and Yu Chen.

“I’m just guessing,” Pei Xuan said.

He pulled Xie Yunqing toward a less crowded area within just a few moments, the number of people watching them had increased, making it inconvenient to talk. Once the surroundings were quieter, Pei Xuan continued, “When I entered the Academy gates just now, I happened to bump into Yu Chen leaving. He was surrounded by several of his father’s men. I was wondering if he’d done something else to upset his father again. His previous injuries have barely healed, and now he’s provoked his father into sending people to haul him back for a lesson.”

“To be honest, I really didn’t show an expression of schadenfreude; I was trying very hard to hold it in.” Pei Xuan looked helpless. “Who would have thought that kid Yu Chen would go mad? He shoved his father’s men aside and lunged at me, saying something like, ‘I didn’t expect Xie Yunqing would know to go to you to complain.'”

“The moment I heard it involved you, I wanted to ask for details, but the kid was dragged onto the carriage by his father’s men.” At this point, Pei Xuan’s face filled with worry. He lowered his head and asked Xie Yunqing softly, “Did he bully you? If he did, tell me. I… I… I’ll go complain to his father!”

“His father shows no mercy when disciplining him; he’ll definitely vent some anger for you!”

Pei Xuan spoke so quickly that it took Xie Yunqing a long while to process what he was saying—Pei Xuan didn’t actually know about yesterday’s events.

He couldn’t quite say he felt relieved. But Xie Yunqing truly did not want Pei Xuan to know about what happened yesterday. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Pei Xuan, and he didn’t think the incident was that severe. Even though Yu Chen had laid hands on him and tried to force himself upon him, Xie Yunqing had escaped in the end. He hadn’t actually been bullied, so he could treat the matter as if it hadn’t happened.

As long as he ran faster the next time he encountered Yu Chen and remained careful, he wouldn’t give Yu Chen another chance. This was his lifelong habit for handling problems—if he was bullied, it must be because he didn’t do well enough, and speaking out would only cause trouble for others.

So, Xie Yunqing shook his head. “No… he didn’t.”

Then, he suddenly remembered the items Pei Xuan had sent to the dormitory. Rubbing the edge of the scriptures with his thumb, Xie Yunqing struggled for a long time. Because he had rarely received kindness from others before, he was not good at refusing it.

Those days at the Pei residence felt more like a dream to Xie Yunqing a beautiful dream that shouldn’t belong to him. The kindness he had dazedly accepted in that dream had, upon waking, turned into a red-hot branding iron, searing his heart. How could he so tranquilly accept things he could never repay?

Xie Yunqing almost seemed to smell the scent of burning flesh. He gave a violent shudder. His thumb was cut by the sharp edge of a page, yet he felt no pain. He only lowered his head, not daring to look at Pei Xuan anymore. “Could… could you please take all those things away?”

“What things?” Pei Xuan was confused. “Which things?”

“The ones… you had people send to me yesterday.” Xie Yunqing gripped his own wrist tightly.

“Huh? I didn’t have anyone send you anything?” Pei Xuan was shocked.

Xie Yunqing was equally shocked and confused. He lifted his head blankly. “But those things were delivered by your personal attendants. They also said you were the one who sent them.”

“My attendants…” Pei Xuan knit his brows in thought. A moment later, he had a realization. “Ah… I get it!”

Xie Yunqing blinked, waiting for an explanation.

“It must have been my grandmother’s idea!” Pei Xuan was awestruck by his own wit and puffed out his chest. “I’m so smart. It must be that my grandmother feared you’d be too embarrassed to accept her kindness, so she used my name instead.”

As he spoke, he threw an arm around Xie Yunqing’s shoulder and began walking toward the dormitories. “Hurry, let me see what good things she sent!”

Xie Yunqing was momentarily bypassed by Pei Xuan’s logic. After being led a few steps, he snapped out of it and stopped abruptly. “Then I definitely can’t accept them. Can you… can you help me return them to the Old Madame?”

Pei Xuan stopped as well, tilting his head with even more confusion. “Why would you return things that were given to you?”

Pei Xuan’s matter-of-fact attitude made Xie Yunqing feel inexplicably nervous. He stammered an explanation: “Because… because I… I can’t repay her…”

“Repay?” Pei Xuan was astonished. “Who asked you to repay anything? And why would you need to?”

“It’s… it’s…” It was his father and stepmother. They had emphasized more than once—practically every single day—that they were good to him, and so he had to repay them later. Therefore, to Xie Yunqing, there was no such thing as “rightful” kindness in the world. The standard for whether he could accept something was whether he had the ability to return the favor. If he did, he could accept it accordingly; if he didn’t, he had to refuse.

“Yunqing.” Pei Xuan suddenly grew serious. He lowered his head slightly and gripped Xie Yunqing’s shoulders. “I don’t know who told you that accepting kindness means you must repay it.”

He looked into Xie Yunqing’s eyes. Within them shone a light Xie Yunqing had never seen before. “But we are friends. My grandmother is also your grandmother. Therefore, our kindness toward you doesn’t require repayment. We are happy just because you accept it.”

“But… but…”

“No buts!” Pei Xuan was unusually firm on this point. He asked Xie Yunqing directly, “Do you or do you not consider me a friend?”

“…I do.” Xie Yunqing was practically frightened into the answer; he couldn’t think and could only respond by instinct. Of course he considered Pei Xuan a friend. He was one of the few friends he had ever had. But with such a vast difference in their status, did he truly deserve to be Pei Xuan’s friend? Xie Yunqing fell into a daze.

“Then there’s no problem!” Pei Xuan happily threw his arm back around Xie Yunqing’s shoulder. “Between friends, it’s just you being good to me and me being good to you. There’s never been any talk of repayment.”

“If you really feel embarrassed, then just be a bit better to me,” Pei Xuan gave a few light coughs. “For example, help me… oh, I mean, teach me how to do my coursework, write my essays, and study with me. How about that?”

“Alright…” Xie Yunqing answered softly.

But Pei Xuan suddenly stopped again, looking completely at a loss. “You… why are you crying?”

Xie Yunqing blinked. He discovered that tears were indeed flowing from his eyes—burning hot. But he didn’t feel like he was crying. He rarely cried. It had always been that way since his mother left. He didn’t cry when he was hungry, or in pain, or bullied, or sick. He didn’t cry when he was exhausted or suffering. And right now, he felt neither suffering nor pain.

So why would he cry?

“Was I too mean just now? Did I scare you?” Pei Xuan leaned down, his voice almost humble. “I didn’t mean to be mean to you. I was just in a hurry, fearing you’d say more about repayment, as if you didn’t consider me a friend.”

Xie Yunqing’s vision was blurred, and he couldn’t speak; he could only shake his head. Pei Xuan searched his person and finally pulled a silk handkerchief from his sleeve. He clumsily tried to wipe Xie Yunqing’s tears, but because he used too much force, he left several red marks on Xie Yunqing’s face. It looked quite startling, as if he had been slapped.

But Xie Yunqing didn’t cry out in pain; he didn’t even make a sound. He just silently let the tears flow. Pei Xuan’s hand trembled, and he dared not wipe anymore.

Putting the handkerchief back, he racked his brain and finally thought of something he believed would stop Xie Yunqing from crying.

“Yunqing, in a few days, during this break, it’ll be time for the Spring Hunt. All the Academy students can go. You have no idea how fun the hunt is! You can ride horses and chase deer, sheep, rabbits, and wild boar everywhere sometimes there are even tigers!”

Pei Xuan tried to recall. “If you don’t like riding or hunting, that’s fine too. The mountains and rivers are beautiful; it’s nice to just walk around and sightsee. It’s just very happy overall. You aren’t confined to the Academy or home; you can play however you want.”

He suddenly remembered something and asked urgently, “Do you like rabbits? Cui Ji’s sister loves them; she says they’re fluffy and cute. Every hunt, she pokes me and Cui Ji to catch rabbits for her.”

“If you like them too, I’ll catch a few more this time for you to play with.” Finally, he practically pleaded, “Good Yunqing, stop crying, alright? If Cui Ji sees this, he’ll think I bullied you.”

Xie Yunqing didn’t understand why he was crying in this moment. But he truly did calm down as he listened to Pei Xuan’s chatter. He lifted his sleeve to wipe his eyes. Looking at the smiling Pei Xuan, Xie Yunqing nodded vigorously. He didn’t know what to say.

He only whispered, “I’m not crying anymore.”

Pei Xuan gave a cheer and pulled Xie Yunqing along toward the dormitories.