Brother, Brother, But I'm a Profligate! - Chapter 16

The cook had not even started the stove fire yet, and preparing the ingredients would take significant time. Receiving the sudden news, he began tidying up in a frantic rush, thinking to himself that the Eldest Young Master had certainly learned how to trouble people.

Shepherd’s purse and tofu soup, Indian aster with dried incense tofu, fried vegetable rolls. A procession of servants carrying the dishes entered one after another. They set down the plates, retreated quietly, and closed the door.

Fu Jing’s gaze followed the direction of Fu Sili’s chopsticks, looking over each dish. He asked, “How does the taste compare to what you ate when you were in Yangzhou?”

Fu Sili had half a fried vegetable roll stuffed in his mouth. “Mm?”

Wasn’t Fu Jing someone who found it taboo to speak during meals?

He slowly swallowed the food, looked at the table full of dishes, and wiped his mouth. “It is alright. Actually, I have never eaten the famous dishes of Yangzhou; those are things for rich people. This is the first time I have ever eaten these kinds of dishes.”

Fu Jing remained silent.

This spread was specially prepared as an entirely vegetarian meal; one could see the heart put into the menu. Seeing that Fu Jing had simply stopped eating, Fu Sili felt it was a pity, so he followed suit and set down his chopsticks.

Fu Jing glanced at the dishes on the table, which had barely been touched, and knit his brows slightly. “Is it not to your taste?”

Fu Sili rubbed his stomach. “It is fine, it is okay.”

“If there is any dish you like, just tell the cook in the courtyard.”

Fu Sili paused, then answered vaguely, “Good, good, fine.”

Fu Jing scrutinized his thin, pointed chin and pressed further, “What do you usually eat?”

Fu Sili uttered an “Ah” and asked in bewilderment, “I just eat whatever. I eat what is available; I do not eat meat.”

He was not picky; really, he was not. Poor people who are picky would have starved to death long ago. He did not even eat the meat his mother occasionally prepared; he could not stomach it. Who else but this Eldest Young Master could have whatever he wanted to eat and still be a finicky eater?

However, Fu Jing did not seem to be a picky eater himself.

Fu Sili said, “You are already stopping; it is such a waste.”

He could see that Fu Jing intended for him to stay a bit longer. He also saw that Fu Jing had been suppressing a sense of displeasure since the moment he saw him. This displeasure seemed directed at him, yet not entirely because of him. It was an unpleasant feeling, but his behavior seemed somewhat accommodating. This was quite intriguing.

Fu Sili raised an eyebrow and, covering his mouth, asked tentatively, “That pot of flowers that was broken before, how is it now?”

Perhaps after he had trimmed those rotten roots, the flower lived, and that was why Fu Jing was showing kindness in such a roundabout way?

Fu Jing froze for a moment and said plainly, “Same as before.”

His expression showed nothing unusual; he even looked a bit confused, as if he did not know why the other would suddenly bring this up. Fu Sili studied his expression. For a fleeting moment, he felt that Fu Jing did not care about his mother as much as he had appeared to last time.

Did he not care?

Fu Sili subconsciously grabbed Fu Jing’s sleeve. He wanted to ask something, but Fu Jing’s gaze was indifferent. “Hmm?”

However, why was he prying into Fu Jing’s private affairs?

In the blink of an eye, Fu Sili snapped out of it. He stood his index and middle fingers up like a little person, tapping them step by step along Fu Jing’s arm until they reached Fu Jing’s hand, which he suddenly grabbed.

“If you are busy, you do not have to keep me company. Go ahead and get back to work.”

Fu Jing glanced at his hand being held, then looked at Fu Sili. “I am not busy.”

Fu Sili’s eyes curved into crescents as he said sincerely, “Did you not say just now you were going to give me medicine? Since I am here now, why do we not apply the medicine first?”

Fu Jing looked down at him, his fingers applying a slight force as if intending to break free from Fu Sili’s grasp. Just as he lifted his palm, Fu Sili seized the opportunity to slide his fingers in, locking them tightly with his. When Fu Jing tried to pull away, Fu Sili would shake his hand and dodge.

Fu Sili teased him with a grin, “Can Big Brother help me apply the medicine? In the past, whenever I got hurt outside, it was always my mother who rubbed the medicine on for me.”

His gaze was not exactly friendly, and his behavior was even less respectful. Yet, his face remained innocent, closely resembling a fox spirit from a storybook trying to trick an honest scholar.

Fu Jing was speechless for a moment, his gaze lingering on the purplish finger marks on the other’s face. He pulled Fu Sili’s hand down. “Am I your mother?”

Fu Sili withdrew his hand. “I was just speaking casually, teasing you, you old fogey. Heng heng heng.”

A few moments later, Fu Jing called for the people outside and had them bring the ointment for bruising. Fu Sili was stunned. He shifted his sitting position. “Are we really doing this? I was just joking.”

The medicine jar was opened with a pop. The smell of the black ointment was incredibly aggressive, assaulting everyone’s noses. Fu Sili coughed, feeling his eyes sting. But seeing Fu Jing scoop out a glob of ointment without changing his expression, Fu Sili’s eyes widened, and he scrambled to stand up.

Fu Jing grabbed his arm. “Applying the medicine will make it heal faster. You probably do not realize how serious the injury on your face is.”

“There is no blood and the skin is not broken. You should keep this ointment for yourself. Ah!” Fu Sili felt sorry for himself. “Is this poop?!”

Fu Jing pinned him to the chair. With one hand, he restrained Fu Sili’s thrashing chin, and with the other, he smeared the ointment on. The ointment was very fine, like well-mixed flour paste, sliding smoothly onto the youth’s face without any friction. He was surprised by the texture of the ointment; it was smooth and delicate like silk.

The smell of the medicine went straight up Fu Sili’s nose. He raised his hand to wipe it off, but a familiar sounding voice rang in his ear, “If you wipe it, I will apply it again.”

Fu Sili said angrily, “How can you return kindness with such enmity? Why do you not just dig the flesh off my face? I only saw you were unhappy and wanted to make you feel better.”

Fu Jing asked, “What do you want?”

“Compensate me thirty taels.”

Fu Sili asked, “Will you pay?”

Seeing the application was finished, Fu Jing loosened his grip on Fu Sili. Like a fish in a basket, the boy leaped away from the restraint and dove back into the pond.

Fu Sili hiked up his wide robes and ran outside, tossing back a sentence, “Just have someone send it to my courtyard tonight. Thanks, Big Brother!”

Fu Jing watched him run far away. The stagnant air that had been clogging his chest for days finally dissipated. He exhaled a sigh of relief unconsciously. Perhaps because the two had grown accustomed to being under the same roof, their coldness, restraint, and distance were losing their effect. He was now accustomed to this person.

The servant brought water for Fu Jing to wash his hands. The black ointment slowly dissolved in the water, but the smell on his fingertips remained strong. He rubbed his fingers together, as if he could still feel that delicate texture. He suddenly realized that “delicate” was not the texture of the ointment.

That evening, Fu Sili received the silver sent by Qiu Yuan, along with an old physician who came to check his pulse and prescribe some warming tonic formulas. After that, the frequency of Fu Jing’s returns to Yao Zhi Chun Xin increased, roughly once every three to five days.

Fu Sili found it strange. He had heard that the Imperial Academy was strictly managed and that students only returned on the first and fifteenth of the month. How could Fu Jing come and go as he pleased?

Because Fu Jing returned frequently, Fu Sili also went back to Yao Zhi Chun Xin to rest at night. Once the business of selling quails came to an end, Fu Sili’s mind became active again, and he began to mess around with reselling things.

This day, Fu Sili was in the courtyard he rented, looking over the account books from this period. Hearing footsteps, he looked up amidst his busyness. Bing Chun was carrying a food box and placed it on the side table.

Bing Chun reminded him, “Little Master, food has been sent from the manor.”

Fu Sili lowered his head, feigning busyness. “I know. Just leave it there. I will be staying at the courtyard today, so you head back to the manor first.”

Bing Chun said, “Should I go back and tell the Eldest Young Master to find someone who knows how to keep accounts to take your place?”

Initially, Fu Sili had brought Bing Chun out because some things for raising quails needed to be thrown away or transferred, so he brought him along to lend a hand. As a result, once the work was done, he could not get rid of him.

Fu Sili flipped through the account book with a rustle and slammed it face down on the table. “No need, I can do it myself. You go back first.”

Bing Chun placed a hand warmer on the table and said expectantly, “Then I will go back. Little Master, rest early. Remember to rub oil on your hands before bed, remember to wear gloves when you go out, and do not forget the hot water bottle. These hands, once they get frostbite one year, they get it every year.”

“Alright, alright, alright. Go, go quickly.” Fu Sili’s scalp felt numb from the nagging.

Ever since that old physician left, Fu Jing started having people brew medicine for him. But to him, drinking the medicine made no difference; he had lived this way for so many years, there was no need to supplement anything. Consequently, he only drank it two or three times before finding a place to secretly dump the rest. He had clearly dumped it behind Bing Chun’s back, but somehow Fu Jing found out. Afterward, the food at Yao Zhi Chun Xin began to carry a faint, lingering taste of medicine.

Heh, did Fu Jing think he could not taste it?

The door to the room closed quietly. Fu Sili peeked to confirm the person had left before relaxing his shoulders and leaning lazily against the chair. He sat for a while, then got up to open the food box. Hot steam billowed out. In order not to wrongly accuse Fu Jing, he took a bite and confirmed that this time, it indeed had a medicinal taste.

Fu Jing does not eat it himself, so he does not know how bad this food tastes. Fu Sili wrinkled his face and rinsed his mouth with water.

Bang!

“Your great grandfather! Do you not know to shovel the ice in the courtyard? It is going to kill someone!”

A curse came from outside the door, followed by cries of “Ouch, ouch!” Fu Sili heard the noise and went out to check. He saw a man dressed in black flipping on the ground like a pancake. The man lay on the ground clutching his lower back, reaching out a hand to signal Fu Sili to pull him up. The youth stood at the door looking at him blankly.

Gao Yi reached up and pulled down his mask. “It is me! What are you standing there dazed for, kid? Did you forget about hitting me with a punch before just like that?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Sili took a step back, intending to close the door without paying him any mind. Almost simultaneously, Gao Yi leaped up from the ground. With a bang, his hand slammed against the wooden door, prying it open by force.

Gao Yi shouted, “Quick, let me in to warm up. It is freezing outside.”

“You shameless scoundrel! What are you looking for me for? Pay me back the one hundred and sixty taels you owe me first!”

Fu Sili gritted his teeth and blocked the door, forcefully slapping the hand the man extended. “Do not touch me! Let go, let go!”

Gao Yi was still wearing that thin, old garment. The collar had been pulled loose last time, and who knows how many years he had worn it; it did not fit properly. A fabric tearing sound occurred as the fabric made a strained sound and gave way, and the winter chill crawled in through the collar.

Gao Yi looked down at his exposed chest and chuckled. “Now you owe me a garment. Good brother, hurry and close the door. The wind is strong out here; if I freeze and get sick, you will have to pay for the medicine too.”

Fu Sili was silent.

Gao Yi said, “Stop talking about that hundred and sixty taels. You were just extorting money. It is lucky those quails died early; if you had actually sold those sick birds to someone else, there is no telling how much trouble they would have given you.”

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