Male Lead, Please Don’t Covet the Mob Character Cannon Fodder (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 3

Song Qingshi arrived at the medicine cabinet. He had risen so early today to prepare an insect-repelling sachet for Song Qingyu. Two days ago, the boy had complained that the increasing number of mosquitoes at school was making it impossible for him to concentrate.

Mugwort, perilla, cloves, patchouli, mint, dried tangerine peel, honeysuckle…

When he reached the honeysuckle, Song Qingshi felt the remaining stock in the cabinet. “It seems I need to gather some honeysuckle today; there is not much left.”

As he spoke, he placed the weighed herbs into a mortar, ground them into a powder with a pestle, and then tucked the powder into a sachet bag. In this way, an insect-repelling sachet was completed.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, breakfast is ready.” Gu Jiuli’s voice came from the doorway. Song Qingshi tilted his ear toward him, then picked up all the finished sachets from the table and walked over.

“Dahei, these are insect-repelling sachets I have prepared. Wearing one will keep the pests away.” Song Qingshi separated one sachet and held it out to Gu Jiuli.

Consider it a reward for the male lead washing his feet and dressing him, even if the man might not necessarily want it.

Gu Jiuli looked at the plain-colored sachet held out to him, which emitted a cool, medicinal scent. His throat moved slightly as he reached out to take it. “Thank you, Young Master Song Qingshi.”

“Mhm.” Seeing the male lead accept the sachet, Song Qingshi let out a sigh of relief and nodded in his direction. “Please go wake Song Qingyu, otherwise he will be late for school.”

Song Qingshi went to the main hall. On the table, there seemed to be egg drop soup and stir-fried vegetables, along with the aroma of steamed buns.

He had not expected the male lead to have such skills.

“Wow! We are eating so well this morning!” Song Qingyu’s exclamation arrived, followed by a gust of wind as he rushed past. Soon, the sound of chewing echoed from the table. “Mmph, Dahei, your cooking is delicious. I have not had a proper meal in so long.”

Hearing this, Song Qingshi smiled helplessly. “Song Qingyu, do I usually mistreat you?”

“No, no, Brother, you are great,” Song Qingyu said while shaking his head. “It is just that neither of us has any talent for cooking.”

“Just eat.”

Just as Song Qingshi sat down, a fluffy steamed bun was pressed into his hand. “Young Master Song Qingshi, please eat.”

“Alright. You eat too, Dahei.” Song Qingshi took the bun and began to eat.

No wonder Song Qingyu was eating so heartily; the taste was indeed excellent. The fluffy dough paired with a faint wheat aroma seemed to yield a slight sweetness on the tip of his tongue as it moistened.

The bun was delicious, but Song Qingshi’s appetite was small. He barely finished half before he felt full. However, there was no bowl in front of him to set it down, and it seemed a waste to let such a good bun go to waste. He held the bun, momentarily unsure of what to do.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, have some soup.” The bun was suddenly taken from his hand, and a bowl was placed there instead.

It was Gu Jiuli.

“Oh, alright.” Song Qingshi lifted the bowl and took a sip of the egg drop soup. The savory broth had a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor, and the warm liquid slid down his throat, bringing a sense of comfort.

As Song Qingshi drank his soup, Song Qingyu, sitting beside him, saw Gu Jiuli nonchalantly stuff the half-eaten bun into his own mouth. Song Qingyu’s pupils dilated in shock.

What is going on? Are he and I the real brothers, or are you two the real brothers? Is this guy trying to steal my brother from me?

“Cough, cough, cough!” Song Qingyu choked.

“What is it, Song Qingyu?” Song Qingshi quickly set down his bowl and asked.

“Cough, it is, it is nothing, Brother,” Song Qingyu took a sip of soup to wash down the bun stuck in his throat. “Brother, I am finished. I am going to school now.”

“Wait, Song Qingyu,” Song Qingshi pulled a finished sachet from his sleeve and handed it to him. “This is an insect-repelling sachet. Take it with you.”

“Wow, thanks, Brother! Brother, you are the best!” Song Qingyu took the sachet and gave Song Qingshi a bear hug before happily heading out the door.

Song Qingshi was dazed for a moment by the sudden hug, then smiled. “No respect for his elders.”

“Young Master Song Qingshi, would you like more?” Gu Jiuli asked when he saw Song Qingshi’s bowl was empty.

“No need, I have had enough.” In truth, he was stuffed. Song Qingshi inconspicuously rubbed his stomach. “Dahei, I am going up the mountain to gather herbs later. You stay at home.”

“I will go with you,” Gu Jiuli interrupted.

Song Qingshi pursed his lips. “But your injuries have not fully healed.”

Gu Jiuli: “It does not matter. Young Master Song Qingshi’s medical skills are very good.”

“Fine then.” Sensing Gu Jiuli’s determination to follow him, Song Qingshi helplessly agreed.

The male lead was being so diligent as a servant that Song Qingshi was starting to feel a bit guilty.

The Song family residence was on the outermost edge of Shajia Village, a solitary house in that area. The mountain where Song Qingshi usually gathered herbs was on the side furthest from the village.

As Song Qingshi led Gu Jiuli along the path, they ran into Tie Erniu, who was leading a yellow ox.

“Song Qingshi, are you going to gather herbs?” Tie Erniu stopped the ox and greeted Song Qingshi with a flushed face.

“Hmm?” Song Qingshi tilted his ear toward Tie Erniu. “Is that the second son of the Tie family? You are back so early today?”

Tie Erniu rubbed his head and smiled foolishly. “I headed out early today.” At that moment, he noticed the unignorable presence of Gu Jiuli beside Song Qingshi. Seeing the man staring straight at him, he swallowed his desire to continue the small talk and asked in a low voice: “Song Qingshi, I wonder who this person beside you is?”

Song Qingshi smiled slightly. “This is a servant I bought from town a few days ago. Just call him Dahei.”

“Oh? Ah, that is good.” Tie Erniu looked at the extraordinary-looking Gu Jiuli and thought to himself: “This Dahei certainly does not look like a servant. He looks quite dignified. Hopefully he is not taking advantage of the fact that Song Qingshi cannot see to deceive him!” “This, this Dahei looks like a son of a wealthy family. How could he be sold as a servant?”

Gu Jiuli spoke before Song Qingshi could: “I only look that way. My family was very poor.”

Song Qingshi was stunned. He had not said a word yet, but the male lead was already making things up.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, are we still going up the mountain?” Gu Jiuli took a step forward, leaned down, and leaned close to Song Qingshi’s ear to ask.

Song Qingshi nodded. He did not want to talk too much either, or else the male lead’s identity might be revealed prematurely. He spoke in Tie Erniu’s direction: “Tie Erniu, I am in a hurry to get up the mountain today. Let us talk another day.”

“Alright, alright.” Tie Erniu stepped aside and watched Song Qingshi and Gu Jiuli walk away.

The servant named Dahei walked behind Song Qingshi, his broad frame completely enveloping Song Qingshi in his shadow. Tie Erniu could only see a glimpse of a fluttering hem.

Song Qingshi had climbed this mountain hundreds of times. Even if he did not know the entire mountain perfectly, he was very familiar with where the herbs grew. He easily found a spot where honeysuckle vines were growing.

Song Qingshi set down his bamboo staff and reached out to pluck a flower, holding it under his nose. The fragrance had a hint of bitterness; it was high-quality honeysuckle. He placed the flower in his palm and held it out to Gu Jiuli. “Dahei, this is the herb I need to gather today, honeysuckle, also known as jinyinhua. It comes in yellow and white. Take this flower and use it as a reference to pick more. Only the flowers are needed.”

Rough fingertips brushed against his palm as Gu Jiuli took the honeysuckle flower. “Yes, Young Master.”

Song Qingshi silently picked the honeysuckle, and Gu Jiuli did not say much either. For a while, only the sounds of one light and one heavy breath could be heard echoing each other.

When a person is focused on a task, it is easy to ignore the surroundings. Song Qingshi worked his way into the center of the honeysuckle vines. When he turned around, his foot kicked something unknown. With the sound of fabric tearing, he fell directly to the ground.

A sharp pain hit his eyes, and warm tears began to flow continuously from the corners of his eyelids. Song Qingshi quickly covered his eyes with his palms. He reached out and discovered that the cloth covering his eyes had fallen off.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, are you alright!” Gu Jiuli rushed to Song Qingshi, wanting to check on him.

“Dahei,” Song Qingshi grabbed Gu Jiuli’s wrist and lifted his head. A face like a pear blossom bathed in rain was unexpectedly exposed to Gu Jiuli’s eyes. “Help me, help me find my blindfold.”

Staring straight into those peach-blossom eyes with slightly reddened corners, Gu Jiuli’s pupils contracted sharply. The wrist that was held felt as if it had been scorched by fire. He had always known the young man was good-looking, but he was still struck by the sight now.

Biting down hard on his itching teeth, Gu Jiuli retrieved the torn blindfold from a branch and handed it to Song Qingshi. “Young Master, it is here.”

Song Qingshi took the cloth and hurriedly wrapped it around his eyes again. The stinging pain finally stopped, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Gu Jiuli stared blankly at Song Qingshi’s movements and asked softly: “Young Master, are you really alright? You are even,” crying.

“I am fine.” Song Qingshi sniffled, feeling a bit embarrassed about a grown man constantly tearing up. He explained: “My eyes begin to tear uncontrollably whenever they see sunlight, which is why I cover them with black cloth.”

As he spoke, Song Qingshi braced himself against the ground to stand up. However, the sharp pain in his right ankle made him sit back down. “Sss,” He reached out and felt it; his right ankle was somewhat swollen. The bone was fine, so it was likely just a sprain from the fall.

What a day!

“Dahei, let us head back for today,” Song Qingshi said.

“Alright,” Gu Jiuli helped Song Qingshi stand up. “But, Young Master Song Qingshi, is your foot alright? Can you still walk?”

“It is fine, I can walk. I will apply some medicinal oil when we get back, and it will be better in a couple of days.” Song Qingshi fumbled for the place where he had left his bamboo staff.

Gu Jiuli took Song Qingshi’s hand and half-knelt in front of him. “I should carry you back on my back. The mountain path is difficult.”

“What? No, no, your injuries have not fully healed. How could I let you do that!” Song Qingshi refused without thinking.

“Or, would you prefer I carry you in my arms?” Gu Jiuli’s tone carried a hint of irritation.

Song Qingshi opened his mouth, and the words slipped out before he could think: “How would you carry me?”

Gu Jiuli did not reply. Instead, he simply wrapped his arms around Song Qingshi’s thighs and lifted him up like a child.

Suddenly losing contact with the ground, Song Qingshi panicked for a moment and grabbed onto whatever was nearby like a piece of driftwood. “Dahei! Dahei! The back! I choose the back!”

“Heh.” An ambiguous light laugh came from between them. Song Qingshi realized he was clutching Gu Jiuli’s hair. He sheepishly let go and said again: “Carry me on your back instead. Being held like this is truly undignified.”

“Fine.” Gu Jiuli readily set him down and turned around to take him onto his back.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, what caused your eye condition?” Gu Jiuli asked casually on the way down the mountain.

“Hmm?” Song Qingshi was a bit surprised that the male lead would ask him about this.

Sensing Song Qingshi’s hesitation, Gu Jiuli pursed his lips and said: “If it is inconvenient to say, you do not have to. Pretend I did not ask.”

“There is nothing I cannot say,” Song Qingshi smiled. “When I was thirteen, I got lost in the mountains and accidentally ate a poisonous herb. I managed to survive, but it left me with this eye condition. Looking at it that way, I am actually a fortunate person to have survived a disaster.”

“I see,” Gu Jiuli murmured to himself. On his back was the young man’s soft, warm body heat, and his nose was filled with the young man’s unique, bitter-clear scent of medicine. He suddenly thought it would be nice if they could just keep walking like this forever.

A breeze blew through their hair, and the strands intertwined in the wind, inseparable.

Gu Jiuli carried Song Qingshi back to the Song residence. He took him all the way into Song Qingshi’s room before setting him down.

Song Qingshi sat on the chair by his desk. While removing the shoe and sock from his right foot, he said: “Dahei, please help me get the medicinal oil. It is on top of the medicine cabinet behind the door.”

To his surprise, Gu Jiuli did not give him the medicinal oil after getting it. Instead, he poured some onto his own hand. Then, holding Song Qingshi’s right foot with one hand, he used the other to massage the injury with the oil.

“Sss!” Song Qingshi flinched, his pale pink toes curling. “Dahei!”

“Bear with it, Young Master. The stasis must be massaged away.” While Gu Jiuli spoke, his palm moved in steady circles around the ankle.

“Nnh, you, let me, do it myself,” The fingertips Song Qingshi used to grip the chair turned white. It was not entirely from the pain; with the friction of the palm, the sprained ankle was getting hotter and hotter, almost as if it were burning him.

“It is done, Young Master.” Gu Jiuli released the tormented ankle.

Song Qingshi panted as he leaned back against the chair. His right foot trembled slightly, having turned entirely red.

“Young Master Song Qingshi, how should we handle those honeysuckles?” Squatting in front of Song Qingshi, Gu Jiuli did not dare look up even though he knew the young man could not see his reaction. He felt as if he were breaking.

He actually thought the young man’s breathing sounded wonderful right now. The way he looked while crying earlier was also beautiful. He wanted to make the young man shed more tears and make more beautiful sounds.

The moment he thought of these things, he, Gu Jiuli glanced at his trousers and could not help but curse himself for being a beast.

The young man was a man. Although Gu Jiuli had lost his memory, he still possessed basic common sense. No matter what, he should not have such thoughts about a man.

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