Chapter 11

Having experienced growing up in a military camp and having been "adopted" by wolves, Feng Ye had never experienced the childhood of a normal child, so every day he spent with Yuan Sikong was fresh to him.

In fact, Yuan Sikong was never good at having fun. His greatest hobby was reading. Thanks to his younger brother who "specialized in this field".

Climb trees to find birds, enter the water to touch fishes, catch insects in spring, and roll in the snow in winter, there was nothing that Yuan Nanyu did not know. Although he couldn’t even get out of bed now, it did not stop him from giving Yuan Sikong advice, guiding them where and how to play.

But as time went on, Yuan Nanyu began to complain again, "Second brother's whole mouth is full of Feng Ye now. You are going to forget Yu'er, right?"

"How could I have forgotten? Which day did I not come to supervise your reading?"

Yuan Nanyu slapped the bedboard fiercely, "Yes, you only remember this!"

Yuan Sikong held back his laughter, "Reading is a serious matter. You can't slack off for a day."

Yuan Nanyu said unhappily, "You're always playing around with Little Highness, while I'm lying on the bed, either reading or dazing. Can you lie down if you put yourself in my shoes?"

"I can lie down."

"You ... Besides, you used to only play with me, but now you have Little Highness. I don't see you at all except in the morning."

Yuan Sikong leaned over and pinched Yuan Nanyu's face, "Feng Ye is of high status, and father wants me to keep him company. This is more important than evaluating horses. Moreover, the selection of horses for Datong is almost done. He won't be staying in Guangning after a few more days." The sky was high, and the land was far away. If they parted, they didn’t know if they would still see each other again in their lives.

Yuan Nanyu pouted: "Actually, it's not that I don't want you to play with him, it's that I want to play with you guys...Second brother talks about him all the time, saying that Little Highness is very good looking and has great ambition, but I haven't even met him."

How could Yuan Sikong not know what Yuan Nanyu was thinking? Looking at that despondent little face and dull eyes, he also couldn’t bear it: "Yu'er, if you promise me that you will not come out of the house and keep quiet, I will bring him to the house and let you take a look at him, how’s that?"

Yuan Nanyu's eyes lit up: "Really? Why can’t you let me out of the house?"

"Little Highness is very wild. If he saw you, he would want to play with you. Would father dare to disobey his orders? If you got out of bed and something happened to you, what would happen?" Yuan Sikong was very thoughtful, "So, if you are curious to see him, you can, but you can't let him see you. Absolutely not. If anything happens, not to mention father, I'll be the first to not forgive you."

Yuan Sikong could imagine how Feng Ye would react to seeing someone who looked so much like him. He must feel curious and fresh. But in his inner heart, he didn't want Feng Ye to see Yuan Nanyu, not only because he was worried about Yuan Nanyu's leg, but also because ... only Feng Ye belonged to him. Except for Feng Ye, he had to share the rest of the things with Yuan Nanyu, and Yuan Nanyu always got more than him.

He spurned at himself for having such a selfish thought, but he could not resist it.

Let Feng Ye become a memory and a secret for him alone, an exception that only he had, and Yuan Nanyu did not have.

Yuan Nanyu naturally compromised: "Fine, fine, fine, just let me see what he looks like, otherwise I'll really die of boredom."

Yuan Sikong picked up his book, "Then today's morning lesson ..."

"I've memorized it! I already memorized it yesterday, I'm going to recite it to you now."

Yuan Sikong smiled.

---

The next day, Yuan Sikong brought Feng Ye to the Yuan residence. In order not to draw in a lot of people’s attention, he didn't say anything to anyone and sneaked in through the back door with Feng Ye.

"That's my father and my mother's chamber, and to the east is the kitchen." Yuan Sikong blinked, "There are very sweet pears in the kitchen. How about we go and steal a few?"

Feng Ye called out, "Yeah!"

They hid from the adults and quietly made their way to the kitchen. To children, this was as thrilling as an adventure.

In fact, there were not many people in the Yuan residence, and there were only two servants, so they didn't meet anyone along the way and successfully got into the kitchen. One person took two pears. They ate one and hid the other one, smiling at each other as they nibbled.

Feng Ye said, "Which room do you sleep in? Let’s go and play in your room."

"I don't have anything in my room."

"Then what else are we going to play with?"

Yuan Sikong laughed mischievously, "There is a big ginkgo tree in my yard, let's go climb it."

"Yeah!"

The gingko tree was a hundred years old. It had deep roots, luxuriant leaves, and was towering. It could be seen from any corner in the Yuan residence. Yuan Sikong had come to an agreement with Yuan Nanyu that he would take Feng Ye to climb the tree at this time. Yuan Nanyu could see them when he sat by the window.

The ginkgo tree had been climbed by the Yuan family's children since they were young. There was a simple wooden hut that Yuan Mao had built on its thigh-thick branches. Yuan Sikong was extremely skillful in climbing up and down. He wanted to show Feng Ye how to climb with the least effort, yet Feng Ye scuffed his way up first, moving as agile as a monkey.

"Feng Ye, be careful. If you fall, I will be doomed." Yuan Sikong shouted under the tree.

"You're so long-winded. I'm not going to fall." Feng Ye climbed up to the treehouse first and waved excitedly at Yuan Sikong, "Sikong, come up."

Yuan Sikong rolled up his sleeves and was about to climb up when he suddenly heard someone shouting at him. He turned his head back nervously and carefully identified that it was really Yuan Mao's voice. He was busy gesturing towards Feng Ye, telling him to get into the treehouse.

Feng Ye turned around, went into the treehouse, and hid.

Yuan Mao stepped into the courtyard, "Kong'er, you didn't visit Little Highness today?"

"Uh, no."

"What are you doing here?"

"The house was a bit stuffy, so I came out to get some air."

"That’s a good timing. Hu Baicheng's horse has been dripping liquid from its ears for a few days. He's brought it here. You go and examine it."

"... yes." Yuan Sikong hesitantly glanced up at the tree. He did not dare to let Yuan Mao know.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Kong'er will go now." Yuan Sikong coughed hard twice and followed Yuan Mao.

Feng Ye didn't actually hear what the two said, but he saw Yuan Sikong and Yuan Mao leave through a gap in the wooden house. Only when they were far away did he crawl out of the wooden house and snap a small branch to play with, wondering whether he should wait here for Yuan Sikong to return or go for a stroll on his own.

The treehouse was 266.4 to 300 meters above the ground, and from here he could see every room in the Yuan residence like a view of the mountains. When he looked around with boredom, he suddenly saw a short tree in the courtyard in one of the houses with Yuan Sikong's clothes hanging on it.

That must be his room. Feng Ye was suddenly curious. What's in Yuan Sikong's room? Would there be many books?

He laid down on the floor of the treehouse and thought to himself that when Yuan Sikong returned later, he would go to his room and have a look.

An hour had passed while waiting, and Yuan Sikong hadn’t come back. Feng Ye lost his patience and decided to go to Yuan Sikong's room by himself. If Yuan Sikong didn't come back by a certain time, he would simply go back to the post house.

Feng Ye climbed down from the tree, hummed a little tune, and headed to Yuan Sikong's room.

He reached the door, quietly pushed it open, and poked his little head in. The first thing that caught his eye was indeed a shelf full of books. When he looked further inside, there were two beds, and there was a person lying on one of them.

Feng Ye was shocked and promptly closed the door, but when he recalled in his mind, that’s not right. That clothes and that person’s back, wasn’t that Yuan Sikong?

Feng Ye pushed the door, entered again, and called out in a low voice, "Yuan Sikong."

The person on the bed did not respond, so Feng Ye closed the door, ran over, and pushed the person on the bed with force: "Yuan Sikong!"

Yuan Nanyu was bitching endlessly in his heart. When he saw Feng Ye coming over through the window, he got into his bed and pretended to sleep, thinking that he could hide, but he didn't expect this Little Highness to be so persistent. Yuan Sikong's warning was still ringing in his ears, but now ... what should he do now? He could only brace himself to turn around and face Feng Ye by covering up half of his small face.

The one in front of him was a bit different: "You ..." He said "you" for quite a while, but he couldn't tell what was odd.

Yuan Nanyu swallowed his saliva, summoned up his courage, lowered his voice, and said, "Why did you come here?"

The room was not lit, and the light was dim, so he could not see the face of the person in front of him clearly. Feng Ye did not think otherwise and said angrily, "I have been waiting for you in the treehouse, and you actually went back home and sleep?”

Yuan Nanyu's heart was beating faster than a drum, but suddenly he was playful and couldn’t contain his excitement. He clenched his fists and recalled what Yuan Sikong had told him about his time together with Feng Ye, and said in a calm manner, "I suddenly felt dizzy and wanted to come back to lie down for a while before looking for you." Yuan Nanyu thought: What could be more fun and exciting than pretending to be Yuan Sikong now?

When he was young, he and Yuan Sikong used to pretend to be each other to tease people, but their family could always see through it immediately, and there was no point in fooling outsiders, so they had stopped playing long ago, but now that he was facing Little Highness, he found it interesting again.

"Dizzy?" Feng Ye was doubtful, so he leaned over and touched Yuan Nanyu's forehead with his warm hand: "There’s no fever. How can you feel dizzy?"

"I don't know." Yuan Nanyu frowned and rubbed his temples, "I can't climb the tree with you today, nor can I go horse riding with you."

"The sun is about to set. There’s no point horse riding now." Feng Ye looked around and spotted the extinguished charcoal pot, "It's so cold in your house, why aren't you burning the charcoal?"

"It's not that cold yet. Mother said that charcoal is too expensive. Just burn it before going to bed will be fine." Yuan Nanyu sighed, "Isn’t it all because of you that my father was fined his salary?”

Feng Ye had no concept of what was expensive, "If you are not feeling well, you will only feel worse in such a cold room." He jumped off the bed, "I'll help you burn it."

"Little High ... Feng Ye!" Yuan Nanyu called out, "There's really no need."

However, Feng Ye ignored him and dragged the charcoal pot to the side of the bed, lighting it while turning it over with tongs.

Yuan Nanyu racked his brain, thinking about how he could send Feng Ye away. Although it was thrilling to pretend to be Yuan Sikong, if this was revealed, Yuan Sikong would be very angry.

While he was thinking, he didn't notice that Feng Ye had moved back to the bed and sat down on his injured leg under the blanket.

Yuan Nanyu let out a painful "ow".

"What's wrong!?" Feng Ye was so frightened that he jumped up and knocked over the charcoal pot, which sent pieces of charcoal flying in all directions. One of them flew straight at Yuan Nanyu. In the heat of the moment, Yuan Nanyu forgot that it was red-hot charcoal and reached out to catch it.

He let out another "ow" and instantly threw the charcoal away, but his palm and fingers were burning hot with pain.

"Sikong!" Feng Ye grabbed Yuan Nanyu's hand and said urgently, "Your hand!"

"It's fine, it’s a small injury." Yuan Nanyu huffed. His leg was much more painful than his hand. With Feng Ye’s honorable butt that sat on him, he didn’t know how many more days he would have to lie in bed. He simply wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Wait, I'll go get some ice." Feng Ye turned around, ran out of the room, and rushed to the kitchen.

Yuan Sikong, who was hiding in the corner and didn't know what to do, saw Feng Ye suddenly running out. He was stunned for a while, and quickly ran into the room.

He had finished diagnosing Hu Baicheng's horse and went back to look for Feng Ye, but when he climbed up the tree to take a look, he had long since disappeared. Yet on the treehouse, he watched Feng Ye walked towards Yuan Nanyu's room.

That was actually his room too, but he had moved to the guest room temporarily because of Yuan Nanyu's leg injury. He scrambled down the tree and wanted to stop Feng Ye, but he saw that Feng Ye had already gone in. When he was just thinking about whether to go in and explain or wait and see the changes, Feng Ye came out again with an anxious look on his face.

The expression on his face was unusual. Yuan Sikong was worried about Yuan Nanyu and rushed into the room. He saw the charcoal pot had fallen with charcoals all over the floor. Yuan Nanyu's expression was in pain. His heart sank: “Yu'er!”

When Yuan Nanyu saw him, he smiled bitterly, "Second brother."

"What's wrong, Yu'er?" Yuan Sikong ran to the bed and felt a little flustered, "Did you guys fight?"

"No." Yuan Nanyu said with a grievance, "That brat insisted on burning the charcoal, sat on my leg, and knocked over the charcoal pot. My leg hurts and my hand hurts. Second brother, did he do it on purpose?”

Yuan Sikong was confused from listening. Seeing that Yuan Nanyu was talking disorderly, he seemed to be really in pain. He lifted the blanket hurriedly and examined Yuan Nanyu's leg carefully. Seeing that it was fine, he then opened the palm of his hand. When he saw that the flesh was burnt, it must be very painful. He let out a "tsk", "We need to apply ice packs."

"He went to get it." Yuan Nanyu took a deep breath, "Forget it, it's good that my leg is okay. Second brother, he didn't realize it was you, no, he didn't realize it was me. Aiya, no, no, he didn't find out I wasn't you!"

"You really fooled him?" Yuan Sikong couldn’t believe it. Seeing that Yuan Nanyu was wearing the same clothes as him again today, it was no wonder that he was able to confuse Feng Ye.

They both wore the same clothes. Yuan Sikong did not like to dress as a twin with Yuan Nanyu, but Yuan Nanyu liked it. No matter how many times he said it, Yuan Nanyu always picked the same clothes as him on the same day, intentionally or unintentionally, but he never thought it would help them today.

"Mm, he really didn't notice." Yuan Nanyu grinned, "I'm awesome, right?"

"He just didn't find out. When he comes back later, will he think we've turned into ghosts?" Yuan Sikong pounded his head in frustration. He should not have promised Yuan Nanyu. How come everything related to Feng Ye was always easy to make careless mistakes?

He’s afraid the two of them are really destined to have a backlash ...

Yuan Nanyu thought of something and said urgently, "Second brother, you have to do something. You can't let him find out. If he knows, father will know. When father knows, he will scold us to death, and he will definitely find someone to watch me every day!"

How could Yuan Sikong not think of it? He just made a scene like this. How could he conceal it…

He saw the charcoal on the ground, and he had an idea during this emergency. He suddenly squatted down and reached out to grab it.

Yuan Nanyu said with surprise: “Second brother!”

It was too late to try and stop him. Yuan Sikong grabbed a hot charcoal without turning back. The hot and sharp pain instantly penetrated the nerves. Yuan Sikong gritted his teeth and did not scream out. He threw away the charcoal and looked at his palm.

Yuan Nanyu stared with his eyes. His forehead was covered in sweat. Ever since he was little, he was the one who caused the most trouble, and Yuan Sikong was the most well-behaved one. However, if they talked about "Heroes" according to the size of the things that went overboard, his 10 deeds could not be compared to Yuan Sikong’s 1 deed. It's just that Yuan Sikong is always less likely to be noticed by adults.

There was a sound of trotting outside. Hearing the light footsteps, it was obvious it’s from a child.

Yuan Sikong said, "Yu'er, you hide for a while, I'll deal with your hand injury once I've sent him away."

"Okay."

Yuan Sikong hurriedly picked up Yuan Nanyu, hid him in the cupboard, and laid down on the bed.

Just as he had covered himself with the blanket, Feng Ye rushed in, carrying ice cubes with the front of his robe.

"Sikong." Feng Ye ran over. His small face was full of anxiety, and he was a little unwilling to show his guilt, "Apply it quickly."

"I'm fine." Yuan Sikong spread his hand, "It doesn't really hurt that much."

Feng Ye pouted and said reluctantly, "Why do you always get hurt when you're with me?"

Yuan Sikong laughed, "This injury is nothing. It will heal in a few days."

"Can you still play the stringed instrument?" Feng Ye took Yuan Sikong's hand, "I haven't heard you play the stringed instrument yet."

"It's not a problem. At most, it will leave a little scar." Yuan Sikong moved his fingers, "It's very flexible."

Feng Ye sighed in relief, "That's good."

Yuan Sikong grabbed the ice, "Feng Ye, you go back first. My mother is going to bring me dinner later. If she sees this house in disarray and then sees you, I'm going to be scolded by my father."

"But ..." Feng Ye looked hesitantly at his hand.

"I'm fine, it's just a superficial wound. You go back quickly, or I'll really get into serious trouble." Yuan Sikong pleaded.

Feng Ye nodded, "Alright, I'll go out through the back door." He gently swayed Yuan Sikong's hand and whispered, "Are you still coming to play with me?"

Without hesitation, Yuan Sikong said, "I'll come and find you tomorrow."

Feng Ye then smiled brightly, "Then I'll go now! See you tomorrow!”

After Yuan Sikong saw that Feng Ye had left, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.

 

 ----

Edited on 3 Apr. 21 (Emzie)

Edited on 1 Jul. 21 (Ari)

 

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