The village chief, thinking this young couple was being reckless, playing around heavily and acting foolishly, immediately admonished them: "You two are truly muddle-headed!"
"...It's not that," facing his accusing and exasperated look, Zhao Ger haltingly explained the matter of Fang Zichen's disappearance.
The village chief fell silent for a long time, then sighed: "He fell victim to someone's scheme."
As the village chief, he understood the village's situation best.
After Fang Zichen passed the county exam, several households in the village began to get restless.
Originally, he thought the villagers hadn't seen much of the world. In decades, only Fang Zichen had shown such promise. Everyone was eyeing him, wanting to latch on and soar to the branches in one leap. Thinking like this was normal, but he hadn't expected the town to be the same.
Fang Zichen's charm is too great!!
Who knows if it's a blessing or a curse.
Guaizai hadn't spoken a word since entering the medical hall. After the old physician left, he asked Zhao Ger to take off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, squeezed into Fang Zichen's arms, placed Fang Zichen's hand on his own little belly, and then held him tightly.
A child's body temperature was always higher, warm and cozy like a small heating pad. Although Fang Zichen was only vaguely conscious, his subconscious knew this was his son. He murmured "good boy" and fell asleep.
Late in the night, half-asleep and half-awake, he opened his eyes and saw Zhao Ger sitting by the bed, holding his hand. Only a small oil lamp was lit on the table beside them.
The light was dim. Zhao Ger had dark circles under his eyes and looked haggard. Likely, during the two days he was missing, Zhao Ger hadn't rested properly for a single moment. Fang Zichen called out to him.
He leaned closer: "Are you thirsty? Do you want water?"
Fang Zichen shook his head. Holding Guaizai, he moved inward and patted the space beside him: "Come up."
The medical hall's bed wasn't spacious. Zhao Ger was afraid of crowding him: "No, it's fine. You should sleep! I..."
"Come up quickly," Fang Zichen said righteously and sternly: "I am a patient now. The patient is paramount. You should accommodate me, understand? In these two days, just two days, I've vomited almost a bucket of blood. If you anger me further, wait until I get furious, and then you can wait to become a widower!"
Zhao Ger: "..."
Fang Zichen urged: "Hurry up. I want to hold you."
Whenever he said things like this, Zhao Ger was instantly defenseless. He had no choice but to lie down. He stayed near the edge, half his body hanging off. Fang Zichen pulled him over in one motion, buried his face in the crook of Zhao Ger's neck, the familiar scent filling his nostrils.
"Sorry for making you worry," Fang Zichen said.
Zhao Ger didn't speak. After a long silence, he held Fang Zichen and finally said: "I thought... I thought you didn't want me anymore."
His voice was hoarse, his fingertips trembled, and his body seemed especially frail at this moment.
Fang Zichen's heart ached unbearably, but he was so used to having a sharp tongue that even now he couldn't spit out a single nice word: "What nonsense are you thinking? Why do you always think of me as a scoundrel? Am I the kind of person who could do such a wicked thing like abandoning my fulang and child? If I disappear, why don't you think of other possibilities? Maybe it's because I'm too handsome, coveted by others, kidnapped for my looks? Maybe I got drunk and fell into a ditch? If I really encountered such a thing and waited for you to come save me, I'd probably be waiting in vain."
Zhao Ger cried and said: "But you left me behind before."
Fang Zichen abruptly raised his head, shocked: "What 'before'? When did I ever abandon you? Are you so sleepy you're confused? Go to sleep, go to sleep now."
Zhao Ger hit him once, his words choked with sobs: "You're not allowed to be like this next time. I really, really can't take it."
"Mm! There won't be a next time," Fang Zichen held his cold face, his heart aching terribly: "I'm not going anywhere. I want to hold your hand and grow old with you. I know you struggle with self-doubt and find it hard to trust in love, but I give you my word—I won't lie to you. A real man keeps his promises." Then, thinking of that poor bastard Yang Mutao, he added: "Of course, the premise is that you don't give me a green hat."
[戴绿帽子 (dài lǜ màozi): lit. to wear a green hat; fig. to be a cuckold.]
When he had lain in the room earlier, he hadn't failed to see the pile of firewood filling the room.
He understood that Zhao Ger was haunted by his past. There had been a time when Zhao Ger was utterly isolated and helpless, trapped in his darkest moments, completely adrift and without anyone to turn to. Because he had always been alone, even when his teeth were knocked out, he could only swallow the pieces with blood. He was extremely insecure, anxious and insecure about relationships. It was like hanging in a deep well, he constantly feared the rope would break. Even if it looked strong and reliable, as long as his feet couldn't touch solid ground for a single day, that worry would follow him like a shadow.
Fang Zichen really didn't know what to say. Words of reproach hadn't even reached his throat before he swallowed them back down. Zhao Ger's past, the grievances he had suffered, those hidden, unspoken worries he kept buried—Fang Zichen knew none of it.
Those uncomfortable shoes that hurt the feet, only the one wearing them knows how they feel.
In other words, if he had experienced everything Zhao Ger had been through, he might not have turned out any better than him.
"Sleep," Fang Zichen kissed the top of his head: "I'm here. I will always be here. Go to sleep now."
After the commotion for most of the night, the family of three woke up almost near noon the next day.
Zhao Ger went and bought a few steamed buns. Fang Zichen ate three of them, then received a few more acupuncture treatments. The physician prepared several packets of medicine for him and said they could go back.
His previous weakness was largely due to the drug, another reason was hunger.
Now, after eating three buns, he was lively and energetic again. But Fang Zichen didn't move: "Physician, am I really alright?"
Physician Xu glared at him: "Are you doubting me?!"
It wasn't really doubt, mainly because Physician Xu looked quite old. Although old ginger was spicier, and it was often the same for physicians, Physician Xu was over sixty. He was worried the old physician might have grown senile and would misdiagnose him.
[姜还是老的辣 (jiāng háishì lǎo de là): lit. old ginger is spicier; fig. an experienced or older person is more shrewd and effective.]
Moreover, he had already taken his pulse yesterday and damn well said he was impotent. Fang Zichen seriously suspected he was an old quack.
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