"He... Hezhi?"
Hearing someone call his name, Qiao Hezhi smiled and stood up from the stone bench. It had only been a moment; he was just wondering how the person could be back so quickly. But when he looked up, he saw a figure who was unfamiliar in stature, yet whose voice and face seemed quite familiar. His smile instantly froze on his face.
"You... are you Qiao Hezhi?"
Hearing no reply, the newcomer cautiously tilted his head and asked again.
"I am." After confirming who the person before him was, Qiao Hezhi exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Yu? You really are back?"
The man's eyes and the corners of his mouth curved into an irrepressible smile. "Yes, I'm back. I spotted someone from a distance who resembled you, and I was afraid I had mistaken someone else. I never imagined you would have grown so tall! And you still favor purple clothing so much."
Qiao Hezhi, noticing their somewhat similar outfits, smiled awkwardly, too embarrassed to say Fang Yu had chosen it.
"When we were children, you always called me 'brother (哥哥, gēge).' Now, after so many years apart, hearing 'big brother (大哥, dàgē)' makes me feel so much older."
Qiao Hezhi gave a light laugh. "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye; we are naturally older. Isn't that how I should address you?"
Yu Lifeng smiled and shook his head, then added, "Are you here admiring the flowers alone? I remember you liked going out by yourself even as a child, braver than most. You still enjoy that now?"
"Brother Yu, please don't bring up my shortcomings anymore. It's fine for me to go out alone now." Qiao Hezhi lowered his voice, a little embarrassed. "I'm not alone today—I came with my husband."
Yu Lifeng fell silent at this. He lowered his head, his voice softening. "After I returned, I paid a visit to the Qiao residence. I heard from Uncle Qiao that you were already married. He said your husband is a scholar, handsome, diligent, and full of promise. Your parents seem very happy with the match."
"Mmm." Qiao Hezhi nodded. The last time he had visited his family home, he had noticed the Yu residence next door being cleaned. He had intended to ask his father if Yu Lifeng had returned to Yuncheng, but the conversation had been cut short before he could. Later, busy with other things, he had forgotten about it. Since Yu Lifeng had visited his home, it was surprising his parents hadn't sent word to inform him. "Brother Yu..."
"Then... are you happy?"
Qiao Hezhi was stunned for a moment, taking a while to react. His face flushed a little, but he still answered with a smile, "Mmm."
Yu Lifeng gave a slight smile. Passersby couldn't help but glance over; the man had a face like a refreshing spring breeze, truly making people want to stop and gaze.
"If you are happy... then that is enough." Yu Lifeng tried to mask the sorrow in his gaze. He had believed his years in the imperial court had given him enough control over his emotions. It turned out he just hadn't encountered something painful enough. A faint, bitter laugh escaped him. "Uncle and Aunt always doted on you since childhood, saying they couldn't bear to marry you off, even wanting to find you a live-in son-in-law. I never thought they would arrange your marriage so early. How could they bear to..."
"I haven't been married long either. Besides, we're all in Yuncheng, so it's not far. If I want to go home, it's quick. And you, Brother Yu? Are you married? Since you and Uncle Yu went to the capital, I never received any news of you. I don't know how you've been all these years."
His words were merely polite conversation. The Yu family were generations of officials and scholars; how could they not be doing well?
Yu Lifeng's gaze sharpened slightly. "You never received any news from me?"
"Hmm?" Qiao Hezhi looked at Yu Lifeng in surprise. He thought Yu Lifeng was referring to him not having inquired about his news. After a moment's thought, he said, "I did hear from the servants at the Yu residence that Brother Yu is now serving in the Hanlin Academy."
Yu Lifeng opened his mouth, but the words on the tip of his tongue ultimately remained unspoken.
"When are you returning to the capital this time, Brother Yu? You must come visit our home."
Yu Lifeng looked at the carefree person before him, unchanged from the past, and smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid your husband wouldn't be too pleased if he knew."
Hearing this, Qiao Hezhi's eyes flickered. Recalling past events, he lowered his voice, pleading with Yu Lifeng, "That's true. Brother Yu, you must never tell my husband about those embarrassing things I did as a child. I was mischievous and didn't understand things back then. Please don't take them to heart either."
The Yu family moved to the capital seven years ago and never returned. Moreover, they flourished in the imperial court. He had thought he would never see Yu Lifeng again in this lifetime, and even if they did meet, such an established, prestigious family of pure scholars likely wouldn't associate with a merchant family like the Qiao family anymore. He hadn't expected Yu Lifeng's temperament to still be so good, that he would actually visit the Qiao family.
The Qiao and Yu families were separated by just a single wall. As a child, with no siblings at home to play with, he had particularly liked pestering the neighbor, Yu Lifeng. By all counts, they could truly be called childhood sweethearts. If Fang Yu found out, that would be disastrous.
"Is it that you don't want him to know we flew kites together? Or that you couldn't wake up in the morning and needed the sound of my reading to get up? Or perhaps... that you don't want him to know you said you'd marry me when you grew up..."
"I know Uncle Qiao resents me. I thought him saying you were married was just to prevent me from seeing you again. But it's true. I also thought about not disturbing you anymore. But after all these years... I still wanted to see you one more time before leaving Yuncheng."
All those rules, those proprieties... these years of being bound by such constraints were precisely what caused him to miss Qiao Hezhi forever.
Yu Lifeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He suddenly reached out and grasped the hand of the person before him. "Hezhi, I came too late."
Qiao Hezhi was suddenly stunned. They had flown kites, and he had listened to the other reading... but words about marrying him? He had never said such a thing! He was both astonished by Yu Lifeng's words and shocked to see Fang Yu, who had returned with the fishing rods at some unknown time and was now standing to the side without a word.
Fang Yu's mind was in disarray. It wasn't that he wanted to act out some drama of hiding and eavesdropping on his spouse's conversation with a childhood friend, leading to extreme tension. It was just that... he too was stunned!
He naturally remembered encountering Yu Lifeng before in the Book and Tea House. That day, he had even mentioned it to Qiao Hezhi, foolishly remarking that Yu Lifeng was outstanding and of noble birth, secretly thinking they might have a chance to meet or even become acquainted in the future. He truly never expected to meet again under such circumstances.
That aside, since these were childhood matters—Qiao Hezhi was only sixteen or seventeen now; going back a few years, he was just a kid. Whoever played with him, he'd like. Besides, with his modern mindset, he really shouldn't be acting so petty and jealous over childhood friendships.
What made him feel uneasy was... this was Yu Lifeng!
If he remembered correctly, this name appeared in large print on the book's cover as the male lead. Life had been so smooth and steady lately that he had almost forgotten he was actually the villainous cannon fodder in the book.
That was also manageable... since it was a book, there had to be a male lead. But he never, ever imagined that the male lead's white moonlight was actually Qiao Hezhi. No wonder the book's male lead, with his brilliant, wise, and upright persona, harbored such hatred for the original Fang Yu who later entered the imperial court.
He now felt tangled in a mess. There was definitely some sourness, but he was desperately trying to recall the book's content. Even when Qiao Hezhi hurried over in panic to take his hand, he was somewhat dazed.
They parted unhappily. He neither smiled and bid farewell to the book's male lead, leaving a generous and magnanimous impression, nor acted like a proper rival, uttering a few sharp words. In short, the entire encounter had simply ended in disarray.
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