"If you’ll listen to me in everything, then you mustn’t cry anymore. Look, your eyes are all swollen. If the servants see you tomorrow, they’ll laugh. That girl Siyu too, for not coming to inform me sooner."
Fang Yu called out towards the outer room: "Siyu, go fetch some hot water."
Hearing this, the person outside quietly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the two had now made up. If she had known it would turn out this way, she wouldn’t have waited here so anxiously all this time, forgetting her place. She might as well have gone to fetch the Master earlier. With a smile, she made her way toward the small kitchen.
Once hot water was brought, Fang Yu gently wiped Qiao Hezhi’s face. Even though he had stopped crying, half of that pale face remained red, and his eyes were still somewhat dazed.
"It’s getting late. Let’s sleep early."
Fang Yu placed a light kiss on his forehead and, holding him, tucked them both under the quilt.
Perhaps truly exhausted from crying, or perhaps because the weight had lifted from his heart, Qiao Hezhi, nestled in his embrace, fell asleep within less than a ke (~15 minutes), though even in his dreams, he occasionally made small sniffing sounds.
Fang Yu let out a soft sigh: He is still so young after all; encountering a little trouble in matters of the heart makes him cry like this. What will we do in the future?
He held the slender figure a little tighter, resting his chin on Qiao Hezhi’s forehead: "I won’t let you cry over such things again."
The next morning, Qiao Hezhi’s eyes were still red, and his eyelids had indeed become swollen, making his eyes seem smaller than usual.
He covered them, feeling uncomfortable. His throat was sore too, so he only managed a few bites of breakfast.
"Don’t rub them with your hands; it’ll make it worse." Fang Yu cracked a boiled egg, peeled the shell, and blew on it: "I’ll roll this egg over them for you to reduce the swelling. It’ll be fine."
Hearing this, Qiao Hezhi obediently tilted his chin up. Fang Yu had him lean against the crook of his arm and gently rolled the warm egg around the corners of his eyes.
Before the two of them had finished dealing with this, a servant entered to announce: "Master, there’s a servant outside who says he has something to deliver to Zhengfu."
Qiao Hezhi looked at Fang Yu: "Did Father and Mother send something?"
"Be good, don’t move." Fang Yu glanced at the reporting servant: "Who sent it? Just bring it in. Why come and ask?"
"He says his master’s surname is Yu," the servant said. "This servant also told him to give the item to me to bring inside, but that person said while the item could be given to me to pass on, there were some words that really required Zhengfu to come out to hear conveniently. That’s why this servant came to request instructions from the Master."
Qiao Hezhi grabbed Fang Yu’s sleeve, worried: "Brother Yu has come again!"
Fang Yu put down the egg: "He actually has the face to come."
Qiao Hezhi quickly stated firmly: "I absolutely will not go."
Fang Yu ruffled his hair: "It’s fine. I’ll go with you to see what new trick he’s trying to pull."
"Then… alright then."
The two went out together. Qiao Hezhi hid behind Fang Yu, only stepping forward when they reached the main gate and saw that only a single servant had come.
Seeing the two emerge hand-in-hand, the servant was somewhat surprised. Noting Fang Yu’s unpleasant expression, he shrank back slightly, but didn’t dare forget his master’s instructions.
"Young Master Qiao, these are items our young master asked to be delivered to you to express his apologies. Yesterday, our young master truly overstepped. He hopes it hasn’t caused misunderstanding between you and Fang Xiucai. Originally, the young master intended to call in person to apologize, but presumably Fang Xiucai would not wish to see him. To avoid adding to any unpleasantness, this humble servant is conveying the apology on his behalf."
The servant spoke earnestly and respectfully, making it all seem quite sincere—it would have seemed even more so if his words hadn’t included that line about Fang Yu not wanting to see Yu Lifeng.
"Fang Xiucai, with your magnanimity, you surely wouldn’t dwell on such a minor matter. Our master and Young Master Qiao truly have nothing between them; it’s merely childhood friendship. After a long separation, meeting again stirred up feelings momentarily, leading to this."
Fang Yu nearly choked on the servant’s words. Yu Lifeng didn’t come to say these things himself, but had the audacity to send a servant to deliver them.
Fortunately, Qiao Hezhi promptly cut off the servant’s speech: "We appreciate Master Yu’s kind thoughts. It was just a misunderstanding. Go back and tell Master Yu not to dwell on it either."
Seeing that Qiao Hezhi was handling the servant, Fang Yu didn’t interject. He took the offered large box, curious about its contents. Without any pretense, he opened it directly for a look.
He had thought it might be some novel trinket brought from the capital. He imagined gifts for a ‘white moonlight’ might be particularly ingenious. Unexpectedly, it contained two old, worn small kites, along with items like cricket cages and grass-woven locusts—playthings from childhood.
How very thoughtful.
Fang Yu gave a cold, disdainful snort: This little… thing. He looks decent on the outside, never expected him to be such a tea person.
[茶 (chá): lit. tea; fig. slang for someone who is disingenuous, manipulative, or pretends to be innocent while stirring up trouble.]
Whether sending these trinkets was meant as an apology or to make Qiao Hezhi reminisce about the past and drive Fang Yu mad was truly hard to say.
The servant bowed slightly with hands clasped: "Seeing that Young Master Qiao and Fang Xiucai haven’t fallen out over this matter puts our young master’s mind at ease. With the items delivered, this humble servant will take his leave."
Fang Yu raised his hand to stop him: "Hold on. Master Yu has been so considerate, sending gifts and apologies. It really makes us feel embarrassed."
"Xuezhu, go fetch those several boxes of Biluochun tea from my room. Since we’re exchanging courtesies, deliver them to Master Yu."
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