Chapter 83 - 1#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Qin Qing did not leave Liujia Village immediately, but instead circled around the foot of the mountains surrounding the village a few times.
The carriage swayed and bumped, making one’s bones ache. Qin Qing shifted his sitting position and suddenly asked, “Just now, did you despise my cold-bloodedness and heartlessness very much?”
Ye Li was startled and quickly shook his head: “Not at all, Young Marquis, you are overthinking it!”
“You did. I saw your hand already resting on your dagger, and anger was pouring out of your eyes.”
Ye Li lowered his head, daring not to defend himself any further. In front of Qin Qing, it seemed he could hide nothing. What was laughable was that his anger, and his so-called acts of justice to help the weak, were all proven to be foolish in the end.
“In the future, stay calm when you encounter problems. Don’t act with the courage of a brute,” Qin Qing said casually while stroking the chubby little cat in his arms.
The words “courage of a brute” made Ye Li’s face burn hot. In Qin Qing’s heart, he was either a brute or a boor; there wasn’t a single good impression.
Damn it! He cursed inwardly with extreme frustration.
Qin Qing glanced at him sideways and said, “I know the reputation of the Tai’an Marquis Manor is not good. You preconceived that my father and I are both heartless rich people, and I don’t blame you. Most people in the world are like you, only able to see superficial things. As for what is hidden inside, whether good or bad, they are too lazy to pursue it. There is a saying that ‘ignorance is bliss’. I think it’s quite good. Living in confusion is at least not painful, don’t you think?”
Qin Qing curled his thin lips in an open-minded smile, but a shallow layer of mockery spilled out of his soft and bright eyes.
He seemed to have long been accustomed to being misunderstood, so he couldn’t be bothered to care anymore.
Ye Li, who was implicitly referred to as a muddled fool: “…”
Damn it! A even more frustrated curse rang out in the depths of his heart.
996: “Hahahaha, look at his aggrieved expression!”
Qin Qing scrutinized Ye Li for a moment, then turned to look out the window and asked, “What do you think of the passion of the cut sleeve?”
Ye Li, whose mind was very chaotic, was suddenly startled and opened his mouth to answer: “It goes against ethics, against the harmony of nature, and is truly disgusting to the extreme.”
This idea had been rooted in his heart since childhood and had become an untouchable taboo. He spoke the words above almost without thinking.
After speaking, his already chaotic mind began to surge violently because he knew that his words must have also touched Qin Qing’s taboo.
996 howled in anger, sharp claws extending from its paw pads, ready to scratch Ye Li’s face at any moment.
“This person is too bad! Qin Qing, let’s not like him anymore!”
Qin Qing lowered his eyes and whispered sadly in his heart: “He said I am disgusting.”
“Qin Qing, don’t listen to his nonsense! He is homophobic! Homophobes are all like this, very extreme.” 996 quickly comforted.
Qin Qing shook his head, sighed, then leaned against the carriage wall, looked at Ye Li wearily, and confessed: “I like men.”
What?
Ye Li never expected that even after he had said such words, Qin Qing would still dare to admit it.
Qin Qing likes men, so the scorching heat mixed in the gaze he had looked at him with before was indeed admiration, right?
From childhood to adulthood, Ye Li had seen too many such looks. He was not a fool; he had long perceived Qin Qing’s feelings, but he just hated to mention it.
However, now, without a trace of disgust, and even urgently, Ye Li asked himself over and over again: Does Qin Qing like me? Is this sentence he said a hint? Otherwise, why did he disguise himself as a groom to approach me? And why did he insist on taking me back to the Marquis Manor?
Ye Li’s heart pounded wildly, and the rapidly flowing blood caused his body to continuously radiate high heat.
For a moment, he didn’t know if he was disgusted or nervous.
However, in the next instant, Qin Qing extinguished these chaotic and scalding thoughts with a single sentence.
“Once you find your sister, leave immediately. I will give you three thousand taels of silver as a reward for saving me.” He used a sum of silver to completely clear the relationship between the two.
Perhaps he had truly liked him. However, when Ye Li said the words “disgusting to the extreme,” he decided to give up.
Such a precious and noble person, as cold and proud as ice and snow, how could he endure the stinging pain in his heart to like someone who was destined not to like him?
This should have been the result Ye Li dreamed of. Qin Qing no longer clinging to him was beneficial and harmless to him. Just find someone to pose as his sister, send her to the Marquis Manor, and he could leave happily with three thousand taels of silver.
He still had many errands to run, many cases to investigate, and many disaster areas to visit. Where would he have the time to serve such a delicate person?
However, no matter how clearly he thought in his heart, Ye Li ultimately couldn’t hold back.
Damn it! He cursed fiercely inwardly, for the inexplicable anger and unwillingness in his heart.
Damn it! He cursed again, for no reason other than to vent the myriad of entanglements and discomforts.
Qin Qing held the chubby little cat and leaned lazily against the carriage window, gazing intently at the distant mountains and forests. He had lost interest in conversation because the person sitting opposite him was someone who found him disgusting.
An invisible chasm appeared between Qin Qing and Ye Li, dividing them into two worlds.
Ye Li faintly glimpsed this insurmountable chasm, and his brows couldn’t help but furrow tightly.
Qin Qing’s attitude had become colder. This was visible to the naked eye. Would he drive me far away, banish me to the stables or an outer estate, and tell me not to get close to him again?
He must have felt very bad hearing those words I just said. Coupled with the stupid things I have done repeatedly, his impression of me must have fallen to rock bottom…
The more he thought about it, the tighter Ye Li’s brows furrowed. Somehow, he suddenly recalled the embarrassing incident where he almost drew his knife to fight in Liujia Village, and his face couldn’t help but heat up.
Damn it! Can you stop losing face? Ye Li scolded himself fiercely in his heart, his mind in turmoil again and again, difficult to calm down.
“Look at the mountain.” Qin Qing pointed to the surrounding mountains and forests and spoke suddenly.
Ye Li quickly came back to his senses and looked intently. He observed very diligently, refusing to let go of any detail, trying to find what Qin Qing wanted him to see.
But apart from the scorching wind, the scorched yellow trees, and the occasional roar of tigers and wolves, there was nothing special in the mountains and forests.
Ye Li looked and looked, searched and searched. Anxious in his heart, his face began to flush red.
He didn’t want to be a boor anymore. He also wanted Qin Qing to look at him with new eyes, so that Qin Qing’s attitude wouldn’t be so cold.
“What did you see?” Qin Qing asked as expected.
Ye Li composed himself and answered: “Many drought-intolerant trees have withered and died. Beasts lack food and will likely come down the mountain in packs to eat people. Without forming a patrol team, the casualties of the villagers will be heavier, not to mention there are bandits nearby.”
Ye Li paused and very deliberately flattered: “The Young Marquis plans ahead and nips problems in the bud. Truly wise.”
996: “…Is Li Suye flattering you?! Has he changed his nature?”
Qin Qing shook his head and said slowly: “These are all obvious. What else?”
What else?
Ye Li quickly looked out the window again, scanning repeatedly, but still found nothing. Hot, fine beads of sweat unknowingly covered his forehead. Nervousness struck, as if he were being tested on his homework by his Imperial Father when he was young.
After a long while, Ye Li lowered his head helplessly.
Just as he was racking his brains to think of an answer, he suddenly heard Qin Qing say faintly: “Forget it, you haven’t read many books since you were young, so it’s natural that your knowledge is shallow.”
Ye Li: “…” I damn well read poetry and books since I was young, and was taught by famous teachers and great scholars!
Forget it, I won’t say it. Saying it out loud would be embarrassing too.
Ye Li endured it with a red face.
996: “…Hahaha, good job Qin Qing! He called you disgusting, let’s roast him to death!”
Qin Qing turned his head away and curled his lips slightly. Being called disgusting to his face, he also had a temper.
“Let’s go back to the village,” he ordered wearily.
Ah Niu, sitting outside the carriage, quickly agreed and drove the carriage back to the village.
From a distance, Qin Qing saw Jiang Feishi sitting at the village entrance with a set of tables and chairs he had moved there. He was surrounded by a noisy crowd, with Liu San and the village chief standing aside, shouting and cursing to help him maintain order.
“Everyone damn well scatter! Line up! Women and girls register first, then hunters. Unrelated people get the hell out of here, or I’ll beat you up!”
“Scatter, scatter, don’t push!”
The middle-aged man who had sold his wife and daughter first cried out loudly: “Village Chief, I sold my wife and daughter, what should I do? There is no rice left at home, and my son is about to starve to death!”
As soon as he spoke, many shouts came from the crowd: “Village Chief, help us get our wives and daughters back! We can pay the money back to the human traffickers! Village Chief, think of a way for us!”
The village chief cursed impatiently: “They are already sold, who the hell is going to get them back for you! The human traffickers are backed by powerful gentry or the government. Do you think a small village chief like me can afford to offend them? Those without wives, daughters, or mothers at home, get the hell out of here, don’t come here to cause trouble!”
“But Village Chief, we can’t survive! Give us a way to live!” The middle-aged man knelt down with a thud, crying and kowtowing to the village chief.
So all those who had sold their wives and daughters knelt down, crying with snot and tears.
The village chief looked away with an unbearable expression and sighed heavily.
Jiang Feishi smiled faintly and said mockingly: “Dignified big men, can’t you find a livelihood to support yourselves and have to rely on your wives and daughters? If you can’t survive, just go home and hang yourselves with a rope.”
The village chief turned his head and walked away, completely ignoring them. Just as Jiang Feishi said, they were all big men. Couldn’t they find work themselves? Did they have to get their wives and daughters back to earn money for them?
Those who kept kowtowing knew that Jiang Feishi had a heart of stone, so they had to stagger up and walk away in a trance. The few hundred copper coins in their bosoms seemed to have turned into branding irons, burning their hearts with pain!
However, this pain did not stem from reluctance to part with their wives, daughters, and mothers, but from despair for the future.
Ye Li frowned and looked coldly at this scene, not sympathizing with anyone.
Qin Qing lifted the curtain and walked out.
Ye Li quickly came back to his senses, rushed out of the carriage in one stride, jumped down, and half-knelt to offer his hard and reliable knee. His arm was already extended, his large palm quietly spread open, waiting for Qin Qing’s small hand to hold it and borrow some strength.
This was the only thing Ye Li could do to satisfy Qin Qing.
Ye Li looked up at Qin Qing, completely unaware of how attentive his attitude was at this moment.
Ah Niu, who originally wanted to share the burden for his master and act as this human step: “…”
Your Highness the Fourth Prince, let’s not try so hard, okay? Let’s not forget our noble identity!