Chapter 19: Sweetness Wave
Steward Sun immediately caught sight of Lu Li. He was all explanations as he leapt at him, mixing the truth with lies, all of his words both insinuating and outright pointing out Xie Jianwei"s unreasonable nature making a big deal out of nothing.
"Doctor Lu, you must persuade the young master; this old servant"s at a ripe age already, and, having clumsy hands and feet, I"ve shattered a vase. The young master won"t listen to me nor forgive me, and insisted on piecing the vase together, now look, he"s even hurt his own hand!"
Under normal conditions, everyone would feel partial towards Steward Sun. Firstly because he was an elderly person, and secondly, he was part of the vulnerable and disadvantaged group; "the servant bullied by the young master of a rich family" was the correct development, within everyone"s range of understanding.
But this time Steward Sun made an error of judgement.
He had just walked close to Doctor Lu, and his second sentence hadn"t even gotten out of his mouth yet, before Lu Li mercilessly raised his leg, violently kicking him onto the ground.
Steward Sun knew only that he tasted a sweetness at the back of his throat, and almost spat out blood. He stared mouth agape and wide-eyed at Lu Li, his whole face a picture of disbelief.
Lu Li changed his prior gentle refinement; his visage was overcast, as if ice shards had been mixed into his pupils, and even his voice was as cold as frost: "You can"t even take good care of your master"s beloved item, and you still have the face to stay on this position?" [1]
Steward Sun truly hadn"t taken the vase too seriously. In his own house, there were vases like that aplenty. So what if he smashed one? Just swap it out immediately for a new one and be done with it!
Steward Sun was dissatisfied and continued to implicate Xie Jianwei. "This old servant was wrong, but this old servant was also just afraid that the young master"s body would get hurt, the shards of this vase are so sharp, and the young master insisted on piecing it together himself, I…" As he spoke, near the end, "this servant" had disappeared, leaving only "I".
Lu Li gave a cold laugh: "Since it"s like so, then you do it."
"Ah?" Steward Sun hadn"t thought that the topic of conversation would loop back around again. He finally realised that Lu LI was standing on Xie Jianwei"s side. He had seen many people of this sort too, who thought that sucking up to the young master would be useful, but they were wholly unaware that this Xie family"s young master was a pitiful insect that n.o.body wanted.
Sucking up was only a waste of effort!
Steward Sun stood up, and ceased to put on an act anymore. He hardened his expression, saying: "This old servant has received the orders of the master and the mistress, and is in charge of taking care of the young master. But this care doesn"t just refer to taking care of his basic necessities, it also includes the cultivation of morals, this old servant…"
Lu Li had already walked to Xie Jianwei"s side and was currently helping him stop the bleeding, bandaging the wound. At that moment, hearing those words, he abruptly raised his head, his eagle-esque eyes like electricity, his voice like metal: "Sun Changde, do you think Xie Xing will believe you, or believe me?"
Sun Changde violently stopped, his body shaking like a clock"s pendulum. He stared at Lu Li, and it took a moment for him to at last recover his wits.
He had been muddle-headed, truly, muddle-headed!
He"d actually forgotten Lu LI"s ident.i.ty!
This Doctor Lu was indeed an outstanding doctor, but at the same time, he was also the third young master of the Lu family.
Even though he was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d child found from outside, but the Lu family held the core of Z country"s politics in their hand, and was a bona fide power. They weren"t on the same level as the Xie family.
Xie Xing was Xie Jianwei"s father. Lu Li even dared to directly call him by his name, it was apparent that he really didn"t fear him.
If he lost the protection of the master"s and the mistress" name, the he, Sun Changde, was worth f.u.c.k all!
And, in the end, Xie Jianwei was still Xie Xing"s child. Before, he was angry at him for failing to live up to expectations; adding in the purposeful provocation of Sun Changde et al, as a result, he was, to this son of his, extremely disappointed.
But if it was Lu Li who said a few lines, Xie Xing would, because of the Lu family, definitely find Xie Jianwei a lot more pleasing to the eye. When that time comes, how could he possibly protect a dispensable little steward.
Sun Changde had gotten used to tyrannically abusing his power in his residence, and had fooled around with Lu Li as if he were Xie Jianwei!
At this moment, he abruptly had a wake-up call, his forehead filled with cold sweat. He shakily kneeled on the carpet, not caring whether his hands got cut either, hurriedly fis.h.i.+ng up the broken pieces of flower vase: "This old servant will immediately piece the flower vase together, immediately…"
"Take it outside." Lu Li coldly voiced, "One hour later, I want to see this flower vase."
His hadn"t said anything unreasonable, but at the thought that Lu Li only needed a few sentences to fire himself, Sun Changde immediately turned ashen: "Definitely, it"ll definitely be pieced together!"
Finally having chased away this annoying fly, Lu Li frowned as he looked at Xie Jianwei"s injured palm, his heart aching as he said: "How could you be so careless?"
Xie Jianwei didn"t make a peep. There was only a "patter" sound, and a teardrop landed on the back of Lu Li"s hand.
As if he had been seared, this tear, light as a feather, seemed to directly burn on the tip of Lu Li"s heart, making him experience a piercing pain, as if he had been poked with needles. He raised his head, and saw Xie Jianwei stubbornly biting down on his lower lip; his eyes were swollen and red, his tears streaming, yet he was unwilling to make the slightest noise.
Lu Li"s heart ached itself into a complete mess, he held Xie Jianwei"s face, small broken kisses landing on his cheeks, his voice hoa.r.s.e: "Don"t cry, Xiao Wei…Don"t cry." [2]
Xie Jianwei cried tragically, but actually, the thoughts in his head were super clear. Yanderes ah, had strong possessive desires in regards to things belonging to them; regardless of whether it was good or bad, it must be dominantly kept by their side. Having a flower vase smashed by someone seemed to be a small matter, but to this little young master, this was rubbing his fur the wrong way. He couldn"t tolerate it. [3]
Lu Li truly couldn"t take seeing him like this. When he was dropping tears, he felt even worse than him. As long as he didn"t cry, he could do anything.
Xie Jianwei was pondering. Should he appropriately add a bit of drama, such as saying that the flower vase was something that Lu Li left behind without too much thought. It wasn"t too probably. After all, what sort of doctor would randomly carry a flower vase around on him?
In the end, however, Lu Li was more knowledgeable than him on what was up: "I know that the flower vase was left by your mother. Don"t cry, when she comes back next time, she"ll still bring you gifts."
Xie Jianwei: "…" Turns out it was left by Mother. If he knew that earlier then he wouldn"t have cried.
Lu Li comforted him in a warm tone: "If you really like it, then later, I"ll make you a pretty flower vase."
Hearing these words, Xie Jianwei felt that this was something he wouldn"t mind having. He looked at him, tears still hung on his face, but his eyes had brightened up a lot: "Really?"
Only now did Lu Li realise that his actions had somewhat crossed the line. His hands let go, and he said gently: "Really."
Xie Jianwei didn"t mind too much. They"d already done too much of things even more intimate, what was kissing cheeks? He only thought about what was going to happen later: "You"ll make it yourself?"
Lu Li said: "That"s right."
Xie Jianwei pulled on his sleeve, saying: "Can I make it together with you?"
Lu Li paused.
Xie Jianwei looked expectantly at him. His eyelashes, curving upwards, still had tears stuck on them. The rims of his eyes appeared slightly red, yet they contrasted those pupils, as polished and bright as if they had been washed with water.
So beautiful, beautiful enough to make one sink into degeneracy.
Lu Li laughed. "Okay, when you finish the physical checkups I"ll go and prepare the things."
Xie Jianwei"s cheeks had grown slightly red from excitement: "That"s really great."
Nothing much was wrong with Xie Jianwei"s body. He even felt much better after cutting his hand than before. when he hadn"t cut his hand.
It was probably because Lu Big Li"s heart had ached too much after sighting blood, and on top of that his subconscious had hoped that Xie Jiawnei would be healthy – even better would be if he could live a long life, far away from diseases, comfortably, and as he wished.
And so Xie Jianwei"s disastrous body miraculously became a lot better.
On the question of just how good Doctor Lu"s medical skills were, Xie • Doctor in Medicine • Jianwei didn"t want to provide an evaluation, but this ability to treat illnesses certainly was not bad.
You"ll be fine as soon as he says you"ll be fine. So stubborn!
It was a pity that, also due to this unreasonable will, Doctor Lu was completely unable to discover that Xie Jianwei had diarrhoea and dehydration last night and that he couldn"t" get out of bed later.
Naturally, he was also unaware that Xie Jianwei had eaten so much of the "good stuff" last night.
Had Sun Changde escaped this round then? No, this was only the start of it.
Xie Jianwei didn"t plan on putting himself through suffering any more though. Even though in the settings, he was a thin and weak young master that allowed anyone to bully him, it didn"t mean that he couldn"t emanc.i.p.ate himself and sing freely. [4]
There were plenty of ways if he wanted to clean up that crowd of scoundrels. Even if he didn"t have Lu Li, Xie Jianwei still wouldn"t need to move his fingers more than a few times, not to mention that he did have hubby by his side.
Xie Jianwei"s body was still weak. Lu Li injected him with fluid, and he woozily fell asleep. When he woke up in the afternoon, Lu Li had already brought over the tools to make the flower vase.
Xie Jianwei got off from the bed, happily saying: "What is this?"
Lu Li said: "Pottery wheel. In a moment we"ll use this to shape the vase."
Xie Jianwei was genuinely curious. There certainly hadn"t been such an ancient machine before in the Galaxial era. But although this little thing seemed simple, it wasn"t crude, a perfect display of the precipitation of mankind"s intelligence.
Xie Jianwei"s interest was abundant as he looked at it. Lu Li, however, frowned: "Put on your shoes properly."
Xie Jianwei was wearing pyjamas, having gotten out of bed with bare feet. At this moment, his white calves and pretty feet were as dazzling towards the eyes as flowers underneath the early morning sun.
Lu Li"s line of sight couldn"t help but hook onto there constantly.
Xie Jianwei felt it, secretly laughing in his heart, though on the surface he was appeared super natural: "It"s okay, it"s hot inside."
It was pretty hot indeed. Lu Li felt hot all the way from the outside in.
"In a moment we"ll need to go to the yard to make the flower vase."
Xie Jianwei blinked: "Can"t we do it inside?"
Lu Li removed his eyes from his feet for the third time: "We"ll get it everywhere."
Xie Jianwei beamed: "Is that so, then I"ll go dress."
Even though it was in the yard, they still got it everywhere. Xie Jianwei actually saw through the technique on how to make it at first glance, and was also capable of creating a beautiful vase in one go, but he had to pretend. And once he started pretending, his playful urge grew rapidly, and thus, he pasted onto Lu Li a whole body of mud.
The two people stickily made two flower vases.
Lu Li"s one was slender and beautiful, Xie Jianwei"s was round and pudgy. Although it was a little wonky, it was abnormally cute.
Xie Jianwei said: "I want your one!"
Lu Li humoured him: "They"re all yours."
Xie Jianwei said again: "That won"t do, I want to give my one to you."
Lu Li glanced at the wonky little flower vase that Xie Jianwei made, the corner of his lips slightly raising: "Okay." He looked as if he had just received some sort of treasure, warmth filling his eyes.
Xie Jianwei looked at him, and his heart felt itchy, then, looking at his whole body of mud, a plan came up in his heart.
"Doctor Lu, let"s go bathe.".
Lu Li wasn"t able to react.
Xie Jianwei tugged on his collar, saying: "We even got mud on our bodies."
His pale clavicle had a little bit of brown mud stuck on it, the strong contrast of colours unexpectedly adding on a hint of sensuality.
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The author has something to say; Actually the mini drama this time should be — Lu Li: I"ll f.u.c.k you to death.
• • •
[1] Having face: Basically, by asking (rhetorically) whether Steward Sun "[has] the face" to stay on his current position, Lu Li"s calling him thick-skinned and shameless; he"s unable to do his job properly, yet he keeps bringing up the fact that he"s an old servant of the young master"s, which supposedly gives him some vague form of authority, perhaps grounded on his role as a senior staff member, that he doesn"t deserve cause he"s incompetent af (cf. the loyal little a.s.sistant from the first dream :p). Here"s the wikipedia link to the concept of "face". It tends to crop up a lot.
[2] I"m alternating between "Xiao" and "Little" depending on whether it"s used as a nickname or as a reference to size (in some cases both) respectively – they mean the same thing. Da means Big as well.
[3] Rubbing his fur the wrong way: In the raws it was 动了逆鳞, touching the reverse scale, which is actually a lot more serious than rubbing fur the wrong way. Apparently, dragons have this "reverse scale" on their throat, a scale growing in the opposite direction of the other ones, and if you touch it, they"ll kill you even tho normally they"re placid.
[4] Emanc.i.p.ate himself and sing freely: raws: 翻身农奴把歌唱. Basically, emanc.i.p.ated serfs singing freely, though more literally it"s "the serf turns around and sings" – as in, the serf"s situation is turned around, allowing him to sing freely. It"s in reference to a song, which in turn references the OG phrase 翻身农奴把家当, meaning something along the lines of "the serf"s situation is turned around and he becomes the boss of his own family".