Tian Yao whipped his head around. Yu Nian gave him a gentle smile. “According to the laws of our dynasty, a Child Scholar is nothing more than a stepping stone to the Scholar examination. If you want to throw your weight around here, please go pass the Scholar exam first, then come back and make a racket.”
“And who are you!” Tian Wen had his face slapped down by two people in a row today, and they were mocking him using the thing he found most humiliating. He had passed the Child Scholar exam five or six years ago, and every Scholar examination since had ended in failure.
“I am his husband.” Although Yu Nian was seated, he inherently carried the aura of a superior, making people unconsciously feel a step beneath him.
Tian Wen had heard from Tian Liu that the man beside Tian Yao was nothing but a cripple. A cripple, daring to be so arrogant with him: “A cripple who relies on a ger to get around, what kind of wolf are you pretending to be in front of me?”
A trace of viciousness flashed through Yu Nian’s eyes.
In the next instant, Tian Yao had rushed right in front of Tian Wen, a fist raised high. Before it could even fall, Tian Wen was already clutching his head and scurrying away like a rat.
But Tian Yao held back in the next second. If he beat Tian Wen, the entire Tian family was a bunch of troublemakers. He couldn’t afford to pay compensation. His money was for Yu Nian’s wheelchair; he couldn’t lose his entire family fortune over this again.
Tian Yao looked at Tian Wen’s head-hugging posture with complete disgust. “Get out of my house. Otherwise, from now on, every time I see you, I’ll beat you.”
Tian Yao grabbed Tian Liu’s hand and threw him out of their yard. Tian Liu stood by the courtyard wall. “Tian Yao, don’t be so ungrateful!”
“Are you leaving or not?” Tian Yao pulled a stick of firewood from the kitchen and raised it, about to strike Tian Liu.
Before Tian Yao could bring his hand down, the Village Chief’s deep, resonant voice came through. “What’s going on here!”
Tian Wen immediately treated him like a patron, running towards the Village Chief. “Out of consideration for the good relationship our two families once had, I wanted to advise Yao Ge’er not to commit such unseemly acts. If Uncle Tian knew from the underworld…”
The Village Chief impatiently cut him off. “This marriage was arranged by me.”
Tian Wen instantly fell silent.
The Village Chief beckoned Tian Yao over. “This is the household registration document, just processed. His registration has been added under your name. It’ll be more convenient if you want to buy land in the future.”
Tian Yao held the thin document in his hands as if it were the most precious treasure. This dynasty was mostly unfair to gers. With both his parents deceased, the household register only listed him, a ger. According to current law, as a ger, he had no right to purchase land.
Now that Yu Nian’s name was added to his household register, he could buy land. With land came a foundation for survival. “Thank you, Village Chief! Thank you so much, Village Chief.”
The Village Chief took a puff from his tobacco pipe. “Their marriage was officiated by me. A proper matchmaker, a formal marriage. A wedding was held in the village. Your family doesn’t live in the village, so naturally, you weren’t invited to witness the ceremony. Any more questions?”
The Village Chief was very tall, with a very dark face, and looked quite intimidating. Tian Wen had feared him since childhood and could only drag Tian Liu away from here at this moment.
On their way back, Tian Wen gave Tian Liu a thorough scolding again. “You’re supposed to marry a high official or noble in the future. How can you stare at any man you see, unable to tear your eyes away?”
Tian Liu just hummed. “He’s good-looking. Even if he’s a cripple, that face is still easy on the eyes. It’s such a waste on Tian Yao.”
Speaking of Tian Yao, both brothers had rather unpleasant expressions. Their trip today was because last time, Tian Liu had run into Tian Yao in town and later inquired and found out that he had hunted a wild boar and sold it. One wild boar could earn a full five or six taels of silver.
Since their family moved to town, they’d rented a small courtyard. Relying on Second Brother Tian’s monthly income and their mother doing odd jobs in town, they were already struggling to make ends meet. If he failed to pass the Scholar exam again and couldn’t get his official stipend, their whole family would have no choice but to slink back to the village in disgrace.
So they cast their calculating eyes on Tian Yao.
They naturally knew about Tian Yao’s entanglement with Zhao Qing from the neighboring village. While cursing him as vicious and brutal, they were even more astonished that Tian Yao, a ger, had managed to earn over a dozen taels of silver in just a few short years. So the family thought: since Tian Wen hadn’t married yet, why not take Tian Yao as a concubine? Let him earn the spending money for the whole family. After all, back when Tian Yao’s father was alive, there had been such an idea. Now, they were merely pushing the boat along the current. Tian Yao’s reputation was already in tatters anyway.
They just hadn’t expected Tian Yao to already be married. A pity—all that gleaming silver, wasted on that cripple.
Tian Yao chatted with the Village Chief for a while before he took the household registration document and walked over to Yu Nian. “Look, this is our family’s household registration document. Now you can be considered a person of Huailing Village too.”
Yu Nian held the household registration document in his hands, looking at the two names lined up side by side, and sighed. The Village Chief had already been righteous towards him. His parents were convicted criminals. Under ordinary circumstances, his registration could only be slave status, but now his status was that of a commoner.
“So your name looks like this.” Tian Yao huddled beside him, looking at their names.
“You don’t know how to read?”
Tian Yao nodded. Since childhood, he had never liked studying literature. Neither of his two fathers were literate, and there was no Enlightenment School in the village. Naturally, he couldn’t read.
It was just strange. Little Dad didn’t seem illiterate, and he had once tried to teach Tian Yao. But back then, Tian Yao was too playful; he’d hear it and forget it. Over time, Little Dad stopped teaching him too, letting him play as he pleased.
Yu Nian glanced at him, somewhat surprised. He had a father with such a clever mind, yet he was also illiterate and hadn’t taught Tian Yao either.
Perhaps because Tian Yao had been thinking of Father and Little Dad today, dark clouds were already rolling in before the sky even darkened. It seemed there would be a heavy rain tonight.
Tian Yao tidied up everything in the yard and moved all the firewood he’d collected earlier into the house. Just as he finished, pea-sized raindrops began to patter down.
A single autumn rain brings a wave of cold. As soon as the rain fell, Tian Yao felt the autumn wind blowing in through the window. He hurried to close it, afraid of letting Yu Nian catch a chill—getting a cold would be terrible.
Because the rain brought cool weather, Tian Yao made hot noodle soup, adding some pepper. Yu Nian found it a bit spicy at the first sip, and Tian Yao was worried he wouldn’t be used to it. But after coughing a bit, he started drinking it in small sips.
The hot soup went down, warming his whole body. Now he leaned against the bed, watching Tian Yao bustling about, up and down.
In reality, there wasn’t that much to do at the moment. Tian Yao had already washed the bowls, folded the clothes neatly, even arranged both pairs of shoes with meticulous precision, and swept the house spotlessly clean. Yet he was still busying himself.
At this moment, Yu Nian finally noticed something off about Tian Yao—most likely affected by the rainy weather.
“Tian Yao, my leg hurts a bit.”
Tian Yao’s mind was blank. The mechanically repetitive motions in his hands finally stopped. He walked to Yu Nian’s side, his mind clearing for a moment.
Outside the window was pouring rain. Such persistently overcast and rainy weather indeed brought an indescribable pain to Yu Nian’s leg. Tian Yao felt as if he’d found his backbone again. “I’ll go get some hot water to make a warm compress.”
Yu Nian simply looked at him. His usually healthy, ruddy face was now pale as a sheet. Though it was gloomy and cold, his forehead and neck were damp with sweat.
“Stop being busy. Come sit and talk with me.”
Tian Yao, who hadn’t known what to do with himself, heard Yu Nian’s words. He took off his shoes and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Yu Nian reached out and touched his forehead—it was covered in cold sweat. He then took Tian Yao’s hand; the hand, covered in scars, was icy cold as well.
“Don’t like rainy days?”
Tian Yao looked up at him and swallowed. His voice trembled slightly. “Not really.”
Because it was on a rainy day just like this that he lost his father, and Little Dad became like a walking corpse.
There wasn’t much to do on a rainy day anyway. Leaning against the headboard, Tian Yao told Yu Nian about the past.
Yu Nian just listened quietly. He could imagine how helpless Tian Yao, only twelve years old at the time, must have felt.
Handling Father’s funeral with Little Dad, and then, imitating Little Dad’s manner, handling Little Dad’s funeral.
Going from a child living a happy life to a solitary orphan who could only rely on himself. Former friends distanced themselves, and those families who had associated with them out of interest stopped visiting.
He had lived alone all these years.
Tian Yao rubbed his reddened eyes. “Maybe it’s because of this. I don’t know why, but whenever it rains, I just feel unwell.”
Yu Nian nodded. He could understand.
“Now that you’ve heard my story, why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Tian Yao felt incredibly light after finally speaking about the things he’d kept bottled up for so many years.
“There’s nothing much to say.” Yu Nian’s dark eyes were deep as he watched the flickering oil lamp and slowly began. “My family was once fairly wealthy, so we never worried about money.”
“Later, the family met with disaster. My parents were wrongly accused and imprisoned, executed at noon. My enemies spared my life, but made my life worse than death.”
Just a few words, and Tian Yao could feel the hardship woven into his fate.
They were both people of meager fortune—had tasted the ultimate joy of the world, only to lose it so quickly.
Tian Yao lowered his head, moving a little closer to Yu Nian. He didn’t look into Yu Nian’s eyes, but in the next moment, rested his head on his shoulder. “Let me lean against you for a bit?”
On every rainy day before, he’d bury himself under the covers, find Little Dad’s clothes and hold them in his arms, as if doing so could still let him feel Little Dad by his side, gently holding him like when he was small.
Now he was grown up. No matter how much hardship and fatigue, he could only swallow it alone. So he didn’t reject the idea of marriage. Having a warm embrace on such a cold, rainy night, not having to shoulder everything alone—it was actually quite nice.
This time, Yu Nian didn’t push him away like before. Instead, he gently wrapped an arm around Tian Yao’s waist. Tian Yao pushed his luck further, both hands hugging Yu Nian’s waist, his head resting on his shoulder.
Perhaps because his long-tense emotions were soothed, Tian Yao was soon bobbing like a chicken pecking at rice on Yu Nian’s shoulder. Yu Nian then blew out the lamp.
Outside, the rain poured down in torrents, but inside the room, it was warmer than before.
Tian Yao rested his head on Yu Nian’s arm, experiencing a peaceful rainy night’s sleep he hadn’t known in a long, long time.
