Wuyi Alley is an old lane in Hezhou City with a long history, and the Xu family lived there.
Four years ago, the Xu family was not the Xu family but was called Jinjia Tang, the residence of Xu Hang's uncle Jin Hongchang. After his uncle's family passed away, Jinjia Tang changed ownership and is now called "Jinyan Tang".
After returning to his residence, Xu Hang asked the maid to prepare hot water with lemongrass and dried magnolia flowers. Just after he finished taking a shower and sat down on the bed, the door was kicked open, and the sound of someone walking in was sonorous and powerful.
As soon as Duan Yelin entered the room, he took off his military cap, removed his cloak and placed it on the chair, then unbuttoned his clothes one by one and looked in the direction of Xu Hang.
Xu Hang was only wearing white silk pajamas, with the chest slightly open, revealing his collarbone. He was holding a book of Yuan Dynasty songs in his hand while bending his head down to look at it. His hair was still slightly wet, and a little water dripped onto his shoulders, making his clothes wet and transparent. He lifted his head slightly, his eyes emotionless as they met Duan Yelin's gaze, making Duan Yelin feel a sudden itch in his throat.
He stepped forward, snatched the book from Xu Hang, and tossed it to the floor. He then climbed onto the bed, trying to pin Xu Hang down, but Xu Hang struggled and pushed him away.
Xu Hang picked up the book and coldly said, "Don't ruin my book."
Duan Yelin straightened up and reached out to touch Xu Hang's slightly damp hair. "When I told you to go back, I meant to wait for me at Xiaotong Guan.
You're deliberately pretending not to understand, right?"
Xu Hang ignored him, putting the book away, marking the page, and placing it in the bedside drawer. Duan Yelin watched him for a moment and seemed to realize something. "What tantrum are you throwing now? You're upset over what happened at the medical hall today?"
"I told you not to bring your soldiers to my medical hall, it's noisy."
Duan Yelin couldn't help but want to laugh at this.
His master had always had a strange temper; ever since he'd met him, he never looked pleased at anyone in military uniform. The first time Duan Yelin brought soldiers to the medical hall, Xu Hang's face had been stern for several days.
"You hate soldiers so much? Then you'd better get used to it.." Duan Yelin closed in on Xu Hang.
Feeling Xu Hang stiffen, he pinned him against the pillow, sliding his hand down from the collar to roam freely over his chest, sighing softly, "I'm the highest-ranked soldier here. From now on, don't waste this useless temper on me, you're the one who suffers in the end anyway."
After that, he put down the silver bed hook and did what he had always wanted to do since he was in the medical hall.
The bed began to shake, emitting reluctant creaks, muffled groans, and a chaotic rhythm, all weaving together with the rising and falling of the sheer curtains.
It was roughly just to bully him. When the night watchman's voice could no longer be heard, Xu Hang's hands, which had been tightly grasping the edge of the bed until his joints turned white, suddenly lost their strength and slumped down, completely spent.
Duan Yelin only got up when the wall clock struck. It was early spring, soon to be Qingming, and the mornings were still quite chilly.
When Qiao Song arrived at Xiaotong Guan, he did not receive any response from the commander, so he went straight to Jinyan Tang. When he saw Duan Yelin, he saluted and said, "Commander, the son of the Military Control Commissioner should report to us about the deployment order today. Do you want to meet him?"
Duan Yelin took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and blew out a smoke ring: "Laozi hates these princelings the most. They are weak and look like beasts in human clothing, all of them are cowards.
They are also very troublesome when something goes wrong. Let him work as a special assistant in the secretarial office and don't hang around in front of me for no reason."
"Yes."
Looking out the car window, he saw that some street vendors had already started making Qingming pastries with freshly grown mugwort, the green leaves vibrant and fresh.
Qiao Song stopped the car at this time, bought some Qingming pastries, and handed them to Duan Yelin, "Commander, try some."
Duan Yelin took a bite and found it very fragrant and sweet. He suddenly thought of something:
"Qiao Song, Qingming Festival is only a few days away, right?"
"Yes, in eight days."
"It's truly fast." Duan Yelin suddenly recalled the first time he met Xu Hang. "It's been four years. At that time, he was only as tall as my chest, but now he's already taller than my shoulders."
Qiao Song knew he was talking about Xu Hang and didn't dare to interrupt for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said, "Shall I also buy some pastries for Young Master Xu and you could give them to him to try?"
"He won't eat them. I've given them before, and he even threw out the whole basket! I really don't know what got into him!" Duan Yelin remembered this vividly. Even when Xu Hang had been tormented senselessly by him in bed, he still kept his mouth shut on purpose, refusing to let Duan Yelin know the reason, which only annoyed him more.
As they spoke, the car had already reached the concession area. Duan Yelin adjusted his hat, regaining his usual sharpness. "Let's go, time to teach those foreigners the rules of Hezhou City!"
At Jinyan Tang, Xu Hang was actually awake slightly earlier than Duan Yelin, but he didn't want to get up.
This has been the case for all these years. He didn't want to wake up and face Duan Yelin after the night.
This kind of shame is actually a kind of worthless stubbornness, but Xu Hang relied on this little stubbornness, like a small kerosene lamp, to fend off the darkness of the entire night.
Duan Yelin wasn't necessarily unaware of Xu Hang's thoughts, but he saw through them without saying anything, as if granting him this small bit of dignity.
As he got up to wash, the maid, Qiao Guan, had just brought out the mugwort and ginkgo porridge when a servant rushed in, shouting, "Master, the medical hall is in chaos! You must go and take a look!"
Xu Hang put down the spoon he had just picked up, narrowed his eyes slightly, and then got up and went out.