Ink Burns

Chapter 178 The Fisherman's Winter (Part 1) Refresh to see Fatty's Chapter

Xue Chen was in agony. Her body was burning hot; her head felt heavy, as if a mountain was pressing down on her.

Amidst the unbearable heat and smoky atmosphere, Xue Chen gradually became delirious. He could only cling tightly to a fishing rod with a purple bamboo handle wrapped in jade. Through his hazy vision, he suddenly saw a streak of translucent white light appear before him.

Then, the door was gently pushed open a crack, barely perceptible.

The old brass zipper on the door creaked and groaned, like soft fur tickling an itch.

A tall, lithe figure emerged from the beam of white light.

"What are you doing here!? — Xue Erlang! Erlang! Xue—"

Her tall and graceful figure, accompanied by a clear and crisp voice, was like a watermelon stored in a deep well on a summer day, bringing a light and refreshing sensation.

Xue Chen raised her head as if she had been redeemed, her eyes wide with a dazed look. She was about to speak when, with a "bang," she collapsed to the ground.

***
When Xue Chen woke up again, it was almost midnight. The loud sound of a clapper outside startled him awake from his scorching nightmare.

"Ah—" Xue Chen cried out in alarm, sitting up abruptly in fright. He only calmed down after taking in his surroundings. The walls were freshly painted white, the bed was made of old elm wood, and a simple, worn-out dressing table was placed by the window with a chipped bronze mirror on it.

In front of the bronze mirror were only a porcelain bottle with a red cloth stopper and a small piece of yellowed rouge paper.

It's the girl's room.

It might even be Miss Wei's room.
Xue Chen looked down in a daze and picked up the fragrant quilt covering her body: Could this be Miss Wei's bedding?

Xue Chen felt somewhat embarrassed by her own conjecture.

"You're awake?" A sweet voice came from the doorway.

Xue Chen was startled and turned his head to look. He saw Wei Sibu, whom he had been longing for, standing outside the door with a wooden basin in one hand and a package wrapped tightly in cowhide in the other.

"Now that you're awake, I won't give you any more acupuncture. Once you've rested, I'll ask the boat captain to send you back by oxcart." Wei Sibu lowered his eyes, casually placed the cowhide bundle on the side table, and turned to leave without even stepping into the room.

Xue Chen's joy at seeing Wei Sibu was instantly dampened. He saw that although Wei Sibu still had a smile on his lips and his pretty little dimples were faintly visible, he was clearly more unfamiliar with him than when he had seen him before.

"It's too late! The capital is already under curfew!" Xue Chen blurted out.

"Then you can rest here in peace. I'll call an oxcart for you early tomorrow morning." Wei Sibu replied with his eyes lowered, one foot already stepping over the threshold to leave.

Xue Chen called out loudly, "I... I'm still feeling a bit unwell! Please, sir, administer acupuncture!"

Wei Sibu paused, glancing sideways at Xue Chen.

There were some unreadable emotions in his eyes.

Xue Chen was overjoyed: He had a premonition that if Wei Sibu was allowed to leave today, the two of them might never see each other again!

"Perhaps he's been cooped up for too long, and his head is spinning. As a physician, I'm afraid I can't bear to see someone die, or rather, be injured and not treat them?"

Xue Chen used her most common soft voice, pleadingly asking the man to stay: "Sir, I only fainted because I was waiting for you at Xinglin Hall."

Wei Sibu seemed to be tripped up by the soft pleas. He turned around and looked at him, as if he had made up his mind. He opened the leather bag, revealing a row of long and short silver needles, and then silently stepped into the room.

"Turn your back and lie down." Wei Sibu's voice was soft, but the upward curve at the end of his words made it sound inexplicably sweet.

Xue Chen immediately turned around as instructed.

"Lift up your clothes," Wei Sibu said, his voice even softer.

Xue Chen hurriedly did as she was told, rolling up the hem of her clothes little by little to reveal her pampered, fair back.

Wei Sibu's needle technique was accurate and fast. Xue Chen only felt a momentary soreness and distension at the needle insertion point, but it only lasted for a moment, and then a warm current rose throughout her body.

It felt as if all the orifices of my body had been opened up.

With his back to Wei Sibu, Xue Chen let out a comfortable sigh and said in a low voice, "I've been on the east bank of the city for the past three days, but you haven't come."

The acupuncture technique paused.

The tip of the silver needle had already sunk into the flesh and disappeared into the acupoint. In the quiet silence, Xue Chen heard Wei Sibu's somewhat melancholy words.

"We hadn't made any arrangements, so our meeting was already abrupt. How can we talk about seeing each other again?"

As Wei Sibu spoke, his fingertips gently brushed against Xue Chen's back, like a drop of scalding wax dripping onto his aching and swollen acupoints.

Xue Chen shuddered involuntarily, his flesh and bones contracted sharply inward, and his pupils dilated involuntarily.

The contact between skin and the rubbing of flesh against flesh almost made him lose his ability to think for a moment, but also ignited a courage he had never felt before.

"What do you mean?" Xue Chen immediately asked.

Wei Sibu remained silent.

"What abruptness? What appointment? What goodbye?" Xue Chen propped himself up on his elbows, turned over, and stared intently at Wei Sibu.

"Needles! Silver needles!" Wei Sibu called out in a low voice. Xue Chen pressed again, "What do you mean? If you're going to say something, say it clearly and completely!"

Wei Sibu looked away, his lips pressed tightly together: "We just met by chance while fishing. It was already extremely impolite of you to chase me all the way to Xinglin Hall. Your recklessness is nothing more than throwing me into a vortex of gossip. When I came back, some gossipy old woman asked me, 'Who are you? What are you doing here?'"

Wei Sibu's voice was light and airy: "How am I supposed to answer you? Am I supposed to say that you're just a casual fishing buddy I met by chance, that you come from a noble family and already have a fiancée of equal social standing? Or am I supposed to say that you came to give me a fishing rod that doesn't even belong to me, just for..."

Before Wei Sibu could finish speaking, Xue Chen's eyes lit up with an alarming intensity.

"You've inquired about me!" Xue Chen pressed forward, his tone aggressive.

As if realizing he had spoken out of turn, Wei Sibu tightly shut his mouth, turned his head even further away, and stubbornly said, "I didn't."

"If you don't have one, how do you know I have a fiancée in my family?!"

Wei Sibu clenched his back teeth tightly and did not respond.

"You know! You haven't been fishing by the river in the east of the city these past few days! You're afraid to see me! You, you, you..." Xue Chen's eyes shone even brighter, as if he had discovered some incredible truth!
The night was dark, the stars were bright, and the cicadas in the suburbs sang like a dancing symphony.

Xue Chen has never been so happy!
This is the third side!
He couldn't forget her from the first time they met!

On their second meeting, he fell even deeper into longing!

On the third meeting, he seemed to discover that this girl, as full and lively as an ear of wheat, also felt close to him!
Wei Sibu lowered his head, his large, round almond-shaped eyes seemed to hold a million dazzling pearls, and his eyes, gently shimmering with emotion, revealed feelings that were difficult to describe in words.

Xue Chen was about to say something when he saw the seventh-rank female official of the Medical Department suddenly stand up and speak in her usual sweet, crisp voice, with an upward inflection at the end of her words, her voice choked with emotion.

"Stop talking! Stop talking!" Wei Sibu turned his face away: "Many things become less beautiful once they are explained clearly—you and I are just strangers who met by chance. You have your wife, and I have my Xinglin Hall. Apart from our brief encounter on the river in the east of the city, we should not have any extra desires."

Xue Chen was still overjoyed, completely absorbed in her immense happiness.

Wei Sibu strode to the threshold, pursed his lips, his shallow dimples facing Xue Chen on the bed: "You should leave now! I'll have the boat captain book an inn for you, don't stay here!"

Xue Chen simply shook her head, her eyes bright: "Me, you, us."

"We are not involved!" Wei Sibu retorted immediately. "Although I come from a humble background, I am still a respectable son from a good family. You already have a wife, so why indulge in love and come here to provoke someone you shouldn't have? At least it's just the beginning of your relationship, not yet deeply rooted. You go be your noble son, and I'll be my inner court official. We'll keep to ourselves!"

Wei Sibu flung the door wide open, revealing a faint smile with dimples on his face. His once round and sweet features were now filled with righteous indignation, his almond-shaped eyes wide open, conveying a resolute and unwavering determination.

Xue Chen immediately said, "I, although I come from a prominent family, I am not a spoiled brat, much less a nobleman. How could I not associate with you?!"

"On Wives Again—"

Xue Chen regained his senses and pondered for a moment: The Chang family, the Chang family is indispensable. He can make a living under Xue Xiao, survive in the Xue family, and have a good future, all of which depend on the Chang family!

Although Chang Yuniang was frail and sickly and not favored by him, she had a domineering father and a protective older brother.

If he were under the protection of the Chang family, not to mention a bright future, he could at least live a peaceful and wealthy life!
The Chang family cannot forge weapons!
The marriage ties with the Chang family must not be severed!
He had already lost his mother, and he couldn't afford to lose Mrs. Zhou from the Chang family, who had always been very kind to him!

but.
Xue Chen glanced at Wei Sibu.

But how many times in life can one encounter spring?
How many times in his life could he encounter someone like Wei Sibu?
After marriage, in the inner quarters, apart from the thin and frail Chang Yu Niang, there was a group of mediocre maids who had become bored and dejected due to the discipline of the inner quarters.

Wei Sibu is shining!

He cannot abandon Wei Sibu!

If he could seduce Miss Wei into bed and undress her, wouldn't she obediently follow him, stay by his side, and yearn for him?

"I have no wife." Xue Chen lowered his eyes and said in a very low voice, "I have no wife! We're not even engaged yet! She's not my wife! Engagements are always settled, but there's always a way to back out. If I had a wife, why would I have come to your door today?! If I had a wife, why would I be suffering here in the medicine-brewing room?"

Wei Sibu's eyes flickered slightly: "Really?"

Xue Chen looked up, as if he had broken through invisible shackles and obstacles. In this life, he would be brave for once; in this life, he would have a way out!
"Really." Xue Chen nodded firmly and sincerely.

Even if it's fake, so what?

The female officials of the Six Departments were all from respectable families.

What does "良家子" mean?
They were ordinary people from the city, not noble families!

Even if it's fake, what can she do to him?

As a female official in the Six Departments who had lost her virginity, she could only remain silent and endure it in silence!
"Wei Sibu," Xue Chen said softly, revealing a vulnerable and gentle side to the usually gentle and timid boy: "What's your name? I... I don't know."

Wei Sibu seemed to have taken a powerful tonic, and his voice unconsciously softened along with Xue Chen's: "Wei Ruchun—my name is Wei Ruchun."

It's like springtime.

The chirping of cicadas outside the window tells us that spring has passed and summer has already arrived.

But it's okay.

Xue Chen's spring has finally arrived.