Chapter 18
When Su Daxia made his move, he found the person in just half a day.
He signaled Que Siming to go into the village to find the person, while Zhao Cai, who was fuming and glaring, dared not say a word in front of Su Yin.
Que Siming saw Jin Bao from afar.
Jin Bao was face down in the snow, with his butt sticking up, kneeling in the snow. He was pursing his lips, focused on pulling a rope. On the other end of the rope was a small wooden stick, which was supporting a broken bamboo basket. Under the basket was a gray little bird, focused on pecking at its food.
Seeing Jin Bao’s foolish, carefree look, Que Siming’s anger surged to his forehead.
But as his anger surged, a strange, indescribable emotion rose in his heart, making the snow-covered world seem even more desolate and lonely.
He remembered more than ten years ago when this silly boy knelt with his butt up, catching small birds for him.
But in the summer, with plenty of food, it was generally hard to catch birds. Jin Bao had insisted and made a fuss, and Little Hu had knelt there all day, almost getting heatstroke.
In the end, they didn’t catch any, and he had complained to Little Hu for a long time. Little Hu had kept apologizing, saying he would catch one for him next time.
At that time, no matter what he said, Little Hu would do it, smiling foolishly around him during the day, and sharing a blanket with him at night.
If they hadn’t parted ways later, or if Little Hu hadn’t forgotten him, perhaps things would have naturally…
Que Siming didn’t dare to think about “what if” any longer. There are no “what ifs” in this world.
Since the moment they met again, he had been repeatedly considering whether, if he asked if he remembered Yue Siming, whether he remembered spending his fifth year with Yue Siming, he would recall it.
But despite all his hints and suggestions, he had no impression of the Yue family. If he pursued it and laid bare every detail of their past, yet still couldn’t evoke any memories, wouldn’t he just be a joke?
He had forgotten, yet he kept remembering. It was a ridiculous situation, and he couldn’t bear to lose face in front of him.
But today he didn’t want to think about “what if” anymore. He had to ask clearly to avoid constantly worrying and being troubled.
He didn’t want to think about what to do if he still didn’t remember.
Why think about what to do? As long as he held onto him tightly, that was enough.
Even if he didn’t remember, as long as he remembered, he shouldn’t think of slipping away from his grasp.
This time, he would make sure to teach him a lesson, so he wouldn’t dare to leave him casually again.
The crunching sound of footsteps on the snow suddenly startled the bird-catching hero.
Jin Bao abruptly lifted his face from the snow. When he saw the person, his hand trembled in fear.
Que Siming had already removed his mask by the time Jin Bao saw him from afar. His face, highlighted against the snow, appeared as fair as jade, with lips as red as cinnabar, and his alluring beauty was striking.
Every time Jin Bao saw him without his mask, he couldn’t help but think of the seductive monsters in books, enchanting hearts with their stunning appearances.
The little bird hadn’t even reached the center of the food when it was startled and fluttered away.
Seeing his little plaything vanish after squatting in the icy snow for half an hour, Jin Bao didn’t even have time to feel sorry. He stared rigidly as Que Siming approached him step by step.
The doctor, unable to tolerate his dazed look, frowned in annoyance and said, “Get up quickly. Is it warm in the snow?”
Jin Bao had been kneeling for too long, and his legs had gone numb. He hadn’t felt it until he moved; now, the numbness was unbearable. Scared by Que’s intimidating presence, he could hardly get up.
Que Siming stepped closer, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him up, pretending to embrace him.
Jin Bao wasn’t drugged this time. Although his limbs were a bit numb, they still worked. He screamed and pushed him away, hopping backward while trembling and stammering, “I-I-I-I’m telling you not to come closer… Don’t come closer… I-I… invincible… invincible and unyielding…” Jin Bao cursed himself for not studying properly back then, only fooling around with young master Zhao Cai. Now, in a critical moment, he couldn’t even think of a heroic phrase to bolster his courage.
Que Siming glared at him, “Come here.”
Jin Bao glared back and stayed put.
“Come here. We’ll talk inside. Otherwise, I’ll come over there and strip you naked in the snow.”
The boy shivered, feeling a sharp pain again in his rear.
He weighed his options. Whether Que Siming’s threats were serious or not, if they weren’t, he couldn’t escape being stripped naked in the snow. If they were serious, at least they could go inside and talk.
From the moment Que Siming found him, he resigned himself to his fate.
He had long suspected that Zhao Cai wouldn’t be able to help him; it was just a few days of leisure.
Now, the situation was clear. He would spend the winter with Que Siming, and in exchange, his young master would live a life free of toxins for the rest of his life.
Jin Bao wasn’t the type to be pretentious or stubborn. Since it wasn’t life-threatening, just a bit painful, he had no choice but to endure it.
Although he felt sad being treated like a plaything, he had seen countless male pets kept by wealthy families over the years. None of them had ended well. He never thought he would end up in a similar situation, serving a man and being no different from those effeminate courtesans.
But after all, he was a servant of the Jin family, having signed a contract to sell himself for fifty taels of silver. His life belonged to the Jin family.
For the young master, he could even give up his life. With this in mind, being pressed by a man wasn’t a big deal. As for dignity, to hell with it. He just hoped the young master’s poison would be resolved soon so that the nightmare could end.
Having prepared himself mentally, Jin Bao unwillingly walked over.
Que Siming dragged him into the house.
The house was small, warmed by a charcoal fire, but the furnishings were old and the place was hastily tidied up for Jin Bao, making it look quite shabby.
The doctor frowned as he looked around, finding no suitable place to sit. He simply stood.
Jin Bao, not bothering with courtesy, plopped down on the bed.
Que Siming looked at him coldly, “Why did you run?”
Jin Bao thought angrily, “If it were you, wouldn’t you run too, waiting to be violated again?”
But on the surface, he didn’t dare say anything, merely pouting.
The doctor squinted at him, “Didn’t you enjoy it that day? You zipped up your pants and acted all righteous?”
Thinking about that day, Jin Bao’s face turned red.
Normally, he only touched himself a little, and he had never experienced such a strong stimulus. In the end, he was so overwhelmed that he forgot who he was.
But could he admit that? Being played with and repeatedly made to climax by a man was something no man could openly acknowledge.
The trouble with having such a thing was that it was a curse. He couldn’t control himself, and when his desire took over, it was like being a hundred-pound person at the mercy of a couple of pounds of flesh. Even if he regretted and felt ashamed afterward, wishing to hit his head against a wall, he couldn’t take back what had happened.
Jin Bao hung his head, wishing to turn the page on this chapter.
But the doctor wasn’t letting up. He lifted Jin Bao’s chin, “I saw you enjoyed it that day. You’re acting all high and mighty now, but you disappeared right after. What’s that about?”
Jin Bao glared at him in defiance, starting to make excuses, “That wasn’t something I could control… Besides, you forced me into it. If you hadn’t drugged me, would I have…”
The doctor had no sense of being a rapist, “So what if I drugged you? So what if I had sex with you? Let me tell you, it’s your fortune that I’m willing to sleep with you. Not to mention, you owe me for this!”
“You’re just driven by lust, and now you’re blaming me. It’s like you’re asking for a beating!” Naturally, Jin Bao was enraged and shouted, “What the hell do I owe you! I only looked at your face. Is your face a treasure map that I’m not allowed to see? Why take off your mask if I can’t look! Saying I owe you, you’re nothing but a lowlife. Keep this up, and you’ll get your just desserts…”
Before Jin Bao could finish, Que Siming pushed him down onto the bed, his cold fingers resting lightly on his neck.
Que Siming loomed over him, his breath uneven, eyes locked on Jin Bao as if struggling with something.
Jin Bao knew how much power those slender, smooth fingers could unleash in an instant, so he wisely kept silent.
Seeing Que Siming’s nearly twisted expression, Jin Bao couldn’t help but worry whether the man was having some kind of breakdown triggered by his own provocation. If that were the case, he would be unjustly doomed.
Que Siming struggled to control his turbulent emotions and slowly asked, “Wang Erhu, do you remember Yue Siming?”
Jin Bao had expected to be punished today, but he was surprised that Que Siming hadn’t hit him yet and instead had said something that shook him to his core.
Wang Erhu… Yue Siming?
Jin Bao was stunned for a few seconds before realizing that Que Siming was calling him by his real name.
It had been years since anyone called him by that name. He hadn’t heard it in so long that he thought Que Siming calling him “Little Tiger” that night was just a confusion or a dream. Apparently, it was not the case.
In his memory, Que Siming had never called him Jin Bao; he had only called him “Little Tiger” that night!
And Yue Siming? He also wanted to know who Yue Siming was!
“Who is Yue Siming?”
Seeing Jin Bao’s confused expression, the doctor was overwhelmed with disappointment and anger, his hands tightening unconsciously as he roared, “Wang Erhu! Do you remember Yue Siming!!” How could you forget me!!!
Jin Bao didn’t back down and shouted back, “Who is Yue Siming!!” He struggled to reach into his fur coat and pulled out a dark blue pouch from his waist, trembling as he held it up in front of the doctor.
Que Siming watched as Jin Bao opened the pouch and took out a neatly folded piece of paper.
He saw Jin Bao slowly unfold the paper, revealing three fragmented, hard-to-read characters: Yue Siming.
The doctor’s vision blurred with tears as he looked at the paper, nearly breaking down.
He would never forget the boy crying and chasing after the prison cart, holding up this very paper, saying he wanted to go with him, that he could write his own name now, and that he should be his little wife.
In his lonely and vengeful childhood, just thinking of those crooked characters was enough to make him cry bitterly, yet they were also sweet enough to keep him awake at night.
Wang Erhu was everything to him in his childhood, besides the hatred. The forgotten anger was something he could never forgive, but seeing this paper now, he felt that all the time spent longing was not in vain.
At this moment, he wanted to cry but also to laugh.
Jin Bao couldn’t understand the complex emotions on his face, only anxiously asking, “Who is Yue Siming?”
His mother had said that the characters on the paper were written by him. He had held the paper tightly to his chest when he was ill, never letting it go.
His family couldn’t read, and after he recovered, he thought that perhaps the paper had some significance, as if it had protected him. So they sewed it into a pouch and kept it there.
Jin Bao always kept the paper with him.
He knew that his fever had damaged his brain and that he couldn’t remember many things from the past. However, he clearly remembered that he couldn’t read as a child. Yet, he had written these complex characters and recognized them. He knew they read as “Yue Siming.”
But he couldn’t remember what it meant. Yue Siming looked like a name, but he couldn’t recall anything about it.
He had asked his parents, but they didn’t recognize the name either.
He couldn’t understand why, at such a young age, he had written someone’s name and cherished it so much that even when he was delirious with fever, he wouldn’t let go of it. Who was this person? He had been trying to find out for years.
When he first arrived at the Jin residence, he missed home greatly and would often take out the paper to look at it repeatedly. Those three characters seemed to have a magical power; touching them over and over, reading them, felt comforting.
As he grew up, he rarely looked at the paper, but it remained extremely important to him, like a talisman.
He never expected to hear those three characters from Que Siming’s mouth.
Seeing Que Siming lost in thought, Jin Bao grew anxious, urging, “You should tell me, who is it?”
Suddenly, the doctor leaned down and gently covered his mouth with a kiss.
This kiss was entirely different from the previous ones—whether punishment, lust, or roughness.
This kiss was exceptionally tender, with a soft touch of the lips that gave Jin Bao the illusion of being carefully savored.
If the other party weren’t a man, he would have thought this feeling… was quite nice.
The doctor didn’t deepen the kiss; he gave a few light pecks and then pulled away, leaving Jin Bao unable to even react in time, feeling quite frustrated.
Then, the doctor pressed down on Jin Bao and, with a calm demeanor, said, “I am Yue Siming.”
Jin Bao’s eyes widened in shock, his mind momentarily frozen.
Que Siming, Yue Siming—only the surname was different. How had he not realized this?
“You are… Yue Siming? Who exactly are you?”
The doctor snatched the paper from Jin Bao’s hand. “First, tell me why, despite keeping this paper, you don’t remember Yue Siming?”
Jin Bao tried to retrieve it, but the doctor wouldn’t let him. “I… I was ill as a child, with a fever for over a month. After I recovered, I couldn’t remember many things.”
The doctor’s heart fluttered.
So it was due to illness, not intentional forgetfulness…
He maintained a stern expression, feigning displeasure, but inside he was elated, wanting to shout with joy.
He wanted to give Jin Bao a good scolding; even if he had been ill, he shouldn’t have forgotten him. But at least he hadn’t forgotten his own name!
The doctor was excited and didn’t know how to react, but he was determined to hide his feelings from Jin Bao.
