The skin on Xia Xun's palm was very rough.
Qi Yan sat by the bed, looking at his back full of resistance, thinking like this.
When I met the snake just now, it was the first time Xia Xun took the initiative to touch him.
He held down Qi Yan's hand, telling him not to act rashly.
At that time, Qi Yan discovered that Xia Xun's palms were full of calluses, and those hard calluses just touched the back of Qi Yan's hand, which made him feel like he was about to be cut.
It wasn't always like that.
In the past, Xia Xun's hands were white and soft, and they didn't feel as soft as a teenager should be.
Anyone who sees these hands will say that its owner must come from a noble family. He has never done any hard work since he was a child, so he can raise such soft palms.
Qi Yan looked at his thumb, it seemed that Xia Xun's warmth still remained on the fingertips.
He put his thumb under his nose, took a deep breath, and smelled nothing.
Just like Xia Xun who was held in his arms just now, there is no smell.
Xia Xun used to wear clothes that were smoked.
He was not favored and could not get any expensive spices, so Shaobo used ordinary incense to make his clothes fragrant, which was not inferior to other nobles.
Every time without waiting for Xia Xun to show up, as soon as he smells this fragrance, Qi Yan will know that he is coming.
Now, Qi Yan can't smell it anymore.
His mind was empty, and a dull pain spread from his chest to his limbs.
He belatedly thought that he had come too late.
He walked up to Xia Xun and called him softly:
"Xia Xun...?"
Xia Xun didn't respond, she must have fallen asleep.
Qi Yan bent down and picked him up in his arms.
Xia Xun is very thin. He has grown taller, but he is much lighter than before.
Qi Yan put him on the bed, covered him tightly with a quilt, and lay down beside him.
In her dream, Xia Xun still frowned, clenched her hands tightly, and clutched the quilt tightly.
His eyelids fluttered like he was having a nightmare.
Qi Yan patted his head:
"Xia Xun, it's okay, you're just dreaming..."
Xia Xun didn't wake up, and babbled in her dream:
"So cold..."
Qi Yan even wrapped him up:
"Is it still cold?"
Xia Xun's lips moved, Qi Yan leaned over to listen, but couldn't hear anything clearly.
He could only hug him harder and rub his back constantly.
Xia Xun's hands were still cold, and he curled up into a ball with an increasingly disturbed expression.
Qi Yan took off his shirt, lifted the quilt, covered the two of them together, held Xia Xun's hand, and placed it on his chest.
Feeling the warmth, Xia Xun leaned against Qi Yan's arm, her face pressed against his chest.
A few strands of hair stuck to his cheeks, which were gently brushed away by Qi Yan.
Qi Yan asked softly:
"Is it still cold?"
Xia Xun stopped shouting cold, and her expression became much calmer.
But not long after, he started raving again.
He had a flat mouth, the corners of his eyes were downturned, and his expression was quite aggrieved, as if everyone had bullied him.
"Qi Yan..."
He called his name in a very small voice.
Qi Yan was stunned.
He opened his eyes wide, unable to believe that he would appear in Xia Xun's dream.
He held his breath and asked cautiously:
"what?"
For fear of disturbing him.
Xia Xun was quiet for a while, then muttered:
"I... I'm in a little pain..."
Xia Xun never complained of pain, no matter how many injuries she suffered, she never complained of pain.
At this moment, he called Qi Yan's name in his dream, saying that he was in a little pain.
Someone pinched Qi Yan's heart severely, and the severe pain in his chest made his face deformed.
He endured the pain in his heart, put one arm around the back of Xia Xun's head, and stroked him back and forth with the other hand.
"Where does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Is it the hand?"
His voice was extremely sour, and his heart throbbed with the blood flow.
Xia Xun didn't answer.
Qi Yan took his hand, put it to the side of his face, and kept kissing gently on those rough calluses.
Xia Xun felt itchy, put her hands under the quilt, wrinkled her face and said:
"Still... a little hurt..."
Qi Yan was helpless, and couldn't think of any other way to comfort him, not even a single wound on Xia Xun's body.
He held Xia Xun's face and kept pecking kisses on his lips.
Between kisses, he kept saying to him:
"Good boy, it won't hurt anymore...I promise..."
His eyes were sour, and he was almost on the verge of tears.
The sadness on Xia Xun's face still persisted, but she stopped talking in her sleep.
Perhaps experience told him that no matter how many times he called Qi Yan's name, the person he was expecting would never appear, so he gave up asking for help and gradually got used to healing by himself.
He avoided Qi Yan's kiss and shrank deeper into the quilt, leaving only a small side profile.
Qi Yan clung to his side, patting his back lightly like coaxing a child.
Xia Xun's eyelashes gradually stopped trembling, and her clenched hands loosened.
He breathed heavily and fell asleep again.
Qi Yan held him in his arms and didn't close his eyes all night.
On the second day, when Xia Xun woke up leisurely, there was no one in the room.
After washing up, he went downstairs to the lobby.
Qi Yan sat behind a table and beckoned him over to have breakfast.
As soon as he sat down, he faintly heard the familiar Baiyue language again, and when he looked back, he saw a table of Lingnan people again.
They chatted vigorously in Baiyue, and the topics they talked about were trivia about the journey. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with it.
Their faces are all new, not the ones they met yesterday.
It seems that there is nothing strange.
Qi Yan calmed down, finished the porridge in the bowl, and announced to everyone:
"The next stop is Taichang. The distance is relatively long, and there are no post stations along the way. If we start now, I'm afraid we will miss lunch. It's better to wait until lunch before leaving the city."
Master Zhongshu spoke, and no one objected.
After breakfast, Zhigui went back to his room to pack his luggage, Qi went back to feed the horses, only Xia Xun and Qi Yan were left sitting opposite each other.
Qi Yan said: "It's still a while before noon. I heard that there is a river outside the city of Binzhou. Let's go for a cruise."
Xia Xun flatly refused:
"No, I'd rather sit in my room."
Qi Yan smiled and said:
"Alright, then let's go back to the room. You sit in a daze, and I will watch you in a daze. We just sit like this and wait until noon."
Xia Xun immediately changed her mind:
"Where is the river?"
In the east of Binzhou City, there is a river that separates the urban area from the suburbs.
Farmers in the suburbs often have to transport their own vegetables into the city for sale, and merchants in the city often have to buy from the other side of the river.
On the river, ships come and go in an endless stream.
It's just that these ships are not fancy cruise ships, but real merchant ships.
Not only to carry people, but also to transport goods.
In order to make more money, boatmen often keep loading people on board. A small boat can be packed full of people and goods.
Qi Yan and Xia Xun were standing on such a boat.
Under Qi Yan's feet was a cage of roosters.
The rooster was restless, and would peck his clothes with its beak from time to time, rubbing its red comb against his legs.
As soon as Xia Xun turned her head, she could paste a baby's face.
The little baby was carried in the bamboo basket behind his father, and his little hands didn't stop, grabbing a strand of Xia Xun's hair, pulling it either east or west.
She doesn't have much strength, otherwise Xia Xun's head full of hair would be ripped bald by her.
What's more, the boat was overcrowded, their chests were pressed against their backs, and his and Qi Yan's shoulders were tightly pressed together, there was no place to hide.
Xia Xun asked with a stiff face:
"—Is this the cruise ship you were talking about?"
Qi Yan tilted her head, smiled at him, and held his left hand under the cover of her sleeve.
Xia Xun's expression changed, and she immediately wanted to pull it out, but Qi Yan grabbed her even harder.
He glared at him:
"what are you doing?!"
Qi Yan held his hand and looked towards the river:
"Stand still, the boat is about to sail."
The boat swayed slightly and slowly sailed away from the shore.
Xia Xun finally pulled out her hand:
"You don't need Mr. Zhongshu to worry about it. The boat is so crowded that you can't fall even if you want to."
Qi Yan didn't respond, and the two stopped talking.
They were silent, but the boat was very lively.
The people on the boat are very familiar with each other, and everyone is chatting loudly, and the noisy voice is occasionally mixed with the yelling of chickens and ducks.
Xia Xun's scalp was sore from being pulled by the baby, and the hem of Qi Yan's clothes was about to be pecked out by a rooster.
In the chaotic market atmosphere, Qi Yan suddenly asked:
"Your left hand seems to be thinner than your right hand?"
Xia Xun was startled, and what she wanted to say has already blurted out:
"That's not the case, you're thinking too much."
Qi Yan stopped talking again, and stared in one direction without looking back for a long time.
Xia Xun followed his gaze.
In the corner of the boat, someone brought a few rabbits, they were still cubs, leaning against each other and sleeping in a cage.
Most of them are white, and there is only one, which is a black rabbit with a black body.
Xia Xun knew what Qi Yan was thinking with just one look.
Qi Yan is a rabbit.
Many years ago, Xia Xun made a wooden rabbit and gave it to Qi Yan as a gift on his birthday.
The wooden rabbit was supposed to be light brown, but due to various reasons, when it was delivered to Qi Yan, it had already turned black.
Finding Qi Yan looking at the rabbit, Xia Xun sneered:
"It's hard for you to remember, that rabbit has been thrown away by you long ago."
Qi Yan spoke softly:
"...it was consumed by the fire."
Xia Xun was indifferent:
"Also, it was born because of the fire, and it should be destroyed in the fire."
Qi Yan shook his head:
"I didn't burn it, it was Qi Hui. A few years ago, because of Qi Hui's fault, the Qi Mansion caught fire, and many things were burned. The rabbit you gave me was one of them.
"For a long time, that was the only relic you left me. I took it with me everywhere. After a long time, the dry wood grain was shiny and shiny by my touch, and it looked like a new one.
"Knowing that it had been burned, Qi Hui felt very guilty. He knelt down in front of me and asked me to punish him. I was exhausted at that time, and I didn't even have the strength to talk to him. I just told him to let him back down, and never to appear in my presence again." before.
"To apologize, Qi Hui cut off his little finger with the dagger he carried with him before I had time to react. He held up the bloody severed finger and said to me, as long as I don't drive him away, even if I ask him to cut off all the fingers No hesitation."
Qi Yan spoke calmly, but Xia Xun was shocked when he heard it, and his breath was unavoidably stagnant:
"How could he be so decisive—? It's just a worthless thing, why do you need him...?"
Qi Yan smiled wryly:
"That's because you don't know what that rabbit meant to me in the years after your death... Without it, it's like watching you die again in front of me, how can I Don't you feel bad?"
Xia Xun lowered her eyes.
Qi Yan continued:
"Later I forgave Qi Hui, but then I had a heart attack and lay in bed for a few days. I have no way of knowing how his injury was treated. But he can move freely now, and the broken tail finger does not affect him. bravery."
Xia Xun was silent.
After a long time, he spoke slowly:
"... Such a bloody piece of wood, it's fine to destroy it."
Qi Hui was not the only one who was injured by the wooden rabbit. Since Xia Xun started making it, the turmoil about it has never stopped.