Ch 39: How To Be A Good Lackey

Pei Fangyan lowered his gaze, looking at the opportunity Shao Ye had practically offered up to him. He stayed silent for quite a while.

This position really did make things more convenient for him—but simple punishment no longer seemed enough to satisfy him.

And if there was an advantage to take…

What else could he do?

Pei Fangyan reached out and placed his hand over him, his tone carrying a hint of regret as he said, “Did I hurt you just now?”

“No… it didn’t really hurt,” Shao Ye replied softly. He twisted his fingers uneasily. What exactly was his uncle doing now? Was he going to continue or not?

“Is that so?” Pei Fangyan asked.

Shao Ye was already far from calm, and with Pei Fangyan’s actions, he almost wished he could grow a tail just to hide himself.

Something was definitely not right.

At first, only that one spot had felt numb, but now his entire lower body seemed off. Shao Ye opened his mouth, trying several times before managing to speak. “S-Seventh Uncle?”

Pei Fangyan gave a quiet “mm” and asked calmly, “What is it?”

Just from his voice alone, no one would guess what his hand was doing.

“What are you doing?” Shao Ye asked. It didn’t feel very proper… or was that just his imagination?

“What’s wrong?” Pei Fangyan replied, as if what he was doing was perfectly normal.

“…It feels strange,” Shao Ye said quietly. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just hit him again?

“Strange?” Pei Fangyan asked with a faint smile. “What’s strange about it?”

Everything was strange! Couldn’t his uncle feel it?

Shao Ye felt this couldn’t go on. If he lost control later, the situation would be unimaginable. He tried shifting away, but couldn’t escape that hand. Taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice, “Seventh Uncle, I need to use the bathroom.”

“What for?” Pei Fangyan asked.

What else could someone do in the bathroom?!

After thinking for a moment, Shao Ye chose a more polite phrasing. “I need to… relieve myself.”

“Can you even do that like this?” Pei Fangyan asked.

Shao Ye didn’t immediately understand what he meant, but before he could ask, Pei Fangyan’s other hand answered for him.

His hand was warm—warmer than Shao Ye’s own.

His uncle must have a fever. His brain must be overheated too.

Shao Ye gripped the bedsheets tightly with both hands, Pei Fangyan’s earlier question echoing in his mind. He couldn’t anymore—he felt like he was going to die.

In a daze, Shao Ye suddenly recalled a scene of Pei Fangyan helping him in the bathroom before. He had thought it was just a dream, yet he couldn’t remember ever having such a dream. The memory felt vivid.

He pressed his lips tightly together, not daring to let out a sound, but a muffled groan still escaped from his throat. Then he heard Pei Fangyan ask again, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Say what? If he spoke, would his uncle stop what he was doing?

After a while, Pei Fangyan finally stopped. Shao Ye remained lying there, hearing the faint rustling behind him.

Pei Fangyan wiped his hands, then cleaned him up as well, even adding, “No need to thank me.”

Shao Ye: “……”

He hadn’t planned on thanking him at all! This was completely forced!

After a long moment, Shao Ye finally recovered. His sharp mind returned.

He got up and pulled his pants back on, glancing at Pei Fangyan sitting calmly in his wheelchair. He wanted to ask why he had done that, but the words circled his lips and refused to come out. In the end, he shoved the memory aside for later, deciding to deal with it once he was calmer.

With a flushed face, he looked around and said as casually as possible, “Seventh Uncle, I’ll go call the doctor now?”

Pei Fangyan leisurely picked up his phone from the cabinet. “No need. I’ll message him.”

Shao Ye nodded. So his uncle wasn’t angry anymore? He sneaked a glance at him. Pei Fangyan’s expression didn’t seem much different from before, yet somehow, Shao Ye felt his mood was quite good now.

Just as he was about to look away, his eyes fell on Pei Fangyan again, and his pupils shrank.

Again?!

Shouldn’t his uncle deal with that? What if Doctor Zhou saw later? Was he just being lazy again? When helping him earlier, he hadn’t seemed lazy at all.

So hard to understand.

Shao Ye had worried too much.

When Doctor Zhou arrived, he noticed nothing unusual. Not because Pei Fangyan had resolved anything in ten minutes, nor because Shao Ye had suddenly improved, but because Pei Fangyan was already in bed with a blanket covering him.

He lay there quietly, his face pale, dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced under the bright light, as if he hadn’t rested for days.

As soon as Doctor Zhou arrived, he took his temperature. He did indeed have a fever—and it was high: 39.5°C.

Shao Ye brought over a cup of hot water, a bit blaming himself. He should have noticed earlier that something was wrong with his uncle.

Doctor Zhou stood by the bed, mixing medicine as he muttered, “This morning Steward Liu told me you waited outside all night. I already knew your body wouldn’t handle that well. I had the meds prepared, but your condition is worse than I expected—some dosages need to be increased.”

Shao Ye exclaimed in surprise, “Seventh Uncle, you didn’t sleep at all last night? Why didn’t Steward Liu try to stop you?”

Doctor Zhou: “……”

At that moment, he really wanted to say something on Steward Liu’s behalf—out of a kind of shared misery—but unfortunately, he was the rabbit, and he’d already reincarnated.

Doctor Zhou spoke up righteously, “That’s because—”

Pei Fangyan cut him off. “It’s nothing. I couldn’t sleep, was thinking about something, so I went to sit in the courtyard. Didn’t expect to sit there that long.”

“Was it because of me?” Shao Ye crouched by the bed, looking up at him with blinking dark eyes like a little dog. “I’ll be more careful from now on. I won’t make you worry again, Seventh Uncle.”

Pei Fangyan smiled faintly and reached out, gently ruffling his hair.

After taking the medicine, he soon drifted into a drowsy sleep. When Steward Liu heard the news, he hurried over as well. Shao Ye glanced at Pei Fangyan, who was already asleep, and lowered his voice. “I can stay here and take care of him.”

Doctor Zhou looked at Steward Liu, who had already given up resisting, then said to Shao Ye, “Alright. Check his temperature again in two hours. If it goes down, no need to worry. If it doesn’t, call me.”

Shao Ye carefully memorized everything and even set a vibrating alarm so he wouldn’t forget. When the time came, he woke before the alarm and turned it off. Translated on Hololo novels. Nervously, he checked Pei Fangyan’s temperature—seeing it had finally gone down, he let out a sigh of relief.

After sleeping for a while, Pei Fangyan woke close to midnight. The room lights were off, with only a small lamp on the table casting a dim glow. Just as he was about to sit up, he noticed someone beside the bed—over six feet tall, curled up awkwardly, having fallen asleep there at some point.

Pei Fangyan reached out and nudged his shoulder. “Xiao Ye, wake up.”

Shao Ye was sleeping lightly and woke immediately. He lifted his head, yawning. “Seventh Uncle, you’re awake? How do you feel? Want some water?”

Pei Fangyan turned on the bedside lamp. “I’m fine. Why didn’t you go back?”

“I stayed to take care of you,” Shao Ye said, yawning again, a bit of moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes.

“You should go back. Don’t let it spread to you.”

Shao Ye lifted his chin proudly. “It’s fine. My body’s way better than Steward Liu’s.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable sleeping like that?”

“It’s fine,” Shao Ye said. His shoulders and neck were a little sore, but nothing serious.

Pei Fangyan sighed. “If you’re not afraid of catching it from me, come up and sleep.”

Shao Ye thought about it and decided that worked. He stood up from the floor and was about to get on the bed when Pei Fangyan added, “Take your clothes off. It’s not comfortable to sleep in them.”

“It’s fine,” Shao Ye said. He’d just managed to fall asleep on the floor anyway.

“Take them off,” Pei Fangyan said, then coughed.

Shao Ye didn’t dare argue. Seeing him cough, he quickly poured a cup of hot water and placed it by the bedside, then took off his clothes and climbed into bed.

There was only one blanket, already covering Pei Fangyan. If Shao Ye had kept his clothes on, he wouldn’t have needed one.

Just as Shao Ye was wondering if he should at least grab his shirt to cover his stomach, Pei Fangyan lifted the blanket and pulled him in. His hand brushed against Shao Ye’s chest, and he remarked, “Xiao Ye’s body is nice and cool.”

“Are you still running a fever, Seventh Uncle?” Shao Ye asked.

He grabbed the thermometer gun from beside the pillow and checked again. There was still a slight fever, but much better than earlier.

Pei Fangyan gave a soft “mm,” his hand still resting there. “You’re cooler.”

Shao Ye lay flat. If letting him touch helped bring the fever down, then so be it.

The next morning, Pei Fangyan’s fever had subsided, though he still lacked energy and stayed in the bedroom to rest. Thinking about how much his uncle had spent to rescue him, Shao Ye felt deeply guilty. He didn’t even take his three dogs out, staying in the room and diligently massaging Pei Fangyan’s legs.

Su Yuexiang was still in the kidnappers’ hands. He Jiahuai’s family had money, but coming up with two hundred million in cash all at once was still difficult. He couldn’t understand what Pei Fangyan was thinking—the kidnappers were clearly targeting him, yet he had turned into a hands-off manager and dumped everything on him. Didn’t he feel any guilt at all? At this rate, he’d never win Yuexiang’s heart.

With no other choice, He Jiahuai informed Pei Jingnan and Xie Chen. The three of them pooled together the ransom and paid the kidnappers.

However, after receiving the money, the kidnappers didn’t release Su Yuexiang immediately. Fortunately, they had a backup plan. After three and a half days, they finally tracked her location. During the rescue, there was a small accident—Su Yuexiang fell and hit her head on a rock, bleeding heavily. They rushed her to the hospital, and after emergency treatment, she was finally out of danger.

Pei Fangyan paid no attention to any of this. Once he recovered, he began thinking about how to make Shao Ye realize his own feelings.

Not even sparing a thought for an old man’s health. He deserved another beating.

After being discharged, Su Yuexiang returned to the old residence. In the office, Pei Fangyan was reviewing a contract his subordinate had delivered that morning when she stood at the door and asked, “Can I speak to you alone?”

He was about to refuse, but then he seemed to think of something. Turning to Shao Ye, who was playing a game nearby, he said, “Xiao Ye, go pour me a glass of water.”

Ever since a servant had reported that Su Yuexiang wanted to see Pei Fangyan, Shao Ye hadn’t been focused on his game at all. His character had died three times in two minutes. Hearing this, he put down his phone, looked up, and asked, “Seventh Uncle, are you trying to send me away?”

“Caught me,” Pei Fangyan said with a smile, showing not the slightest bit of embarrassment.

Shao Ye: “……”

Wasn’t this insulting his intelligence a bit? There was a water dispenser right in the room, and yet he was being told to go out just to get water?

Pei Fangyan said, “Go out for a moment. Miss Su and I have something to talk about.”

What kind of conversation was it that he couldn’t hear?

Shao Ye pouted, got up reluctantly, and left. As he reached the door, he even shot Su Yuexiang a glare.

Su Yuexiang didn’t understand why, but didn’t take it to heart. Once Shao Ye left and only the two of them remained, she spoke, “I’ve remembered the past.”

“Then congratulations, Miss Su,” Pei Fangyan said with a smile. There was no other emotion visible on his face.

On her way here, Su Yuexiang had been upset about being strung along by Pei Fangyan for so long. But he had indeed said that his leg had nothing to do with her. It had all been her own wishful thinking.

“I don’t understand. Why did you do that?” she asked.

Back then, he could clearly have avoided it, yet he let the accident happen. She couldn’t see what benefit that brought him.

“Why?” Pei Fangyan rested his chin on one hand, a strange smile on his lips. “If I hadn’t done that, how would he have come?”

At that moment, back then, he had suddenly felt a strong intuition. If his leg hadn’t been ruined, the world would have remained endlessly dull.

After the accident, he returned to the old residence and waited there, year after year. Just when he was about to give up, he finally arrived.

Su Yuexiang couldn’t understand him at all. To her, the man before her now seemed like a complete madman.

Shao Ye pressed himself against the door, trying to listen in, but what kind of door was this? The soundproofing was so good, how was he supposed to eavesdrop?

“Shao Ye, what are you doing?” Steward Liu’s voice came from behind him.

“I’m eavesdropping,” Shao Ye replied without even turning around. Wasn’t it obvious?

Of course Steward Liu could tell, but how could Shao Ye say it so confidently?

“Who is the master meeting inside?” Steward Liu asked curiously. It was rare for the master to send Shao Ye out just to meet a guest.

“Su Yuexiang,” Shao Ye said through gritted teeth.

The moment she showed up, Seventh Uncle kicked him out. So annoying.

Was he really not as important as Su Yuexiang in Seventh Uncle’s heart?

No way, he couldn’t accept that. Shao Ye grew so anxious his forehead was practically sweating, worried that just a few more words inside might rekindle old feelings.

Steward Liu nodded. “Then it’s probably something private between them.”

“What private matters could she possibly have with my Seventh Uncle?” Shao Ye turned and asked unhappily.

How would Steward Liu know?

Shao Ye snorted. The door wasn’t locked anyway. Opening it just a crack shouldn’t be a problem, right? He grabbed the handle and was just about to push when the door opened from the inside.

Seeing such a large figure right outside startled Su Yuexiang, and she nearly tripped at the doorway.

Pei Fangyan looked over and asked, “Xiao Ye, what are you doing at the door? Didn’t I tell you to go out?”

His Seventh Uncle was actually scolding him because of Su Yuexiang! That made him even more upset. Besides, wasn’t he already outside?

Su Yuexiang didn’t say anything, seemingly unwilling to linger, and quickly left.

Shao Ye immediately shut the door, leaving Steward Liu outside. Translated on Hololo novels. He walked over, bent down, braced both hands on Pei Fangyan’s desk, narrowed his eyes, and carefully examined him before asking, “Seventh Uncle, what were you two talking about just now?”

The jealousy was overwhelming.

Pei Fangyan smiled. “Nothing much.”

Nothing, yet he wouldn’t let him listen? He didn’t believe that for a second.

“Seventh Uncle,” Shao Ye called.

“What is it?” Pei Fangyan looked up at him.

Shao Ye straightened his expression. “I want to ask you a question.”

It was rare to see Shao Ye so serious, so Pei Fangyan also put away his smile and said earnestly, “Go ahead.”

Shao Ye pressed his lips together, then asked solemnly, “If Su Yuexiang and I were both kidnapped, and you could only save one of us, who would you choose?”

Pei Fangyan froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Shao Ye: “?”

Was that question really that funny? Why was he laughing?!

“Seventh Uncle!” Shao Ye called out, looking at him with slightly aggrieved eyes. “Would you choose Su Yuexiang?”

Pei Fangyan suppressed his smile, met Shao Ye’s gaze, and slowly said, “I’d choose my future wife.”

---

Author’s Note:

【No. 6 asked Seventh Uncle: if he and the female lead were both kidnapped and only one could be saved, who would he choose? Seventh Uncle said he’d save his future wife】

What does he mean?

: Save his wife, obviously. What else could it mean?

: Who’s the wife? Hasn’t Seventh Uncle let go of the female lead?

: OP, I truly admire you. At this point, you can still ship the female lead with Seventh Uncle

: Strong teeth you’ve got there

: Today, Seventh Uncle even kicked No. 6 out for the female lead. Doesn’t that prove she’s more important to him?

: You really are capable of ignoring everything you don’t want to hear. If I had your ability when my boss talks to me, I’d be the happiest girl alive

: Compared to who he’d save, I’m more curious what that conversation with the female lead meant. OP, any ideas?

: OP doesn’t know anything, she didn’t even hear it

: Even though they didn’t say it outright, that expression on the female lead’s face didn’t look like she was seeing her savior. More like she got completely fooled

: Fooled by someone with a bad leg, no less

: That leg of Seventh Uncle’s… not even as good as a cripple’s

: Seventh Uncle: Get lost!

: That year, under the apricot blossoms and light rain, you said you ruined your leg for her. Turns out it was wrong from the very beginning, sob sob sob

: He never said that

: I can testify, he really never said that

: incoherent noises

: They didn’t say it outright, so it’s still possible his leg was ruined because of the female lead

: OP, is it fun lying to yourself like this?

: Since you still haven’t given up, I’ll kindly eliminate one wrong answer for you: Steward Liu

: Steward Liu: I withdraw. This withdrawal will last a lifetime

: Don’t withdraw yet. Even if he can’t enter the harem, he can still be the chief eunuch

: No. 6: Isn’t that my job? Was I working for nothing?!

: No. 6, you enter the harem

: As the empress?

: Not quite qualified yet. Seventh Uncle hasn’t conferred titles, so start as a consort

: Wild consort?

: Coffee consort

: Hahahahahahaha

: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

: No. 6: The emperor dotes on me, only on me!

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