Jiang Cheng told him from inside, “Go sleep somewhere else! This is my room! You’re even gonna steal my room?!”
At that time, Wei WuXian didn’t know what Jiang Cheng was mad about at all. After a pause, he replied, “I didn’t steal anything. It’s Uncle Jiang who told me to sleep with you.”
Hearing that he was still bringing up his father, almost as if he was purposely showing off, Jiang Cheng’s eyes reddened as he yelled, “Go away! If I see you again, I’ll call a bunch of dogs to bite you!”
Standing outside, as Wei WuXian heard that dogs would come bite him, fear immediately bubbled within him. Twisting his fingers, he hurried, “I’ll go, I’ll go. Don’t call the dogs!”
Dragging behind him the sheets and blanket that were thrown outside, he ran out the hall. Having only arrived at Lotus Pier for a short period of time, he didn’t dare jump around yet. Every day, he obediently holed up in the places that Jiang FengMian told him to stay at. He didn’t even know where his room was, much less have the courage to knock on other people’s doors, scared that it’d disturb someone’s dreams.
Having thought for a while, he walked to a corner of the hallway where there was no wind, laid down his sheets, and lay down right there. But the longer he spent there, the louder Jiang Cheng’s ‘I’ll call a bunch of dogs to bite you’ echoed in his head. Wei WuXian grew more afraid the more he thought about it. He tossed and turned under the blanket, feeling that a bunch of dogs surrounded him whenever he heard a single sound. After a while of torment, he felt that he couldn’t stay there any longer. Leaping up, he rolled up the sheets, folded the blanket, and fled Lotus Pier.
Huffing and puffing, he ran for quite some time alongside the night wind. When he saw a tree, he climbed up without second thought. He climbed with all four limbs clinging to the trunk, and only calmed down a bit after he felt that he was high enough up there. He didn’t know how long he’d been hugging the tree when, suddenly, a soft voice called his name from afar. The voice got closer and closer. Not long later, a white-clothed girl appeared under the tree with a lantern.
Wei WuXian recognized that this was Jiang Cheng’s sister. He stayed quiet, hoping that she wouldn’t find him. Yet, Jiang YanLi still called, “Is it A-Ying? What are you doing up there?”
Wei WuXian continued to stay quiet. Jiang YanLi raised the lantern, “I saw you. You left your shoe under the tree.”
Wei WuXian glanced down at his left foot before finally exclaiming, “My shoe!”
Jiang YanLi, “You can come down. Let’s go back.”
Wei WuXian, “I… I’m not going down. There are dogs.”
Jiang YanLi, “A-Cheng was making things up. There are no dogs. You don’t have anything to sit on. Your arms will grow sore really soon, and you’ll fall down.”
No matter what she said, Wei WuXian continued clinging to the tree, refusing to come down. Afraid that he’d hurt himself, Jiang YanLi put the lantern under the tree and extended her arms to catch him, too worried to leave. Thirty minutes later, Wei WuXian’s hands finally grew sore. He let go of the tree trunk and fell down. Jiang YanLi hurried to catch him, but Wei WuXian still landed with a slam. Rolling on the ground a few times, he hugged his leg and wailed, “My leg is broken!”
Jiang YanLi comforted him, “It’s not broken. It shouldn’t be fractured either. Does it hurt a lot? It’s fine. Don’t move. I’ll carry you back.”
Wei WuXian was still thinking about the dogs, sobbing, “Are… Are the dogs there…”
Jiang YanLi promised again and again, “No. If dogs come, I’ll chase them away for you.” She picked up the shoe Wei WuXian left under the tree, “Why did your shoe fall off? Does it not fit?”
Wei WuXian forced back the tears of pain, “No. They fit.”
In truth, they didn’t fit. They were quite a few sizes too large. But this was the first pair of shoes that Jiang FengMian bought him. Wei WuXian was too embarrassed to make him go out of his way to buy another pair, and so he said that they weren’t too big. Jiang YanLi helped him into his shoe and pressed the hollow tip, “It is a bit big. I’ll fix it for you when we get back.”
Hearing this, Wei WuXian felt somewhat uneasy, as if he did something wrong again.
Living in other people’s homes, the worst that could happen was to make trouble for the hosts.
Jiang YanLi put him onto her back and began to walk back, wobbling in her steps as she spoke, “A-Ying, no matter what A-Cheng said to you, don’t bother about him. He doesn’t have a good temper, so he’s always home playing with himself. Those puppies were his favorites. Dad sent them away, and so he’s feeling upset. He’s actually really happy that somebody’s here to be with him. You ran out here and didn’t go back for a long time. I only came to find you only because he’s worried that something happened to you and went to wake me up.”
In reality, Jiang YanLi was only two or three years older than him. She was only twelve or thirteen back then. Although she herself was only a child as well, she naturally spoke as if she were an adult, trying to make him feel better. Her frame was quite small, quite slender, and she didn’t have much strength either. She staggered now and then, having to stop to push up Wei WuXian’s thighs so that he didn’t slide down. Yet, when Wei WuXian was on her back, he felt incomparably secure, almost more secure than when he was sitting on Jiang FengMian’s arm.
Suddenly, the night wind carried forth a series of sobs. Jiang YanLi quivered in fear, “What was that sound? Did you hear it?”
Wei WuXian pointed, “I heard it. It came from inside that pit!”
The two went to the pit and careful looked inside. A small silhouette lay face-down at the bottom. As he lifted his head, they could see two streaks on his muddied face, washed off by his tears. He choked, “… Sister!”
Jiang YanLi sighed in relief, “A-Cheng, didn’t I tell you to get others and search for him together?”
Jiang Cheng only shook his head. After Jiang YanLi left, he waited for a while. He felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles, and so he decided to go chase after them. Yet, as he ran too fast and forgot to bring a lantern, he tripped on something halfway down the road and fell into a pit. He scratched his head as well.
Jiang YanLi stretched her arm out and pulled her younger brother out of the pit. She took out a handkerchief and put it against his bleeding forehead. Jiang Cheng seemed to be in low spirits. His black pupils snuck a glance at Wei WuXian. Jiang YanLi, “Is there something you didn’t tell A-Ying?”
Jiang Cheng pressed the handkerchief onto his forehead, his voice low, “… I’m sorry.”
Jiang YanLi, “Help A-Ying bring back the sheets and blanket later, okay?”
Jiang Cheng sniffed, “I brought them back already…”
Both of the two had injured their legs and couldn’t walk. It was still some distance away from Lotus Pier, so Jiang YanLi could only carry one on her back and the other in her arms. Both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng wrapped their arms around her neck. She had to stop and take a breath after just a few steps, “Just what am I supposed to do with you two?”
Their eyes were still brimming with tears. Pitifully, they hugged her neck even tighter.