TDSDE 30

30. He’s really good to me.

“Cough, cough, cough—!”

Bai Yuanxiu was so startled he choked on air, coughing so violently it sounded like the heavens were falling. And then, as he looked up, that disheveled figure was suddenly right in his face. Bai Yuanxiu freaked out and swung a punch on reflex.

The moment he threw the punch, he immediately panicked—he hadn’t held back at all. Normally, that kind of blow could snap a tree in half. If this “ghost” turned out to be human, it’d definitely be trouble.

But the punch landed in an ice-cold palm—and at the same time, a teacup appeared before him.

“Careful, don’t choke.”

Even though the tea had just been poured, it was somehow the perfect temperature.

By the time Bai Yuanxiu recovered, he saw that dark silhouette grin wide, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. “Little brother, you’re back.”

Bai Yuanxiu nearly lost it. “Second Brother!? What the hell are you doing!?”

The second son of the Bai family scratched at his straw-like hair. His face was so dark you could barely make out his expression — only the whites of his eyes and a row of white teeth were visible. “Last night, my painting fell into the ink jar. I came out to look for some water, but I was too sleepy and ended up dozing off.”

Bai Yuanxiu: …

So you’ve been sleeping in that room since the middle of last night!?

Wait—didn’t anyone in the entire household realize Second Brother was missing!?

Madam Bai blinked in sudden understanding. “Ah, no wonder you didn’t answer when I knocked on your door this morning.”

Big Brother Bai added, “So that’s what happened. I thought you’d stayed up all night reading again and were catching up on sleep. I figured I’d wake you when the sun was about to set.”

Listening to all this, Bai Yuanxiu felt a kind of bone-deep exhaustion he hadn’t felt in ages. Worse than being in the Demonic Sect, stuck in a conversation with the Sect Master that spiraled into dead ends while the other party kept nodding off.

He had thought the Demonic Sect was already ridiculous enough—but now he was starting to realize that his own family wasn’t exactly normal either.

Still, all the chaos had another effect: it finally got Xiao Qing to relax. He’d still been a little stiff earlier, but after this whole episode, he eased up completely. He even chatted comfortably with Madam Bai and Bai Yuanxiu’s elder brother as they continued talking.

Bai Yuanxiu, sipping his tea cautiously to avoid burning his mouth, was just debating whether to find a chance to talk to his father again when he heard someone say:

“Yuanxiu looked so cute in that pink-and-blue dress when he was little.”

He almost spat his tea all over the table. Wiping his mouth frantically, he grabbed his mother’s sleeve. “Mom, can we not talk about that?”

Madam Bai looked genuinely confused. “Why not? You looked adorable.”

Bai Yuanxiu wanted to scream—was that really the point here!? Cute or not wasn’t the issue at all!

But the mother and son duo didn’t give him any room to argue. They dragged Xiao Qing away, chattering about “Come, let me show you,” leaving Bai Yuanxiu behind.

He was about to run after them when a quiet cough came from behind.

He turned around—and sure enough, his usually timid and silent father was now standing upright, slowly stroking his beard like some dignified old scholar. He even looked a bit intimidating at first glance.

Bai Yuanxiu spoke coldly, “Old man, drop the act. Doesn’t it wear you out?”

Bai Shuda instantly blew up. “You little brat—who are you calling old!?”

And just like that, the two were at it again—sniping back and forth until words turned into action.

Literally—action. They started arm-wrestling.

Madam Bai came from a military family with generals who commanded hundreds of thousands, so martial prowess was naturally a big deal in her household. And Bai Shutai, despite being a scholarly type, had clearly been impressive enough to marry into such a family.

Bai Yuanxiu wore a bright grin, but veins bulged along his arm. “Dad, maybe ease up a little? Don’t wanna be too shaky to hold your chopsticks later.”

Bai Shuda smiled back, equally cordial. “If you want to admit defeat, just say so. No need to babble.”

So the father and son kept grinning their fake grins while their arm-wrestling shook the entire table.

—

Meanwhile, far from the noise in the main hall, Madam Bai was sneakily unrolling a few scrolls at another table. She gently spread one open with great care.

It showed a little girl in a soft yellow skirted robe, with bunny-ear-shaped buns tied up in matching yellow ribbon—cute and full of life.

“This is a portrait of Yuanxiu when he was three,” Madam Bai said, her eyes full of warmth and laughter. “Back then, when he grabbed my hand and called me Mommy—oh, he was just the sweetest thing.”

Big Brother Bai chimed in, “Right? He used to crawl onto my lap and beg for naps. Always saying, ‘Big Brother, hold me.’”

Then Bai Yuanxiu’s Second Brother appeared out of nowhere again, saying offhandedly, “I still think he was cutest at five.”

No one even flinched. The Bai family was clearly used to their second son’s ghost-like appearances. They just nodded and kept unrolling more scrolls.

Each painting showed a little girl in different outfits—sometimes wide-eyed and sweet, sometimes pouting in anger. When she was mad, her chubby cheeks would puff up, making her already baby-round face look even fuller.

Xiao Qing studied every single painting carefully, listening intently as the mother and sons spoke—as if he, too, had grown up with that younger version of Bai Yuanxiu.

After a while, Bai Yuanxiu’s older brother glanced over at Xiao Qing. “Little Brother, aren’t you curious why Yuanxiu was always dressed as a girl when he was little?”

“Little Brother” had only recently become his new form of address. Since Xiao Qing was male, they couldn’t use terms usually reserved for sisters or female guests. And given that he was two years younger than Bai Yuanxiu, the elder brother had just gone with “Xiao-di.”

Xiao Qing blinked at the question. He gently smoothed the corner of the scroll where it had wrinkled. “I do want to know. But…”

He lowered his head slightly. Though he was clearly more relaxed than when he first entered the house, without that forced politeness, a chillier, more distant air clung to him again.

Madam Bai noticed and felt a pang in her chest.

They’d heard about Xiao Qing from Bai Yuanxiu two years ago. Then just days ago came a letter by carrier pigeon, followed by a visit from a certain someone…

She let out a quiet sigh in her heart.

The Bai family was a scholarly household, one that—by tradition—should marry into families of equal standing and raise descendants to carry on the name.

Even if Bai Yuanxiu was the youngest and not under pressure to fulfill any responsibilities, the older generation still believed he ought to marry a proper wife and have children.

So when he told them he loved a man, his father Bai Shutai smashed a teacup right then and there.

Madam Bai hadn’t shown it, but she had been upset too—especially with how determined Bai Yuanxiu had looked. That had made her even angrier.

“He used to be such a well-behaved child—how did he end up like this?”

Parents are naturally biased, and it’s only natural that they’d start blaming others for what happened. They even began criticizing the so-called chaotic world of the martial arts realm, claiming that no one decent came from it.

The first one in the family to speak up for Bai Yuanxiu was his second brother. Someone who spent his days surrounded by poetry and paintings naturally had a worldview different from most. He had only ever had one wish for his little brother.

Faced with their father, who was absolutely furious at the time, this second son—usually considered the strange one of the family—just said one thing:

“Yuanxiu wasn’t supposed to live past the age of two. As long as he’s alive now, I just want him to be happy.”

And with that, the Bai family suddenly remembered that summer.

In the sweltering heat, their toddler—just starting to babble—had been trying to toddle toward them on chubby legs one moment, and collapsed unconscious the next. No warning, no signs.

Bai Shutai, freshly defeated in the official court, didn’t even have time to recover; his temples went white with worry. Madam Bai fell ill from the stress. Even their two other sons lost several pounds from the toll of it all.

That summer was brutal—so much so that none of them dared to recall it in detail.

Thankfully, while relocating to a new place, they had come across a wandering old Daoist healer. The old man told them Bai Yuanxiu’s fate was too fragile and that he needed to be raised as a girl for the time being.

No one knew if it was the change in environment or the old man’s method that worked, but from that point on, Bai Yuanxiu never got seriously ill again. In fact, he became rowdier by the day—completely uncontrollable.

But to the Bai family, the fact that he’d grown up healthy was already enough to make them want to pray and give thanks to the gods. Over time, though, they’d all made a point to forget.

Now, looking at the quietly lost look on Xiao Qing’s face, Madam Bai felt her heart clench.

She reached out and gently patted the back of his cold hand.

“We’re a family now—what’s there to be worried about? If you want to ask something, ask. If you want to say something, just say it. If Yuanxiu ever bullies you, I’ll back you up.”

The eldest and second sons exchanged a glance and chimed in teasingly,

“…But no fighting, alright? I wasn’t his match back when he’d only learned a move or two.”

The second brother, who now looked every bit the reclusive artist after washing off all the ink stains, raised his hand casually:

“Big brother was okay. Me? I’ve never been able to beat Yuanxiu.”

Xiao Qing hadn’t expected the Bai family to say such things to him. It took him a while before he gently turned his hand over and held onto Madam Bai’s, his smile warm and sincere.

“Mm!”

Then he quickly added,

“But Yuanxiu would never bully me. He’s really good to me. So, so good.”

His tone was earnest, and a soft blush spread across his cheeks, making the Bai family’s hearts melt all over again.

They went on, talking here and there about stories from Yuanxiu’s childhood. Xiao Qing would also share bits and pieces from recent years, and the four of them slowly fell into a relaxed rhythm.

By the time the sun began to set, Xiao Qing suddenly realized—he, someone who normally wouldn’t say a word for days—had actually spent the whole afternoon chatting until his mouth was dry.

At dinner, Xiao Qing watched as dish after dish was piled into his bowl. The whole day felt like a dream, like he’d fallen into a jar of honey—sweet and dizzying—so much so that he forgot all about his original plan to figure out how to act in order to win over the Bai family.

Quietly, Bai Shutai pushed his bowl toward his wife.

Madam Bai blinked, confused.

“What are you doing?”

Bai Shutai kept a stern face.

“Give me some vegetables.”

Just as she was about to say something, a hand suddenly reached over and took Bai Shutai’s bowl away.

Bai Yuanxiu grinned, filled the bowl to the brim, and handed it to his mother.

“Dad’s hand’s shaky.”

That one line instantly turned the quiet dinner table lively again.

The eldest brother found a moment to ask,

“Are you leaving again after this?”

Bai Yuanxiu nodded.

“Yeah, in a few days.”

Bai Shutai froze at that and gave a heavy grunt. He scooped up some meatballs with a spoon, not sparing a single glance at Bai Yuanxiu.

Bai Yuanxiu tried to butter him up, but got no response whatsoever.

He shrugged at his mother and brothers: “Forget it.”

—

Five days later, Bai Shutai stood watching as an entire chest of rare, hand-copied ancient texts was brought into the house. He picked one up and flipped through it, his hand pausing briefly when he recognized the familiar handwriting—but then he quickly put it back, turning away like it was no big deal.

“It’s… alright, I guess.”

The second son, who’d been crouching nearby the whole time, perked up.

“Hehe, then I’ll move all of them to my room.”

Bai Shutai immediately exploded.

“Don’t you dare! These are for me!”

The two sons stared at their father, whose words didn’t match his heart. And in each other’s eyes, they both saw a flicker of concern and sorrow.

—

Hundreds of miles away, just as Bai Yuanxiu stepped onto Yunhua Mountain, he suddenly sneezed hard.

Xiao Qing looked at him in alarm, and Yuanxiu was just about to say he was fine when a thunderous boom echoed across the entire mountain.